Recapping the Tenure of D.C. Planning Director Harriet Tregoning

Jonathan O’Connell writes of the expansive power and influence of the Harriet Tregoning, who recently resigned her position as the head of planning for Washington D.C. Under her leadership, “[D.C.’s] Office of Planning enjoyed broad influence over how the city managed transportation, parking, energy usage, economic strategy and historic preservation.”

O’Connell details Tregoning’s accomplishments on such local-planning-extra concepts as “Environmental sustainability” and “Transportation,” as well as the tough battles she fought over the smart growth agenda: “In various ways, Tregoning has tried to make it easier for D.C. residents to take public transit, bike or walk and, sometimes, harder to drive and park. Not all of the ideas were approved, and her efforts were among her most controversial, prompting angry letters and tense public meetings from residents who tired of not being able to find parking spaces and were angry that Tregoning was proposing ways to make them even more sparse.”