Good morning, Washington. Today it will be partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of rain, so be prepared. Flickr user birdcage from Missives from the Birdcage posted this photo of the Prince George’s County Fair to DCist photos. We are getting excited for our first birthday party tomorrow at Stetson’s – will we see you there?
Cost of Living Rises in Area: Yesterday we reported and analyzed the news that affordable housing in the District is becoming more and more scant. Today the news gets no better — the Post is reporting on a study published by Wider Opportunities for Women which found that the income needed to meet the most basic expenses has increased rapidly in the area over the last few years. Rising costs of housing, health care, and child care have pushed the income needed to make basic ends meet for a single parent with two children in Fairfax County up to $67,849 — a 50 percent increase since 1999 — with similar increases in other parts of the region. Prince George’s County and the District still remain the cheapest options, yet even they have experienced, on average, a 26 percent increase in recent years.
Metro to Create Riders Council: The Post reports that WMATA is planning to create a riders advisory council consisting of 21 regular riders of WMATA’s Metrobus and Metrorail to advise the WMATA board of directors. The council was created at the urging of the local chapter of the Sierra Club, which has lobbied heavily for improved transparency in public transit. It’s unclear how the members of the council will be chosen, but we’d love to see a DCist reader or two on the new group.
Metro Users Express Complaints With System: Surprise, surprise. Metro users are complaining about crowding, notes WJLA. At a Town Hall Meeting sponsored by WMATA and attended by the transit agency’s top brass, passengers spoke their minds on recurring transit problems. WMATA Chief Richard White, always ready for a little damage control, did his best to quiet the testy bunch — some 500 new buses should be in service by next year, and 200 new rail cars will be put into service over the next two to three years.
Briefly Noted: Video games may decrease violence … Kaine, Kilgore debate … District government agency preps for disasters … University of Virginia appoints diversity chief.
