This event featuring a new book about the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood caught my eye. It’s the first I’ve heard of the book which sounds quite interesting. As a note, Mt. Pleasant was also the subject of Brett Williams’ 1988 work, Upscaling Downtown: Stalled Gentrification in Washington DC, meaning it has been “gentrifying” in somebody’s mind […]
The White Elephant of Shaw Redevelopment
The Washington Post had two stories today evaluating the economic impact of the Washington Convention Center on the city and its impact on Shaw. The Post reports that attendance at the convention center is flat and with an annual operating cost to taxpayers of roughly $20 million is generally not performing as well as supporters […]
Is D.C. Filling Up?
Is the District running out of land to put new development? The Brooking Institute’s Christopher B. Leinberger made that argument during a recent presentation at the National Building Museum. As part of his presentation, he proposed modifying the long-standing height restriction on D.C. buildings as one way to accommodate more growth in the city. The […]
How Many Group Houses?
It occurred to me in a class session about U.S. Census data this week that it would be possible to research the number of group houses in D.C. and other places around the country. The census ask the number of members of the households and whether they constitute a family on the short form, meaning […]
The D.C. Group House and the ‘Beanbag Circle of Judgement’
Thanks to a consistent high demand for rental housing and a large stock of spacious row houses, Washington, D.C., has a large number of group houses. Well known by locals, I’ll define the group house as a house or apartment with a revolving group of four or more unrelated roommates who share a common kitchen, […]
‘Urban Appalachian Trail’ Almost One-Quarter Complete
For the last 16 years a group of trails and cycling advocates have worked largely in obscurity to create a vision for an “urban Appalachain Trail”: a 3,000 mile off-road trail from Key West, Florida to Calais, Maine for bikers and hikers. Headquartered in the Rhode Island-based East Coast Greenway Alliance, the trail’s backers work […]
Blogging for Engagement in College Park
Can a blog help bring new participants to the planning process? We’re not sure, but we’re trying. Two recent articles describe the progress we’ve made since launching Rethink College Park six months ago. The first is from today’s edition of The Diamondback, the campus student newspaper. When then-graduate student Brian Carroll defended his thesis on […]