today, in nerd news

Tonight's blog will be a little bit wonkier than usual. But hey- I'm interning at a policy think tank. What do you want from me?

I spent the morning at a forum hosted by ETS. They hosted a discussion and panel on their recent report about poverty and education. It didn't feel like anything I didn't already know, but it was certainly a good synthesis of a lot of these pertinent issues, and offered recommendations for how to address them. Plus they had green salad for lunch, so I got to toss the bread from a tuna sandwich and concoct myself a gluten-free meal. Hooray! But for folks who didn't get to attend, here's a link to the report. You'll have to make your own tuna sandwich.

At the forum, the moderator referenced a recent study of social mobility that was featured on NPR last night. I have yet to look at the map that both the moderator and Raj Chetty (the economist who conducted the study) mentioned, but here's a link to that as well. It sounded fascinating, and frankly, I'm rushing through this post so I can hurry up and check it out already.

I ate dinner with Nick at a place I discovered yesterday called Rice Bar. It's a build your own bibimbap place (think Korean Chipotle), and it is, simply put, fantastic. I like mine with bulgogi and an egg on top. They also have a sushi happy hour. Next time I go, I'll get a rock shrimp and cilantro roll. Word to the wide: getting bibimbap and a sushi roll is too much. Even if you split the roll. Don't do it, fatty.

I finished my first draft of my very first brief today. It outlines a forum my NPO co-sponsored with Complete College America on postsecondary remediation reform (AKA holy crap, everyone who takes remedial classes drops out, what do we do?). Here's the gist on what CCA does. There's actually a whole reform movement and community surrounding this issue. Who knew? Now, you.

Oh, and tonight, after leaving an organizing workshop (more about that later), I dropped an acquaintance off at her apartment in Northeast. She lives in a new development called Rhode Island Row, and wowzers, is it nice! I just kept thinking about how amazing it would be if the Skyland re-development actually pulls through over here, because it's supposed to look a lot like this. I'll attach a photo as soon as I pull it off my phone.

I want string lights and stores in my neighborhood :(

 

the WalMart (and interview) that wasn't

Let's ease back into this blogging thing then, eh?

This morning, I got a text message from a friend of mien I met through Daughters of the American Revolution. She works for CBS and asked, "Would you be willing to do an interview for us tonight about the WalMart in your neighborhood? We're having a tough time finding someone who supports it willing to be interviewed for TV." Um, of course I would! If there's anything I love talking about more than East of the River, you should tell me, because I surely can't think of it. I started fact-checking that statistics I usually include when I talk about the need for economic development over here, and started getting super pumped up. And then...

The interview was canceled. They got held up filming in Southeast and didn't have time to interview me in Dupont Circle (where I'm interning this summer) before they submitted the video package at 3:30. Needless to say, this was a massive bummer. I was really looking forward to representing Ward 8* in my argyle cardigan and pearls. It takes all kinds, you know. It takes all kinds.

We're just one mayoral veto away from having this...

...instead of this.

Anyway, I wanted to share two articles and an editorial by Anthony Williams about the proposed development. And please know that I'm not generally a fan of WalMart. But I am a fan of adding more retail options to the approximately uh, none** that currently exist over here, where unemployment is around 25% and about half of residents don't have automobiles. But I digress. On to the articles.

Skyland Town Center Will Have WalMart, Apartments by 2016
D.C.'s Retailer Bill Will Do More Harm Than Good
Tommy Wells Will Propose Alternate Living Wage Bill
Six More Major Retailers Tell Gray They'll Reconsider D.C. Growth if Living Wage Becomes Law



*I know that the proposed Skyland WalMart is in Ward 7. But it sits right at the Good Hope-Alabama-Naylor crossroads, and Naylor Road is the eastern boundary between Wards 7 and 8. The Skyland development is less than one mile from my house.
**This is hyperbolic. But really, Ward 8 has one grocery store, three sit-down restaurants (and one is an IHOP), and negligible retail. Compared to communities west of the river, that is nothing. We already have the lowest average per capita and household incomes in the city. Creating minimum wage jobs in an area where there are currently none is an improvement.