Image by Adam Fagen licensed under Creative Commons.

Greater Greater Washington is proud to be a critical source of information on local elections in the greater Washington region. On Friday, members of our Elections Committee will talk about our process in our first conference call for Neighborhood members.

This fall, we’ve made 39 endorsements in DC’s ANC races. We’ve also endorsed a candidate in the Arlington County Board race, the Montgomery County Executive race, and the DC Council At-Large race. This spring, we made 63 endorsements in the primaries in Maryland, Virginia, and DC.

How does the Elections Committee make these decisions? Join us on Friday, November 2 at noon for a special interactive conference call for GGWash Neighborhood members to get the inside scoop on the endorsements process. Members of the committee will be on the call to take your questions on all of the local races that GGWash covered this year.

This off-the-record Q&A Conference Call on the 2018 endorsements process, 12-1 pm on November 2, is a perk for GGWash Neighborhood Advocates and Leaders. In recognition of members’ support, these online chats offer a deeper dive into our news and advocacy. We want to build on the great conversations that start from our posts and our activity and give readers new opportunities to engage with important urbanist issues and connect with each other.

Current GGWash Neighborhood Advocates and Leaders received an invitation with the conference call dial-in link and number. If you did not get this message, please contact jgreen@ggwash.org.

Already a GGWash Neighborhood Friend and want to upzone your membership to join the call? Contact jgreen@ggwash.org to get set up.

Join the GGWash Neighborhood

Other events from around the region:

Monday, October 29

Transform how we address community violence: Join Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau and community advocates at 6 pm at the Reeves Center (2000 14th Street NW) for a crash course on the future of public safety in the District. Learn more about being an effective bystander and connect with neighbors and organizations moving the conversation forward on addressing violence.

With the passage of the Neighborhood Engagement Achieves Results (NEAR) Act and the Street Harassment Prevention Act (SHPA), DC has made significant investments in public-health-focused violence prevention and alternatives to policing. But a paradigm shift in how we create safe and healthy neighborhoods also needs to come from the bottom up. For the past several years, local organizations and informal groups of residents have been pushing the government to do better, and have been changing the dialog around violence intervention, policing, and incarceration.

This will be a non-police event to ensure that all attendees feel welcome; Spanish translation (traducción español) and ASL interpreters provided. This is also a family-friendly event – children are welcome. For more information on the meeting, please click here.

Tuesday, October 30

Plan for a changing climate: Join the American Planning Association (APA) and its Northern Virginia contingent at 6 pm at Rhodeside and Harwell (510 King Street, Suite 300, Alexandria, VA) for a special Tuesdays at APA event featuring Tidewater, a documentary by the American Resilience Project that tells the story of the resiliency battle in the Hampton Roads region. The winner of multiple awards, the film presents a critical planning lesson and serves as an inspiration for other communities. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with planners from Alexandria and the Hampton Roads areas about what more can be done to address climate challenges.

Many Virginia communities have been facing increasing floods over the past decade, which impact quality of life, economic vitality, health, and safety. Flooding within the Tidewater region in southeast Virginia has critical implications for our nation’s security. As an area comprising 14 military installations within 17 jurisdictions, Tidewater has the highest concentration of military assets in the United States. The military and area jurisdictions are collaborating on solutions to strengthen both national security and the economic vitality of the region. Find more information here.

Friday, November 2

Look up something about vertical farming: Please join the College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability, and Environmental Sciences (CAUSES) at noon at UDC (4200 Connecticut Avenue Northwest, Building 32, Suite 200) for a discussion with one of the nation's earliest proponents of vertical farming, Dr. Dickson Despommier, who's Professor Emeritus at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. This casual lunch discussion will highlight the benefits of growing food in urban areas. This event is free and open to the public. Bring your lunch and join the conversation!

Saturday, November 3

Hear from who's running for ANC in 7B: The Dupont Park, Hillcrest Community, Penn Branch Citizens, and Randle Highlands Citizens civic associations would like to invite members of the community and the press (and anyone else who would like to join) to attend a forum at 2 pm at the DC Dream Center (2826 Q Street SE) for ANC candidates running to represent single-member districts in Commission 7B. Commission 7B has more contested races than any other commission in Ward 7, and this informational forum is to make sure voters in ANC 7B have an opportunity to hear from the candidates before casting their ballots on November 6. Get more information here.

Gain a Speck of walkability: Meet author Jeff Speck at 6 pm at Politics and Prose at Union Market (1270 5th St NE) where he will discuss and sign his latest book, Walkable City Rules: 101 Steps to Making Better Places. A city planner and urban designer, Speck spent 10 years as Director of Town Planning at DPZ, work which made him pivotal to the New Urbanism Movement, particularly as an advocate for walkable cities. He’s lectured worldwide, and his 2012 Walkable City definitively made the case for why walkability is the key to thriving cities.

In this follow-up, he shows readers exactly what they can do to realize the goals of walkability. The book addresses everything from how to sell walkability, invite biking, and make great sidewalks to how to design lanes and allow for adequate parking. Speck includes data and specifications as well as rationales and stories, making the book as inspiring as it is useful. Find more information here! (If you can't see him at Union Market on Saturday, he'll also be at the Building Museum on Friday, November 2 from 12:30–1:30 pm. Tickets are $10.)

Check out more urbanist events at ggwash.org/calendar. Do you have an event you'd like to see featured in the weekly events post? Submit it here.

Jeb Stenhouse is a clean energy economist who wants to help everyone enjoy livable, walkable public places, and to reach them by as many clean transportation options as possible.  He studied in Montpellier, France and still marvels at the quality of life in its car-free downtown (and the 15 pounds he lost roaming its charming streets).  Between adventures, Jeb lives with his husband in Adams Morgan.