Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. Brookland recently got the news that Dwellings, a home furnishings store and one of our most promising main street retailers, was closing due to slow growth in sales. The announcement touched off a neighborhood discussion on what was wrong, exactly, with the shopping environment in the leafy, residential neighborhood. Many locals noted that low residential density made running a retail business a…

A long-time complaint of commuters looking for more and better options to get between Washington and Baltimore could be remedied as soon as next year. The Baltimore Sun reports that the Maryland Transit Administration plans to expand MARC commuter train service to include weekends and additional weekday trains in 2008. The ambitious plan, which will still require approvals from relevant rail agencies, includes tripling MARC’s capacity by 2035. The change would allow those looking for…