WRN has worked extensively with community members around the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station. We have conducted workshops, walking audits and developed a set of recommendations to make the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station more accessible to the community that it serves. We have also supported the detailed analysis conducted by D.C. Office of Planning which demonstrated that many more Metro riders could be served by improving walk, bicycle and bus access to the Metrorail station at the same cost of replacing the 387 commuter parking spaces.
Category: Resources
Manassas Battlefield Park Bypass Study Draft EIS
We have reviewed the Battlefield Bypass DEIS and have found a number of noteworthy deficiencies that significantly affect the conclusion that four lane bypasses are required to replace Routes 29 and 234 through the Manassas Battlefield National Park.
DC – Affordable Housing Isn’t Cheap: The Status of and Need for Dedicated Local Revenue for Affordable Housing Production and Preservation
“Affordable Housing Isn’t Cheap” is a report on the status of dedicated local revenue sources for affordable housing production and preservation in the Washington, D.C. region. It provides guidance to area jurisdictions that have yet to implement a dedicated local revenue source. This report describes dedicated revenue sources that already exist and forecasts what type and size of dedicated revenue sources make sense for each jurisdiction. Nearly all new affordable housing for lower income households across the country is created through partnerships between government funding agencies and private for- and non-profit developers. The public funding role is crucial because constructing housing is almost always not financially feasible at the rents or mortgage payments that lower income households can afford to pay, especially in areas with high housing costs like the Washington, D.C., region. Legal restrictions that accompany this public investment ensure that this housing will remain affordable to lower income families for varying amounts of time.
DC – Campaign for Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning Fact Sheet
Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) policies require new and/or rehabilitated residential developments to include housing units affordable to low and moderate-income residents. In exchange, developers may receive non-monetary compensation—in the form of density bonuses—that reduce construction costs.
DC: USA Columbia Heights Parking & Access Recommendations
Given that the DC USA retail center will have substantially less retail sales space than could be supported by market demand, the conventional customer access strategy of driving and parking should be fully reconsidered. Several other facts point to the need to implement an urban strategy that better builds on the assets of the site location, and avoids its constraints.
DC USA: Proposed Parking Management Strategy to Maximize Sales and Access
Given that the DC USA retail center will have substantially less retail sales space than could be supported by market demand, the conventional customer access strategy of driving and parking should be fully reconsidered. Several other facts point to the need to implement an urban strategy that better builds on the assets of the site location, and avoids its constraints.
Review of VDOT Techway study on American Legion Bridge
Proponents of a new Potomac River bridge crossing, the so-called “techway,” have long claimed that “U-shaped commuters” are clogging the American Legion Bridge and that this justifies a new bridge to get them directly from homes to jobs in Montgomery and Fairfax/Loudoun. Yet the new study shows that at most 2000 commuters out of 24,679 Maryland and Virginia cars counted are making what could be called a U-shaped commute…
Affordable Housing Progress Report
In 2004, the Washington Regional Network for Livable Communities (WRN) produced the DC region’s first peer-to-peer comparison and report card for affordable housing policies. Extraordinarily influential, the report informed advocates and officials alike on the increasing depth of need for affordable housing, and the role local governments should play to ‘fill the gap,’ and improve the health of low-income families and their overall communities. To see how each of our region’s jurisdictions stacked up, check out the full report.
Traffic Fatalities and the Built Environment
An American Journal of Public Health article which argues that the low-density fringes of metropolitan areas are more dangerous than the inner cities because of traffic fatalities associated with driving long distances at high speeds.
DC – Rhode Island Avenue Community Visioning Workshop Results
The results of a community visioning workshop for the Rhode Island Metro station.