The Montgomery County we know today may exist because of a little-known document written over 50 years ago. As county planners work on a replacement, they’re tackling some big issues, like racial equity, public health, and a slow economy.
By George Kevin Jordan (Managing Editor) • December 7, 2020
Discover how to make your city more walkable. Learn how environmental justice issues and the pandemic intersect. Join the Sierra Club DC for their annual holiday party, and more during this week’s virtual urbanist events.
By Wyatt Gordon (Virginia Correspondent) • December 7, 2020
When the Virginia Capital Trail was first proposed back in 1999, critics derided the idea of the 51.7-mile multi-use path as overly-ambitious and too expensive. Today, the east-west trail connecting Virginia’s first capital of Jamestown with the modern seat of government, Richmond, faces concerns about overcrowding, and there’s now a sibling trail in the pipeline.
Health experts say officials in the region could save thousands of lives by implementing tighter coronavirus restrictions — but officials are putting off aggressive action for fear of political criticism and economic challenges. (Robert McCartney / Post)
Pricier new construction apartments are driving the drop in rental prices in DC as the pandemic pushes people who would normally rent those apartments outside DC. Places with dramatic changes include Shaw, Dupont Circle, Logan Circle, Southwest Waterfront and Navy Yard. (Morgan Baskin / DCist)
The 18-story Holiday Inn in Rosslyn is set to be demolished by implosion on Sunday morning to make room for a mixed use development. Officials are warning of road closures and other safety precautions in the surrounding area. (ARLNow)
DC will give some unemployed residents $1,200 stimulus payments, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Monday. The District is also suspending high school athletics and high contact sports — even though new contact tracing data shows people with COVID-19 were far more likely to have been at work, social events or dining out in the weeks leading up to their diagnosis. (Michael Brice-Saddler and Meagan Flynn / Post, DC Government)
Fairfax County schools have arrived at two final options for changing the magnet school admissions process for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, both meant to increase diversity: a lottery system or a “holistic review” process. (Hannah Natanson / Post, Neal Augenstein / WTOP)
Ward 8 has more than 500 acres of forest, but that land has been neglected, overrun with invasive species and has barely any hiking trails. A group is working to change that. (Gabriel Popkin / Post)
The ZooLights Express, a lit-up truck with a dancing panda that serves as the National Zoo’s pandemic substitute for its annual ZooLights event, was already seen as an underwhelming substitute. Then the truck broke down Friday (of course). (Colleen Grablick / DCist. Tip: Chester B.)
