DC 2050: DC to rewrite Comprehensive Plan for first time in nearly 20 years
The plan is a long-term roadmap for the District's future, providing guidance on a range of city decisions, from housing and job locations to investments in transportation and public resources.
officials called it a 'once-in-a generation opportunity to collectively imagine a future that reflects our values.'
Power outages at BWI cause flight delays
'DC 2050 is our chance to lay out a vision for both current and future residents—one that ensures we have the affordable housing, good jobs, and world-class amenities needed to support a thriving city,' Bowser stated. 'This plan will help us build on our successes, address challenges, and create a roadmap for a strong and dynamic DC – and we want residents to be involved in the process.'
The Comprehensive Plan was updated in 2021, but will now be entirely rewritten to identify the challenges and opportunities faced by the District – as well as how to meet them in the next two decades.
There has been an increase of 120,000 residents in the District since the last Comprehensive Plan in 2006. Officials said the population is expected to grow from 680,000 to 845,000 by 2050, adding about 235,000 jobs in that same time period.
'As the city grows, we must meet the increased demand for housing, transportation, civic facilities, and environmental conservation. DC 2050 will focus on policies that increase access to housing along with the essential services that make neighborhoods healthy, livable, and walkable,' OP officials .
Not only is DC 2050 a plan to accommodate an increase in city residents and their needs, but it is also an opportunity to 'strengthen the District's long-held commitment to racial equity,' officials noted.
The median income for Black households in D.C. is less than half of the median income for white households. A total of 21% of Black residents also live in poverty, compared to 6% of white individuals.
DC 2050 intends to put D.C. on a path where race and ethnicity do not determine life outcomes.
WATCH: First responders make 'ladder arch' in front of Capital One Arena ahead of 'Legacy on Ice' event
D.C. residents are encouraged to visit to take a survey and participate in the following upcoming public meetings:
Saturday, March 22, 11 a.m. at MLK Library (901 G Street NW)
Tuesday, March 25, 6 p.m. at Barry Farm Recreation Center (1230 Sumner Road SE)
Thursday, March 27, 6 p.m., Virtually
Timeline:
September 2024 to December 2024: The OP identified conditions, trends and issues to inform community conversations and develop a racial equity framework that will guide DC 2050's development.
January 2025 to September 2026: The OP will ask residents to identify goals and priorities for the new Comprehensive Plan.
October 2026 to June 2027: The OP will collect public input, refine DC 2050 and prepare the plan for review and approval by the DC Council.
July 2027 to December 2027: The DC Council will consider approving DC 2050.
From 2028 to 2050: Agencies in the District will work with federal and community partners to implement the policies and track progress on DC 2050.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why One Gary Barbershop Has Lasted for Generations
This month, in celebration of Black Business Month, Capital B Gary is publishing a series of stories highlighting businesses, business owners, and entrepreneurs in the city. At 12 years old, William 'Bill' Coker came home from the barber college with a haircut he hated. Disappointed, he grabbed the clippers his mother kept in the house and fixed it himself. What began as a personal fix quickly became more: first, he paid people to let him cut their hair, then, before long, kids were paying him for his services. Forty years later, Bill Coker is no longer the boy who once paid for practice cuts. At 52, he presides over one of Gary's most enduring barbershops. Running Billco Barber Shop for nearly three decades, Coker has upheld a tradition that stretches beyond just fades and crisp lineups. In Black communities, barbershops have long served as gathering spaces — places where people come not just to look good, but also to connect. That tradition continues at Billco's, making it both a business and a cultural anchor. 'I didn't know it was going to be my destiny,' Coker said. 'And now I'm actually walking in my destiny.' During his teenage years and into early adulthood, Coker spent as much time as possible perfecting his craft. After spending a year in college, he returned home and worked, while cutting hair as a side hustle. Eventually, he realized he didn't enjoy his job and decided to focus on cutting hair more. Taking a leap of faith, he offered $5 house calls, requiring a minimum of four people. There was just one problem: He wasn't licensed. Then, when a client walked him to barber college, the rest was history. He graduated in 1994 and began working at his mother's salon. 'I think I was chosen to do this; it just came out of my spirit,' Coker said. 