Photo by stuant63.

Try solar?

A Baltimore woman wanted to put a wind turbine on her roof, which would have exceeded the residential height limit. The zoning board said no. (WTOP)  

Don’t dump Zipcar yet

Hertz and U-Haul are launching their car sharing programs in the DC area, sort of. Hertz’s only location so far is at Marriott’s Bethesda headquarters, and U-Haul’s U Car Share is launching this week at Virginia Tech. (WTOP)  

We’re impressive

The Washington Metro makes it onto Treehugger’s list of “The World’s Most Impressive Subway Maps”. The only other American example is NYC; the only others in this hemisphere are Montreal and Mexico City. (Gavin Baker, Frank Townend)  (Tip: Gavin Baker)  

Win free transit!

APTA is running a video contest called “Dump the Pump,” where participants submit videos explaining why they’re switching to public transportation. Winners get a year of free transit in their local area.  

City of College Parking

College Park is really excited about a new municipal parking garage. One worker who drives from New Carrollton is excited because it’ll cut down on “dings on [her] vehicle.” It’s only been 10% full so far, but students may start using it in the fall and the city will put up signs advertising the garage. Is a whole block of parking really what College Park needs to become more vibrant? (Gazette)  

Reading about Moses

The New York Times reviews the new Jane Jacobs/Robert Moses book, “Wrestling with Moses.” Author Anthony Flint is speaking at Politics and Prose on Tuesday. (Times, Chris R)  (Tip: Chris R)  

Smarter rankings

NRDC responded very proactively to criticism here and elsewhere that their city rankings unfairly favored low-density land use patterns. They’ve set up a wiki for people to suggest better data source and other ways of improving the rankings.  

Recession’s effects

A number of laid-off office workers are turning to taxi driving, at least in New York (NPR) … “Informal recyclers,” who pick through trash to salvage reusable scrap materials especially in poorer cities worldwide, are taking a big hit from the global recession (Times) … Besides its bad environmental effects, “cash for clunkers” is gutting charities’ car donation fundraising programs (NPR).