Photo by Matt’ Johnson on Flickr.

Enjoy the warm weather and learn about area history at events this month. Over the next two weeks, hear about how to plan great communities, help make Montgomery even greater, and hack on tools to help people understand DC laws.

Walking tours: The Coalition for Smarter Growth is leading three more Saturday walking tours over the next month: Twinbrook, on May 17; Pentagon City, on May 31; and H Street NE, on June 7. Come hear about the past and future of these changing neighborhoods while enjoying some spring sunshine.

After the jump: details about the walking tours, a hackathon, and talks about designing better communities.

On Saturday, June 7, visit the Twinbrook Metro station and see how a community is taking shape on an area that used to be an expanse of parking lots.

On Saturday, May 31, come hear about how recent development projects are transforming Pentagon City into a community that is more than a mall.

And finally on Saturday, June 7, explore H Street NE and learn about one of DC’s most rapidly changing neighborhoods. Plus, get the scoop on the latest addition to the community: the DC Streetcar.

Each of the CSG walking tours runs from 10 am to noon. These events fill up quickly, so RSVP to secure a spot!

Hack on the DC Code: DC has become a pioneer in making its laws freely available to the public and open in computer-readable formats, thanks to strong support from the DC Council’s General Counsel, David Zvenyach. The open data lets anyone write tools to browse and understand the laws of the District.

Coders started building such tools at a “hackathon” a year ago, and this Saturday, they’re having another. From 10 am to 5 pm, people will talk about what the “DC Code Browser” can do better and start making it happen. The hackathon is at Mapbox Garage 1714 14th St NW.

Great spaces: What makes a great space? Listen to experts from the Urban Land Institute, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, Arlington County Center for Urban Design and Research, and the Coalition for Smarter Growth talk about the benefits of “great spaces” at the 2014 State of Affordable Housing talk. It’s Wednesday, May 14 from 4:30-7:30 pm at the Walter Reed Community Center (2909 16th St South) in Arlington. Go here to RSVP.

Urbanism book talk: Urbanism and transit are hot button issues, but should they be? Ben Ross, a Greater Greater Washington contributor and author of Dead End: Suburban Sprawl and the Rebirth of American Urbanism will discuss why these ideas face opposition from suburban value systems in a book talk at the National Building Museum (401 F Street NW) on Monday, May 12, 12:30-1:30 pm. You can RSVP here.

Healthy community design summit: Live Healthy Fairfax is sponsoring the Healthy Community Design Summit, a forum where residents and professionals alike can discuss how economic, environmental, and public health play a role in good communities. Local businesses and industry professionals will present and then discuss topics like planning, urban design, architecture, and real estate. For more info and to RSVP, go here.

Zoning update open houses: The Montgomery County Planning Department’s zoning update open houses conclude this week with two chances to ask questions and provide feedback on the proposed changes. Planning staff will be in attendance to discuss the updates. The schedule of remaining open houses is below:

  • May 5: UpCounty Regional Services Center, Germantown (6-8 pm)
  • May 6: B-CC Regional Services Center, Bethesda (6-8 pm)