I believe "tarveted" should be targeted.

by selxic on Oct 26, 2012 8:21 am • link • report

As I said a week or so ago, DC is DC regardless of the administration in power. The character of the District is not defined by the Administration.

Halloween is also misspelled in the "And..." section. That article doesn't say impaired drivers are what makes the holiday dangerous for pedestrians. I'd guess the pedestrian problems come from more people walking and being careless. The alcohol mention in the article said 41% of highway fatalities involved a driver above the legal BAC limit.

by selxic on Oct 26, 2012 8:38 am • link • report

I think the second article's title should be "Metro escalators keep moving" not "Metro elevators keep moving"

by MW on Oct 26, 2012 9:10 am • link • report

Liz Farmer has an excellent article today on hot DC neighborhoods and a map of where white populations are increasing dramatically.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/d.c.s-northeast-primed-for-revival/article/2511768#.UIqLG8VY27x

http://washingtonexaminer.com/gallery/articleid/2511768/1/pictures/2554798#.UIqMbMVY27w

Prices in Brentwood have gone up 47% in a year and 26% in Brookland although median prices for houses there are still in the low 300's. North Capitol Hill had the most sales and it's prices are already @420K.

This most of NE DC renovating at once is an so different from years ago when only certain limited fringe areas renovated slowly.

by Tom Coumaris on Oct 26, 2012 9:26 am • link • report

http://washingtonexaminer.com/d.c.s-northeast-primed-for-revival/article/2511768#.UIqLG8VY27x

It somehow seems appropriate that the Examiner doesn't even know how to spell "Randle Highlands".

by iaom on Oct 26, 2012 9:44 am • link • report

Not my favorite paper by a long shot but Farmer and the local reporters do seem to get good stories.

by Tom Coumaris on Oct 26, 2012 9:53 am • link • report

and Living Social lost over 1/2 Billion last year:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/livingsocial-posts-566-million-loss-as-acquisitions-drop-in-value/2012/10/25/6c1e229c-1eeb-11e2-9746-908f727990d8_story.html

by Tom Coumaris on Oct 26, 2012 10:13 am • link • report

LivingSocial is done with a capital D.

They continue to bleed money, and while VC funded startups typically do, they do so with a legitimate plan for the future. The angel investors continue to pump money in while waiting for the IPO, knowing they stand to make many multiples back in profit.

However…LivingSocial hasn’t issued their IPO, and to make matters worse, Groupon got there first and their stock has fallen 80% since its initial valuation, meaning if and when LS even gets to issue their IPO, their valuation will be significantly less.

The livingsocial venture capitalists and angel investors already know this which is why they’ve already slowed the money. I give them another 24 months before they close up shop, or either downsize significantly and transform their business model into something else.

I can't believe DC dangled a ~32 million dollar taxbreak in front of this company. What a waste.

by LivingSocial on Oct 26, 2012 10:57 am • link • report

Now, Metro needs to get the 'up' escalators moving faster.

Their signs boast that their escalators go a third slower than those in department stores. But the 'up' escalators are a safety hazard because they do not get people off the train platform quickly enough.

And Metro could probably run just one 'up' escalator rather than two, if the one ran faster.

by Tracey Johnstone on Oct 26, 2012 11:06 am • link • report

http://washingtonexaminer.com/gallery/articleid/2511768/1/pictures/2554798#.UIqMbMVY27w

Isn't the dark green literally because of one family moving out in early 2009, and a different family moving in?

by Kolohe on Oct 26, 2012 11:20 am • link • report

I doubt if the yellow <5% areas, especially EOTR, had much more turnover. The red and orange would have been fine to show. But thanks Jennifer Peebles for doing it.

by Tom Coumaris on Oct 26, 2012 11:49 am • link • report

While the city itself may buck the trend, it's almost a certainty that a Repub win will be bad for DC Metro real estate. Real estate is largely driven by income levels and a Republican win means a longer pay freeze for federal employees, less federal spending on procurement and contractors, and less money for infrastructure (say bye bye to the purple line). Some will say, "but federal spending went up a lot under Bush!". However, the tea party ain't no George Bush and we will likely see a slashing of federal spending which means less money pumped into the regional economy. The only silver lining from lower incomes in our area is that it will slow rising rents and real estate prices.

by Falls Church on Oct 26, 2012 1:05 pm • link • report

I wonder how much of the price rise in Brentwood is increased values for existing homes vs. the addition of some high end real condos at Rhode Island Row. Prices have undoubtedly increased along the Rhode Island corridor but it's not like you could have bought something last year and sold it this year for a 47% gain.

by Falls Church on Oct 26, 2012 1:13 pm • link • report

I think Rhode Island Row is rentals. I know some people who have bought townhouses recently around there and have doubled their values.

by Tom Coumaris on Oct 26, 2012 1:20 pm • link • report

@Falls Church
Prices have undoubtedly increased along the Rhode Island corridor but it's not like you could have bought something last year and sold it this year for a 47% gain.

Those value increases also include increases from renovations etc. The stat isn't saying you could buy a house, sit on it, and make 47% profit a year later.

by MLD on Oct 26, 2012 1:24 pm • link • report

I bought a house in Brookland in early 2011 and we put some work into it. Anout 6 month laters we refinanced and it was apraised for about 20% above teh purchase price plus the moeny we put into it for renovations. About 3 months ago we refinanced again and it came in about 10% higher. Just using my home as an example, and counting the moeny we put into renovations as part of the purchase price, we have seen a 30% increase.

It seems to me what is driving it is Brookland, Woodridge, Brentwood, is they are close in and many young families can afford )and get a mortgage on) a single family house with a decent size yard. Talk to some real estate people, granted not the most unbiased source, tehy think prices will still go up. Though it is worth noting in Brookland at least, prices still aren't at their 2007-8 peak. They ahve already crashed pretty hard there once.

by nathaniel on Oct 26, 2012 1:43 pm • link • report

I like the UMD folks have drastically changed their tunes about the positive outcomes of the purple line. Exciting!

by H Street LL on Oct 26, 2012 5:22 pm • link • report