Holiday links: Memorial

by Steven Yates • May 28, 2012 1:09 pm

Photo by The U.S. Army on Flickr.

It's never too early: With the Gray administration mired in scandal, several candidates appear to be positioning themselves for a run for mayor in 2014, including councilmembers Muriel Bowser, Jack Evans, and Tommy Wells. (Post)

Uber legal: A taxi bill in the DC Council would, among other things, legalize taxi services like Uber, though it might not permit Uber's model of higher prices at busy times. (Post)

Stay away from Wegmans: Mayor Gray wants to bring Wegmans to DC, but that's a foolish idea since Wegmans is only interested in building huge suburban stores, not trying more urban formats. (RPUS)

What DC was like in 1940: The Washington Times delved into Census data from 1940. Houses near Eastern Market cost less than most of Ward 8 and what's now Ward 5 was mostly white, and there were only 6,500 lawyers.

No trouble with the maples: One study find that the tree canopy tends to actually deter crime in Baltimore. Lower brush however, seems to increase it. (Atlantic)

How and why of opposition: Review processes, set up in the wake of failed urban renewal projects, allow handfuls of residents who fear and overestimate the effects of change to stymie transit and residential projects. (Salon)

And...: Tourism will be big in cities this summer, particularly DC. (WAMU) ... WABA gets The Advoc8te on a bike for the first time in two decades. (CHotR) ... One underutilized parking lot has become a beach-themed bar, with 70 tons of sand. (The Triangle)

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5 comments

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Steven Yates grew up in Indiana before moving to DC in 2002 to attend college at American University. He currently lives in Southwest DC.

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and the bad news: in another recent study Baltimore lost nearly 2 percent of its tree canopy in the eight-year period studied, or nearly a half percent a year. That was almost twice the average for most US cities analyzed. (was published in Baltimore sun a while back).

by lee on May 29, 2012 8:31 am • link • report

I have the same feeling about Baltimore. A friend used to live in Canton and I remember thinking "where are all the trees?" Some streets had one or two struggling trees while many other blocks were totally devoid of vegetation. It gives the entire area a very depressing, rundown feeling.

As for the study's assertion that low-lying vegetation causing crime by giving people places to stay hidden, I doubt that's really the case. Trees are expensive to put in and maintain. That's why many garden-style public housing developments opt for shrubs instead. It's not hard to move from there to find the correlation.

by Adam L on May 29, 2012 9:20 am • link • report

@Stay Away From Wegman's...I don't think you will win this argument.

by Arlington Civilzation on May 29, 2012 12:03 pm • link • report

"Stay away from Wegman's..."

I like Wegmans' just as much as the next guy, but it's pretty short-sighted to be working to bring such a monstrosity to DC. We don't have a 100 acre water-oriented amusement park, either. So unfair!

Meanwhile, you can drive to the Wegman's in PG county as quickly as most MD residents.

by oboe on May 29, 2012 12:14 pm • link • report

You know with respect to Wegmans, they are working on urban formats in Boston, or so google tells me. So maybe not all is lost... I do know they have been around 100 years and sell a lot of local goods.

by Jiminy on May 29, 2012 12:29 pm • link • report