A look back at Washington, D.C.'s most recent Comprehensive Plan reveals lessons for how the city should plan for the future next time it undertakes a comprehensive planning process.
The Greater Greater Washington site is undertaking a roundtable, of sorts, to review Washington, D.C.'s 2005 Comprehensive Plan. Each week, Greater Greater Washington readers are discussing the section and summarizing their discussion on the site.
David Whitehead summarizes the most recent discussion, which centered on the comp plan's priority on enabling an inclusive city.
DC's 2005 Comprehensive Plan began with a strong and encouraging vision: building a growing and inclusive city. Just one chapter later, it lists a set of contradictory guiding principles that waffle between preserving the status quo and promoting inclusive growth. Oops.
To back that argument, Whitehead digs into the plan's section on the guiding principles for growth. Readers notices that many of the guiding principles employ contradictory terms—antonyms even.
Corey Holman noticed that many of these statements use "near antonyms," like "Maintaining and enhancing the mix of housing types" (Principle #3) or "ensure that neighborhood character is preserved and enhanced" (Principle #8). He wrote, "How can something be maintained or preserved while also being enhanced? It's that wishy-washy language that allows people to see what they want in this document, instead of laying out a clear vision.
The lesson of the post is that next time around, the District will require a comp plan that makes strong statements about its principles—especially since the District is growing much faster than the 2005 plan anticipated.
FULL STORY: 33 pages after calling for a growing and inclusive city, DC's Comprehensive Plan muddies that vision
Coming Soon to Ohio: The Largest Agrivoltaic Farm in the US
The ambitious 6,000-acre project will combine an 800-watt solar farm with crop and livestock production.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
Dallas Surburb Bans New Airbnbs
Plano’s city council banned all new permits for short-term rentals as concerns about their impacts on housing costs grow.
Divvy Introduces E-Bike Charging Docks
New, circular docks let e-bikes charge at stations, eliminating the need for frequent battery swaps.
How Freeway Projects Impact Climate Resilience
In addition to displacement and public health impacts, highway expansions can also make communities less resilient to flooding and other climate-related disasters.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.