Breakfast links: More people live by Metro stations. Now we need to get them to ride.
More (rich) people are living near DC Metro stations, but fewer are riding
Although the number of residents (who tend to be richer) living within a half mile of one of DC's 40 Metro stations grew, weekday boardings in DC dropped by 13% between May 2011 and May 2018. That's an average of about 57,000 fewer boardings daily. (Kery Murakami / Express)
Someone sent a woman an unsolicited dick pic on Metro via AirDrop
A woman reported that during her Friday morning Metro commute someone used Apple's AirDrop feature, which allows files to be shared between Apple devices in close proximity, to send an unsolicited photograph of a penis to her iPhone. (Rachel Kurzius / DCist)
MoCo advances a 250-housing unit development in Bethesda
The first phase of a Bethesda project, which would turn a 23-acre strip mall into 250 housing units and 175,000 square feet of retail space, received an approval recommendation from the county's planning department. Some residents oppose it, citing potential impact on traffic, school capacity, and green space. (Caitlynn Peetz / Bethesda Beat)
Arlington wants to help Amazon pay a lower business license tax rate
Arlington County officials marketed a “Technology Zone” program to Amazon that would allow it to reduce its county business license tax by as much as 72%. Other large companies based in the county, like food giant Nestle and grocery chain Lidl, have avoided paying the tax altogether. (Alex Koma / ARLnow)
Is ISP redlining to blame for broadband internet deserts in Wards 5, 7, and 8?
Reaching 99% of residents, DC has one of the highest broadband connectivity rates in the country. Still, this means about 6,000 residents are without access to a high-speed wired connection, and another 3,000 don’t have any wired internet providers available where they live—mostly in Wards 5, 7, and 8. (Jordan Walker / 730DC)
This bone-rattling stretch of BW Parkway in Prince George’s is “a field of potholes”
In response to a large number of potholes on the BW Parkway in Prince George's County, NPS temporarily lowered the speed limit from 55 mph to 40 mph. According to one driver, “It is a field of potholes — some the size of small cars and others as deep as probably about a foot.” (Nick Iannelli / WTOP)
The Hirshhorn unveils plans for revamped sculpture garden and entrance
Tapping Japanese artist/architect Hiroshi Sugimoto, the Hirshhorn Museum announced plans to renovate its sunken sculpture garden and reopen a shuttered passage under Jefferson Drive that connects the garden to the museum. (Andrew Giambrone / Curbed DC)
This map shows unbuilt highways criss-crossing DC
In addition to showing an unbuilt system of highways traversing the district, a 1967 map shows proposed Metro lines and zones of “urban renewal.” (Ghosts of DC)
Trump’s budget would cut housing and food aid, and fund his wall
Although Congress received the White House's proposed fiscal year 2020 budget as dead-on-arrival, the budget is notable for the size of its cuts to housing programs and food aid compared to increases in defense spending and spending on the proposed border wall. (Kriston Capps / CityLab)
Listen: Views on neighborhood change are more complex than NIMBY vs. YIMBY
Tune in to hear GGWash contributor Tracy Hadden Loh and other experts discuss “the NIMBY/YIMBY binary and the language we use to describe neighborhood change” on Tuesday, March 12 at noon Eastern. (The Kojo Nnamdi Show)
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