For most of my professional career, one consistent societal issue has been gentrification. Even in the depths of the Great Recession, when housing prices were collapsing, gentrification seemed unstoppable. And while there has been a lot to like about the urban renaissance that has occurred as affluent young professionals have poured into urban centers, there has been nothing good about the displacement, the very visible inequalities between old-timers and newcomers, or the racial and ethnic tensions this has exacerbated.
Washington, D.C
Opinion | Gentrification is a problem for cities — especially when it ends
So politicians, policy wonks and pundits have all spent a lot of time agonizing over what to do about gentrification. They have called for reforms to permitting and zoning rules to make it easier for developers to build new housing, or for subsidies to the people being priced out, or both. In hindsight, we spent surprisingly little time worrying about what would happen to cities without gentrification.
Yet here we are in 2024, and I’m much less worried about gentrification than I am about what you might call gentrification whiplash: the uncomfortable conditions that result when a headlong rush into urban real estate suddenly stops, or even goes into reverse.
This now seems like a real possibility in many places, including my own beloved D.C., which is beset with three major issues at once. Demand for office space has cratered thanks to remote work. Demand for residential real estate has shifted outward to the suburbs, as proximity to the office has become less valuable. And crime keeps soaring to new heights; in 2023, homicide hit 20-year highs in D.C., while car theft reached levels not seen since 2007.
If this trend continues, people who have money and options will do what they did in the middle of the 20th century: decamp for places where they don’t have to spend so much time worrying about being robbed or shot.
Yet the response of my local officials has been curiously lackadaisical. Although violence has been a growing problem since 2020, arrests in 2022 were down by almost half from 2019, prosecutions had fallen even further, the D.C. police’s operating budget shrank by almost 13 percent and the number of officers was falling toward its lowest in about 50 years. Only this past fall did Mayor Muriel E. Bowser finally push through a package of reforms aimed at reducing crime.
So let us add a fourth problem to my city’s woes: city officials who have for years been collecting a sort of hidden subsidy from gentrification, which made their jobs easier in many ways — and stands to make the whiplash worse. We are facing the biggest urban crisis in 50 years with politicians who are used to playing on Easy Mode, which is the policy equivalent of driving without a seat belt.
For the past two decades, if you were overseeing a reasonably successful city like Washington, your tax base kept improving no matter what you did, as richer people replaced poorer ones. In 2006, when I moved to D.C., total tax revenue, net of dedicated taxes, was $4.2 billion (about $6.3 billion in today’s dollars). In 2022, the city collected approximately $8.6 billion ($8.8 billion in 2023 dollars). Of course, the population has increased since 2006 — but not by 40 percent.
Meanwhile, the people who were moving in needed less from the government than the people who were being forced out. The newcomers didn’t need subsidized health care or child care, or the city to arrange a tutor for their kid struggling with math. They were also much less likely to suffer from difficulties associated with poverty, including substance abuse and untreated mental illness — or to generate associated problems such as crime and child abuse.
We frequently talk about the government learning to do more with less, but gentrifying cities got to do less with more: It doesn’t take as much money and ingenuity to educate or police the prosperous middle class as it does to provide those services to a marginalized community, so government didn’t have to be nearly as good at many of its jobs. Yet because the population was less needy, it actually looked as if those services were improving rapidly, if you scanned crime statistics or test scores.
Of course, gentrification didn’t actually solve many of those problems; it just displaced them, while tipping some of the most vulnerable onto the streets. But politicians appeared to be solving them, creating an illusion of competence that might have fooled even the politicians themselves.
This went on for so long that people took it for granted, voters and politicians alike. We got progressive mayors, progressive district attorneys and progressive council members who pursued their laudable goals on the assumption that no matter what they did, crime would keep falling and public coffers would keep overflowing.
Now this illusion is punctured. Ever-increasing urban housing demand cannot be taken for granted, nor can any of the benefits that come with it. City officials can no longer count on gentrification to export their problems to another Zip code; they will have to get better at actually solving them.
Washington, D.C
Could DC see one last blast of winter? Polar vortex could potentially bring late March chill
After chilly week, warmup ahead for DC region
It’s the last day of winter tomorrow and it sure felt like it on Wednesday, though a timely warmup is expected as we prepare to start spring! FOX 5’s Mike Thomas has the outlook for the rest of the week.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Don’t pack the winter coat away just yet. Forecasters say a potential polar vortex split could send colder air into the Washington, D.C. region before the end of March, bringing one last reminder of winter as spring begins to take hold.
