Bryan Barnett-Woods
Grtr Grtr Washington
Contact Bryan
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
| Recent: |
|
| Past: |
|
Past articles by Bryan:
Here’s where crash fatalities and injuries are happening in Prince George’s County
Prince George’s County published data maps of traffic fatalities and injuries as part of an effort to better identify trends, high risk populations, and dangerous locations. The county plans to use this data to work toward Vision Zero, a goal to eliminate traffic fatalities and injuries by 2040. → Read More
Why don’t all state roads in Maryland have sidewalks?
Many state roads in Maryland don’t have any sidewalks. At best, that means they’re a hostile or unsafe place to walk. At worst, you may not be able to walk there at all. Why aren’t there more sidewalks? The state is legally obligated to build and maintain roads but not sidewalks, so they’re often patchy at best. → Read More
What does a trail network in the Washington region actually look like?
Trails like Four-Mile Run in Arlington; the Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis in Prince George’s County; and the Marvin Gaye Trail in Washington all help people stay active, connect neighborhoods and workplaces, and support sustainable modes of transportation. Unfortunately, most of the time jurisdictions build their own trails without considering the greater network they feed into. → Read More
Prince George’s has adopted Vision Zero. It has a long road ahead.
Prince George’s County has recently launched its Vision Zero safety campaign, joining many other jurisdictions in the region. Vision Zero is a transportation safety program that aims to eliminate all transportation-related fatalities and serious injuries for people walking, bicycling, using transit, driving, or using any mode. → Read More
I took the #TransitChallenge in Prince George’s County. Here’s how it went.
First started in Ottawa, Canada, the #TransitChallenge is a week-long pledge to leave one’s car at home and instead use public transit or active transportation like bicycling or walking. In June, nine Montgomery County officials organized by the Action Committee for Transit also took the challenge and tweeted about how their trips went. → Read More
Top posts of 2018: Most efforts to control traffic don’t work. Here are four things that do.
Whether it’s an apartment building, shopping center, or a mixed-use project, ostensibly well-intentioned residents regularly cite worsening traffic as the reason to stop new development. However, the most common methods communities push for to alleviate congestion make it worse, while the things that actually help usually face strong pushback. → Read More
Prince George’s County has a new zoning ordinance!
On October 23, the Prince George’s County Council voted to approve a new zoning ordinance—a significant achievement for the county and a big step towards building sustainable and resilient communities. It also approved new subdivision regulations, an updated landscape manual, and a process to re-zone the entire county. → Read More
Why DC has so many rowhomes, and how they’re different from townhomes
Many neighborhoods in DC, from Capitol Hill to Petworth to Georgetown, have streets lined with rowhomes. This style evolved in response to the city's constraints on space, and these houses also help fill the need for a type of housing that's between detached homes and large apartment buildings. → Read More
Most efforts to control traffic don’t work. Here are four things that do.
Whether it’s an apartment building, shopping center, or a mixed-use project, ostensibly well-intentioned residents regularly cite worsening traffic as the reason to stop new development. However, the most common methods communities push for to alleviate congestion make it worse, while the things that actually help usually face strong pushback. → Read More
Zoning laws are frequently abused. Here’s what they’re supposed to do.
Unfortunately, since zoning is ubiquitous throughout the development process, elected officials often try to use zoning legislation to coax developers in a different direction and to address community complaints — regardless of whether it's really the best mechanism to do so. → Read More
Zoning can do a lot, but it can’t do it all
Some communities try to use zoning to force a specific type of business to be built in the neighborhood or to prevent too many people from moving in. Zoning laws can be a powerful way to shape neighborhoods — which means they're often abused. → Read More
Prince George’s County wants greener development
Including green building standards in the ordinance will help ensure that new development in Prince George’s will meet a minimum level of environmental friendliness. This in turn will help protect natural resources, reduce emissions, and generally support better health for everyone in the county. → Read More
Prince George’s County now requires too much parking, but that could soon change
As Prince George's County overhauls its zoning code, they also have the opportunity to enact more forward-thinking parking regulations. You can weigh in on the proposal now! → Read More
Prince George’s County proposes better mixed-use zoning
Prince George's new zoning code is could try a different approach by allowing commercial buildings by-right in multi-family residential areas. This allows for organic mixed use growth, as opposed to the “do everything at once approach” that is not working now. → Read More
Prince George’s County eyes new laws for transit-oriented development
A proposed zoning change in Prince George's county would concentrate growth in regional transit districts, which are vibrant, dense, mixed-use, and transit-oriented neighborhoods. → Read More
Prince George’s zoning code rewrite could make the county greener and less car-dependent
Zoning impacts everyone, down to the most local level–that's why Prince George's County's comprehensive rewrite of their 1,200-page, overly complex code is such a big deal. → Read More
Why don’t all state roads in Maryland have sidewalks?
Many state roads in Maryland don't have any sidewalks. At best, that means they're a hostile or unsafe place to walk. At worst, you may not be able to walk there at all. Why aren't there more sidewalks? The state is legally obligated to build and maintain roads but not sidewalks, so they're often patchy at best. → Read More
When bikeshare stations are near Metro, more people use them... especially if they're outside of DC
Bikeshare can help get people to a Metro station when they live or work too far away to walk there. As a result, the region's busiest Bikeshare stations are next to Metro, especially outside of DC. → Read More
If you want more trails in Prince George's, you'll like this plan
Prince George's has a ton of trails, but they're not all well-connected to each other. The county's Department of Parks and Recreation recently released a draft of a plan for fixing that, as well as building hundreds of miles of new trails. It's looking for public input to make the plan as strong as possible. → Read More
College Park is launching a bikeshare system!
Prince George's County's first bikeshare system, mbike, is launching today in College Park. → Read More