Please welcome GGWash’s new regional policy director: Dan Reed

Hi, I’m Dan Reed! You may remember me from such posts as “Pit bull bans are a housing issue” and “Is he into boys who like transit? A K Street Transitway love story.” I’m here today to announce an exciting new development: I’m Greater Greater Washington’s new regional policy director!

How did I get here?

I was born in DC and have lived in this area almost all of my life. My mother’s family emigrated here from Guyana in the 1970s and ultimately settled in and around Petworth. My dad moved here from North Carolina after college, drawn by an article in Black Enterprise magazine that said DC was the best place for a young Black professional to live. I grew up all over Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, but spent most of my time in Silver Spring, which is where I live today.

I would describe my career as trying to answer the question: “Who makes the thing?” From a young age I loved drawing and playing with Legos, and decided I wanted to be an architect because architects got to make buildings. Midway through architecture school at the University of Maryland I realized two things.

First, I was very bad at math and physics. Second, watching skateboarders take over a street in Silver Spring, I realized that other people help make things too: someone designed the street and laid out the blocks and open spaces in the community. Social, political, and economic forces shaped those decisions too. And when the thing was completed, skaters remade this space for a new purpose.

In the fourteen years since that day, I’ve worn a lot of hats while learning who makes the thing. I advised a Montgomery County councilmember on transportation and land use. I scooped ice cream and gave out samples of Smith Island cake. I worked as an urban planner on projects ranging from a citywide transportation plan to a trail in South Baltimore. I served on the boards of a transit advocacy group and my neighborhood association. I wrote about how things get made, including for GGWash, my own blog, and publications like Washingtonian, CityLab, and Shelterforce. I even sold real estate, bringing it full circle: I first fell in love with buildings and cities tagging along with my mother, a real estate broker, around DC in the 1990s.

What I’m going to do here

I’ve been involved with GGWash in some fashion since 2009, but I was also its very first employee, as an editor in 2013-2014. Since then, this organization has grown in size and has expanded to include advocacy and engagement in addition to the blog.

While I’ll do some writing, I’m mainly focused on the policies that help (or don’t help) our communities make things, namely more homes, of all types and price ranges, in places with access to daily needs and safe, reliable transportation, and how to make those things to happen without forcing people (like you and me!) to beg for them over and over again. This work will mostly happen at the state level in Maryland and at the local level in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, with some limited activity in Northern Virginia.

(One thing that hasn’t changed: if you’ve got a pitch for a story, reach out to George at editor [at] ggwash.org!)

Remember: we’re all people, and we share at least one thing in common

Most people who get involved in their community do it because they love where they live. Where you live is very personal! My house is the only place where I can bake pine tarts for my friends and neighbors, rip invasive plants out of my small terrible yard, or strike out for adventures with my dog Drizzy.

In nearly 20 years as a community advocate I’ve seen firsthand how that love can become defensive, a moat forming around your castle where anything and anyone who could change this place becomes a threat. But just like you love this place, people come here from all over the world and bust their butts to make a life here because they love it too. I wouldn’t be here if my family didn’t have the chance to come here, and I feel obligated to make room for the next person too.

So if you love this place as much as I do, let’s share it and give others a chance to come, stay, and help make this place even better. And let’s do it together! You can email me at dreed [at] ggwash.org, find me on Twitter, or see pictures of my dog on Instagram. Also, look out for a happy hour announcement. I organized them from 2013 to 2018, and I’m excited to work with GGWash’s engagement manager Kate Jentoft-Herr to make them happen again.