I hadn't thought about SNAP cuts significantly impacting inner city groceries

This article is inspired in part by the Washington City Paper article, "Oh, SNAP: How Program Cuts Are Impacting Food Access in the DMV." From the article:

“The number of people receiving SNAP has fallen in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia,” says Katie Bergh, senior policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which tracks the impact SNAP cuts are having. Bergh, citing USDA data, tells City Paper that the number of people receiving SNAP in D.C. dropped by almost 7,500 between the law’s July 2025 enactment and March—a roughly 6 percent decrease.

Numbers are steeper in our neighboring states: “In Maryland, state data show the number of people receiving SNAP fell by more than 39,000 people between July 2025 and April 2026,” also about a 6 percent drop, says Bergh. “More than 17,000 were children.” Virginia has seen the worst with a roughly 13 percent decrease—that’s 111,000 people who are no longer receiving benefits—between July 2025 and May 2026. The federal government is also shifting a higher cost burden to states, which is making it harder for states—and D.C.—to balance their budgets.

It's always a struggle to have supermarkets, either full line or with a smaller set of items, operating in inner city neighborhoods.  

The costs are higher, including employee retention and losses due to stealing and fraud.  

Places without stores are called food deserts or food insecure places.  But this is deceiving because since people have to eat, they come up with ways to get to grocery stores, even if they have to go out of their neighborhood to do so.  

But this is something I noticed living in the H Street NE neighborhood back in the 1980s and 1990s.  People had ways to buy groceries.  Even though an independent opened in the neighborhood called MegaFoods, many didn't think it served them well enough, so they either protested, or continued to shop outside of the neighborhood.

Of course, many people use transit to grocery shop.  I hated using the bus for groceries.  Mind the subway less.  But mostly shopped by bike, putting the bags on my handlebars, and using my backpack--sadly it took me 20 years to figure out I could put my backpack on the handlebars too--imagine riding uphill from Capitol Hill to Manor Park with a watermelon in your backpack, not fun.

(Separately, the Chronicle of Philanthropy has an article on DC Central Kitchen, which is a social enterprise that in part addresses food access issues: "How DC Central Kitchen Keeps Expanding While Other Nonprofits Shrink")

Also see:

-- "Grocery stores in cities: the failure of the "15 minute grocery store"" (2023)

=======

Gross profit margins on groceries are minimal.  As it is, the average grocery store only makes 1.5% that is a penny and a haf per dollar of sales.  That doesn't leave a lot of room for error, or provide the ability to react when there are scalar changes in economic conditions.  Tariffs are making it worse.  Same with increased transportation costs because of the Trump Iran War.

This is why supermarkets would rather donate food to events and organizations and not money (I tried to get the grocery store cooperative in Salt Lake to fund grills at Sugar House Park and they said they had no money to give.).

Chicago: Yellow Banana's Sav-A-Lot stores on the brink of closure.  Yellow Banana is a grocery "start up" from a few years back that bought a bunch of Sav A Lot stores--a discount low number of items store operating primarily in low income areas.  Sav A Lot is a chain that has company stores and franchised stores.  

SAL was owned by Supervalu which sold it off to private equity before being acquired by UNFI.  The current owner is trying to sell off the stores, and function as a wholesaler/franchisor.  That's how YB got the stores they operate.

YB has/had seven stores in Chicago.  And they received money from the city to do so.  They had a lot of problems getting going, and the stores have to be operated for 10 years for the company to get the full amount awarded.

In the last year, the company's president died unexpectedly of a stroke, without anyone to replace him, and the "One Big Beautiful Bill" cut funding for the federal Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides a modicum of money to poor people to buy food--the amount provided is paltry, it's a crime.  Most people getting benefits get less than $200/month.

Customers shop at Save A Lot’s remodeled West 63rd Street store in West Lawn on April 9, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

According to the Supermarket News article "Yellow Banana ready to close 7 Chicago stores, loses tie with Save A Lot":

SNAP money at the six stores accounted for almost 50% of revenue, and SNAP sales have declined about 27% year over year.

Projections at the start of the year showed the stores were getting close to breaking even but would still lose in the range of $500,000, a figure the source said was not insurmountable. Then the SNAP cuts kicked in.

SAL, which had been providing the company with inventory on credit, pulled the rug and cancelled the franchise agreement.  

The company has been crushed by the loss of SNAP-related sales.

It's not news that the Trump bill has had a lot of negative effects, including one they think is positive, which is reducing the tax rate on rich people and corporations.

Sadly, this is not an unintended consequence.  It was intended.  And this is but one of the many fallouts from the Act.

(There used to be a SAL on Chillum Road in nearby Maryland, and on occasion I would bike there to buy groceries.  It's long since closed although they still have other stores in Prince George's County.  When you're buying shortening, why pay a lot more for it at a mainline grocery when you can get it at a store like SAL or Aldi?)

Also see:

-- "Save A Lot grocery stores could shutter abruptly this week," Chicago Tribune
-- "Save A Lot grocery operator gets an extension on City Hall-funded deal amid missed deadlines, lawsuits," Chicago Sun-Times

=====

Thoughts.  The margin issue is real.  That, plus lack of management expertise is why government owned groceries aren't likely to be successful.  And the least bit of problem in getting the store up and running and then operating--such as community opposition for any reason--makes it that much harder to succeed.

