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. I don’t suppose it would surprise most District residents to hear that there are sharp differences in income between the city’s neighborhoods and racial and ethnic groups. We see it all around us, but especially in those parts of the city where the lives of the haves abut and intermingle with those of the have-nots. These gentrification frontiers are often a locus…

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…

One more report was released today letting us know what we already knew: The Washington, D.C. metro area is the richest, most-educated city in the country. Washington Business Journal reports on the Greater Washington Initiative annual report (you can download the whole thing here if you’re willing to part with a little bit of personal information). Our region had the highest median household income in 2006 among metro areas, at $74,600, and nearly 46 percent…

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. The news came as absolutely no surprise to most observers of the city of Washington, but it still managed to produce banner headlines and an outbreak of hand wringing. Which, I suppose, should also have been no surprise, in a city where issues of race and income lade every public policy discussion. Earlier this week, the Census Bureau released new data on…

Two years ago, I heard an interesting piece on public radio about a one-woman play that was in the middle of a critically successful run at Manhattan Ensemble Theater. I had missed the introduction of the segment but listened raptly as the author, whose voice sounded very familiar, described how she had come to write a show about the lives of Iraqi women during the American military occupations. My jaw hit the floor at the…

Even when they were winning games last year, the Washington Redskins offense would often go through long periods of time when it looked like they were struggling to get on track. But there regularly came moments when, despite the seeming malaise, everything would suddenly find a groove. That’s how things went down the last time the Skins traveled to Dallas—Santana Moss got loose behind the defense for two massive pass plays that enabled Washington to…

Good morning, Washington. It’s still pretty dry out there at the moment, but don’t take that as a guarantee: those gloomy skies may be opening up intermittently throughout the day. It’s a shame — this time of year, with the city’s non-touristy areas relatively empty, it’s great to walk through the beautiful summer weather and feel like the city’s solely yours. Well, today might not be a great day for that. On the bright side,…

The Washington region seems to be getting its fair share of odd-ball bank robbers these days. Just a few months ago we had the cell phone bandit, who would calmly chat away on her phone as she held up area banks. And now, according to WJLA, we have a woman that uses wigs and other accessories — the “Wig Lady” — to impersonate bank customers and liberate them from the funds. To really make this…

Written by DCists Ryan and Colin Every morning, we enjoy thumbing our copy of The Washington Examiner. With strong local coverage that Express sometimes lacks, we have been glad to make The Examiner part of our morning routine. Yesterday’s edition of the paper, however, featured an editorial that is as treasonous to Washington D.C.’s interests as it is uninformed and poorly argued. The piece offers 475 irresponsibly ideological words attempting to convince us that…