'I've always had a passion for it, and I never not wanted to do this.' Coker worked with his mom for a while; together, they opened a shop called Top of the Hill. Yet, wanting to branch out, he set his sights on opening a shop of his own to grow as both a barber and an entrepreneur. He got his feet wet with his first shop, located on 38th Avenue and Broadway, but soon outgrew it. Needing more space, he opened the first big Billco's in the plaza on 11th Avenue and Broadway, with nine barbers. 'That was the best time of my life,' he said. When leasing no longer made sense, he searched for a building he could own. Driving down Broadway one day, he spotted a storefront that once housed a clothing shop called Just for Me. 'This used to be a clothing store called Just for Me,' he said, sitting inside Billco's current home on 24th and Broadway. 'I just thought that was too ironic because I was looking for a building called Just for Me,' he said jokingly. In 2005, he purchased the building. Two decades later, the building houses eight full-time barbers on one side and six suites for small entrepreneurs on the other. 'It's very rewarding to see just the city thrive, and you be a part of it,' he said. Barbershops have long been pillars of Black communities. And Coker wants his barbershop to be just that: a community. 'We've created a family-oriented, righteous atmosphere here,' he said, gesturing around the shop. 'We welcome so many walks of life. I only want to create a positive and pleasant environment.' While the Gary native no longer lives full time in the city, he still dedicates time to the shop and his craft. 'One of my goals as a barber was to work less and make more,' he said. 'When I moved to Houston, I wanted to do something different. I didn't want to be put in a barber box.' That change came when he attended a hair replacement class in Dallas. It opened a new niche, which quickly took off. Today, he visits Gary monthly while balancing his work in Houston, relying on his team to keep Billco's running. Deedra Jones, also known as Dee Dee, is the first face customers see when they walk into the shop. She has been a part of Billco's for almost a decade. Unlike her boss and friend, the 33-year veteran didn't have the immediate call to the craft. She enrolled in barber college in 1991. Her mother paid $1,800 for tuition, and Jones said she didn't want to waste the opportunity or her mother's money. She obtained her license, completed her required hours on Saturdays, and landed a job at a shop seeking a female barber. 'I've never wanted to quit; this has been my only job,' she said. Jones floated between shops in the region before joining Coker, whom she had known for years. 'This is home; I'm done,' she said, calling Billco's the last shop she'll work in. Carl Blakely, another longtime barber, said he returned to Billco's after running his own shop in Michigan City for a decade. 'It's deeper than just trying to get some money from you,' he said. 'I like creating something from nothing. You come in looking one way, and you leave transformed.' Similar to Coker, he started cutting hair as a preteen and has continued for 30 years. A 'student of the game,' as he states, he learned from watching his barber cut hair for hours before his appointment and practicing on friends and family. Through the faith of one family member, Blakely was encouraged to attend barber school before joining his cousin, Bishop, at Billco's years later. Having his cousin working at Billco's, he saw firsthand the community behind the shop and knew that he wanted to be a part of it — especially the jokes and environment they created. Jones and Blakely said Billco's is committed to service first. Customers who can't pay aren't turned away. 'We look out for them to make them feel good about themselves,' Jones said. 'We're not gonna take it as a loss, like we just lost haircut money.' Having built those relationships with clients, they know that they'll come back and take care of it. For Coker and his team, barbering has never been just about hair. It's about community. 'I believe the barbershop is one of the most important things in the [Black] community, next to a church,' Blakely said. The post Why One Gary Barbershop Has Lasted for Generations appeared first on Capital B Gary. Solve the daily Crossword
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Joy Reid says ‘mediocre white men' like Trump, Elvis steal culture from other races
Advertisement Former MSNBC anchor Joy Reid condemned President Donald Trump, Elvis Presley and others on Friday as some of history's many 'mediocre White men' whose achievements are stolen or counterfeit. Reid criticized Trump's review of the Smithsonian during an interview with Wajahat Ali for his 'The Left Hook' substack, in an episode titled, 'How Mediocre White Men and Their Fragility Are Destroying America.' They argued that across America's institutions, there is a phenomenon of 'mediocre White men' with no actual culture of their own who co-opt the achievements of Black people to aggrandize themselves. Ali opened the episode by talking about Trump reforming the Kennedy Center in what his critics call a hostile takeover. The institution, which in recent years had featured drag queen performances, is now being reformed to show decidedly more conservative and pro-American content. Advertisement Trump announced this year's Kennedy Center awards last week, which he will also be hosting. 