Breakfast links: Getting built, getting rented
Not enough housing!
The DC area has the nation’s lowest unemployment rate, relatively few houses on the market, and high rents (Housing Complex) … We need more housing, like the Utopia project at 14th and U which may still happen. (DCmud)
Higher vacant property charges?
Mayor Fenty is proposing higher fees for vacant property to induce landlords to actually rent out spaces instead of holding them in hopes the economy will improve and they can charge more. (WBJ)
War and Peaceoholics
Tempers are running high in Congress Heights as the Peaceoholics, which help at-risk youth avoid crime, are building a new residential building for youthful offenders near four other such facilities, despite zoning rules that prohibit more than a certain number in one area. Nobody informed the ANC before construction started, and Peaceoholics got the building below market rate. A recent ANC meeting almost turned violent, and someone let the air out of an ANC commissioner’s tires. (CHOTR, Housing Complex)
In the courts
Biking while drunk does count as drunk driving, says the DC Court of Appeals (TheWashCycle) … Arlington’s lawsuit over HOT lanes won an early procedural ruling, though news reports don’t explain what the ruling was about. Did it survive the motion to dismiss? (Examiner)
Tough streets
A driver hit a woman at Connecticut and Q on Wednesday (Post) … Metro fired a bus driver who pulled a knife during an argument with a driver. (Examiner)
DIY complete street
Residents of Dallas suburb Oak Cliff, TX made a complete street on their own by narrowing a local road, adding bike lanes, and even installing a temporary coffee shop as an art project. The city responded by agreeing to study making the changes for real. (Bike Friendly Oak Cliff, Dave in Wheaton) (Tip: Dave in Wheaton)
Manhattan agrees not to overbuild parking
New York City has finally agreed to limit parking in the new Hudson Yards district, which will develop railyards and the surrounding area just west of Midtown Manhattan. The City Planning Department was pushing for huge amounts of parking despite Manhattan’s being the most walkable and least car-dependent place in the country, but reversed after a lawsuit. (Streetsblog NYC)