Photo by destempsanciens

Not a safe route yet

A driver struck a 2nd grader on New Jersey Avenue, NW yesterday during International Walk to School Day, according to a post on the Shaw Neighborhood listserv. Neighborhood leaders are eager for planned Safe Routes to School improvements, including some of those high-impact traffic calming measures like raised crosswalks around the school. (ShawNeighborhood, CCCA)  

Les banlieues américaines

As happened to previously wealthy urban neighborhoods in the 1950s and 1960s, new mansions in transit-poor exurbs are being divided into multifamily rental properties, with two to three households in each home. Some are being rented as Section 8 housing, with “sheets, not curtains, tacked up in some windows.” Will the future American city follow a Parisian model, with a dense and wealthy core, surrounded by car-oriented suburban “slums”? (MSN Real Estate)  

Farmer’s Market . . . to go

Yet another farmer’s market is to sprout up downtown this fall, at the Reagan Building.  But, this new farmer’s market will focus on “prepared foods, ready for workers to take home,” so it may be more of a food festival than a market. (Post, Cavan)  (Tip: Cavan)  

The obvious (finally)

As the first urban President since John Kennedy, Obama has acknowledged that “federal policy has actually encouraged sprawl and congestion and pollution, rather than quality public transportation and smart, sustainable development.”  According to the Post, the administration is “quietly beginning the most ambitious new policy for the nation’s cities since [Johnson’s] Great Society programs of the 1960s.” (JTS)  (Tip: JTS)  

Arlington an oasis

The New York Times has characterized the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor as an “oasis of stability amid a downturn.”  The office and retail vacancies in the Corridor are reportedly the second-lowest rates in the country.  The Times attributes the success largely to the Metro and the neighborhoods’ walkability, though commenters at Matt Yglesias’ blog think there should be more parking. (Ward 1 Guy)  (Tip: Ward 1 Guy)  

Race to the bottom

Reproved by the District and Prince George’s County in its attempts to exact a new taxpayer-funded stadium, the DC United might end up with the Orioles as neighbors.  Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon has asked the Maryland Stadium Authority to study building a 17–20,000 seat soccer stadium adjacent to Camden Yards and the light rail line.  Should the study proceed favorably, the stadium would be used to lure DC United. (WBJ, Cavan)  (Tip: Cavan)  

Transit planning in a recession

Starting October 15, Fairfax county will be hosting meetings to discuss its new 10-year transit plan.  Busline-by-busline details are provided in the plan.  Among many points of interest, the report explicitly calls for reduced peak-only service for “affluent” neighborhoods.