DC Urbanist - Only on BlueSky
@DCUrbanist
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Now only on BlueSky 📍FFM 🇩🇪 - ❤️ DC - Firm believer in abundant housing and safe transportation Now only on BSky
Frankfurt on the Main, Germany
Joined April 2021
There’s no reason DC can’t look like this
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I shit you not, I’m down 1.5 belt loops and have only been in Europe for 2.5 weeks. Legalizing walkable communities would go so far in combating our obesity epidemic.
Children struggling with obesity should be evaluated and treated early and aggressively, including with medications for kids as young as 12 and surgery for those as young as 13, according to new guidelines released Monday.
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America needs more vacation trains
What's an unlikely train route under 250 miles that you think would actually perform very well?.
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Being at my parents suburban house means I, a 27 year old, can’t leave the house because my parents are using the two cars. All I want to do is go to the gym. Car dependency is the opposite of independence and freedom.
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Now *this* is what a bike lane should look like
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My salary in Frankfurt is 60% of what it was in DC, but my rent is 40% of what it was and I only spend 25€/month on unlimited local & regional transit anywhere in the country. Abundant housing and car-free lifestyles would make Americans astronomically wealthier.
American salaries are higher than other countries, but unfortunately a lot of that goes into cars.
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It’s actually pretty mind boggling that the same plot of land that houses a single McDonald’s can become 805 homes.
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What's the urbanist equivalent of Barbie-Oppenheimer?.
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If American trains could go this fast, you could go from DC to Boston in 2.5 hours
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Honestly one of the best, simplest quality of life things about living in Europe is that all the food in the grocery store has a healthiness rating. It’s just so simple and easy
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The quality of life in Europe is honestly so much higher than the US.
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@audacityofagay I mean, by that logic, wouldn’t that also be true of the nutrition facts and labels? This is just a summary of that information. Do you think the nutrition facts and ingredients lists also cause disordered eating?.
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As an American, it is fucking *mind boggling* how some Europeans can both have a dense, walkable city/village and empty country side within a 10 minute bike ride of their home. How can anyone think our suburban sprawl is better than this? Why do we make this illegal here?.
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My dad just got a $200 ticket for driving 49mph in a 35mph zone in New York Avenue. This is not what a 35mph road should look like. This looks and feels more like an interstate than a 35mph road, and no one should be surprised when drivers treat it as such.
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This is how driving should work. No one should drive *through* a city to get somewhere. Driving should have long, roundabout options like the beltway while transit offers a faster, more direct path. This way, only people who really need their cars would be the ones driving.
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Honestly, the best part of this whole thing is that the “parking all the way around the corner” is half the distance as the middle of a Home Depot parking lot
Repost from @MotenSpeaks discussing the detrimental effects bike lanes are having on culture and business in some parts of the city. I agree 100% with his commentary. #dontmutedc
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This is extremely effective at highlighting just how much on-street parking degrades urban environments.
We think we’ve struck a good balance in our approach to school streets in #Tirana. This project was fast, inexpensive, it works, and it is loved. Twelve more like this in 2023, on track for every school in the city by 2027. @Qendra_M @punetorettirane @CityOfTirana
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A late-night Cookout in Adams Morgan would be the most profitable business in America.
My niche opinion about DC urbanism is that we should have 1 of every regional chain/fast food chain to serve as embassies of regional American culture. We should have a Waffle House, a Culver's, Whataburger, In-N-Out, etc.
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Hey guys, maybe when there’s a story about busses, you should talk to people who ride the bus! . The level of priority and privilege America gives to drivers is crazy.
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Imagine bragging about how you’re so lazy you won’t walk more than a block from a parking space to your destination lmao.
Repost from @MotenSpeaks discussing the detrimental effects bike lanes are having on culture and business in some parts of the city. I agree 100% with his commentary. #dontmutedc
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Imagine how beautiful 14th St could be with this approach
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I love how all the anti-train people completely discount the time to . 1) travel to the airport.2) get to the airport an hour early .3) virtually unlimited baggage allowance.4) baggage claim, if appropriate .5) travel from the airport to destination city.
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@bmariner @El_Guatqui In the vast majority of America, the only land use pattern legally allowed to be built is car-dependent sprawl. Most people can’t walk to school, work, stores, or anything else so they drive everywhere. Even if they wanted to walk, pedestrian infrastructure is usually unsafe.
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WHY DO WE SPEND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO SEND METRO TO EMPTY FIELDS IN TBE MIDDLE OF FUCKING NOWHERE?!?!? ALL WE ARE ASKING FOR IS FIVE MINUTE HEADWAYS WHERE PEOPLE ACTUALLY EXIST!!!!
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This is peak America car brain. Proudly broadcasting yourself breaking the law because you’re in a car and therefore laws don’t apply to you…only to be driving on a suspended license.
