This week:

WHC CEO @driggs16dc.bsky.social was featured on “Beyond the Resume: Fixing the Formula in DC Affordable Housing” a panel on the challenges & opportunities shaping DC's #affordablehousing, hosted by Jackson Lucas & Robinson+Cole. Watch their full discussion on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw26...

Spending over 30% of household income on housing qualifies as rent burdened. But according to the latest research from @harvard-jchs.bsky.social the “30% metric” underestimates how many renters are actually burdened by housing costs once you include food, healthcare, childcare, transport, & more:

Join @driggs16dc.bsky.social, CEO of the Washington Housing Conservancy, on Tuesday, September 30, for a webinar hosted by Jackson Lucas discussing affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization, and equitable development. RSVP here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Looking forward to CEO @driggs16dc.bsky.social participating in the upcoming webinar "Fixing the Formula in DC Affordable Housing" on 9/30 for the next Jackson Lucas Webinar series, in partnership w/ Robinson+Cole: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi... @trueground.bsky.social #affordablehousing

Washington Business Journal featured an op-ed by @driggs16dc.bsky.social outlining beneficial housing policy reforms and expressed support for the Mayor’s RENTAL ACT legislation currently before DC Council. Read here to learn more about proposed TOPA and RENTAL Act reforms:

#naturesbeauty #santafesunset

Destination Crenshaw will be the largest Black public art project in America once completed. The org's head Jason Foster talks to @nextcity.org about the project as “a holistic kind of community change using art” in honor of Crenshaw and LA. Listen to the podcast episode here: bit.ly/3ZqOHW2

NEW: The way we behave outside is changing - we're not lingering with others in public spaces. Dr. Salazar-Miranda's research says we lose "broader social function of cities" "when people treat sidewalks and paths as primarily just corridors to get from point A to point B.” Read more: bit.ly/4dtJtyI

Last night at the ULI Washington's 2025 Awards for Excellence, WHC's CEO @driggs16dc.bsky.social joined in celebrating Impact Award honorees Deborah Ratner Salzberg from Uplands Real Estate Partners and Jodie W. McLean from EDENS. Congrats to you both! washington.uli.org/events/award...

2/2 And if you enjoyed the lecture, join us Friday, April 18 @gsd.harvard.edu for our half-day symposium where practitioners, policymakers, advocates, and researchers will discuss types of social housing and new efforts to create affordable, high-quality homes. www.jchs.harvard.edu/calendar/evo...

Love this! @gsd.harvard.edu #LoebFellows are well represented. At the Architecture Biennale, the U.S. Says ‘Come Sit by Me’ www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/a...

Within the next decade, older adults will outnumber children for the first time in American history. As people live longer, their housing needs will change, but our current housing market is ill prepared for this demographic shift. @urbaninstitute.bsky.social www.urban.org/urban-wire/a...

"Cost burdens are spreading from the poorest households to working folks, particularly young people... a full-time job is no guarantee that housing will be affordable." An interview with our director Chris Herbert about the country's rental affordability crisis. news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...

Seventy years ago, the writer Lewis Mumford warned that urban highways would be a disaster: “This is pyramid building with a vengeance, a tomb of concrete roads and ramps covering the dead corpse of a city.” He was right. We just didn’t listen. Me, in CityLab 🧵

So happy to see this finally done! Proud to be a neighbor to these new JPers! #bospoli

In paradise! #Belize!

"That’s the hope for this hike, especially after a couple of rough weeks, just going out and breathing & remembering that things might be falling apart but there’s still a lot of beauty as well." #nature #publicspace #diversity @jeanuh.bsky.social @briankaiser.bsky.social @nytimes.com

One of the best players in baseball history: The Say Hey Kid, Willie Mays! As a teenager, he joined the Negro American League. He played 23 seasons in the @MLB, playing for the New York Giants and the New York Mets. Willie was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979.

"WHC has a focus on the squeezed #missingmiddle in the market. There's a real need there. We need to change the narrative of who's in need & what interventions are needed." CEO @driggs16dc.bsky.social spoke to DMV cross-sector leaders at @UrbanLandInst Washington's #2025FutureForum yesterday.

Excited to share this article cowritten with @bridgetmarquis.bsky.social! #Gehl #citiesforpeople #socialinfrastructure @rwjf.bsky.social #planning

Love to see it in print! @driggs16dc.bsky.social @washhousing.bsky.social @bridgetmarquis.bsky.social @rwjf.bsky.social #planning #socialinfrastructure #publicspace #placemaking Full article can be read here: medium.com/reimagining-...

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone here at Bluesky for the follows and the conversations and the constructive, substantive interaction. It's a great forum, a great resource for circulating and talking about the news, and -- most of all -- a pleasure. I'm grateful!

