Newsroom

Aug 26, 2011

Over the past few years a number of reports and articles have popped up discussing a trend that would have seemed completely unrealistic only a few years ago – the amount Americans are driving is continuing to decrease. Over at Ezra Klein’s Washington Post blog Brad Plumer points that the rate of driving is significantly off the peak reached in 2007 and questions the common assumption that this reduction will change course once the economy starts growing at a steady pace again.

Aug 24, 2011

Housing in America is undergoing a transformation. Lifestyle priorities and a renewed interest in urban walkable areas are making sprawling far-flung homes less attractive. Economic forces are also contributing to changing housing preferences.

Aug 18, 2011

It’s conventional wisdom that metro Washington exists in a bubble protected from the worst effects of economic slowdowns and recessions through which other parts of the country have to suffer. The direct and indirect effects of the federal government by design a steadfast employer and investor are the basis of the bubble surrounding the nation’s capital.

Aug 17, 2011

We know that metropolitan Washington has a relatively high rate of transit usage relative to other metro areas in America. In fact the American Community Survey (ACS) shows that Washington D.C. has the second highest rate of transit usage (37.1 percent) in the U.S. behind New York City and that the District is tied with Boston as the city with the second-highest rate of overall non-auto transportation (about 50 percent of daily trips do not involve a car).

Aug 16, 2011

AAA Mid-Atlantic recently warned that August is the most deadly month on U.S. roadways . As WTOP noted last week “Five of the deadliest days of the year on U.S. roads are in August. An average of 123 people die each year on August 3.” Unfortunately this fatal August trend proved correct in our area this past weekend when eight people were killed in auto accidents in metropolitan Washington .

Aug 9, 2011

If you were to ask most Americans what a ‘Healthy Community’ means to them some responses would be: a safe place filled with whole fresh food plenty of exercise and free of disease. Unfortunately many communities across the nation—including some in our metro Washington region—lack these important healthy attributes.

Aug 8, 2011

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention a couple of notable references over the past few weeks to our work. Last week Region Forward was referenced in the release of a report by the District of Columbia Office of Planning and the Center for Neighborhood Technology which studied the combined costs of housing and transportation. It found that in many places where single family homes are affordable transportation costs are much higher which often costs people more money than living in the region’s

Aug 8, 2011

Some regions are known as centers of finance. Others are associated with manufacturing. In metro Washington government has long been our special industry. The news of the past week however makes you wonder if that will (or should) change in the future. The region’s unemployment rate ticked upward half a point to 6.2 percent. And while past federal spending helped create area government and contracting jobs the recent debt deal is exclusively focused on cuts.

Aug 2, 2011

Congress has approved and the President has signed a new budget agreement that will raise the nation’s debt ceiling and reduce government spending. Now that the deal is done there’s a lot of discussion about how it will impact the U.S. economy and people. As the home of the federal government and with Uncle Sam as our primary employer it’s a pretty safe bet that metro Washington will be among the areas most affected. And it begs the question: What can we do to position ourselves to adapt and ​

Jul 22, 2011

Often times these Global Fridays post can sound a bit cynical. We know how it may come across: “Look at all the cool things Europe and Asia are doing! Come on America get your act together!” The point is to push to make things better here not to be a negative Nancy.