Breakfast links: Some neighbors want chemical plant gone from a block in DC’s Ivy City
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Other industrial operations in Ivy City, that aren’t as close to residential areas as pictured in 2018 by kelly bell photography licensed under Creative Commons.
There’s an unregulated chemical factory in Ivy City, and some neighbors want it gone
The facility, which has been in operation for almost a hundred years, currently makes sealants for the US Navy in a building that sits next to homes, porches, and yards in the neighborhood. Air monitoring by the DC Department of Environment last winter showed elevated levels of formaldehyde and benzene, as well as other volatile chemicals that are known to cause cancer. Some neighborhood residents, some of whom have lived nearby for decades, but only recently learned about the chemical manufacturing on the property, held a rally on Wednesday to demand that the facility move out of their neighborhood. (Jacob Fenston / DCist)
Bus improvements keep coming: look out for rear door entry this fall
WMATA will start offering rear door boarding on buses this fall after installing “tap” faregates for SmarTrip cards and phones with digital SmarTrip cards at the back doors of approximately one-third of its buses. The change, in addition to the planned increase of bus lanes, cameras that will capture cars blocking bus lanes and stops, all-electric buses, and new bus depots, are all designed to draw more bus riders into the system by making trips faster, more reliable, and more pleasant. (This article may be behind a paywall). (Luz Lazo / Washington Post)
Is downtown DC turning into a place people play instead of work? Maybe.
A new report from the Downtown DC Business Improvement District (BID) assesses changes in why people come to downtown DC and how development is trying to adapt. High-end retail and hospitality are drawing even more people downtown than before the pandemic, but most office workers are staying home. In addition, new developments are still only 20% of pre-pandemic levels, at least partly because many developers are waiting for the city’s final rules on Housing in Downtown tax abatements before they start work on office-to-residential conversions. (Editor’s note: The Downtown DC BID are members of DC Sustainable Transportation, which is managed by Greater Greater Washington) (Morgan Baskin / DCist)
Takoma Station plans approved by DC Historic Preservation Review Board
The DC Historic Preservation Review Board has approved the designs for a new mixed-use development next to Takoma Metro station. The site, which is currently used as a parking lot, will be transformed into approximately 435 homes, 15% of which would be designated “affordable,” an underground parking garage, and public green space. Residents are divided on whether the increase in the number of Metro-accessible homes close to downtown Takoma Park is worth their losses of parking spots, views, native trees, and other existing amenities. (Elia Griffin / MoCo360)
Second farmers market to open at Tysons
The new market, which opened this week is located at the Parc at Tysons on Virgina Route 7 Leesburg Pike. It is operated by Potomac Farm Market and will run on Thursday afternoons through mid-October. In addition, the existing year-round market in the nearby Merrifield Mosaic District will expand to a third block and add more than ten new stands. The expansion will make the Merrifield market, which is run by FreshFarm, the largest farmers market in Northern Virginia. (Angela Woolsey / FFXNow)
Baby born on New Carrollton-bound Orange line train
On July 13th, WMATA employees were notified by passengers that a woman was giving birth on the train. They held the train at New Carrollton Metro station and provided assistance until Prince George’s County emergency management technicians arrived. Both mother and baby boy are believed to be healthy. While rare, this is not the first birth on Metro: in 2013 a baby was born on the platform at L’Enfant Plaza (which appropriately means “the child” in French). (Jordan Pascale / DCist)
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