Recently, a more upscale grocer in Cleveland, Heinen's, closed its downtown store.  They said they lost $18 million over 11 years ("Heinen’s Cleveland location was losing millions," Supermarket News). And they sold alcohol too, which has higher margins.

Grocers in hard pressed areas probably need more subsidy than people realize, considering that 1.5% margin.  I know a cooperative in Connecticut had to close because they foolishly signed a lease requiring a percentage of gross revenue be paid to the property owner, even though $1 of additional revenue yields only 1.5 cents.

One such subsidy, and I'd have been against it before, is probably, "zero property tax" until the store shows a profit.

Boston to get pretty big PILOT payments from Boston University

 Big cities have lots of civic institutions, including universities and hospitals.  Tax exempt, they don't pay property taxes, and since property taxes are the primary way cities earn revenue, that makes it harder to fund operations.

In Canada, nonprofits mostly still have to pay property tax, unless they get an exemption, which is pretty hard.  The municipality has to believe it gets big benefits in return.

Over the years, many cities including Providence Rhode Island, Pittsburgh, New Haven Hartford--50% of the city's property is tax exempt, Philadelphia and Boston have tried to get decent sized "payments in lieu of taxes" from major nonprofits and they've been unsuccessful.  (In Connecticut, the state reimburses jurisdictions for a percentage of lost property tax issues due to tax exemptions.  Decades ago under Nixon, the federal government had a similar program for cities and federal undertakings.)

In Philadelphia, rather than submit to any kind of tax, the University of Pennsylvania, its hospital system, Drexel University and Amtrak's 30th Street Station joined together to fund the University City District business improvement district through annual contributions.

So the fact that Boston has managed to get a 5 year agreement, and about $20 million per year from Boston University is a big deal ("BU to pay city of Boston more than $104 million over five years in record deal," Boston Globe).  It's a mix of money and in-kind services, but the cash part is still pretty hefty.

Now for Harvard, MIT, the big hospitals, other universities....

Chicago Transit Authority makes it easy for people and businesses to set up a digital screen feed of transit information

Some places do this.  Some places did this but didn't keep the application updated.  Others implement it at least in transit stations and bus stops with real-time updated signage screens too.  But many people are still driven to create their own displays, because the local transit agency doesn't provide such an application.

Chicago Transit Authority does. (Brochures webpage.)  I argue these are forms of media developed by government agencies, but they often aren't thinking that way.  Event notices and other information can be delivered by similar systems.

I can't believe this is really happening: the decking over of Connecticut Avenue at Dupont Circle, Washington DC

Reddit photo of Connecticut Avenue NW getting decked over between Dupont Circle and Q Street NW.

Decades ago, a trench under Dupont Circle was dug out to reduce streetcar congestion.  After the streetcar system shut down, it became one of the city's underground bypasses, like the similar trenching of North Capitol Street from NoMA to Rhode Island Avenue.

For years people suggested the trench get "decked" to add street space to Dupont Circle, making it more congenial.

This is the kind of urban design improvement that many cities have been undertaking for awhile.  

After a flurry of streetscape urban design interventions that were reasonably creative starting in the late 1990s and including a new streetscape form for 8th Street SE in Barracks Row/Capitol Hill and the restoration of Thomas Circle, which had been cut through with more road lanes years before ("At Last, It's a Pleasure To Go Around in Circle," Washington Post), besides doing new streetscape projects, the city hasn't been particularly bold.

Thomas Circle, 1993.  Photo: Historic American Engineering Record.

Thomas Circle, after.  Flickr photo by BeyondDC.

Connecticut Avenue underpass between Dupont Circle and Q Street NW.

An early rendering of what the newly created deck space can look like.

Although there are a couple of exceptions, the removal of a parking and through lane on the 3400 block of Connecticut Avenue in Cleveland Park in 2024--actually a big deal in the face of plenty of opposition over lost parking spaces ("DC neighbors fight to transform Connecticut Ave. service lane into Cleveland Park promenade," WTOP-AM), and continued bikeway and trail expansions including the Metropolitan Branch Trail.

So maybe they are bold, just very very slowly.  Although there have been setbacks with bicycle lanes on Upper Connecticut Avenue NW and in other places.  

Saved.

While the Washington Area Bicyclists Association was successful in fighting off the Trump Administration's attempt to remove part of the 15th Street cycletrack in the Federal District ("Judge Bars Imminent Removal of D.C. Bike Lanes," New York Times), since then the Bowser Administration seems to be backing off on bikeway proposals.

Seeing the decking going forward, after being discussed for a good ten years, is exciting.

A number of years ago, I suggested that neighborhoods create their own list of priority urban design improvements.  

I only wrote it out for Dupont Circle ("Planning urban design improvements at the neighborhood scale: Dupont Circle, DC," 2019) and 17th Street NW in Dupont Circle ("Planning for place/urban design/neighborhoods versus planning for transportation modes: new 17th Street NW bike lanes | Walkable community planning versus "pedestrian" planning," 2021).  

