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Happy Black History Month from the Office of Planning (OP)! Be sure to check our State Data Center’s Snapshot of DC’s Black residents featured as our Graphic of the Month below.
As we gear up for an eventful spring, I want to take this opportunity to thank the residents, stakeholders and community leaders who provided their input on the Draft Comp Plan Update during our latest round of public review. We engaged with more than a thousand residents across all eight Wards and received 33 ANC resolutions. We are working diligently to analyze and incorporate the feedback we received as we prepare to submit the Mayor's proposal for the Comprehensive Plan Update to the DC Council in the spring.
Stay tuned as future newsletters promise to be full of updates and planning news. Please feel free to share with others, who can sign up here. In addition, you can follow our work on Twitter at @OPinDC.
Sincerely,
Andrew Trueblood
Director, DC Office of Planning
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Mayor Muriel Bowser, led by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, the DC Office of Planning, the DC Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Mayor's Office of Policy, hosted the third in a series of public conversations to discuss how the bold housing goals set by the Mayor will advance housing equity and disrupt the historic impact of housing segregation in the District.
At the event, held on February 8th at Howard Theater, attendees heard from Mayor Bowser in a fireside chat with Don Edwards, CEO and Principal of Justice & Sustainability Associates, and engaged in Undesign the Redline, an interactive exhibit connecting the intentional and systematic racial housing segregation of the 1930s to political and social issues of today.
Watch a replay of Mayor Bowser’s fireside chat with Don Edwards here.
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The 2020 Census will go live in two weeks! Starting March 12th, all households in DC will begin receiving their US Census letters in the mail. Respond online when you receive your invitation; don’t wait for an enumerator to knock on your door in May.
We have been busy sharing 2020 Census information across the city – on the radio, on TV, in Metro stations and buses. In March, you will start seeing DC Census information in CVS bags, in corner stores and at National’s Park.
Mayor Bowser will kick off the census in DC with block parties across the city leading up to April 1, “National Census Day.” Look out for more information on these and other events.
Stay informed by following @dccensus on twitter or visit 2020census.gov.
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Earlier this month, the DC Historic Preservation Office (DC HPO) was notified that a construction team discovered human skeletal remains while digging in the backyard of 3317 Q Street, NW. Possibly as many as four sets of remains have been identified, however investigations are ongoing.
This is not the first time such remains were discovered on this Georgetown property, or along this block of Q Street. Similar finds along this block occurred in the 1950s-60s, 2004, 2012, and 2018, with seven individual burials documented. Only preliminary analysis of those remains have occurred and few details are available. Each individual was buried in a wooden coffin, and most appear to be African American. Ages range from pre-teen to middle aged. No cause of death has yet been identified for any of the individuals. The burials likely occurred in the mid-1800s.
The District Archaeologist, Dr. Ruth Trocolli, and her team are is now in the process of documenting and removing the remains which are part of an unrecorded 19th century burying ground that spans the properties on the 3300 block of Q Street, NW. The remains will be loaned to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History’s Anthropology Department, where they are already curating burials previously found on this block.
None of the individual’s demographic information are consistent with that of Yarrow Mamout, the famous Georgetown resident who many were hoping to be among the remains recently uncovered. Mr. Mamout was a formerly enslaved African Muslim who lived on his Dent Place property, on the north side of the 3300 block of Q Street, between 1800 and 1823 until his death at approximately 80 years of age. His obituary indicated he might be buried in his backyard. Award-winning archaeological investigations conducted on the lot in 2015 by the DC HPO did not locate any burials, or definitive traces of his household.
To stay informed on future developments, follow DC Archeology on Facebook or @OPinDC on Twitter.
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The DC Office of Planning is conducting a Public Life Study of the intersection of Florida and New York Avenues NE (sometimes referred to as “Dave Thomas Circle” or the “Virtual Circle”) to better understand how people use this area, now and in the future. In coordination with the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), the NoMa Parks Foundation, and the NoMa BID, the results of this study will inform the design of new public spaces created at the intersection, future land uses, and building edges with the aim of activating and enriching public social life.
DDOT’s project to redesign the intersection to make it safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers includes the creation of three new public spaces that might include plazas and green spaces.
Please complete this short survey to help us understand how the area is used today and what people would like to see in the new public spaces. We ask that you respond by March 7, 2020.
Learn more about public life studies in DC.
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Position: Historic Architectural
Job ID No: 10096
Date Open: 02/26/2020 to 03/07/2020
Area of Consideration: Open To The Public
Apply Here
JOB SUMMARY
This position is in the DC Office of Planning. The Office of Planning has the lead responsibility for planning the physical and economic development of the District of Columbia, and strategically guiding the preservation, revitalization and development of the city using a diversity of disciplines involving the broader range of stakeholders. The Historic Preservation Office supports and coordinates efforts throughout the Office of Planning to encourage and regulate the rehabilitation and reuse of historic properties by private property owners and local and Federal agencies.
The incumbent will review building permit applications for alterations, additions and new construction in accordance with local and nationally accepted preservation standards and practices. Consult with applicants to encourage appropriate work in accordance with above standards. Respond to public inquiries on the preservation law review process and acceptable practices and prepares written reports and recommendations on projects to the DC Historic Preservation Review Board.
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