By David Cooling (Guest Contributor) • June 15, 2020
A plan to transform a portion of Dalecarlia Parkway, a wide road in DC’s farthest west area, into a shared-use path for pedestrians and cyclists is on ice because of neighborhood opposition. But some residents are trying to bring it back.
By Alex Baca (Housing Program Organizer) • June 15, 2020
On November 3, DC residents will vote for a new at-large councilmember, to replace the seat from which Councilmember David Grosso is stepping down. With over a dozen candidates, which ones will push for urbanist issues?
By Christina Sturdivant Sani (Contributor) • June 15, 2020
In the DC Metro area, the average cost of a home in a majority-black neighborhood is $48,490 less expensive than a comparable home in a neighborhood with few to no black residents, according to a report from the Brookings Institute.
By Christina Sturdivant Sani (Contributor) • June 15, 2020
Learn about exclusionary practices in transportation planning. Learn to ride the trails safely. Discuss the possibility of meaningful police reform in DC, and more in this week’s urbanist events.
In addition to the 15,000 people who submitted statements about the MPD budget to the DC Council by phone, email, and video, 500 people signed up to comment in person at Monday’s police budget hearing with 90 residents able to testify during the six-hour meeting. Last year, only 22 people signed up to testify at the police budget hearing. The majority of those who testified sought some sort of police reform. (Peter Hermann / Post)
In spite of local bans protecting tenants from eviction during the health crisis and economic downturn, some Washington region landlords have adopted an array of misleading rent-collection tactics to publically shame or harass tenants to pressure them to pay, including suggesting they face eviction. (Ally Schweitzer / WAMU)
In an open letter to the Arlington County Board, Arlington for Justice, a recently formed group whose steering committee members include Arlington’s top public defender and a prominent local Black Lives Matter organizer, calls for a number of reforms including reallocating at least 10% of the police budget, improving social services, and increasing police transparency and accountability. (ARLnow)
On Monday, DC, Maryland, and Virginia reported their lowest number of deaths due to COVID-19 since early April, and DC reported no new deaths for only the second time since the start of the pandemic. Prince George’s and Montgomery counties planned to move into their next stages of reopening. (Emily Davies, Dana Hedgpeth, and Julie Zauzmer / Post)
Arlington County is seeking public feedback on the redesigned Metropolitan Park near Amazon’s future Pentagon City offices. The proposed design is by the same firm responsible for New York City’s High Line and was funded by Amazon. (ARLnow)
The region is seeing record home prices driven by high buyer demand nearing pre-pandemic levels and a 33% drop in new listings compared to May 2019. Last month, the median home price for the region was the second-highest level on record at $500,000, and in DC the median home price was the highest on record at $660,000. (UrbanTurf)
Senate legislation to make DC a state gained four Democratic cosponsors following the aggressive federal crackdown in the district of Black Lives Matter protestors. Sens. Jackie Rosen (D-Nev.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Gary Peters (D. Mich.), and Jon Tester (D. Mon.) are now among the 40 senators and 224 House members cosponsoring the legislation. (Paul Blumenthal / HuffPost)
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