Candidate for Boston City Council @VitaleforBoston insists on parking in a bike lane, gets ticketed, and has her driving privileges removed.
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This is EXACTLY why user fees would be the most effective way of changing people’s mode choice. Congestion pricing in DC would make the city so much more livable.
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Strong disagree here. A one story building on the most popular, expensive street in the city is a policy failure, especially given our housing crisis. This building should have hundreds of units of housing on top of it.
We're lucky not just to have @LeDiplomateDC but also that the building wasn't razed and a new 10-story one put there. If you remember boarded up "Shirt Laundry" years it wouldn't have been shocking had they just leveled the whole thing and started over. I'm glad they didn't.
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Look at how much space Rochester gets back by removing a highway. That’s easily a full city block. Imagine the communities we could build if we removed 295, 395, and 695
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Hate on @wmata as much as you want, but the new GM’s transparency (and actual use of the system) is truly A+ and such a breath of fresh air.
Sorry for this morning’s service impacts everyone. I’ve been stuck on a train as well. Talking w/ customer Antione who is also impacted. Earlier reports or a seat on fire on a train at Eastern Market. We are moving. We will update w/ more info after an investigation occurs.
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But how will customers get to businesses with no parking?!?
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Is the fact that there’s no train between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh the biggest embarrassment in all of American rail?
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Wait, our current infrastructure can handle DC↔️Boston in 4 hours and we just willfully don’t do that? What the actual fuck? I’d take the train instead of flying in a heartbeat if this were a thing.
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Honestly, Biden should use the Defense Production Act to modernize our rail infrastructure. Imagine a world in which we go to war with China and can’t move troops or weapons efficiently because our rail looks like this.
🇺🇸 It is quite honestly a miracle any time a train carrying something remotely dangerous makes it through Ohio unscathed. thearcangel
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This, but the Rock Creek Parkway around the Kennedy Center.
Paris 2015 vs Paris 2022.Avant, Voie express Georges Pompidou.Après, Parc Rives de Seine
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I know we talk a lot about Amsterdam in the urbanist twittersphere, but Haarlem is exactly what every American small city and suburb should model itself off.
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Saving this for any time a business says no one will be able to access their store if the street is closed to cars.
Boston moved over 1 million people in & out of town for the @celtics Parade with most of Downtown & Back Bay closed to cars. 🏀 🎉 . 🎥 @OnlyInBOS.
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Having water back in the canal makes such a difference. This must be the closest thing we have to the Netherlands in America
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A parking lot becoming 550 homes? You absolutely love to see it.
550 Units? Residential + Hotel? Renderings Show Possibilities For a Mt. Vernon Triangle Parking Lot.
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“No one swims across the river to commute to work. So why does the city want to build a bridge, our columnist wonders”.
Only 0.7% of commuters cycle to work in the region, data show. So why is DDOT replacing car lanes with traffic lanes on Connecticut Avenue, our columnist wonders.
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15th has 5 lanes for cars and this is the sidewalk
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$2,000 for killing a human being. What a disgrace.
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I’ve officially reached “taking videos of basic infrastructure while on vacation.” Just look at how this beautiful @WorldBollard filters traffic in Lisbon though
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My dream for Washington DC is for it to be filled with streets like this (Vienna)
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This is what it should be like to be in a bus on Florida Ave.
How to significantly increase bus transit ridership. In 5 seconds. Dedicated bus lanes. Via @Daniela17C #BRT #Bogota
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Rockville has to be up there for DC’s ugliest, most depressing suburb, no?
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Without a doubt the nicest sidewalk in DC!
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People hate on Navy Yard and its “luxury one bedrooms”, but all that housing supply has made it one of the most affordable neighborhoods in DC.
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Bus riders should be treated like royalty in our transportation system. They don’t cause traffic. They don’t cause pollution. They don’t cause violence. Their riding the bus makes life better for *everyone else* outside the bus, and we should treat them appropriately.
The better buses moves the more people use the bus which means the more everyone who doesn’t ride the bus benefits. It’s one integrated mobility system so everyone that doesn’t ride transit should support getting as many other people as possible to ride transit. Geometry. #wmata.
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A close friend just texted me:. “Found a spot in DuPont (17th and R NW) for $950 + $150 utilities avg. / month. Pros:.-Great location . Cons:.-7 other roommates”. You should not need SEVEN FUCKING ROOMMATES to affordable live in Dupont. Build. More. Fucking. Housing.
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Imagine how much money the DC urbanism twittersphere would make if the council did this. Just bike up and down 14th and make $1k/hr.
Well, this is interesting:. In NYC, a new bill would invite residents to submit photos of cars blocking bike lanes, schools, and sidewalks -- and then receive 25% of each $175 ticket.
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Im like 80% sure someone could win the mayoral race simply by promising Open Streets every weekend. Everyone here is so happy.
