District of Columbia
Road in D.C.’s Rock Creek Park to Stay Car-Free
The National Park Service has decided to make permanent a road closure that went into effect in April 2020.
The United Nations Calls on U.S. Planners to Break Land Use, Transportation Status Quo
“We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator.”
New Rail Line Connects D.C. Area to Dulles Airport
The Silver Line extends passenger train service into Loudon County and adds new connections to the region’s airports.
D.C. Office of Planning Unveils Congress Heights Equitable Development Plan
The district’s small area plans (SAPs) are designed to ensure equitable economic and community development at the hyper-local level.
D.C. Revamps its Vision Zero Plan to Eliminate Traffic Fatalities
Washington, D.C. was an early adopter of Vision Zero in the United States, but eventually it became emblematic of the country's lack of progress in reducing traffic collisions.
Evaluating D.C.’s Plan to House Encampment Residents
One year into a pilot program to reduce encampments by offering housing and services to residents, almost three-quarters of participants have moved into housing.
D.C. Regional Framework Emphasizes Equity, Connectivity
The Region United Framework for 2030 outlines a plan for sustainable, equitable development, calling for a 'holistic' approach to regional planning.
Nationals Park Survives Permitting Scare, Remains Open for Final Games of the Baseball Season
The Washington Nationals, winners of the 2019 World Series, almost needed to find a new home for the final games of the 2022 baseball season after Events D.C. failed to meet the terms of the certificate of occupancy for Nationals Park.
D.C. Could Give Residents $100 Transit Subsidy
A proposed bill would distribute $100 in transit fare to District residents and provide $10 million to improving bus and streetcar services in underserved neighborhoods.
There Goes the Neighborhood? The Trickle-Down Effect of High Ride-Hailing Prices
Low-cost Uber and Lyft services helped some neighborhoods thrive, making them more accessible. Now these same neighborhoods are feeling the pinch as high ride-hailing costs push customers to stay closer to home.
D.C. Moves Forward With Idaho Stop Plan
A proposal to outlaw right turns on red and legalize the so-called Idaho Stop for bikes and scooters is aimed at improving road safety and limiting dangerous interactions between cyclists and drivers.
D.C., San Francisco Lead Pandemic Work From Home Trend
Remote work increased threefold during the pandemic, but the numbers vary significantly from city to city and region to region. Almost half of D.C.-area employees, for example, worked from home in 2021, according to American Community Survey data.
Some Commute Times Worsening Despite Remote Work Trends
The unpredictability of constantly changing commuting trends has some workers seeing much longer commute times as transportation agencies work to adjust to new travel patterns.
Universal Design in D.C.’s Rock Creek Park
After being closed to cars during the pandemic, Rock Creek Park’s Beach Drive has become a haven for people with mobility impairments.
D.C. Could Lead the Downtown Office Conversion Trend
Many urban cores around the country are faced with increasing office vacancies concurrently with a housing affordability crisis caused, at least in part, by a lack of supply. D.C. is particularly primed for a wave of adaptive reuse.
Three-Quarters of D.C. Housing Vouchers Go Unused
Hindered by bureaucratic delays and a tight housing market, voucher recipients in the District have a hard time finding available units.
D.C. Could Legalize ‘Idaho Stop,’ Ban Right Turns on Red
Proposed legislation would allow cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs and eliminate right turns on red in an effort to reduce cyclist and pedestrian fatalities.
Metrorail Preparing for Record-Long Service Shutdown
A bridge on the D.C. Metrorail Yellow Line will be closed for seven months—the longest ever for the transit system. Blue Line service and shuttles will attempt to make up the difference.
National Park Service Weighs Changes to D.C.’s Beach Drive
The scenic road has been closed to car traffic during the pandemic, but the park service could begin allowing through traffic nine months of the year.
Why Not Hold Traffic Safety to the Same Standards as Transit?
Many transportation modes, such as trains and airplanes, have robust, system-wide response mechanisms to investigate safety concerns when incidents occur. Why is traffic safety still seen largely as an individual responsibility?
Pagination
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Greater Baltimore Committee
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association