Publications

Five (mostly rejected) ideas for Metro expansion

Expanding Metro is always a hot topic, and most people know of the Silver Line — part of which is under construction — or the proposed downtown loop. But do you know about the Rosslyn Y, the Brown Line, or the Beltway Loop?  Keep reading…

Dulles Airport could have been located in Burke, but neighbors successfully stopped it

Three generations of residents in the region have grown up associating Dulles Airport with its Chantilly location. However, Dulles could have been located in Burke, were it not for a grassroots effort that convinced President Eisenhower to choose another site.  Keep reading…

Laurel nearly became a pro sports metropolis. Here’s how it dodged the Bullets (and some other teams).

The city of Laurel prides itself on its small town charm and historic areas, but during the 1980s and 1990s, multiple sports owners made plans to build stadiums there. Here’s what happened next.  Keep reading…

The economics of school performance in the Washington region

In the US, it’s typically the case that high schools with higher percentages of economically disadvantaged students have lower rankings, and fewer kids who attend them come out ready for college. Our region’s schools in Virginia and Maryland largely follow this trend, but in DC, the numbers look a little different.  Keep reading…

Why it makes sense to turn this empty lot next to Metro into a parking garage for Children’s Hospital

Just north of the Brookland Metro station, a four-story parking garage will go up so that employees and visitors of DC’s children’s hospital can park and take a 1.5-mile shuttle ride to the hospital. That doesn’t sound like a great use of the land at first, but it turns out other possibilities, like housing or office space, aren’t realistic.   Keep reading…

Beyond tolls: 5 advocacy ideas for Fairfax County Parkway

The Fairfax County Parkway will be getting a makeover in the years to come, and the county is looking for your input on how to improve it. Its survey closes on Friday, November 30. Although tolls are a major talking point for commuters in Northern Virginia, there are a lot of other items you can advocate for too.  Keep reading…

When it rains in Alexandria it pours…sewage into the Potomac River

Every year, the city of Alexandria ejects 11.3 million gallons of sewage into its surrounding waterways including the Potomac River.  This is nearly enough to fill the Reflecting Pool by the Lincoln Memorial twice.  State lawmakers are now threatening to strip the city of funding if they don’t make major reductions to the pollutant level.   The city is working to fix the problem, but that will take several decades. Keep reading…

Nine takeaways from the newly released I-66 tolling data

Last week VDOT has provided even more data on their new I-66 tolls, including usage and travel times. Here are nine key takeaways.  Keep reading…