3 Reid made the comments on Wajahat Ali's 'The Left Hook' substack. 'These people cannot create culture on their own,' Ali said. 'Without Black people, Brown people, the DEIs, there's no culture in America. We make the food better. We make the economy better. We make the music better. Right? MAGA can't create culture. They got Cracker Barrel and Kid Rock.' Reid and Ali claimed that White conservatives practice their own variant of outrage culture where they complain about what they say. 'They don't have the intellectual rigor to actually argue or debate with us, right? And what they do is they tattle and tell. They run and tell teacher that 'the Black lady or the Brown man was mean to me.' And that's what they always do,' Reid said. Advertisement Reid, who initially wore a hat dedicated to the historically debatable 1619 Project, then changed to one with the letters 'FDT,' took special umbrage at Trump's efforts to review the Smithsonian's historical exhibits ahead of America's 250th anniversary. 3 United States President Donald J Trump speaks during a Multilateral Meeting with European Leaders in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 18 August 2025. AARON SCHWARTZ/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock 'They can't fix the history they did. Their ancestors made this country into a slave — a slave hell, but they can clean it up now because they got the Smithsonian. They can get rid of all the slavery stuff,' she said. 'They got PragerU that can lie about the history to the children. They can't originally invent anything more than they ever were able to invent good music. 'We Black folk gave y'all country music, hip-hop, R&B, jazz, rock and roll. They couldn't even invent that, but they have to call a White man 'The King.' Because they couldn't make rock and roll, so they have to stamp 'The King' on a man whose main song was stolen from an overweight Black woman,' Reid continued. Advertisement Reid was referring to 'The King' Elvis Presley singing 'Hound Dog,' which was first recorded by Big Mama Thornton, a Black blues singer, and written by two Jewish-American songwriters. Elvis' version, which was more upbeat, with a faster rhythm and slightly altered lyrics, boosted his rise to fame in 1956 after his previous breakout hit, 'Heartbreak Hotel' earlier that year. 3 Rock and roll musician Elvis Presley performing on the Elvis comeback TV special on June 27, 1968. Michael Ochs Archives Elvis helped pioneer the rockabilly (a portmanteau of rock 'n' roll and 'hillbilly') sub-genre of rock 'n' roll, a mix of country music and rhythm and blues, and was candid throughout his career about his influences from Black American music. Start your day with all you need to know Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more. Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters White House spokesman Harrison Fields responded to Reid's comments, saying she was 'too unhinged for MSNBC.' 'Joyless Reid is an ungrateful hack who fails to acknowledge her privilege. Whatever remains of her success would only be possible in the United States of America, the same country she degrades for sport. She was too unhinged for MSNBC and was fired. Instead of changing her act, she's doubled down on stupid,' he said. Fox News Digital reached out to PragerU and did not receive an immediate reply.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Black Businesses and Urban League Staff Hit After Trump Cuts
Participating in the Urban League of Greater Atlanta's Capital Readiness program last year helped metro Atlanta entrepreneur Tamara Fowler secure enough seed funding to expand Wiggle Giggle, her Marietta-based indoor playground business. The 31-year-old married mother of two said she was disappointed to learn earlier this year that the program's $3 million grant funding was canceled due to an executive order issued by President Donald Trump. Trump's March 31 executive action sought to reduce the size of the federal government by eliminating departments that the president deemed 'unnecessary.' One of those departments is the Minority Business Development Agency, a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce that promotes the growth and competitiveness of minority-owned businesses. The MBDA was the agency that awarded the capital readiness grant before the program was effectively eliminated. In May, a federal judge issued an injunction blocking Trump's elimination of the MBDA, but the Urban League said its funding hasn't been restored. READ MORE: Georgia Gubernatorial Candidate: Black Votes 'Critical' to Block Aid Cuts 'I was incredibly disappointed and disheartened,' Fowler told Capital B Atlanta on Wednesday. 