In news that would surely delight The Commodores, new data show that the vast majority of D.C. residents live in brick houses.
The map, designed by DataLensDC creator Kate Rabinowitz using data from from D.C. Open Data, breaks down homes by facades. While brick comprises the better part of exteriors in every ward, it’s most prevalent in Ward 1—where 93 percent of houses are built with the fired clay.
Wards 3 and 8 have the most variety of facade types, though both still boast more than 60 percent brick houses. Rabinowitz says brick is most common in older neighborhoods, where it “would’ve been the most common building material at the time and, in some areas, historic preservation limits the building materials that can be used today.”
The D.C. area was home to around 100 brickyards in the early twentieth century, according to The Washington Post.
Rachel Kurzius