I don't think I did for the L'Enfant-Waterfront area, where the connections from L'Enfnt Plaza to the Wharf are bad, and the SE-SW Freeway could be decked as well--Herb Miller suggested doing so for a baseball stadium ("D.C. Developer Sways the City With Big Bucks and Big Ideas," Washington Post) and in the early 2000s, noted DC urban designer Joseph Passonneau suggested it be converted to a boulevard ("Southeast Freeway Could Go Under," Washington Post, 2000).

DC 295 could be undergrounded also--it's at ground level in many places so decking isn't the solution--and that would make a huge difference for far NE and SE in terms of re-knitting neighborhoods.

DC 295 takes up a lot of space...

North Capitol Street trench in Bloomingdale.

Also, the Bloomingdale Citizens Association has been very active in pushing for decking North Capitol in their neighborhood--they took up the initiative when the city refused to do so ("Bloomingdale Village Square Initiative will be holding its third Community Forum on the proposed North Capitol Deck-over Park," 2020).

Those districts--SW, Bloomingdale, and NE-SE--should begin or renew their advocacy for decking.

Plus an underground parking garage and visitor center system under the National Mall ("Parking under the National Mall should be part of an integrated approach to visitor services and management") and the related concept to extend the National Mall southward, a heritage streetcar system for the National Mall ("Revisiting: a proposal for heritage streetcar service on the National Mall | adding service to the DC waterfront," 2013/2022), and undergrounding the through traffic for I-95 on New York Avenue ("Maglev as an opportunity for DC to underground through traffic on New York Avenue," 2020).

Some of these I discussed in "DC and "city repair" of the urban grid," (2020).

When I was back in DC recently--all too brief--I was blown away by the new construction in Downtown, Walter Reed, and Union Market--I didn't get to the SE Waterfront or The Wharf in SW, nor did I have time to explore Greater Downtown (but I did get to some of our favorite restaurants, Parkway Deli in Silver Spring and Olive Lounge in Takoma Park).

There is a lot of decent urban design interventions in these places.  And I felt good about the long term trajectory of the city, despite Trump's decimation of the federal work force and moving agencies out of DC, which has reduced local employment and housing values significantly.

Little Free Naloxone Libraries

When I go to health fairs, there will be a table where they offer naloxone to have on hand if you see someone overdosing.  I'm just not in the position to ever come across someone in that situation.

Photo from "Utah fights against opioid overdoses through naloxone initiative," ABC4 Utah.  From the article:

To increase access to naloxone, the Salt Lake Harm Reduction Project created a “Naloxey-Boxey,” a box that allows people to pick up naloxone anonymously or after hours. This initiative aims to make it easier for people to have naloxone on hand when it’s needed, potentially saving lives during opioid overdoses.

Mass Transit Magazine June 2026 Cover Story, Maryland Purple Line light rail

"The MDOT MTA Purple Line: Nearly Two Decades in the Making" is the cover story of the June issue of Mass Transit Magazine.

Although they have the timeline way wrong.  I sent them a letter with a bunch of points about three different articles, including that one, but they never responded.

The Purple Line cover is cool because 21 years ago at a conference in Portland at a used bookstore I picked up a 1976 copy of Railway Age featuring the opening of the DC Metrorail system. 

I'll save this copy, and the one that comes out when it goes into revenue service for sure. 

But I have comments: 1. Press release from UTA about BRT in Park City.  NO ONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND would call that rural. So it's not the first rural BRT.

It's an odd stretch of land with development restrictions between two intensely developed areas. It's urbanized in the context of Census area determinations. 

Your magazine doesn't cover resort (or college) transportation systems very much, it should because there are always things the rest of us can learn. High Valley Transit was developed because "Park City" didn't want to keep providing transit service for all of Summit County. 

HVT when UTA discontinued a key route between Park City and Salt Lake, picked that route up, and like all the other HVT (and Park City) routes, it's free. (Poorly marketed in Salt Lake County though, something I've been meaning to write to HVT and UTA about).

Frankly, that's a story right there. Big agency wimps out, little agency steps in. That being said, where UTA operates, I think they do a good job, and that's based on my experience of 32 years of DC and Baltimore transit. 

The Railway Age cover I mentioned.

2. The HDR article ("Understanding Development around Rail Transit Stations") does us a disservice by not stating what city they worked in because how am I, an intelligent reader, supposed to find the planning documents that resulted. 

Plus, you missed that they mentioned they created a station typology,, BUT THEY DIDN"T LIST IT. Since I have created a station typology of my own based on DC and Baltimore,  I want to see if I missed anything. 

I can't without reference to the city or a link to the planning documents. I understand why you want user submitted content, but still you need to edit it, ask questions for elucidation, and provide contact information for interested readers. Gaps become very evident for the careful reader. 

Sierra Club Metro DC Chapter graphic rendition of the Purple Line circumferential transit line concept for DC, c. early 2000s.

3. Purple Line. I first read about the concept in a cover story in the Washington City Paper in December 1987. So it's been a 40 year project, not a 20 year one. 

The article didn't discuss how the first 3P consortium dropped out and a new one was selected. 

It left out all the political stuff, which is important. For example, in 2005 at a conference I got a tour of the Tri Met MAX Yellow Line. Even there they didn't disclose the funding to us, but I asked. It turned out it took three tries. 

MAX Yellow Line, Portland.