'This program has brought a lot of funding and a lot of information to people, and it's free. It's not just for people of color. It's for all people that are in any sort of disadvantaged situation.' Some inflation-weary Black voters who supported Trump in 2024 did so because they thought he would do a better job on the economy than former President Joe Biden. But local Black entrepreneurs, who benefited from the Urban League's capital readiness grant program, say Trump's opposition to similar initiatives aimed at helping minority-owned firms grow and thrive will hurt metro Atlanta small businesses and their employees. The Urban League said that Trump's grant funding cancellation effectively eliminated the group's capital readiness program, which has helped more than 4,700 small business owners participate in the nonprofit's two eight-week accelerator courses and has assisted some entrepreneurs in completing loan and grant applications that many were previously unaware of. Twenty-nine of those businesses have received a total of roughly $6.9 million in contracts, grants, and loan funding as a result. 'The cancellation meant we had to lay off our Metro Atlanta Capital Readiness team and end the programming in progress,' Nancy Flake Johnson, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Atlanta, told Capital B Atlanta. 'Our remaining entrepreneurship center team [members] are continuing to support the entrepreneurs in the program as best we can with the much smaller team.' READ MORE: How Georgia's Black Republicans Are Capitalizing on Trump's Election Victory Johnson said the local Urban League was one of 47 grantees nationwide who received funding through the MBDA's grant initiative. 'Almost every state received resources through this program,' she said. 'Government contracting has been a path for small and minority and women and veteran-owned firms to grow their businesses. Without those pathways being intentionally in place, it's going to slow down job creation. It's going to slow down economic growth in underserved communities and neighborhoods across the country.' Atlanta resident Patricia Morgan said she was nearly finished with her Urban League capital readiness training when Trump's order canceling the program came down. 'One of the coaches that I worked with directly was let go,' she told Capital B Atlanta. 'I lost that direct coach that I had that was my procurement contact.' Morgan is the founder of The Executive Learning Labs, a company that offers training and workforce development solutions to government and other small businesses. She said the Urban League's grant cancellation didn't stop her from establishing business connections that she said boosted her company's profits by 120% over the course of about a year. But she's disappointed that other entrepreneurs may not get the same opportunity. 'There are not a lot of programs for us as entrepreneurs that are entering that accelerate phase,' Morgan said. Fairburn resident Kimberly Jones said the Urban League's program helped her Atlanta-based IT consulting firm, KYJ Consulting, land a lucrative contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in February. Jones, 55, a former nurse and data scientist for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said she began participating in the Urban League's programs last summer after seeing a related post on social media. Her company specializes in work with emerging technologies, such as water intelligence and electric vehicle charging stations. She said the Trump administration is 'doing more harm than good' by eliminating capital readiness grant funding from the MBDA, in part, by reducing competition for lucrative government contracts. 'These prime contractors, they're the same people always winning,' Jones told Capital B Atlanta. 'Now it becomes that monopoly that we try not to have.' READ MORE: Nurses Rally Against Atlanta VA Layoffs, Warn of Risk to Black Veterans U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., who is up for reelection next year, recently sent a letter to Trump's U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, urging him to restore funding for the Urban League's program. The 38-year-old Atlanta native, who received overwhelming support from Black Georgians in 2020, said he hasn't forgotten who sent him to Washington, and remains a champion for Black businesses, a value he said Trump doesn't share. 'The Trump administration is making war on Black-owned businesses,' Ossoff told Capital B Atlanta during a recent phone interview. 'They've tried to disband entirely the Minority Business Development Agency. They've canceled this grant that I fought for, for the Urban League of Atlanta to support Black-owned businesses. … I will continue to apply pressure to restore this funding.' White House Spokesman Kush Desai told Capital B Atlanta via email on Monday that the president's trade deals 'have unlocked unprecedented market access for American exports to economies that in total are worth over $32 trillion with 1.2 billion people.' 'As these historic trade deals and the Administration's pro-growth domestic agenda of deregulation and The One Big Beautiful Bill's tax cuts take effect, American businesses and families alike have the certainty that the best is yet to come.' The post Black Businesses and Urban League Staff Hit After Trump Cuts appeared first on Capital B News - Atlanta. Solve the daily Crossword
