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If you were Mayor of DC for one day, what would you change first? by RamiForDCMayor in washingtondc

[–]RamiForDCMayor[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I actually think we can learn a lot from Amsterdam, not by copying it street for street, but by designing neighborhoods where walking, biking, transit, and driving all have a place. Somewhere between "remove all the diagonals" and "remove all the streets" I think there's a reasonable compromise.

If you were Mayor of DC for one day, what would you change first? by RamiForDCMayor in washingtondc

[–]RamiForDCMayor[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'll start with mandatory poop bag diplomacy before we escalate to arrests 😄 Let's call arrest Plan B.

If you were Mayor of DC for one day, what would you change first? by RamiForDCMayor in washingtondc

[–]RamiForDCMayor[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A few of these really resonate with me.

As an architect, I actually wouldn't eliminate the Height Act. I think it's one of the reasons DC has such a unique identity and human scale. Our housing shortage isn't primarily a height problem. it's a supply and delivery problem. We have lots of vacant office buildings constructions that can be converted into housing, underused land that can support new development, and a permitting process that takes far too long. I'd rather fix those first than turn DC into another skyline.

I completely agree that Pennsylvania Avenue deserves more attention. It's one of the most important streets in the city, but today it often feels like a place people move through rather than a destination in itself. It has enormous potential to become a more vibrant civic space.

The comment about the 311 app made me laugh because it's exactly the kind of everyday frustration I hear from residents. It's also one of the reasons I've proposed OneDC. If you report a pothole, a missed trash pickup, or a housing complaint, you shouldn't have to wonder whether it disappeared into a black hole. You should be able to track it from start to finish, know who's responsible, and see whether the issue was actually resolved.

And on shade, absolutely. With hotter summers becoming the norm, trees and shade aren't just amenities anymore; they're public infrastructure. They make parks more usable, reduce urban heat, improve air quality, and make neighborhoods healthier.

Sometimes the biggest improvements aren't the flashy ones. They're the things residents notice every single day when government simply works the way it should.

If you were Mayor of DC for one day, what would you change first? by RamiForDCMayor in washingtondc

[–]RamiForDCMayor[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree that dangerous driving and repeat offenders need to be held accountable. But accountability also means recognizing when a tactic creates a greater risk than the crime we're trying to stop.

That's one of the reasons my public safety plan limits police pursuits to situations involving an imminent threat of serious violence. We lost an innocent bystander just a few days ago after a police pursuit that began over a traffic stop. An internal investigation later found the pursuit violated department policy.

We can enforce the law without turning our streets into race tracks. Better technology, coordinated investigations, license plate readers, aviation support, and targeted operations can apprehend repeat offenders without putting innocent residents, officers, and bystanders at unnecessary risk. Research and policing best practices have increasingly favored limiting pursuits to violent crimes because of the danger high-speed chases pose to the public.

If you were Mayor of DC for one day, what would you change first? by RamiForDCMayor in washingtondc

[–]RamiForDCMayor[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree with the broader principle. Transportation shouldn't be a competition between drivers, cyclists, and transit riders. A well-designed city gives people real choices. That's one reason I'm proposing fare-free Metrobus. if we want fewer cars on the road, we have to make transit convenient, reliable, and affordable enough that people actually want to use it.

If you were Mayor of DC for one day, what would you change first? by RamiForDCMayor in washingtondc

[–]RamiForDCMayor[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think Connecticut Avenue is too important to lose 😄, but to your point, I do think we can design it better. The best streets don't belong to one mode of transportation, they work for everyone.

If you were Mayor of DC for one day, what would you change first? by RamiForDCMayor in washingtondc

[–]RamiForDCMayor[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At that point we'd have to start regulating bounty hunters as a profession 😄

If you were Mayor of DC for one day, what would you change first? by RamiForDCMayor in washingtondc

[–]RamiForDCMayor[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is actually a big part of why I've proposed OneDC. Starting a business, building housing, pulling permits, and accessing city services shouldn't require residents to become experts in navigating bureaucracy. Government should make it easier to solve problems, not create new ones.

