By Jane Green (Development Director) • March 30, 2020
Arlington, where I have lived since 2015 was the largest metro area I had ever lived in. My family had limited private space, but we embraced it because it pushed us out into the community. Spending so much time in the neighborhood has made Arlington feel like home. But social distancing has taken all of this away.
By David Alpert (Executive Director) • March 30, 2020
Most but not all of Metro’s proposed cuts to bus service are off the table, under a draft budget proposal the WMATA Board will vote on Thursday. So is an extra charge for riders using cash on buses, which advocates had opposed. Unfortunately, a plan to make transfers between buses and trains free was a casualty of the budget process.
The orders to stay at home allows residents to leave their homes for essential activities, like grocery shopping, medical appointments, or social-distancing-compliant outdoor exercise, while prohibiting “non-essential” businesses from operating and gatherings of 10 or more people. (Jeffrey Katz, Ally Schweitzer, and Martin Austermuhle / WAMU)
To prevent people from gathering around the Jefferson Memorial and Tidal Basin cherry blossoms, the National Park Service, together with DC police and US Park Police, extended road closures and bike and pedestrian restrictions for another week. (Dan Friedell / WTOP)
On March 30, the Historic Preservation Review Board temporarily stopped accepting project applications, although projects in historic districts can still be submitted online and those up to 1,000 square feet can still be approved by Historic Preservation Office staff. (Nena Perry-Brown / Urban Turf)
Given a choice last week to either stay at the Central Union Mission shelter for an indefinite amount of time or leave without being able to return for the foreseeable future, about 170 men chose to stay at the shelter. (Marissa Lang / Post)
Delaware’s beachfront Sussex County, home to 66 of the state’s 232 COVID-19 cases and second-home to many Washington region vacationers, is telling those with vacation homes to stay away during the pandemic. “Now is not the time to visit. And this is not the time for a mini-vacation,” said the county council’s president. (Marisa M. Kashino / Washingtonian)
The Trump administration will finalize a rule to weaken the federal government’s gas mileage standards for the nation’s cars and pickup trucks, requiring cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs to improve average fuel efficiency by 1.5% per year between model years 2021 and 2026, instead of 5% annually as set by the Obama administration. (Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis / Post)
Michael Sorkin, an author, critic, teacher, designer, architect, and advocate of social justice and sustainability, was remembered for his belief in the importance of public spaces, the primacy of pedestrians over cars, and the “cheek by jowlness” that makes cities so vibrant. (Harrison Smith / Post)
