Come join us at our Readers & Writers Happy Hour on Wednesday, December 3! It's a great chance to mingle, kick around story ideas, and if you wrote for us in 2025, your first drink's on us.

This week on the blog: how we grew in 2025; a denser ward 3 can serve everyone; planning hearings can get wild, so here's a who's who (plus a few "whys"); whither the single-room occupancy units?; when a lack of new housing brings chickens, er, rats, home to roost; 100 Somethings to Do.

Growth and gratitude at GGWash

Chelsea Allinger (Executive Director) • November 26, 2025

It’s been a big year for GGWash. Our executive director reflects on what growth has meant for our organization.

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I grew up in Ward 3, and I support upzoning it.

Maximilian Colombina • November 24, 2025

Opinion: Tenleytown/AU Park was farmland. Then, it was segregated. After that, it got rich — and a little too sleepy. Now, the District’s proposal for more mixed-use zones in Ward 3 could make its future, and mine, a little brighter.

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What are planning hearings actually for?

Casey Anderson (Guest Contributor) • November 24, 2025

Opinion: There’s an idea that if we could just get the “right” people into the room, public input would improve decision quality and legitimacy. Casey Anderson, Montgomery County’s former planning board chair, suggests that the real problem isn’t who’s in the room, but what their roles are.

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There’s demand for affordable rooms in DC. Who’s supplying them?

Anna Sillers • November 25, 2025

The success of private companies offering affordable rooms in DC highlights unmet demand. Without other solutions, these companies are likely to keep trying to fill the gap.

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Bikeshare Beat: October CaBi trips tumbled amidst shutdown, annual ridership up 14.4% in 2025

Samuel Littauer (Contributor) • November 26, 2025

CaBi just can’t catch a break. Annual ridership has increased 14.4% in 2025, but rides were down 13.9% in October 2025 compared to October 2024.

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In pictures: National Guard’s unnerving months in DC

Melanie Pincus (Associate Editor) • November 26, 2025

What has the National Guard’s deployment looked like in DC? A child biking in Navy Yard, flanked by soldiers. Commuters at Metro Center, accompanied by a Guard member. See these pictures and more, thanks to contributors to the Greater and Lesser Washington Flickr pool.

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A viral vermin video exposes Silver Spring’s decaying housing stock

Mark Clements (Maryland Policy Manager) • November 25, 2025

I’m not sure how many GGWash readers follow TikTok user @ethiopianshawty, but I have no doubt a significant number of you have seen one of her videos circulating in local discourse: rats everywhere inside of a downtown Silver Spring apartment.

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Do Something #100: Why we first Did Something

Dan Reed (Maryland Policy Director), Alex Baca (DC Policy Director) • November 26, 2025

This week on Do Something: celebrating 100 editions of Do Something, and Alex and Dan share our stories of why we started this column in the first place.

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