Watch D.C.'s Surface Parking Lots and Unoccupied Buildings Disappear

The Downtown D.C. Business Improvement District recently released its State of Downtown report. Downtown D.C.'s transformation over the last two decades has created an incredible revenue generator for the city.

1 minute read

April 27, 2014, 5:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Washington D.C. COnstruction

Tim Evanson / Flickr

Mike DeBonis provides insight on the recent State of Downtown report, released earlier this week by the Downtown D.C. Business Improvement District. The report describes a Downtown D.C. on the other side of two decades of transformation "from a 9-to-5 oriented hub of commerce to a 24-hour destination to live and play," according to DeBonis.

"Together with the neighboring Golden Triangle area, the Downtown D.C. BID estimates downtown now represents a net impact of $1 billion on the city’s yearly revenue — about one-sixth of the city’s entire local-funds budget."

The article also includes a striking GIF that shows the rapid disappearance of Downtown D.C.'s surface parking lots and empty buildings—a trend that is expected to continue as new buildings come online. 

Saturday, April 26, 2014 in The Washington Post

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

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