Building Stuff in Cities is Really Hard, Washington DC Edition

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One of my rules of thumb whenever I see something sort of odd that has no obvious explanation is: ADA. That is, it might very well be the result of someone trying to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act. To see what I mean, Matt Yglesias has a fine little story here about how ADA compliance morphed into a $7 billion track renovation project in Washington DC.

In fairness, ADA is only a part of the story. Still, it’s a part. And it’s surprising how often it seems to play a role in otherwise inexplicable projects and rules. What’s more, even if ADA isn’t truly the taproot of all this proposed new construction at Union Station, it’s still a pretty good story about how a relatively small improvement in an already densely-built urban area leads by inevitable concatenation into a fantastically complicated and expensive project. For want of a nail etc.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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