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…

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. Not too long ago this site, along with the D.C. Council and much of the rest of the Washington area, was actively debating the incentive package for the new Washington Nationals stadium. At the time I was well aware of the questions about costs and benefits and was familiar with research on the subject suggesting that new stadia did not boost metropolitan…

Steve Eldridge over at the Examiner notes that fewer Washingtonians are driving themselves solo to work than they were three years ago. According to the unfortunately titled “Preliminary Draft Commuter Connections State of the Commute Survey 2007 Survey Technical Report,” the number of those in the region driving by themselves to job locations outside the home was 71 percent, compared with 74.1 percent in the 2004 survey. This survey is put together by the Metropolitan…

Ahhhh, the real start of summer: The consistently warmer temperatures … the first night you venture wearing skimpy clothes out … the year’s first Code Orange Bad Air Quality Day. However you prefer measuring the start of the season, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments is predicting our first Code Orange air quality day today, meaning ozone levels are predicted to be extremely high and the air quality very poor. The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission…

Pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers beware! As we mentioned this morning, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ annual Street Smart Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Campaign kicked off yesterday. In addition to a flurry of ads on the radio, billboards, buses, and local papers, this campaign will also include a month of increased enforcement of traffic laws by local police. We’re not sure which to be more worried about, the potential jaywalking tickets or the relentless march…

Buck up, D.C. Of course we’re all still reeling from the Justin Timberlake-Cameron Diaz split confirmation, but there’s plenty to be cheerful about this Friday before a holiday weekend (especially one that’s shaping up to at least be mild temperature wise, if rainy). Why, even a few of this morning’s headlines seem downright cheery. New Taxi Zone Map in the Works: Even while the new District government is considering making the switch from zones to…

Imagine, if you will, that you share a group house with five other people. One day, the house decides to throw a party, at which you’ll happily provide your guests with food and beverages. Rather than plan the party together, however, you just decide that each housemember can handle a portion of the preparation by him or herself. The day of the party comes, and everything is a mess. Some housemembers brought what they thought…

Last night over 250 District voting rights activists attended an event they probably all wished they wouldn’t have to celebrate — DC Vote’s Champions of Democracy 2005 award ceremony. Held in the Madison Hotel along 15th Street, attendees came together to share in food, drink, and mutual indignation over an undeniable and odious injustice forced upon the city’s 600,000 residents — the inability to vote for members of Congress. Beneath the pleasant social atmosphere ran…

It’s not everyday that you run into a marching band on the District’s streets. Yesterday was one of those days, though. After attending a brief meeting in the Judiciary Square area, DCist emerged to find a high school marching band clad in yellow t-shirts bearing the slogan, “Brown for Mayor.” And suddenly it all made sense — Michael Brown, son of the late Clinton era Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, officially declared his candidacy for mayor…

Catchy title, no? While this may not become a weekly, if even monthly feature, today brings us two pieces of news that may be of interest to cyclists in the District. The District Department of Transportation is holding a meeting today to discuss the possibility of building a bike station on the west end of Union Station. The bike station — an innovative solution for cyclists currently used in Berkeley, Ca., Embarcadero, Ca., Palo Alto,…