On the Blogs…
Borderstanians: A few items of interest from the blogs last week: DC’s murder rate is 18 times that of Tokyo, condos on U Street and parking tickets.
- From the Washington City Paper Loose Lips column, July 30… WaPo columnist Robert McCartney says not so fast on the self-congratulations over dropping murder rates. ‘The police certainly deserve applause for the progress, but the acclaim risks encouraging too much complacency. Many crime experts are perplexed by the drop in killings and warn it could be temporary,’ he writes. ‘Moreover, viewed in a broader context, the data suggest once again that America should press the reset button on what murder rate it finds tolerable. Even with this year’s improvement, the number of killings in the District is a grievous reminder that our urban areas remain exceptionally violent compared with those in many other wealthy countries….The District’s murder rate is at least 18 times as high as Tokyo’s.’
- From Greater Greater Washington, July 31… The condo paradox: Following up on the U Street noise debate, Rob Pitingolo points out that many younger residents want to live in neighborhoods with bars, but generally lack enough savings or long-term job stability to buy a condo. Paradoxically, thanks to the greater developer profits on condos, new buildings right on nightlife streets like U Street are mostly condos rather than the rental apartments that many people who want to live right on U Street might be able to afford. (Extraordinary Observations)
- From WTOP, July 30… Traffic control officers with the DC Department of Transportation can now write tickets.
