Catalogue Blog: Catalogue for Philanthropy Greater Washington DC

DC-Area Apartment Rents Rise, Vacancy Second Lowest in the Country (Urban Turf via DCentric): “… rents in the DC area for Class A and B apartments have risen 3.6 percent over the past twelve months while vacancy rates sit at 2.8 percent, the lowest for any metro area in the country except for New York City.” For Class A apartments (primarily large buildings constructed after 1991), the vacancy rate is just 1.6% and rental rates “averaged $2,582/month, up from $2,448/month in September 2010.” So not only is affordable rental housing difficult to locate in the city, any rental housing is not easy to come by — and the search alone can require both funds and time.

Continue reading →

From “Printed voter guides are a necessary service” on Greater Greater Washington, April 30:

In an effort to cut costs for the low-turnout special election, DCBOEE decided to forgo their usual practice of mailing an election guide to registered voters. Instead, they mailed a postcard notifying voters of the upcoming election and published an online-only voter guide. [...]

We live in an increasingly digitally-connected world. not everyone has, or wants, access to the internet. According to a 2010 report by DC’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer, broadband adoption rates sit near 40% in Wards 5, 7, and 8 but soar to 90% elsewhere.

Quite simply, limiting the media of voter education in turn limits the pool of educated voters. The author mentions that, on election day, an elderly voter (also a recent DC transplant) confided that she had never heard of most of the candidates. But moreover, it limits the pool of likely voters.

Continue reading →

Catalogue Blog

Tag Archives: voting

Get Out The Vote