The Goodspeed Update

Since my original post on the topic way back in 2006, the D.C. urban and real estate blogosphere has evolved somewhat. However, only recently were there enough changes to convince me the topic deserved to be revisited.

D.C. lacks a central body to review new construction and oversee the implementation of a city plan. Does it need one? If not, exactly who’s overseeing the planning anyhow?

Read about the alphabet soup reviewing new buildings in Washington, and two opposing viewpoints about whether the city needs a dedicated planning commission.

While new websites have done a terrific job allowing people to share text, photos, and videos, one form of data that has thus far resisted the trend towards new collaborative tools is raw data. Even the best websites generally isolate data as downloadable spreadsheets, leaving it to the individual users to analyze the results and […]

In the summer of 1967, violence broke out in African American neighborhoods in 164 American cities, including major events in Buffalo, Cincinnati, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Newark, Plainfield (N.J.), and Tampa. In April 1968, after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., violence was recorded in over 100 cities, including major events […]

This month I survey the career of greek planner Constantinos Doxiadis, and ask: “Where Are the Star Planners?

Today marks the end of the second week of service of WMATA’s new Metro Extra line on Georgia Avenue. To my knowledge the project is the second Bus Rapid Transit line developed in the region, and the first express bus to operate almost exclusively inside the District.
The service, officially Metro Extra Route 79, currently operates […]

All too often when I tell people I am studying urban planning, my statement is met by a blank stare. Some will mumble something about a city they’ve been to, or admit they don’t know much about it.
Urban planning’s lack of visibility extends to the web, where there is a depressing lack of good websites […]