At 7:00 a.m. this morning, members of the UNITE-HERE union started picketing outside the Marriott Wardman hotel in Woodley Park while they negotiate a new contract—and organizers say they won't go away until it's signed, or until they go to another one... »
I've got a cover story this week on D.C. planning director Harriet Tregoning, and naturally, a couple things wouldn't fit. More on how she's regarded by the people who build things in this city: I checked in with Merrick Malone, the immediate past pre... »
American University is trying hard to become the city’s least wasteful college. Two years ago, after eliminating trays in the cafeteria to cut down on overeating, AU started composting food scraps, collecting 500 tons annually. Then it added paper towe... »
Frank Gehry's latest design for the Eisenhower Memorial was supposed to go before the National Capital Planning Commission last week. Instead, the Eisenhower Memorial Commission pushed it off, and released new images of the sculptural elements of the d... »
Every D.C. neighborhood has its NIMBY issue. In Ward 8—and Ward 4—it’s group homes. From the Peaceoholics’ ill-fated facility on Congress Street to a row of houses on Valley Avenue to a women’s shelter on Good Hope Road, a steady drumbeat of concern ha... »
This week, I wrote about the 200-ish families the city is putting up at hotels on New York Avenue NE, in the broader context of an affordable housing supply that's just totally dried out. Obviously, there's much more to the story. At the end of hypothe... »
How to take care of the MLK Library. [DCMud] Another group home, another outcry. [Post] That really is a serious roof deck. [PoP] Should libraries get deer-proof windows? [DCist] The wrong place for density. [GGW] New York City hearts Frank Gehry. [NYO... »
The Occupiers at McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza have gone a whole day without being kicked out, as the Park Service had warned might happen as soon as yesterday at noon. It's a horrible feeling of uncertainty, not knowing when—if at all—a police of... »
The week in vaguely real estate-related events. Got something to share? Drop me a line: ldepillis@washingtoncitypaper.com. Monday – Most of you don't have to work. I'm sure MLK would have wanted bloggers to keep blogging, though. 10:00 a.m. – Historica... »
When land-use historians write the saga of real estate in the District, 2011 will likely go down as the year D.C. managed, yet again, to dodge the collapse that’s been hitting just about every other city in the country since the economic crisis of 2008... »
I don't go looking for this stuff, I swear. It's just that, in the wake of researching the effects of the National Park Service's ownership of so many small chunks of D.C., evidence of the institution's foibles pop up left and right. Since all anyone's... »
As the cold descends, McPherson Square's occupiers have kept busy figuring out how to keep themselves comfortable. A key part of that planning came together last night, in the form of a one-room building that's been called a shed, a barn, and most of... »
There’s a very traditional way of protesting in Washington: People come with their signs, parade up and down the Mall or Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and then move on, like a cloud of locusts passing over a field. The only way of measuring impact is through... »