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This is such a basic thing that would drastically improve quality of life for everyone outside a car.
Most places outlaw parking right up at a stop sign or stop light. So you might as well take advantage of those laws by installing bumpouts. Makes it much easier to see around corners ("daylighting").
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Lmao even fucking Houston did this before DC.
NEW: 7 blocks in downtown Houston are going to be permanently transformed into a people-place and pedestrian promenade. From Rusk Street to Allen’s Landing Park. No trial or pilot. Not seasonal. Permanent. If Houston can do it, what’s your city’s excuse?.
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This could be 14th St.
“Cultures and climates differ all over the world, but people are the same. They’ll gather in public if you give them a good place to do it.”.— Jan Gehl
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Further proof that one of Metro’s biggest operational challenges is needing to cover so much space of unpopulated emptiness in the suburbs. Sprawl makes our transportation more expensive and worse.
This is what Paris's municipal subway system would look in Washington DC. Credit: @pushtheneedle who makes these amazing maps!
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This could so easily be 17th St NW.
What was once a place for cars is now a place for people. Before the pandemic, Rotterdam’s Witte de Withstraat was a car-choked thoroughfare. Today, cars are banned, and terraces have taken the place of on-street parking spaces; part of a program that converted 1,000+ citywide.
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The land use allocation in the busiest commercial corridor in DC is beyond embarrassing
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Sorry for the repetitive “cities without cars are so much better” pictures the past few days, but, I mean, come on. Look at how nice this is.
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The difference between a society built for cars and a society built for people is shocking.
“Our biggest discovery was the myriad benefits that come with far fewer automobiles. Even with high expectations, Delft was nothing short of a revelation; each day discovering the joys of being in a city that treated cars as guests rather than guests of honor.” - Curbing Traffic
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@PublicEmNumber1 I agree with you, and this was not meant to be a complaint about my dads punishment. It was meant to be an example of how road design affects how fast people drive, and DDOT should redesign the roads so that people drive slower.
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Small, car-free, mixed use streets & plazas would enable a level of community building we don’t currently have in DC. This could, and should, be common through DC. Imagine T St NW as a plaza like this.
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For some reason, I don’t think pedestrians listening to music while they walk is the cause for a spike in pedestrian deaths.
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Look at that form. Taking the lane like an absolute pro. 10/10 execution. But if @EBJunkies is annoyed by this, he should reach out to his ANC and support more bike lanes so cyclists don’t need to share lanes with motorists!.
This maniac is riding his bike like 5 mph uphill on Connecticut Avenue in the middle lane. Not a care in the world. My mind is blown.
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Look at this carnage, and people will still say bikes and scooters are the dangers on our roads. We need to end car supremacy to make our cities and towns safer.
Update crash with entrapment 3000 block Connecticut Ave NW. All patients extricated. Transporting 7 patients to various hospitals, 3 with life threatening injuries. #DCsBravest
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It’s really disappointing how DC forces all the change into two or three neighborhoods and refuses to legalize any more housing in the richest, whitest, most segregated parts of the city.
DC is 96% of the way to meeting its housing production goal: 36,000 new housing units added 2019–2025. That's been driven by housing production in the Navy Yard, SW Waterfront, & downtown.
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Lmao, if someone can’t avoid stationary concrete then they probably aren’t qualified to operate a multi-ton motor vehicle.
"PSA: These vehicular death traps have been installed on every block of 9th Street NW between H and E Streets NW."
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VDOT spends billions on:. ❌ Metro. ❌ VRE. ❌ Regional rail. ❌ Cycling infrastructure . ✅ Climate destroying bridge that will do nothing to reduce traffic.
Did you hear the news, Virginia? I-95 is expanding to 12 lanes over the Rappahannock River in #Fredericksburg this week!
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Like honestly at what point do American city leaders say enough is enough? This is fucking ridiculous.
Dramatic morning at the Whole Foods in Tenleytown DC. One police officer I interviewed said, laconically, ‘Brakes and gas are very different pedals.’ No one was hurt, so far as I can tell.
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I think the thing that baffles me the most as a DC resident is how Jose Andres is objectively an absolutely incredible person that helps countless people all over the world while simultaneously lobbying to not pay DC restaurant workers the minimum wage.
.@WCKitchen teams getting a chartered plane loaded and ready to move west to communities affected by the remnants of typhoon Merbok….we will help every community in need….!#ChefsForAlaska
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The cars highlighted yellow are carrying ~50% the capacity of students of the school bus.
This is the traffic to drop-off students at a middle school in Metro Vancouver. New video about this issue tomorrow.
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I have a tongue in cheek question: if an unhoused person paid the $50 for an RPP, could they just set up their tent in a parking space for the year? Those spaces are public land being used for private use anyways. Or is that only reserved for those wealthy enough to own a car?.
