Morning links: Smart

Smart to keep a balance

Beginning September 1, SmarTrip cards must have a balance of at least $1.20 to get past the fare gates. Metro is also planning on eliminating the ability to go into the negative with the cards as well. (Examiner)

Ivy City sues to stop buses

The Gray admini­stration proposed storing intercity buses in Ivy City when they’re not loading or unloading at Union Station, but residents have sued to stop the plan, saying Ward 5 is being used as a “dumping ground.” (Post)

The long road to change

While some decry displacement caused by gentrification, the history of U Street’s transformation into a multi-ethnic neighborhood is more complicated than that. (Atlantic)

Greenbelt has a plan

Planners have released a preliminary version of the Greenbelt Metro/Route 193 Sector Plan. The plan will be going to a joint Planning Board/County Council public hearing on October 2. (MNCPPC, Matt’)  (Tip: Matt')

Minnesota Ave development finally starts

Ward 7 will get 376 mostly-subsidized units and 20,000 square feet of retail in a new mixed use building on a city-owned plot near the Minnesota Avenue Metro.  (Post)

Not for sale

There re fewer homes for sale in the DC area than anytime since August 2005. One expert believes many are waiting for their homes to regain more value, though condos have already seen big increases in value and sales. (UrbanTurf)

Fewer cars on the Seine

Paris is working on making the area around the Seine more pedestrian-friendly by narrowing what now is a 2-lane urban highway and even closing some areas to cars entirely.  (Guardian)

And…

The Georgia Ave. Walmart will begin construction soon. (Post) … A commuter tax for DC is looking unlikely as more Maryland nad Virginia Democrats come out against it. (Examiner) … For 20 years, Town Planning was an Olympic sport. (Urban Times)