What we know about the potential cold blast
Long-range forecast models suggest the polar vortex — a mass of cold air typically locked near the North Pole — could split by the end of March.
If that happens, colder air may shift into parts of the northern U.S., including the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.
Forecasters with FOX Weather say this setup could bring below-average temperatures to areas like Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia late in the month.
Polar Vortex (FOX Weather)
What local meteorologists are saying
While long-range models point to a possible late-month cooldown, FOX 5 DC meteorologists say a warmup is expected in the near term.
“It’s the last day of winter tomorrow and it sure felt like it on Wednesday, though a timely warmup is expected as we prepare to start spring!” FOX 5’s Mike Thomas said while outlining the forecast for the rest of the week.
That outlook underscores the uncertainty in longer-range projections, with warmer spring conditions expected before any potential shift later in the month.
What we don’t know yet
It remains uncertain exactly where the coldest air will settle.
That uncertainty will determine whether the D.C. region sees a noticeable cooldown or only a slight dip in temperatures.
How this could impact the D.C. region
The D.C. area may see a return to cooler conditions just as spring begins, though impacts could be less intense if the coldest air stays farther north.
While widespread snow is not currently expected, temperatures could still dip enough to bring a brief reminder of winter.
Polar Vortex (FOX Weather)
Is this winter’s final blast?
The polar vortex has been a key driver of cold outbreaks this winter.
Forecasters say this could be the last time it plays a significant role this season as warmer spring patterns take over.
What’s next in the forecast
Meteorologists will continue to refine the forecast in the coming days as models better determine how far south the cold air will travel.
Even if a cooldown arrives, temperatures are expected to trend warmer into April.
Polar Vortex (FOX Weather)
The Source: This article was written using information from FOX Weather and FOX 5 DC meteorologists.
Washington, D.C
Man who coordinated series of 7 robberies of Chinatown Walgreens sentenced to over 10 years – WTOP News
The man prosecutors say planned and coordinated a series of seven inside-job robberies of the Walgreens in D.C.’s Chinatown was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years and six months in prison.
The man prosecutors say planned and coordinated a series of seven inside-job robberies of a Walgreens in D.C.’s Chinatown was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years and six months in prison.
Gianni Robinson, 28, of D.C., conspired with two store managers — one of them his uncle — and another man who posed as a masked gunman, 26-year-old Kamanye Williams, to carry out the string of robberies between July 2023 and February 2024.
All four pleaded guilty in early 2025 to charges related to their roles in the robberies, which culminated in a special police officer shooting Williams during the final job.
“After police posted surveillance footage of his co-conspirator robbing the Walgreens, Gianni Robinson sent the YouTube link to the gunman with a laughing emoji. He thought the crimes he conspired on were funny,” U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro said in a release. “Now, after seven robberies, countless traumatized employees and one man shot in the chest, Robinson isn’t laughing anymore.”
Robinson, prosecutors said, served as the “operational hub” for the robberies, funneling information from the conspiring store managers to Williams so he could access the manager’s office where a safe was located.
According to prosecutors, Robinson also coordinated getaway arrangements and dividing the stolen money. In their plea agreements, prosecutors said the group of four admitted to stealing and splitting at least $28,983 from the string of robberies.
Robinson’s uncle, Michael Robinson, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison. Williams was sentenced to more than 16 years behind bars. The other store manager, London Teeter, is scheduled for sentencing April 23.
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WASHINGTON – The House Oversight Committee on Wednesday is considering a proposal that would eliminate Washington, D.C.’s traffic camera program.
What we know:
Supporters call it an effort to curb what they describe as a revenue‑driven system, and opponents argue it would undermine road safety.
The markup is expected to be debated and likely advanced out of committee under the Republican majority.
The District operates more than 500 automated enforcement cameras, generating more than $267 million in revenue. Mayor Muriel Bowser says the program contributed to a 52% drop in traffic fatalities last year.
Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, who introduced the measure, has labeled the system a “revenue trap” and seeks to end both speed cameras and the city’s no‑right‑turn‑on‑red rule.
Federal transportation agencies consider speed cameras a proven safety tool, and nearly half of U.S. states allow some form of automated enforcement.
If approved by the committee, the bill would need to be scheduled for a House vote before heading to the Senate.
The Source: Information in this article comes from the Office of the Mayor of DC and previous FOX 5 reporting.
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