The DC Metro

Happy birthday to the Washington Metro, which opened 50 years ago today with service on 4.6 mi of Red Line between Rhode Is. Ave & Farragut N. System now serves 130 mi.

The DC Metro shows that, with good planning & enough investment, the public sector can succeed & build something extraordinary.

Mexico City Evictions Make Way for Pricier Housing Evictions of whole buildings are one cause of anger as locals are priced out of more neighborhoods. Tensions are only rising as the World Cup approaches.

Entire apartment buildings are being evicted in central Mexico City as landlords seek to upgrade to luxe accommodations and enforcement is scant www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Welcome to Paris, the City That Said No to Cars Outgoing Mayor Anne Hidalgo leaves the city more walkable, bikable, greener and cleaner.

But voters opted to keep going with the election of Emmanuel Gregoire for mayor yesterday. See how the shift is transforming Paris in this beautiful piece by @mariepastora.bsky.social @feargusosull.bsky.social & @tomfevrier.bsky.social www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

Welcome to Paris, the City That Said No to Cars Outgoing Mayor Anne Hidalgo leaves the city more walkable, bikable, greener and cleaner.

The spate of policies passed under Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo seems fantastical: banned some cars on major streets, enacted 19mph speed limits, added 340 miles of bike lanes, tripled parking charges for polluting cars, replaced thousands of parking spots w/ trees. www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

More of this is coming with Gregoire's win today for Paris mayor www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

For example:
—The national govt authorized the creation of SGP, which is a national govt entity building the metro lines
—Despite being run by the right, the regional government has been supportive of transit expansion
—Many, many suburbs have made their own major bike & ped improvements

French cities, including Paris, will vote on Sunday for their city councils & mayors.

Transformations in Paris over the past decades are astonishing (see @bloomberg.com article below!) & are the product of years of transit & bike investment, changing how people move: www.urban.org/urban-wire/h...

Such a joy to work my brilliant French colleagues to document this wondrous transformation in Paris over the last decade. And a respite from all the rest ...

The World’s Data Center Capital Has Residents Surrounded Northern Virginia housing developments that will soon be walled in by data centers exemplify the tensions over unfettered growth, as calls increase for regulation.

More of this www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

GW sold Virginia campus for $427 million to Amazon for data center development The deal transfers all of GW’s roughly 122 acres of property in Loudoun County, Virginia, to ADS for $427,299,350 — roughly $3.5 million an acre — according to real estate records.

In Northern Virginia's "data center capital of the world," GW just sold its tech campus to Amazon for a data center ... gwhatchet.com/2026/03/02/g...

It's not clear yet when or where the pain will fall on the chain but an awful lot of rent hasn't been paid www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

How the Ultra-Wealthy Are Building Bigger Mansions in the Heart of NYC Also this week: Oslo opens new government quarters on the site of tragedy, and it’s a tough time to be a Black developer.

This week: Mega-mansions in Manhattan, Minneapolis after ICE, Oslo architecture, self-driving safety, snow-day solutions. And my fave part: A delightful reader email on how she created a “15-minute city for friendship” inspired by a @sarahholder.bsky.social story www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

CityLab Weekly The week’s most thought-provoking stories, ideas and analysis from cities around the world.

Do it for the newsletter's lead author @linpoonsays.bsky.social, whose birthday is today, the day of our first edition www.bloomberg.com/account/news...

CityLab Weekly The week’s most thought-provoking stories, ideas and analysis from cities around the world.

CityLab has shifted to a weekly newsletter, where we’ll be taking a little more real estate to deliver an even better product. If a daily was too much for you but you want to read the best reporting, ideas and solutions from cities around the world, please sign up! www.bloomberg.com/account/news...

The Rise of the Manhattan Mega-Mansion In the West Village and other historic neighborhoods, buyers are consolidating apartments and combining townhomes, a sign of New York’s allure to the ultra-rich.

Behind the preserved historical facades, the ultra-rich are buying up adjacent townhomes in the West Village and Upper East Side, combining them into a megamansion. It's part of a broader trend of small multifamily buildings being turned into single-family homes. www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

"The sites essentially created a free archive of early-20th-century municipal history." www.archpaper.com/2026/02/curb...

There are a lot of things we can't control. But we can do a little bit to control whether local news gets funded, and by whom. This is a terrific newborn outlet. Please support them!

The DMV is losing one of the best transportation reporters in the US. I'm sad for Rachel, but even more so for DC.

In Praise of Urban Disorder The book Messy Cities looks at unregulated and informal development from Toronto to Tokyo to show how less planning can deliver more vibrant neighborhoods.

Lovely conversation on embracing "messy" cities. This bit in particular is inspiring me to think of needing to borrow as an opportunity, not a handicap. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

This is totally fascinating

And where are our gold-plated snow plows?

D.C. deploys more contractors, asks National Guard for help with snow Trash pickup is set to begin starting Saturday, while crews are still tackling bus shelters and streets that are piled high with icy snow.

How was the National Guard not already out on the streets hacking at sidewalk ice? www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

ICE Begins Buying ‘Mega’ Warehouse Detention Centers Across US Plans for such centers and jails in nearly two dozen communities have sparked protests over suitability, proximity to homes and schools.

Another warehouse owner backed out of a deal with ICE on Friday: Canadian billionaire Jim Pattison! www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

ICE Begins Buying ‘Mega’ Warehouse Detention Centers Across US Plans for such centers and jails in nearly two dozen communities have sparked protests over suitability, proximity to homes and schools.

The city's mayor, the president of the US conference of mayors, issues a strong statement: "I ask that every single property owner in Oklahoma City exhibit the same concern for our community." www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

ICE Begins Buying ‘Mega’ Warehouse Detention Centers Across US Plans for such centers and jails in nearly two dozen communities have sparked protests over suitability, proximity to homes and schools.

Warehouse owners in Oklahoma City have now refused to sell their property to ICE for a detention center, as @folaak.bsky.social and @sooophie.bsky.social report that the agency is rushing to snap up storage facilities to detain immigrants despite local resistance www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Inside the Plan to Demolish and Rebuild Trump’s Washington When President Donald Trump demolished the East Wing in October, it came as a public shock. But the White House likely won’t be the last historic DC building to face a wrecking ball.

Washington has long weighed a plan to redevelop a vast federal office enclave in SW DC.

Along comes a president willing to demolish the East Wing without warning.

Neoclassical designers sense their moment.

Welcome to DC's next neighborhood-in-waiting, FEDLANDIA: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

JOIN US TODAY: Can Trump make US housing affordable? Bloomberg journalists answer questions on politics, economics and Wall Street’s role in the market today at 10:30 a.m. ET.

🎙️ Stream the Live Q&A here: bloom.bg/49HYwDi

After a White Town Rejected a Data Center, Developers Targeted a Black Area Four million Americans live within 1 mile of a data center. The communities closest to them are “overwhelmingly” non-white.

NEW: After a White Town Rejected a Data Center, Developers Targeted a Black Area

Four million Americans live within 1 mile of a data center. The communities closest to them are “overwhelmingly” non-white.

capitalbnews.org/data-center-...

We Still Don’t Know if Robotaxis Are Safer Than Human Drivers And even if self-driving technology proves to be less dangerous, there are many better ways to improve traffic safety and prevent fatal crashes.

Sorry, but triumphant claims about autonomous vehicle safety are wildly exaggerated.

It's an open question whether today’s self-driving cars are any safer than those driven by humans.

And if reducing crashes is the goal, that isn’t even the right question.

My deep dive, in Bloomberg 🧵