First, because it was to go to Vancouver, Washington state residents had to approve in a vote, they didn't. 

Second, just within Oregon they had to vote, and the suburban areas of the region voted no and it failed. 

So Three, not unlike how after failed county wide votes Seattle realized that they should just tax themselves for bus improvements since King County voted no while they voted yes, the third iteration was the creation of an urban renewal district just for Portland, used TIF and other monies to fund the line--Vancouver's loss. 

Anyway, work had started more than 20 years ago on the PL under Governor Glendening. It was stopped cold under Governor Ehrlich, revived by Governor O'Malley and then fucked up by Governor Hogan, who delayed it by a few years. (every year of delay costs money) but the political and economic elites in Suburban Washington made it happen while Hogan had to be satisfied by cutting the not well thought out Red Line for Baltimore and mostly focusing on toll road expansion, not transit. Although he got enamored with maglev. 

Also the citizen group in Montgomery County, Action Committee for Transit, was key in keeping the concept alive during the down years.  (Like how streetcars in both Tucson and Dallas came about initially because of strong citizen advocacy.) 

The article didn't discuss if there is going to be fare integration with Metrorail (way back State Secretary of Transportation Porcari said it would) or that WMATA refused to take the project on, so Maryland did it (around 2002 WMATA devolved expansion planning to the three jurisdictions). 

Same with the Takoma Langley Crossroads bus station at a future PL stop, WMATA wouldn't take it on, so MTA manages it, even though their primary focus for infrastructure operation is Baltimore. 

Only now is WMATA warming up to other modes. 

You also didn't discuss the absolute failure to continue to plan for further expansion. The original concept was a fully circumferential line. 

If it's taken 40 years to get one segment built, it'll take 120 more years for the rest of it to come to fruition. In any case from the New Carrolton terminus to Alexandria and from Bethesda to Tysons, planning should be underway and isn't. 

FWIW, when I briefly worked for Baltimore County in 2009-10, a memo I wrote on bicycling influenced State Highway Administration to build a complementary bike way, leveraging the Purple Line and connecting to the previously off road Capital Crescent Trail, which used the old ROW from the power plant that Montgomery County bought which led to the Purple Line.  

(plus more links)

-- "Setting the stage for the Purple Line light rail line to be an overwhelming success: Part 1 | simultaneously introduce improvements to other elements of the transit network" (2017)
-- "Part 2 |   the program (macro changes)"
-- "Part 3 |   influences"

-- "Part 4 |   Making over New Carrollton as a transit-centric urban center and Prince George's County's "New Downtown"
-- "Part 6 |  Creating a transportation development authority in Montgomery and Prince George's County to effectuate placemaking, retail development, and housing programs in association with the Purple Line"
-- "Part 7 | Using the Purple Line to rebrand Montgomery and Prince George's Counties as Design Forward"
-- "Revisiting the Purple Line (series) and a more complete program of complementary improvements to the transit network" (2019)

- PL #5: Creating a Silver Spring "Sustainable Mobility District" (2017)
- Part 1: Setting the stage
- Part 2: Program items 1- 9
- Part 3: Program items 10-18
- Part 4: Conclusion
- Map for the Silver Spring Sustainable Mobility District
- (Big Hairy) Projects Action Plan(s) as an element of Comprehensive/Master Plans
- Creating the Silver Spring/Montgomery County Arena and Recreation Center
-- "Making "Downtown Silver Spring" a true open air shopping district by adding department stores" (2018)

A planning process done right | NYC to build affordable housing on a city parking lot & points about DC and Montgomery County

 A lot of advocates argue that the primary use for ersatz city property that is being sold off should be for affordable housing.  In most places, that doesn't happen.  Land is expensive.  Cities want a lot of money for the property.  The higher the price, the fewer number of affordable units.  And cities don't always do a good job of ensuring the public element of such projects stays good.

For example, NYC is building a lot of housing on what were single story libraries.  The projects that have been built all come with great libraries on the ground floor ("New library/community space + 100% affordable housing mixed use building in New York City").

West End Library, DC.  By contrast, when DC sold off the West End Library site it got a new library and an adjoining cafe, but the library profile is seriously constrained and IMO wasn't designed well or its use of space is encumbered by the housing around it ("West End Deals," and a section within "National Libraries Week and a libraries update").

A Request for Proposals is not a plan.  When cities aim to sell off properties, they often release an RFP, a request for proposals.  Usually the RFP doesn't have good guidance on what the city/citizens believe would be the best use for the property.  Sure, sometimes public engagement processes don't generate good recommendations.  But the city is at the mercy of whether or not "good developers" participate and submit "good proposals" that include public benefits.

Many of the RFPs for such properties in DC have left me dissatisfied, although some still turn out "well" despite the opportunity costs, like the Walter Reed Hospital site ("Nice looking five story brick apartment building, Parks at Walter Reed development, Washington, DC").  Most languish for years.

Kennedy School, Portland.  But examples like the re-creation of Kennedy School in Portland into a bed and breakfast, brewpub, and event space came about because of a solid pre-RFP planning process ("One way to encourage community input into development planning").  

As I say, "an RFP isn't a plan, a plan is a plan."  