From the civil rights movement to modern-day leaders in every field #BlackHistory is American history. Let's celebrate the resilience, strength & ongoing impact of Black communities in DC & beyond! www.robertwhiteatlarge.com/black-histor... #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackExcellence #DC #CommunityStrength

Join @driggs16dc.bsky.social & area thought leaders at ULI Washington's 3rd Annual Future Forum for an exciting Fishbowl Conversation on February 5th. Registration for the Future Forum will close this Friday 1/31 at 5pm. Sign up today! https://buff.ly/3WF2rv5

This is a Burgundy and Gold line train to… the NFC Championship! Major Tuddy and Team Metro are heading into Sunday ready to #RaiseHail for the @wshcommanders.bsky.social !!! #LetsGoCommanders #NFCChampionship #wmata

This week we celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day honoring his legacy & vision for a more just, equitable & inclusive world. This month's blog shares @driggs16dc.bsky.social reflections on Dr. King's "beloved community" & how #affordablehousing puts us on his path: https://buff.ly/4h6iURc

Excited to be featured in this HUD publication! #washhousing #affordablehsg #econmobility

Excited to be featured in this HUD publication! #washhousing #affordablehsg #econmobility

Happy New Year! WHC is hiring 2 Social Impact Coordinators. These positions will be responsible for implementing WHC's #socialimpact strategy at our DC/MD/VA apartment communities. Position details and application info linked below, please share with your networks!

A recent HUD article spotlights WHC & WHI affordability model through housing preservation in high-resource areas. The WHC/WHI partnership's innovative financing model & focus on #economicmobility through #mixedincome & #socialimpact approach: https://buff.ly/403o5tG #washhousing #affordablehousing

According to our new projections, out today, the number of US households is expected to increase by 8.6 million between 2025-2035. This would be far less growth than in recent decades, and could be even lower depending on immigration, says @dmccue.bsky.social. www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/new-pro...

Beautiful snow day on #DC!

MTPD announces heightened security as a precaution following tragic events in New Orleans. #wmata

✨Happy New Year! As we step into 2025 & I enter my 3rd Council term, I'm humbled to have been reelected & don't take your support for granted. I look fwd to working w/you to build a more equitable, vibrant & thriving DC. Wishing you a 2025 filled w/hope, progress & opportunity.

In private, Jimmy Carter could be appealing and unassuming, according to Steven Weisman, a reporter who covered his presidency for The New York Times.

Today we celebrated the 235 families who bought their 1st home this year through @boston.gov’s programs—each a new anchor building generational wealth in their families & building community in our neighborhoods.

WHC gathered Board members, partners & #DC-area thought leaders to celebrate 5 years of leadership from CEO @driggs16dc.bsky.social, & what our org & supporters have accomplished. It was an evening filled with reflection, gratitude & excitement for the future! Here's to many more years of impact!

Welcome to Bluesky Kimberly @driggs16dc.bsky.social. My fellow planner and placemaker.

Urban Planning quote of the week. From The Big City 100+ Best Urban Planning Quotes. #bestplanningquotes “It is difficult to design a place that will not attract people. What is remarkable is how often this has been accomplished.” - William H. Whyte

Urban planning quote of the week. “Urbanism works when it creates a journey as desirable as the destination.” - Paul Goldberger #urbanism Source: 100+ of the Best Urban Planning Quotes

Speaking at the 2025 Safe Streets Summit in West Palm Beach, taking place on February 6-7. For more details on the summit and the speakers visit safestreetssummit.org.

Urban planning quote of the week. #planning

My office is hiring! Join a dynamic team of Ward 5 neighbors by applying for one of the open positions in the Ward 5 Council Office: - Legislative Director: ward5.us/legislativedirector - Committee Director: ward5.us/committeedirector

President Biden announced on Sunday that U.S. military forces had conducted airstrikes in Syria to keep the Islamic State from reasserting itself in the aftermath of the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

As of earlier this year, the median “all-in” cost of a mortgage payment, property taxes, and insurance was $2,201, up a whopping $852 in just 3 years, and the highest since data first started to be collected over 3 decades ago. @riquier.bsky.social @usatoday.com www.usatoday.com/story/money/...

The biggest bump in housing unaffordability last year was among homeowners who are dealing with a triple whammy: elevated interest rates, extremely high housing costs, and insurance rates that have increased, says @pjwhit.bsky.social. @npr.org www.npr.org/2024/12/04/n...

1/2 The New York City Council today approved an ambitious plan that could make way for 80,000 new homes over the next 15 years, the most significant effort to address the city’s housing crisis in decades. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/05/n...

To what extent is Houston’s success at building lots of homes a reflection of policymakers’ and voters’ pro-growth attitudes, not the outcome of specific policies (eg small minimum lot sizes)? Hard to test the counterfactual, but seems important for predicting success of zoning reforms elsewhere.