Category: District of Columbia

How innovative zoning can make DC a more livable and equitable city

How innovative zoning can make DC a more livable and equitable city

Posted on by Cheryl Cort

July 15, 2026, 6:30-8 pm event via Zoom, co-sponsored by CSG and Ward3Vision

Pictured from left to right: Lisa Wise, Randy Hutcheson, Peter Park, Ellen McCarthy

This online event explored how a design-based approach to zoning can be used to increase housing opportunities and support the graceful evolution of neighborhoods across the city. Learn from the discussion with national thought leaders and practitioners as we explore how the DC 2050 Comprehensive Plan and Future Land Use Map can set the foundation for zoning reform. DC 2050 is the city’s updated comprehensive plan to guide growth over the next 25 years.

Event Recording

Event Recording

Event video shorts (coming soon)

Featured speakers:

Lisa Wise, CEO and Principal, Lisa Wise Consulting; Lisa has over 30 years of experience in code audits and updates, long-range planning, housing policy, and land use economics, including working on code updates for Austin, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; and San Francisco, California.  

Lisa Wise presentationDownload

Randy Hutcheson, former Planning Manager at the City of Fort Worth, Texas; Randy has over 25 years of experience in writing, reviewing, and administering design-based codes, including overseeing downtown design, historic preservation, municipal code review.

Randy Hutcheson presentationDownload

Peter Park, former Planning Director, cities of Milwaukee and Denver; Peter has overseen preparation of numerous plans, comprehensive zoning code updates, and implementation of major infrastructure and development projects. He has over 25 years of, including special expertise in zoning code reform, transit-oriented development, and urban highway removal.

Placetypes – Peter Park Presentation_DC2050Download
  • Ellen McCarthy, former DC Planning Director; adjunct professor, Georgetown University Urban and Regional Planning program.

Want to know more about innovative zoning in general? Check out Center for Zoning Solutions.

DC Event: What’s the future vision for how Ward 3 and DC will grow & change?

DC Event: What’s the future vision for how Ward 3 and DC will grow & change?

Posted on by Cheryl Cort
photo by Cheryl Cort

This event was a discussion with DC Office of Planning to learn about DC 2050, District’s next Comprehensive Plan and Future Land Use Map.

April 27, 2026, 6:00 – 7:30 pm, Tenley-Friendship Neighborhood Library

Speakers: Nick Kushner, Senior Cross-Systems Planner, DC Office of Planning

Radhika Mohan, Deputy Director, DC Office of Planning

Ellen McCarthy, Moderator, Ward3Vision

DC Office of Planning staff presented the planning process to date, and discussed proposed changes for the Future Land Use Map. DC 2050 will guide where and how we build new housing, grow job opportunities, and connect neighborhoods. DC 2050 aims to align land use policies and investments to make the District more equitable, affordable, and resilient. See DC 2050.

This event was co-sponsored by CSG, Ward3Vision, and Cleveland Park Smart Growth.

DC OP DC 2050 FLUM_Ward 3 VisionDownload
Citywide DC 2050 Phase 2B PresentationDownload
Attention Ward 4: Dance Loft’s affordable housing & arts project needs your help to win ANC 4E support 3/24

Attention Ward 4: Dance Loft’s affordable housing & arts project needs your help to win ANC 4E support 3/24

Posted on by Elena Sorokina

Dance Loft on 14, approved three years ago, is an exciting Ward 4 mixed-use development that includes affordable housing, a performing arts center, retail space, and net-zero energy design. But it encountered delays due to the city’s unprecedented crisis in affordable housing funding.

Guest blog: Dance Loft on 14 survived DC’s affordable housing meltdown. ANC 4E shouldn’t let it die now.

Posted on by Elena Sorokina

After three years of financial limbo caused by DC’s affordable housing funding crisis, Dance Loft on 14’s exciting mixed-use development in Ward 4 finally has a path forward. But it needs ANC 4E’s support to get there, and the commissioners who will decide its fate weren’t in office when the project was originally approved.

Event materials: Does more housing make housing more affordable?

Event materials: Does more housing make housing more affordable?

Posted on by Carrie Kisicki

On January 22, 2026, we talked to leading housing experts about the relationship between housing production and affordability, and explored policy tools to provide stable, affordable housing across a range of incomes.

This was the third webinar in our series on our region’s housing needs, and how researchers, policymakers, and advocates can work together towards solutions.