I think about this a lot, when most city property sell offs end up with not very creative results. Or institutional property sales, like the various shuttered Catholic facilities in the Brookland neighborhood of DC.

Portland wanted and got a creative result ("Vision and Versatility: The Story of McMenamins," Spirited Magazine, "Preservation Brotherhood," Chicago Tribune, 2004).  

There's a bar, hotel rooms, an outdoor spa, the gym is a cinema and entertainment space, and the facilities are heavily used by nearby residents separately from tourists.

The McMenamin Group that got the property went on to use the same model on difficult to rehabilitate properties throughout the Pacific Northwest, maximizing the civic benefit far beyond Portland.

NYC parking lot conversion.  New York City is doing that with a parking lot for a police precinct.  

It's a small lot, about 0.25 acres, 11,540 s.f.  The community wanted affordable housing there, and a public engagement process outlined what they wanted (324 E. 5th Street: Community Visioning Report, NYC).

The new building will be modern in design but respectful of the historic architecture style and building materials that predominate the neighborhood.

They're jamming a lot into it, 130 units in a tall building.  From the Crain's New York Business article, "City to turn East Village NYPD parking lot into affordable housing":

The development will include community space, a senior adult daycare with multigenerational programming, landscaped terraces, green roofs, an all-electric building system and replacement parking. Housing Works will provide on-site supportive services for residents. Additionally, 30% of the Aurea’s roughly 130 units will be reserved for formerly homeless New Yorkers.

That's an excellent outcome.  And it's because the city isn't charging at all for the land, in return for the public benefit of affordable housing.

Chevy Chase DC.  To be fair to DC, maybe they are learning.  After a lot of controversy and push back by residents ("Opposition to affordable housing in Chevy Chase, DC"), a similar project in the Upper NW neighborhood of Chevy Chase will come with 177 units of housing, with about 1/3 deeply affordable, with a brand new library and community center on the ground floor, retail, public spaces, and underground parking (City press release, Library press release).

Chevy Chase Maryland.  Interestingly, Montgomery County has a similar opportunity in their side of the neighborhood with a similar property.  The County Council wants a mixed use project with a new library and a school, the term limited County Executive doesn't.  It will be interesting to see what happens after this November's election.  

That County Executive ran for Council at large and was (re)elected--he was on Council before getting elected to County Executive.  

He will be somewhat of a wrench in plans to do affordable housing.  He thinks the County is doing fine, despite falling further behind in comparison to suburban counties in Northern Virginia--the county doesn't have the same level of business formation or large businesses, and isn't attracting as many new residents ("The East-West Divide | DC area regional economic development: anchors and where they are placed matter + airports | But military spending matters the most," "East County, Montgomery County, Maryland: Council redistricting spurs ideas for revitalization").

The coming of the Purple Line is the cover story for the June 2026 issue of Mass Transit Magazine ("The MDOT MTA Purple Line: Nearly Two Decades in the Making").  Although they have the timeline way wrong.  I sent them a letter but got no response.

Montgomery County has renewed opportunity because of the Purple Line.  Interestingly, with the addition of the Purple Line light rail, an east-west line from Bethesda to New Carrollton, Montgomery County has some great opportunities to reposition.  

-- "Setting the stage for the Purple Line light rail line to be an overwhelming success: Part 1 | simultaneously introduce improvements to other elements of the transit network" (2017)
-- "Part 2 |   the program (macro changes)"
-- "Part 3 |   influences"
-- "Part 6 |  Creating a transportation development authority in Montgomery and Prince George's County to effectuate placemaking, retail development, and housing programs in association with the Purple Line"
-- "Part 7 | Using the Purple Line to rebrand Montgomery and Prince George's Counties as Design Forward"
-- "Revisiting the Purple Line (series) and a more complete program of complementary improvements to the transit network" (2019)

I didn't get good photos, but I did see the Purple Line under construction on University Boulevard and New Hampshire Avenue on my recent trip to DC, and I was amazed.  It's really happening.

According to the Mass Transit article, it should open in December 2027, "only" 5 years late.  For a time there was talk it would be 2028.  I guess they are pushing hard.

Wikipedia photo of PL construction at the University of Maryland.

Silver Spring.  I wrote a whole series on Silver Spring, inspired by a query from blog reader Ed Drozd.   I never suggested it, but similar programs could be devised for Bethesda, Rockville, and Wheaton.

-- PL #5: Creating a Silver Spring "Sustainable Mobility District" (2017)
- Part 1: Setting the stage
- Part 2: Program items 1- 9
- Part 3: Program items 10-18
- Part 4: Conclusion
- Map for the Silver Spring Sustainable Mobility District
- (Big Hairy) Projects Action Plan(s) as an element of Comprehensive/Master Plans
- Creating the Silver Spring/Montgomery County Arena and Recreation Center
-- "Making "Downtown Silver Spring" a true open air shopping district by adding department stores" (2018)

I did make a related point about Long Branch.