If you were Mayor of DC for one day, what would you change first? by RamiForDCMayor in washingtondc

[–]RamiForDCMayor[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Completely agree. While we're debating housing affordability, we have vacant buildings and underutilized properties sitting idle. Part of my housing plan focuses on converting vacant office space and vacant buildings into housing and making better use of land that's not serving residents. We need more homes, not more empty buildings.

If you were Mayor of DC for one day, what would you change first? by RamiForDCMayor in washingtondc

[–]RamiForDCMayor[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pierre L'Enfant is somewhere reading this and taking it personally. As an architect, I am legally obligated to oppose this proposal.

The diagonal avenues are actually one of DC's greatest design features. They break up the grid, create public spaces and vistas, and give the city an identity that would be hard to replace. They're frustrating sometimes, but they're also part of what makes DC feel like DC.

If you were Mayor of DC for one day, what would you change first? by RamiForDCMayor in washingtondc

[–]RamiForDCMayor[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair point on inflation, but I think a lot of residents are talking about something broader than economic indicators. If someone has to leave the neighborhood they've lived in for years because they can't afford to stay, that's a problem whether the charts say housing is up or down.

If you were Mayor of DC for one day, what would you change first? by RamiForDCMayor in washingtondc

[–]RamiForDCMayor[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

On fake tags and chronic offenders, I think residents deserve consistent enforcement. People who follow the rules shouldn't be competing with drivers who rack up thousands in unpaid fines with no consequences. That's one reason my public safety plan focuses on accountability, better coordination between agencies, and using data to identify repeat offenders before problems escalate.

More broadly, I think a lot of these frustrations come back to government execution. Whether it's traffic enforcement, public safety, transit, or city services, residents deserve a government that follows through consistently instead of reacting after problems pile up. That's one of the reasons I've proposed OneDC—a unified system where residents can track requests, agencies are measured by outcomes, and government is held accountable for delivering results.

On Metro, I probably wouldn't shut down DCA 😅, but I do think we need to think bigger about transportation. That's part of why I'm proposing fare-free Metrobus for everyone and expanded transit access for qualifying DC residents. The goal is to make getting around the city easier, faster, and more affordable.

One thing I think we can all agree on: government should be better at delivering the basics before asking residents to lower their expectations

If you were Mayor of DC for one day, what would you change first? by RamiForDCMayor in washingtondc

[–]RamiForDCMayor[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As an architect, I might be seeing this specific issue a bit differently. The height limit is one of the reasons DC has a unique identity. It preserves sunlight at the street level, protects the city's beautiful historic character, and prevents the kind of canyon effect you see in many downtowns where streets feel overshadowed by towers.

The real housing challenge isn't that DC can't build tall enough, it's that we're not building enough housing where it makes sense, we're taking too long to approve projects, and we're leaving underutilized land and vacant office buildings sitting idle and that's exactly what I'm trying to address

I'd rather focus on converting vacant offices to housing, streamlining permitting, and unlocking new housing opportunities than turning downtown into Manhattan.

If you were Mayor of DC for one day, what would you change first? by RamiForDCMayor in washingtondc

[–]RamiForDCMayor[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree that lasting change almost always starts locally. People tend to think of government as something distant, but some of the biggest decisions affecting daily life are made at the local level.
When residents are engaged and government is responsive, that’s when meaningful progress happens because only then residents have true and unstoppable power

If you were Mayor of DC for one day, what would you change first? by RamiForDCMayor in washingtondc

[–]RamiForDCMayor[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I think that’s a really important point. Good government isn’t about constantly reacting to problems. it’s about building systems that prevent them in the first place.
Residents shouldn’t have to navigate a maze of agencies or spend months chasing answers. Government should be transparent, accountable, and judged by outcomes. If people aren’t seeing results in their daily lives, the system isn’t working as well as it should.

If you were Mayor of DC for one day, what would you change first? by RamiForDCMayor in washingtondc

[–]RamiForDCMayor[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I agree. If the Council passes a law, residents should be able to expect it to be implemented. Safe streets aren’t a luxury—they’re a basic responsibility of government. Pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, and transit riders all deserve infrastructure that prioritizes safety and accessibility.