Posts by David Meni — Editorial Board
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Top posts of 2018: Surprise! The Mortgage Interest Deduction is now even more of a handout to the wealthy
Now that taxes have been filed (phew), we’re starting to get a look at how changes to the tax code made by the Republican Congress are affecting key programs. Keep reading…
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The acoustics of public meeting rooms don’t invite participation
Recreation centers and schools are where a lot of important decisions of local government are made. Next to street fairs and festivals, they’re also the most likely places where people can come together to talk about and talk to their government and representatives. Unfortunately, many of these rooms are some of the worst-designed spaces for public dialogue. Keep reading…
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Building(s) of the week: The “shopfront” house
Looking at DC’s older neighborhoods and streetcar suburbs can reveal great examples of what more granular, ad-hoc development looks like. The question is how we can create an environment for new neighborhoods to grow in a similar way. Keep reading…
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Surprise! The Mortgage Interest Deduction is now even more of a handout to the wealthy
Now that taxes have been filed (phew), we’re starting to get a look at how changes to the tax code made by the Republican Congress are affecting key programs. One of these, the Mortgage Interest Deduction (MID), is a provision that doesn’t achieve its purported goal to increase homeownership and also skews its benefits towards richer households. Keep reading…
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DC’s “zombie rails” won’t stay buried and are causing cyclists and drivers grief
Old streetcar tracks are buried just underneath the road’s surface in parts of DC, but some of them won't stay underground. That's forcing cyclists to not only navigate around cars and buses, but also around areas of pavement so damaged they're impossible to bike over. Keep reading…
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What the new GOP tax bill means for housing and urbanism
Details and analysis are still coming out about the new GOP tax bill, and there's a lot that applies to homeownership, affordable housing, local budgets, and cities in general. Here’s what we know so far about how it will impact the Washington region. Keep reading…
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We give some millionaires $22k/year in housing assistance. Weird, right?
We often think about housing subsidies as money the government gives to low-income people to help them pay for a place to live. But the US actually gives far more housing aid via the tax code through deductions that go mainly to the country’s highest earners. Keep reading…
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Are Airbnbs driving up your rent?
Airbnb listings, especially “commercial listings” by hosts who own multiple properties, mean fewer homes people can live in for the long term. That can cause city-wide ripple-effects on rent increases, according to a new study from the DC Working Families Party. Keep reading…
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The biggest beneficiaries of housing subsidies? The wealthy.
It’s almost the first of the month, and that means rent’s due. That rent or mortgage check is the single biggest expense in most Americans’ budgets, so it’s no wonder that Congress directs a ton of federal dollars to housing. But what should be surprising—and infuriating—is that a lot of this support goes to housing the wealthy, while very little… Keep reading…
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This DC park is pretty much the definition of desolate. How can the National Park Service change that?
Though it’s only a few blocks south and west from the epicenter of new restaurants and high rise apartments in neighboring Navy Yard, Buzzard Point has largely gone undeveloped. That’s going to change soon, including at Buzzard Point Park, where the National Park Service (NPS) is asking the public for its ideas on how to best use the space. Keep reading…