-- "Long Branch, Montgomery County: Main Street manager job | Purple Line" (2026)

Five more items I'd add to a Montgomery County "transportation" agenda, which would have great ROI for economic development more generally, would be:

1. extending the West leg of the Red Line from Shady Grove at least three stations to Gaithersburg and Germantown
2. making the MARC Brunswick rail line bi-directional during the day -- this is in the supplemental piece from 2019
3. including an infill station in North Bethesda
4. a Separated Yellow Line Metrorail either up Georgia Avenue or out New Hampshire Avenue from Fort Totten Metrorail Station could serve more parts of Montgomery County, even towards the border with Howard County
5. push for beginning planning to extend the Purple Line from Bethesda to Tysons.

Parking, parking, parking -- Chicago | A rare opportunity to reverse a really bad decision

Parking meter sign in Chicago.

In the pre Trump days the line was that "social security is the third rail of politics," that you try to mess with it you get burned.  Locally, I joke the issue is parking.

Chicago has lots of structural deficit issues, primarily a massive pension liability, and over the years the young Daley Administration in particular the choice as to employ stratagems to fix massive budget deficits. 

The biggest was to sell off, well lease off, parking meters for 99 years.  The contract is onerous, requiring the city to pay the concessionaire for closed streets, like for festivals, or taking out parking spaces for bike share stations or to add to the public space.  From the Bloomberg article "Morgan Stanley’s $2.5 Billion Parking-Meter Sale Roils Chicago Council":

For almost two decades, Chicago has been stewing over a $1.15 billion deal to Chicago Parking Meters, LLC Selected as Winning Bidder for the 36,000 parking meters to an investor group led by Morgan Stanley. Now, with the meters set to change hands, the city council is seizing on an opening to push back.

The original purchasers have already made their money back and then some, and look to sell of the next 57 years of the concession for $2.53 billion.  Mayor Johnson put in a bid to buy it back, but for some reason he backed off ("Mayor Johnson finally explains his decision to bid $3.2B for parking meters before walking away," Chicago Sun-Times).

The City Council has to approve the transfer, and they are looking for concessions.  Meanwhile,  Alderman Jason Ervin proposed the creation of a public infrastructure trust/bank funded by the city's pension funds, to buy back the contract and to make other public infrastructure investments ("We should vote no on the parking meter transfer for the sake of a better investment policy," Chicago Tribune).

That's actually a good idea.  

North Dakota's State Bank ("The ‘Secret Sauce’?: Understanding the Success of the State Bank Of North Dakota," Government Finance Research Center, UIC) and the Quebec Pension Fund, CDPQ--Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, have been successful at intra-state/province investment.  

The pension fund is building the REM transit system in Montreal--but they got a super sweet deal from the Province that's as outrageous as the concessions made on the original parking contract in Chicago.

The REM in Montreal launched its second section earlier this year.  People really ride it.

I worry some about these kinds of set ups because while they need accountability and transparency mechanisms, at the same time there needs to be a hard wall against political meddling.  

E.g., you don't want Aldermen able to force through loans, the way they have veto power over development within their wards?  

Or, when the US Government gave a massive loan to GM during the Great Financial Crisis, local dealers under threat from consolidation called their Congressional representatives to lobby to keep their franchise.  Etc.

Chicago's track record on infrastructure doesn't make me hopeful they can make the turn from a corrupt orientation to an above board infrastructure bank, but I'm hopeful.  E.g., when Norway created its Sovereign Investment Fund, it drew upon the experience with Mideastern states, oil revenues, and investments with the aim of yielding real investment rather than wasting the money ("Stop Calling All Wealth Funds Sovereign: Father of Norway’s Fund," Bloomberg).

Maybe Chicago should hire people from Norway to run their bank...

To me, they shouldn't have sold off the parking meter concession to begin with.  And it's rare to be given the opportunity to reverse such a bad decision.

California’s first ADU condo sale offers another path to homeownership

Backdoor Revolution: The Definitive Guide to ADU Development

I have been interested in ADUs for years ("DC and accessory dwelling units," "There are plenty of lots capable of accessory dwelling units in Upper Northwest," "Will carriage houses destroy city life as we know it?."  

And for a time did alley tours in Greater Capitol Hill.

Article from the Orange County Register.  From the article:

San Jose is home to the first accessory dwelling unit sold as a separately owned condo in California, city officials said, setting a potential template for a more affordable path to homeownership. But a lengthy rollout raises questions about whether the model can become a scalable solution to the state’s housing crisis — the sale comes more than two years after the state made such transactions possible.

The 749-square-foot, two-bedroom ADU on Josefina Street near downtown closed last month for $530,000. That’s about a quarter of Santa Clara County’s eye-popping $2.1 million median single-family home price in May, according to the California Association of Realtors. Real estate brokerage Redfin last month listed San Jose among the 10 most expensive U.S. housing markets, based on the share of median income needed to afford to buy a home.

ADUs, also known as in-law units or granny flats, typically have up to 1,200 square feet of living space and must include a kitchen sink, cooking appliance and separate bathroom.

The sale was made possible by a state law passed in 2023, Assembly Bill 1033, which allows homeowners to convert ADUs into condos and sell them separately from the main property, rather than just renting them out. Under the law, ADU condos come with their own property tax bills, but require an HOA agreement with the primary homeowner for common elements, such as roofs or driveways.

Historicity.  I have been intrigued by alleys, historic carriage houses, and ADUs for a long time.  First in terms of historicity.   

