The Washington Post has an interesting report about a new way for house buyers to scope out the market. Local real estate agencies are organizing "Foreclosure Tours," using a big, comfy bus to cart around prospective buyers, along with agents and even a house inspector. The idea seems a little grim, but foreclosure rates are soaring (they hit a record high nationwide at the end of 2007) and for buyers with the means, it seems......

As the housing market continues its downward spiral, D.C. officials are getting on board to recognize there may be some kind of problem going on. WTOP reports that the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking has signed a contract with the D.C.-based Center for Responsible Lending, which will begin an investigation into subprime mortgage lending in the city. The point of the investigation seems to be mostly getting a head count of people with......

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. For much of the past year, this column has taken a hard look at many aspects of District life, from crime and schools, to transportation planning and development, to the uneven distribution of growth in the city, and found them wanting. It’s never difficult to be critical of the way things are done in the District, and yet there are obviously many......

No one who spends any time walking around Columbia Heights, U Street or Logan Circle probably needed the New York Times to tell them that there are way more condos on the market than people to buy them. But it's nice the rest of the country now knows how shortsighted our local real estate developers and investors have been. From today's Times: In hopes of salvaging something from their costly plans, hundreds of developers like......

As Columbia Heights, Logan Circle, Shaw, and U Street have become the hottest neighborhoods in town, we've spent more than our share of time discussing the unintended effects of economic growth and a red-hot housing market. Gentrification has been the District's dirty word in recent years, so much so that the recent mayoral campaign was focused on how best to mitigate its impacts. Candidates debated how to keep the city's low-income residents from being displaced,......

There appears to be something about the subjects of population, education, and growth in the District that makes local journalists a little nuts. That is what we're left to conclude after reading today's Post article on D.C. schools and the growing shadow they're ready to cast on this year's local elections. The main point of the piece is an incontrovertible one: despite some successes and increased government action, many District schools are failing to meet......

There's a simple reason Kojo Nnamdi is on radio -- something about his voice is soothing, reassuring and disarming. Whether testing microphones or querying his guests or the audience, Kojo speaks in a steady, curious tone, rarely betraying his opinion on any matter. But enough about Kojo -- we don't want you to think this is a review of a Scott Stapp show or something. Yesterday Kojo took his daily WAMU show on the road,......

If you've secretely had a crush on WAMU's Kojo Nnamdi and his smooth voice, tonight is your chance to see the man in the flesh. Tonight is the first of a series of "Kojo In Your Community" townhall meetings that will take place monthly until July throughout the area, during which Kojo and members of the community will come together to discuss issues of importance. Tonight's meeting will take place at All Souls Unitarian Church......

Good morning, Washington. We imagine that by now you may have already heard about the fallout over 84 year-old Maryland Comptroller William Schaeffer's inappropriate remarks to one of Governor Ehrlich's female staffers. Schaeffer was initially unapologetic, but Ehrlich says that he later expressed regret — although it's not clear whether he has yet apologized to the young woman in question. The Post covers the issue here; ABC 7 has video of the incident here. Spotsylvania......

Good morning, Washington. As we approach the new year and the amount of colleagues in your office thins out even more, here's a run-down on the happenings today in and around the District. And to get you ready for those new year's eve drunk text messages, today the Post features an article about bringing on the brevity. Call us critical, but it just sounds goofy when the Post tries so hard to sound hip. Stadium......

With the city's red-hot housing market showing no signs of easing, dozens of luxury condominium projects are either under construction or opening soon throughout the city, especially downtown and near Metro stations. On the web, DCGentrification.com has listings of projects along U Street and in Columbia Heights, JD Land's Near Southeast webpage contains an impressive compendium of information about development in that region, and DCLofts.com has an exhaustive listing of "Lofts, loft-style, and urban condo......

We have a favorite saying about the current housing market in D.C.: "Never have so many paid so much, for so little." In the last several years, changes in D.C. government, combined with D.C. area residents growing weary of long commutes, have led to an influx of people moving into the District; people who are looking for a taste of urban life, and who have money to spend. Everywhere you look, formerly abandoned or dilapidated......