Breakfast links: Tee up for TOD

Transit-oriented Tysons

Over 1,500 residential units, retail space, a hotel, a movie theater, and the biggest Whole Foods in the region will replace an aging office park near the Greensboro Metro station in Fairfax. (WBJ)

Metro station use

How much people use a Metro station depends largely on how the land around it is used. Ridership is down systemwide, but in Columbia Heights and Navy Yard, where there’s a lot of transit-oriented development, it’s up. (PlanItMetro)

Not SmarT enough

Seven Metro station managers and two custodians have been arrested for a fraudulent scheme in which they would allow paper fare card holders to exit without paying, collect the paper fare cards, and load the funds to SmarTrip cards that they sold at a discounted rate. (NBC4)

Daring design in DeafSpace

Gallaudet University is shifting the conversation on accessible design and architecture. DeafSpace, as it’s called, doesn’t just tick boxes off a list of handicap access requirements, but purposefully designs space to better meet the needs of its users. (Washingtonian)

Architecture for all

The 2016 Pritzker prize, the highest award for architecture, has gone to Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena.  Aravena is best known for his strong focus on creating housing for low-income and less-privileged families. (The Guardian)

Housing market hype

2015 was the best year for the DC area housing market since the peak of the housing boom in 2006. Both the total number of sales and the median housing price are up. (Post)

From fantasy to reality

A Bethesda developer accidentally used one of our Metro fantasy maps in a rendering of a transit station. We got a kick out of that, but we also want to give Brookfield kudos for fixing the error!