• DC Historic Alleys Building Survey, DC Historic Preservation Office
• "The American Alley, Part 1: A Hidden Resource," "The American Alley, Part 2: Origins of the American Alley," "The American Alley, Part 3: The End of the American Alley," "The American Alley, Part 4: Rediscovering the Forgotten Human Scale," Strong Towns/Resilience
• "History: Capitol Hill Alley Dwellings," Hill Rag

• and how on some properties there are historic carriage buildings that have been converted from horse stables to houses.  These are on regular house lots.  
• There are also some carriage houses on their own lots separate from a street facing lot, developed when the interior of large blocks were "programmed" with buildings separate from the street--often for "industrial uses" like stables, machining, storage, drayage, etc., 
• I learned from a guy I talked to once on a rear alley off of H Street NE who said that at the time (before DC liberalized ADU laws) it was legal for these buildings to have a "caretaker" apartment
• Interior blocks often were developed with housing to use up the space, make it profitable, and  sometimes as a way to provide mixed income housing--for servants, lower income people, etc.  
• (Later, instead of dealing with interior blocks, developers created intervening streets, such as Acker Place, Lexington Place, Morris Place, Morton Place, and Orleans Place between 6th and 7th Streets NE, Parker Street NE by Union Station, or blocks of rowhouses west of 5th Street NW in Manor Park like Quackenbos Street NW and Quintana Place NW)
• President's wife Ellen Wilson's claim to DC fame was her work to rid blocks of this interior  housing, probably because often the people settled there were African-Americans.

• Although some sections remained, like Millers Court NE and Brown's Court SE or on Capitol Hill and became models for building similar housing later 
• And because in upper NW, such as the lots east of 4th Street in Manor Park, the deep lots often have free standing garages or nothing, and could accommodate an ADU.  Our lot could, which I'd like to take advantage of some time.
• Transit access is key.  But I think it's best to focus ADU development within walking distance to a Metrorail station, to reduce the demand for driving.  Our house in Manor Park is about three quarters of a mile from Takoma Metrorail Station.

Affordable Housing.  Second in terms of the idea of adding "missing middle housing" and affordable housing. Missing middle housing is smaller types of housing vis a vis "normal sized" single family attached and detached houses.  In DC, it's not missing, it's just very expensive because all housing in DC is expensive.  And because there isn't a lot of it.  As noted above, it's mostly on interiors of blocks, and as a product of its time, pre-1900.

A very small house on Millers Court NE rents for $4,500 per month.  Middle housing indeed!

But the people who can afford to build an ADU might not necessarily want to provide AH.  According to a study in Greater Los Angeles ("The dark side of California’s backyard ADU boom: How much do they ease the housing shortage," LA Times):

He found that “ADU prevalence correlates with lower-income, renter-occupied, and younger households, denser populations, and areas with higher concentrations of non-white residents and registered Democrats.”

This type of housing is a form of what's being called "missing middle housing."  

In some weak markets like a neighborhood in Austin, Texas, ADUs are promoted to support multi-generational living and wealth generation through improving the value of a property by adding a unit, or to have a second income stream from the property to pay the mortgage ("Alley Flat Initiative fits small, green homes into unexpected places," CultureMap Austin, Alley Flat Initiative, Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corporation). 

Some photos.

Parker Street NE -- the houses are narrow but still expensive because of the location.

Quintana Place NW -- the houses are more colonial, Tudor and not contiguous but in units of two because the National Capital Planning Commission ruled  sometime in the 1920s that rowhouses couldn't be contiguous (seen as an anti-African American policy decision)

Lexington Place NE -- the Queen Anne rowhouse style typified by the houses on Parker Street NE started to be succeeded by a more Craftsman form, often called Wardman style after the developer.  This transition started around 1907. ("What's in a Wardman? A Short Overview of DC's Most Prevalent Architecural Style," DC Urban Turf).

Millers Court SE is super well situated.  A block from the Supreme Court.  Two blocks from the Capitol.

Third, I've wanted to put one on our lot.  But ADUs aren't as cheap to build as people say.

1.  everyone says "oh, they're cheaper because you don't have to buy the land."
2. That's a little true, but the cost of permitting and new construction and financing is still high, over $250/s.f.
3. Plus the cost of installing electricity and water/sewage (and maybe gas).
4. They are hard to finance, although you can do it through a home equity loan I suppose.  And then the rents can't be super cheap because you have to pay off the cost of construction plus the various annual costs.

This is a garage on the rear of a lot on the 4400 block of River Road NW in DC.  It's a similar configuration to our lot in Manor Park.

The amounts of money cities offer to encourage ADU construction aren't very much and usually require renting out at less than market rates.

To facilitate this "the city" or nonprofit should create an ADU clearinghouse working with property owners to finance and build, and then with property owners and renters to facilitate rentals in a systematic way.

CDCs to build and finance at scale.  Gosh a good 12+ years ago I suggested the creation of a community development corporation that would operate city wide doing this.  Ideally, on our block you could build as many as 32 ADUs, they could go in on a block, with a city incentive too, and try to get multiple property owners to do it at the same time, to cut costs.

A number of firms do this now in the Midwest, such as ADU America, and in the Pacific Northwest and California (ADU Resource Center).

