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Happy Black History Month from the Office of Planning (OP)! Be sure to check out our new interactive website featuring over 300 Black History sites across the District. Read more about it below.
OP will testify before the DC Council in an upcoming public hearing about the agency's performance in Fiscal Year 2023. The performance oversight hearing is scheduled for February 22. Access details and view the hearing through the Council's website.
Sincerely,
Anita Cozart
Director, DC Office of Planning
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In celebration of Black History Month, the DC Office of Planning (OP) launched a new website featuring an interactive map of 300 important Black history sites in the District. Residents can visit Black History Sites: Washington, DC to explore and learn about the people, places, and events that have shaped the history and culture of the nation's capital.
The Black History Sites website features a wealth of information, historic images, and location data that serves as a tour guide for visiting sites across the city. These sites span the District's history from 1791, through the Civil War and Civil Rights eras, to 1974 when DC gained Home Rule, and the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020. They highlight the social, cultural, and political movements that are central to DC’s heritage.
The digital tour sites include well-known places like Howard Theatre where Black artists made their mark on the world to lesser-known civil rights sites, like the site of the former Childs Restaurant at 2 Massachusetts Avenue NW, where in 1949, 80 activists staged a sit-in to protest segregation policies. The sites include many of the schools, businesses, churches, recreational centers, communities, and homes where Black Washingtonians studied, worked, worshipped, played and consistently fought for their rights.
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Mary McLeod Bethune visits the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA, 1943
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Ashbury Methodist Church, the oldest Black Methodist Church in DC, dedicates a new #BlackLivesMatter banner, 2020
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OP released the Wisconsin Avenue Development Framework, which is a neighborhood planning effort that lays the groundwork for up to 9,500 new homes, including up to 1,700 dedicated affordable in Friendship Heights and Tenleytown. Recommendations, developed through extensive community engagement, are rooted in urban design, and promote well-designed blocks that serve residents of all ages and abilities with active public spaces anchored by retail, restaurants, and cultural and entertainment uses.
The Rock Creek West Roadmap, released in 2021, outlined District programs and policies to address the shortage of affordable housing in this area of the city—working toward Mayor Bowser’s goal of 1,990 additional affordable housing units in Rock Creek West. To advance these goals, OP completed the Chevy Chase Small Area Plan in 2022, the Connecticut Avenue Design Guidelines in 2023, and now the Wisconsin Avenue Development Framework.
OP will use the guidance in the Development Framework to inform zoning changes for this part of Wisconsin Avenue NW. Read the Wisconsin Avenue Development Framework to learn more. To view current data on the District’s progress towards Mayor Bowser’s housing goals, visit the 36,000 by 2025 Dashboard.
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OP is pleased to share the submission of DC 2050: Outlook for the District’s Next Comprehensive Plan to Council. The DC 2050 paper describes OP’s approach and timeline for the rewrite process of the District Elements of the Comprehensive Plan and outlines a path for a new Comprehensive Plan that is user-friendly, considers the most up-to-date data, centers racial equity, and is informed by community values.
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OP is pleased to share a status update on the District’s progress implementing the Comprehensive Plan. In 2021, the District adopted the most recent amendments to the Comp Plan, which includes over 800 actions to guide its implementation. Since then, the District has made significant progress on implementation, particularly for short-term and ongoing actions that make up almost 70 percent, or 569 Comp Plan actions. The initiatives described in this status update highlight examples of the District’s efforts in advancing equity, resilience, and housing affordability.
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OP and the National Capital Planning Commission partnered to sponsor a two-day Technical Assistance Panel with ULI Washington on the Kennedy Center and Foggy Bottom. The Panel examined the area covered by sprawling I-66 highway infrastructure between the National Mall, the Kennedy Center, and the Foggy Bottom neighborhood. To address the disruption in the area’s urban fabric and mobility network caused by the maze of ramps and tunnels, the panel was tasked with developing an action plan to restore the street grid, create infill development opportunities, and integrate the Kennedy Center into the city’s monumental core.
The Panel report identifies short-, medium-, and long-term action items to bring cultural vibrancy, meaning, and a sense of place to each of the three parts of the study area, as well as a framework for implementation of a new vision for the area from a perspective of governance.
South (left) and North (right) area proposals in Perkins Eastman’s 2023 plan, “Repairing and Connecting.”
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Michelle Kim is working with OP’s Neighborhood Planning Team as an intern through the DDOT/Howard University internship program. She is a third-year student at George Mason University, pursuing a bachelor’s in Social Work. She aspires to complete a master’s fusing her interests in behavioral health research and data analysis, with a focus on helping marginalized populations.
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The DC Comeback Plan identifies the economic strength of Downtown as critical to the District’s economic recovery. With 69% of hotels in DC located in Downtown, travel and tourism are bright spots in the District’s economy. The District saw 21.9 million visitors in 2022, an increase of nearly seven million compared to 2020 - the height of the pandemic. Hotel occupancy rate rose to 69.9% in 2023 - almost back to pre-pandemic levels. Data for 2022 indicates that visitors spent $8.1 billion, which supported 84,111 jobs and raised $1.6 billion in tax revenues. ‘Experience DC’ and ‘There’s Only One DC’, two advertising campaigns supported by the Mayor and Council, will continue to promote DC as a destination and attract more visitors to further grow the economy.
 Visit the OP Demographic Data Hub for reliable, up-to-date demographic data on all residents of the District of Columbia.
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Learn more and get involved in our community planning projects:
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Join us at the following events where OP staff will be available to answer questions and share information about OP’s work:
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February 26: Downtown Action Plan & Downtown Public Realm Plan Release
- Join Mayor Bowser, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, the Office of Planning, and the DowntownDC and Golden Triangle BIDs as we unveil new strategies for reimagining Downtown DC.
- 11am – Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, 641 D St NW
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February 29: Nourish DC Open House
- Come meet and network with Nourish DC Collaborative Partners, OP's Food Policy team, food policy advocates, and small businesses that have utilized Nourish funding and technical assistance resources. Learn more about Nourish DC grants, lending, and technical assistance and its impact on the food ecosystem!
- 4-7pm – MLK Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G St NW
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March 4: Downtown Coffee Chats
- Grab a free cup of coffee and chat with us about our new Downtown Public Realm Plan and our vision for Downtown.
- 8-9am – Compass Coffee, 1703 H Street NW
- 10-11am – Urban Roast, 916 G St NW
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March 9: Rooting DC
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March 13: March Madness
- Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development host March Madness, the District's annual economic development showcase and pre-solicitation event.
- 10am-12:30pm – Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center Atrium Hall, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW
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March 23: Ivy City Small Area Plan Community Visioning Workshop
- 11am – Trinity Baptist Church, 1814 Central Pl NE
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March 30: Urban Design Walking Tour
- Join us to explore urban planning and design terminology with practical examples and visuals, followed by a walking tour around the neighborhood to apply this newfound knowledge on our city streets. Learn how planners and designers think about public space and how we can all work together to improve it.
- 2-3:30pm – Lamond-Riggs/Lillian J. Huff Neighborhood Library, 5401 South Dakota Ave NE
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