Washington D.C. can and should be family-friendly

I’m Gordon Chaffin, a dog-walking community volunteer and advocate who nerds out on infrastructure policy. This is my newsletter with local news and researched opinions.

Back to Basics on Raising Kids in the District

I visited Lost Generation Brewing for the first time this weekend to attend NoMa Run Club’s 3rd Anniversary Party and do some marketing for my non-profit community organization, Friends of the Metropolitan Branch Trail. It lifted my spirits to hear and feel the support for goals I started with the FoMBT group using some extra money for IGLOO water buckets I filled on the MBT. I -- now we -- campaign for the installation and improvement of essential amenities on that unique bike/walk/run trail: water stations, trash/recycling, bathrooms, etc. Heading into 2025, FoMBT has a Board of Directors, more volunteers, fundraising options, articles of nonprofit incorporation, and plans for more growth.

~ It would kick butt if joined the FoMBT email list and/or donated to help us get the final 15% toward our 2024 fundraising goal. ~

Of the several cool things that struck me during that event was the continued appeal of our trail-oriented, family-friendly, dog-friendly breweries. As the NoMa Run Club party was winding down in the 3 o’clock hour, I saw at least two child birthday parties set up with private tables. In heart-warming fashion, young children bounded across the threshold with parents carrying presents and leashed pups. The kids spotted the Run Club party balloons that needed disposal, and a fortuitously-timely giveaway occurred.

This scene is not unique now in the Met Branch Trail corridor. City-State, metro bar, and Hellbender all host family get-togethers within a short walk of the MBT. On any given weekend day or holiday, you’ll see children running around next to dogs next to parents and adult friends enjoying a beer in a space safe for the whole family. Because of the trail and transit orientation (Red Line corridor), families can walk or bike there. I’d venture nearly all of the Metropolitan Beer Trail route is both 20-something crawl-friendly and 40-something parent-friendly.

How did my community get this way? Proactive planning, supportive elections, and real-estate happenstance! Ward 5 has a lot of light industrial land no longer used or with dying uses, so places like Lost Gen can take a space for a relatively lower fee than similar spaces across the city. Several cycles of elections for Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner and D.C. Council have meant that politicians in Eckington and Edgewood + Brookland & Manor Park have supported licensing applications for these businesses. Pulling back to land-use regulations, the Galaxy Brain origins of everything, 20+ years of planning documents, and in-practice approvals have come for mixed-use, trail-oriented, and housing supply-adding development.

I live on what used to be a surface parking lot. Many of my friends with kids live in townhomes with denser, more climate-friendly developments. The NoMa Run Club is so fantastically successful in part because 10K+ young professionals and new families have had apartments and condos in NoMa, Union Market, and Eckington. We stand on the shoulders of our Small Area Plan forefathers; we are path-dependent because of the Offices of Planning and D.C. Council Comprehensive Plans to whom we advocate.

Let’s go back to basics: It’s popular to argue that it’s hard to raise kids in a city. Some say that D.C. can’t be competitive with our suburbs in retaining the diverse, highly-educated young people coupling up. I disagree. I think it’s imperative that the District become highly successful at keeping growing families inside our boundaries, AND I believe we can do that without that possibility being a matter of top-5% family income or generational wealth.

Urban hostility to families is about active choices, and those of omission or NIMBYism, by folks who get involved in local democratic decision-making. And that, readers, is why I want you to get more involved locally. Most people make what they feel is the best decision for their family about work, housing, school, and safety based on circumstances that are affected by factors we can change! D.C.’s future can be ensured with only one necessary and sufficient ingredient: people who organize, mobilize, and advocate to say that we love this place and we want it to be possible for us to stay here. As we’re waiting on the world to change… No, as we’re actively making the world change, with its slow, stubborn ways… I encourage you to read about some of the families who are staying in our city with kids.

Advocacy opportunities on D.C. local issues - Week of December 9, 2024

• By Jan 17, 2025, provide input to the redesign of the Riverdale Park, MD Town Center parking lot and Trolley Trail alignment — a key Route 1 (aka Rhode Island Avenue) corridor in Prince George’s County that is growing fast with young families priced out of D.C. but connected because of the MARC station and Metrorail Green Line. The current setup: the trail dies into the parking lot from both sides; there are neither clear wayfinding signs/road markings nor a comfortable path to continue on off-street segments north or south. I don’t have time to prepare a template email today for you, but I’ve loaded the relevant email into a mailto link here. Dan Behrend is a plugged-in local advocate I’d suggest you contact if you want more context/intel.

Notable and Timely Public Meetings

• Mon Jan 15, 2025 (MD): In-person meeting for the Riverdale Park, MD Town Center, and Trolley Trail alignment project [see flyer above for details]

DISCLAIMER: All opinions and analyses in this newsletter are those solely of Gordon Chaffin and do not represent his employer or community groups with which he’s affiliated.