Checking in With Director Cozart

DC 2050: Where Can the District Grow?

DC 2050, the District's next comprehensive plan, will guide land use and development in our city for the next 25 years. Two of the big questions we are thinking about at OP are 1) how will we grow? and 2) where should we grow? We want your feedback, so if you have not yet shared your thoughts with us, I am inviting you to participate in the DC 2050 Explore Possible Futures: Self-Guided Virtual Workshop before it closes on January 31, 2026.
 
We are currently in Phase 2: Explore Possible Futures, which focuses on educating the DC community about the new "place types approach" to land use policy. At this time, we are gathering preferences on approaches about how we grow. For example, identifying where and how we allow more housing or commercial opportunities across the city and in our neighborhoods. 

The virtual workshop has been a great way to engage the question, “where should we grow?”. The workshop includes a combination of questions with write-in responses and a map where participants place pins where they would like to see more housing or additional uses, such as retail, office or other commercial uses. 
In December, we received around 1,200 responses between both comments and map pins.  I was intrigued to see these first responses. 

• People prioritized housing over other uses when asked about where they'd like to see growth in the District:
  • 60% of responses referred to housing.
  • 35% of comments referred to other uses, including amenities and transit. Top amenities requested were retail (cafes, corner stores, and retail in general) and grocery stores.
• People want to see more dense, multifamily housing.
  • On the map, over 80% of housing pins requested apartments, and over half of these specifically want to see large apartments.
  • About 1 in every 5 housing pins requested rowhomes or townhomes in the District.
• The highest number of comments from participants were clustered around WMATA stations along the Red and Green/Yellow Lines.

Many of the comments reflect what we heard in the in-person workshops we held in November 2025: people want more housing choices. 

I noticed that we have not received as many comments about Far Northeast and residential areas of SE compared to other parts of our city. So, we’re calling on residents, business owners, ANCs, and community groups in Wards 7 and 8 to share their input and tell a friend or neighbor. If you have ideas on how to reach people in Wards 7 and 8, please email us at [email protected].

Additional Data I’m Thinking About

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments released its annual State of the Commute report, which found that commuting patterns have returned to pre-pandemic norms, except for an increase in telework that appears to represent our new normal. Driving alone/rideshare overwhelmingly remains the most common form of commuting yet commute lengths and duration have remained consistent since 2019. We know from our initial DC 2050 vision survey that connectivity and transportation options are big concerns for people, and this latest data is helpful context for developing policies on connected communities.

We’ve also just released the 2025 census population estimates showing that we’ve gained 2,335 residents from July 2024 to July 2025, attributed to more births as well as international migration. Our city continues to grow and we’re estimating a growth trajectory of almost 150,000 more residents by 2050. Our Data Hub captures this data and shows us who lives in the District – race, income level, age, what percent of residents are renters versus homeowners, veterans, education level, and more. It’s clear that the makeup of our city is very diverse, and one of the things that makes the District is so special. OP is committed to planning for DC’s future to serve all residents through attainable housing, inclusive economic opportunities, and healthy neighborhoods that will help us lay out the plan for how we get to an equitable and inclusive future.

Stay tuned for future updates. Tell a friend or neighbor about DC 2050. Are you receiving our updates? Join our mailing list to receive information about upcoming spring workshops and opportunities to chat with our staff at events across the District.

Thank you for supporting this effort!

Sincerely,

Director Anita Cozart