Weekend links: Rent is too damn high

Simple steps to help affordable housing

A new Brookings report looks at how DC is doing against its 5-year-old affordable housing plan. Besides stopping underfunding programs, the report suggests better coordination between agencies and better data collection by DMPED. (DCFPI)

Vancouver tackles homelessnes

Vancouver will offer $44M in land and grants to developers to create 38,000 units of affordable housing.  The plan is to end homelessness, but will benefit many others, too. (Vancouver Sun)

Too much preservation?

Jane Jacobs advocated preserving old buildings to encourage diverse neighborhood life. Economist Ed Glaeser disagrees, warning that too much preservation makes cities unaffordable. (Governing)

Pharma company moves from sprawl to downtown

Usually pharmaceutical corporate moves involve going to exurban office parks, but Vanda Pharmaceuticals is doing the opposite, leaving Gaithersburg to locate in Foggy Bottom. (WBJ)

DC employees worried about transparency

Suzanne Peck, who is conducting a pro bono review of the DC government at the behest of the mayor, has required 100 employees to sign non-disclosure agreements. (Post)  (Tip: n/a)

EPA Smart Growth faces uncertain future

The House may eliminate EPA’s Smart Growth office, which Harriet Tregoning once ran. The office assists localities minimizing the environmental impact of infrastructure investment. (Streetsblog)

Parking lot to become green space

Students and volunteers are turning a high school parking lot in Baltimore into a rain garden. The school hopes the garden will prevent pollution from washing into the Chesapeake Bay. (Baltimore Sun)

Grocery stores, “but for whom?”

One LA columnist fears that gentrifiers will dull cities, citing an H Street grocery as an example of “what the newcomers want.” He fails to note that all people, regardless of race or class, want and need grocery stores. (LA Times)

And…

Delaware passed a 3-foot passing law. (Streetsblog) … If US metro areas were countries, where would their economies rank? (Atlantic) … Graffiti is growing nationwide. (Post) … Launching bike sharing, Boston’s mayor says “the car is no longer king.” (WBUR)