David Bowie sang "turn and face the strange" on his 1972 single Changes. And, it's fair to say some cities are feeling the need to rethink things as well, from Richmond reassessing its transit system, to Maryland's I-270 monorail proposal, and Tysons' ambitions to become an urban center. Are you ready for some "Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes" as well?
By George Kevin Jordan (Editor and Correspondent) • August 6, 2019
What would you do if you were tasked with doubling the number of jobs and raising the number of residents from about 14,000 people to 100,000 in a city? Plus you need to add 113 million square feet of new construction (for reference, Tysons mall is two million square feet). And that city needs to be a bustling urban center at all hours.
By Dan Malouff (Board of Directors, Editorial Board) • August 5, 2019
As part of plans to widen and add toll lanes to I-270, Maryland transportation officials have promised to consider building a parallel monorail line. Putting aside whether or not that’s a good idea, here’s what we know about the proposal itself.
By Wyatt Gordon (Richmond Correspondent) • August 7, 2019
Today, in Richmond, “transit” means the bus. One might think that the city which debuted the world’s first electric streetcar may have bucked the trend against transit after World War II and preserved its historic transportation system. Instead, Richmond burned them, and local transit hasn’t really rebounced since then.
By Alex Baca (Housing Program Organizer), Nick Finio (Contributor) • August 6, 2019
Newly-released research found that gentrification produces mostly positive effects for original lower-income residents, but that doesn’t mean there are no losers. Rather, neighborhood change is far more complex than the typical narratives let on, and there are a lot of ways to decipher and judge its effects on individuals.
By Stephen Repetski (Editorial Board Alum) • August 5, 2019
The tunnel which would have connected the Alexandria Virginia Railway Express station with the King Street Metrorail station has been put on hold, according to Virginia Railway Express and Northern Virginia Transportation Authority documents. VRE still plans to make several improvements to the station.
