Highlights

Recently, DC experienced significant large-scale development in Navy Yard and the Wharf. This space was only available because a federal urban renewal project in Southwest DC demolished 99 percent of the buildings and displaced 4,500 Black households.

Commonly cited walkability metrics like Walk Score usually reduce walkability to one attribute: proximity to key destinations like schools, transit, work, and retail. Although these metrics are important for identifying mechanisms to improve quality of life and pointing out inequities in access for people of different backgrounds, none provides a holistic examination of walking, which covers not just where you are going but also if your neighborhood is safe, equitable, and enjoyable to walk through.

The greater DC region is still experiencing the pandemic’s lingering ramifications. Workers in certain sectors, often those with lower incomes, were more likely to be affected by the pandemic-driven economic downturn.

Amid the Omicron COVID-19 surge, the debate over school operations has been intense.

With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to exacerbate racial and socioeconomic inequities in the DC area and nationwide, members of the Urban–Greater DC team convened with neighbors and residents of the greater DC region to reflect on lessons learned from the pandemic and the national movement for racial justice sweeping our country and our region.

Each turn of the pandemic brings new challenges, and communities have responded, bravely and creatively, by bridging digital divides, expanding safety net supports, and engaging community perspect

In the past year, federal economic impact payments and the success of several cash transfer projects have contributed to growing demand for cash transfers in the United States. Cash transfers easily get cash to people who need it most, for them to use as they deem best.

Transferring cash directly to people who need it is an old idea. Since the early 1800’s, Black mutual aid societies have provided intracommunity support to cover health and education needs.

The COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented economic downturn that erased millions of jobs and put many families at risk of eviction and homelessness. Though the eviction moratorium has prevented countless evictions, the pandemic has highlighted how many families are one financial shock away from falling behind on rent and becoming homeless, whether from loss of employment or an unexpected hospital visit.