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No, NYT, you do not need to even pretend that "mass deportations" is an affordable housing strategy from Trump. FFS.
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This is an embarrassment.
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Modern pickup trucks are too big for urban environments and should require a commercial operating license.
Third District Commander James Boteler provides an update on the 4-year-old struck by a vehicle in the 1200 Block of V St, NW
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Bike lanes are now sponsors of terrorism, apparently.
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Without a doubt the biggest car-free success story in DC
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This is EXACTLY how I feel coming back to the US after ~14 months away. Why was every street in Seattle six lanes wide? . Why is the Wharf the only pedestrian-friendly place in DC? . WHY IS IT JUST CARS CARS CARS EVERYWHERE? . It makes life so much worse.
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Imagine this for 15th St NW.
Avant / Après Rue Mouton-Duvernet dans le 14ème arrondissement de Paris. Une ancienne rue parking entre deux parcs a été piétonnisée et végétalisée, pour faire une continuité entre les deux parcs.
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@sam_d_1995 @winsjuliet @NYCMayor @GovKathyHochul Does also she think that no one is allowed to drive on the NJ Turnpike because there are tolls there?.
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This street honestly looks so cool. Cannot wait to see it finished . (Please tell me it’s pedestrianized and car-free…)
Took a tour of @thestacksdc coming soon in Buzzard Point! Phase 1 adds 1,100 new homes, 125 new affordable homes, restaurants, retail, & absolutely stunning views of DC’s rivers & monuments. Loved the focus on scale, walkability, & place making. Can’t wait to see it open in 2025.
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The most satisfying car into building I’ve ever seen. 10/10, absolute perfection.
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Legalize small streets and smaller gin bars
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DC should have this.
One of the most exciting bills in CA: SB 457. The bill would give households tax credits for *not* having cars. A two-adult household with no cars would get a $5,000 tax credit. If they had one car, they’d get $2,500. Two cars, $0.
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We don’t need more conversations. We know what works. It works all over the world. Narrower roads, fewer lanes, fewer cars, more bikes, more buses. Traffic calming and safe infrastructure works. You just have to tell DDOT to prioritize safety over speed and “level of service”.
I think we need to have an honest conversation as a community about what it will really take to get to Vision Zero. I don’t want people to just pay fines. I want them to change behavior. But any enforcement proposal beyond booting keeps getting knocked down.
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If DC legalized Barcelona's housing density everywhere, we could fit the entirety of DC's population in roughly this area. If you want to prevent displacement throughout the District, legalizing that density is how you accomplish that goal.
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This is what Beach Dr and Rock Creek Pkwy should look like.
Kind of crazy that we used to have streetcars like this all over the city, but we tore them out to make room for car traffic
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Once upon a time, I lived in Navy Yard and a friend lived in Adams Morgan. The late night summertime rides home from their house - all downhill, warm air, across the Mall with the illuminated monuments - are some of my favorite DC memories.
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The fact that merely wanting to legalize this in Washington DC is seen as radical is so depressing. Imagine 17th St, 18th St, or M St looking like Utrecht. (h/t @modacitylife)
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This could be DC with ambitious leadership.
“A startling statistic emerged in Paris last month: during the morning and evening rush hours, on representative main thoroughfares crisscrossing the French capital, there are now more bicycles than cars – almost half as many again, in fact.”.
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This is an absolutely comical amount of pavement for the 5 people using it in this video. And 3 of those 5 still manage to crash into each other.
#caughtoncamera: Another crash at Army Navy and S. Hayes Street in Pentagon City, VA. This one at a.m. today fits the pattern of many others in that it involves a vehicle making a left turn from the I-395N ramp onto Army Navy and the interaction with traffic traveling northbound
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The most cathartic YIMBY chart in existence
Notwithstanding the prevailing "folk" non-wisdom that supply and demand simply doesn't apply to housing, the evidence is clear: when you build lots of housing, prices stabilize and even fall. A first class summary of what we know by @jburnmurdoch:
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Yet another indication of high speed rail’s supremacy and why it should be built across America.
This is why they tell you to get to the airport 2 HOURS EARLY. Welcome to one of the busiest days in the entire year for air travel. This is @Reagan_Airport at ~6am on the eve of Thanksgiving 2023.
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This is what 14th & U intersection should look like.
the netherlands is *so good* at designing livable cities it’s not even fair. just look at this perfect intersection — isn’t this how all cities should be?
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First time back in DC in 18 months, and I appreciate seeing all the new infrastructure built in that time
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Making driving and parking more challenging is literally the point. Cars kill people. We need to be less reliant upon them. That means taking away lanes and parking spaces and replacing them with protected bus and bike lanes.
As D.C. embarks on plans to add 30 more miles of protected bike lanes citywide by 2025, it’s facing growing resistance from residents who worry the lanes will make driving and parking more challenging.
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