washington d.c. posts, articles, and infographics

Shrinking the Play Deficit in Washington, D.C.

June 9, 2011 by Next American City
with 104 views

Credit: By indraradoOrganized “playtime” is growing in popularity in cities across the country as families, schools, and community organizations realize that video and computer games are not modern substitutes for old-fashioned play, but distractions from the true benefits of running outside, socializing with others, and using your... [read more]

Brightening the city’s (and NRDC’s) streetscape

May 5, 2010 by Kaid Benfield
with 299 views

Speaking of giving to the street, that’s exactly what DC’s New York Avenue Sculpture Project is doing, right under my office window, in the median of the street where NRDC’s Washington offices are located. The project comprises, for now, four large-scale and somewhat whimsical sculptures by the French artist Niki de Saint... [read more]

Who Needs This Goose and its Golden Eggs?

March 29, 2010 by Ryan Avent
with 303 views

Let me just make one more point concerning Metro and its funding shortage. Currently, the plan seems to be to hike fares and reduce service. This will seriously degrade the rider experience on and the utility of Metro. Since it will encourage current riders to start driving, it will also degrade the experience on roads. Given that the... [read more]

A local lesson in transit orientation, walkability and supermarket economics

March 8, 2010 by Kaid Benfield
with 257 views

Several weeks ago, I ran a post making the case that transit-oriented development requires more than just transit and development. As the phrase implies, it also requires orientation: the development must relate to and be convenient to the transit. There is also a body of practice and research on the closely linked subject... [read more]

Outstanding walkability/livability presentation by DC planning staff

February 28, 2010 by Kaid Benfield
with 871 views

As you can see from the Walk Score map above, Washington, DC is a city blessed with highly walkable neighborhoods. And it’s going to get even better: When he took office in 2007, DC mayor Adrian Fenty hit a home run by appointing national smart growth icon (and great friend to many of us) Harriet Tregoning to... [read more]

Car free city for a day in Washington DC

February 12, 2010 by Neil Takemoto
with 231 views

What would a car free city be like? DC residents got a taste of that when the city experienced record snowfalls in early February of nearly five feet, the most since 1898. Just about the only thing shut down were the cars. Instead, the city was alive with people in the streets like no other day. As you can see below, the local... [read more]

D.C. Keeps PACE To Support Energy Efficient Homes

February 10, 2010 by Chris Cheatham
with 246 views

Do you remember Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) bonds? If you recall, in a June 2009 post, I proclaimed my undying affection for PACE bonds, which can serve as a financing mechanism to retrofit homes and buildings: “PACE is a bond where the proceeds are lent to commercial and residential property owners to finance energy... [read more]

Reflecting national central-city trends, DC population rises while crime plummets

January 5, 2010 by Kaid Benfield
with 254 views

New end-of-year data confirm what some of us have been reporting for a long time: central cities in the US are no longer in decline. This is great news for the environment, since it is more evidence that sprawl is losing its hold on the American psyche. In Washington, DC, where I live, a steady trend of population growth... [read more]

Solar Decathlon on the Mall in Washington DC

October 2, 2009 by Adam Shake
with 680 views

For three weeks in October 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy will host the Solar Decathlon in Washington DC. 20 teams of college and university students will compete to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house. The Solar Decathlon is also an event to which the public... [read more]

Which US cities have the greenest commuting habits?

October 2, 2009 by Kaid Benfield
with 226 views

Big-time kudos to Bike Pittsburgh for combing through new census data to extract and rank the commuting habits of the 60 largest US cities. The data chart on the organization's website, naturally, opens up with the ranking of bicycle commuting: Portland is number one, with a rate (six percent) astonishingly ten times the... [read more]

Smart growth must become more demanding, more community-oriented, and greener (literally)

August 21, 2009 by Kaid Benfield
with 251 views

Is it any wonder that neighbors continue to oppose density (oops, I meant "compact development") when this is what we have been giving them? We smart growth advocates have gotten lazy. The issue has evolved in the last decade but, for the most part, we haven't. We're stuck in a mindset from the 1990s... [read more]

The heights of irony: protecting our children in a "ClusterF**k Nation"

July 10, 2009 by Andrew Faulkner
with 444 views

There was recently an interesting article on anti-urban media bias from Greater Greater Washington, a blog focusing on urbanism in Washington DC. Dissecting the Washington Post coverage of Fairfax County Virginia's proposed incorporation as a city, the blog emphasizes how the article's authors repeatedly use codewords for city such as "... [read more]