Pattern Books to make building ADUs easier.  Some cities have also created ADU pattern books to facilitate permitting and lower cost construction.  Often they include more modern buildings which don't appeal to me.  I prefer that ADUs match the prevailing neighborhood architectural style be it Queen Anne or Craftsman rowhouse, Colonial, etc.

-- ADU D.C. Homeowner’s Manual, Coalition for Smarter Growth

-- Philadelphia Rowhouse Manual (not on ADUs, but historic rowhouses, providing indirect guidance for how to do pre 1914 style ADUs)

-- A Pattern Book for Founders’ Place Neighborhood, Muscogee, Oklahoma, Oklahoma University-Tulsa Urban Design Studio

-- Del Ray Neighborhood Residential Pattern Book, Alexandria, Virginia

-- Accessory Dwelling Unit Guidebook, Boston Planning Department

-- A Pattern Book for Neighborly Houses, Habitat for Humanity, (I like the points about context sensitive development, it's not so much about ADUs)

-- ADU Pattern Book for Mid-Century Homes, Family Housing Fund

-- Building an ADU, Salt Lake City

-- ADU Pattern Book, MB Architecture

-- Changing Lanes: Laneway Suites in Toronto

Problems:  Some people don't want to share.  Granny flats/Yay or Nay.  Originally, were called "granny flats," with the idea that downsizing parents would relocate to an ancillary dwelling on their children's property

But some people don't want to share their lots.  "An Honest Conversation About Toronto Laneway Houses," Toronto Realty Blog.  From the article:

But why do people disagree on laneway housing? And what issues are at the forefront of the discussions? “An honest conversation,” i.s what I called this in today’s blog title, and that’s what I’m aiming for because I feel like the discussion about laneway housing in Toronto is merely getting started. 

 A client of mine remarked last weekend, “I have no problem if somebody else wants to build a laneway home on our street. But I don’t think I’d take one if it were free. I don’t want somebody living in my backyard with a window that looks out to where my kids play, and I don’t want to park my car under their living room.”

The LA Times has a series of articles on ADUs, and many involve multi-generational families, so sharing the lot isn't an issue.  And sometimes it's not for granny, but for the adult children. ("She couldn’t afford L.A. rent after law school. Her parents’ ADU came to the rescue").  

There are many in the Belmont Heights neighborhood of Long Beach.  We stayed in one as an airbnb.  A less than one mile walk to the beach...

For others, it's an ancillary studio not to be rented out ("Thanks to a tiny ADU, an L.A. home transforms into a stunning art gallery and studio," "Surprising ADU with tricked-out garage, rooftop deck matches family’s playfulness").  This is a big issue now with work from home.

But for unrelated people, if they aren't into the idea of having renters, an ADU may not be appealing.

Problems:  Financing.  It's still difficult to get traditional financing.  And adding an ADU if you have a mortgage, you have to notify the lender. ("Should I take a bridge loan to build an ADU?," LA Times); 

Problems:  Parking.  DC requires that building an ADU doesn't reduce parking on the lot.  In an area like Manor Park, this is dumb because there is plenty of street parking.  Less so in rowhouse neighborhoods in the core.  Basically, people can create "parking pads" that double as patios. Also see "A Koreatown parking protest: Tenants stage sit-in to protest loss of parking to make way for ADUs," LA Times.

Green Alley initiatives.  Separately, a number of cities are pursuing "green alley" initiatives where they are focusing on plantings, stormwater capture, and sometimes placemaking (" In Miles of Alleys, Chicago Finds Its Next Environmental Frontier," New York Times, "To Battle Floods, Cities Revive Their Long-Forgotten Alleyways,"JSTOR, "Cities Give Alleys New Life," Governing).  

-- Chicago Green Alley Handbook

In the early 2000s I read an article in (I think) Southern Living about Calder Loth, then State Architectural Historian for Virginia, and his initiative planting flowers in his alley in the Fan District ("The Self-Taught Gardener: Division Street," Berkshire Edge).

Alley repaving.  DC had a green alleys program but it never did much.  

Separately the Department of Transportation created a program still in operation that actively repaves alleys, many of which were in disrepair, with a polyglot of materials, using brick or asphalt block where it had been in use.  

Except that originally they only used red brick, and some alleys originally had yellow brick or other treatments.  I know I called for a change in this to be more historically accurate and they did change, according to this Instagram post.

This image shows yellow brick on the alley, and red brick fronting the sidewalk/apron to the street.

There is an alley off North Capitol SE, where one of the abutting property owners put in (or maintains) historically accurate cobblestones, with a brick track for "carriage wheels."  

Although, if you walk on cobbles, like some streets in Georgetown, it's not comfortable.

Placemaking and retail laneways initiatives.  ("Hidden in Plain Sight: Activating Urban Alleys," MRSC)

-- Living Alleys Toolkit, Austin

For at least 15 years, Melbourne has been reactivating alleys as retail spots.  In the US, larger real estate projects are often using the laneway concept as a way to activate interior spaces and add a fun element to the development.

Sydney, Austrailia

Retail laneways initiatives.   

-- Melbourne's Revitalized Laneways, Gehl Architects

-- Pocket Book of Melbourne Laneways

-- "Australia’s laneways investment is breathing new life into its cities," Monocle

-- Pioneer Square Alleys Design Manual