loading...

Best Additions of 2010: Capital Bikeshare, The Return of Housing Complex and the $5K Tax Credit

  • December 21st 2010

by UrbanTurf Staff

✉️ Want to forward this article? Click here.

UrbanTurf is taking a week-long look back at the best that DC’s residential real estate market had to offer in 2010. From the best deals to the best renovations to, of course, the best listings, we believe we have sussed out the cream of the crop.


2010 was a year when DC saw at least one great new addition to the city’s transit scene and the welcome return of a blog and a homebuyer provision that had been gone for a few months.

Best Additions of 2010: Capital Bikeshare, The Return of Housing Complex and the $5K Tax Credit: Figure 1
Courtesy of Capital Bikeshare

Capital Bikeshare

In 1994, Portland, Oregon started the Yellow Bike Project in which donated bicycles were painted yellow and deployed around the city to be used for free by residents and visitors. Sixteen years later, DC is following suit (sort of) with the launch of Capital Bikeshare. The bicycle sharing system consists of 114 stations and 1,100 bicycles for public use across DC and Arlington. The first 30 minutes of the ride are free (with a $75 annual subscription) and then riders are charged for every additional 30-minute increment of usage thereafter. In September, the month that Capital Bikeshare launched, 37,000 bicycle trips were recorded, and The Post’s Dr. Gridlock reported last week (on a day when the low temperature was just 26 degrees) that ridership had increased 100 percent over a much nicer day in October.


Best Additions of 2010: Capital Bikeshare, The Return of Housing Complex and the $5K Tax Credit: Figure 2

The Return of Housing Complex

For a couple months earlier this year, The Washington City Paper’s Housing Complex blog sat dormant following the departure of writer Ruth Samuelson. Then in April, the blog was revived as Lydia DePillis took the reigns and started producing content at a Sewell Chan-like pace for the city’s weekly alternative paper. The daily output was slow at first as DePillis learned the ins and outs of her new beat, but she quickly started covering everything from streetcars to high rents. Now it is not surprising to see a 10:45pm tweet from DePillis as she sits at a local ANC meeting covering hotel zoning issues followed seven hours later by a comprehensive morning real estate links post that is time-stamped 6:00am. Such dogged shoe-leather journalism has remade Housing Complex as one of UrbanTurf’s daily must-reads.


Best Additions of 2010: Capital Bikeshare, The Return of Housing Complex and the $5K Tax Credit: Figure 3

The Return of the $5K Tax Credit

While better categorized as a re-addition rather than a new addition, many DC homebuyers were happy to learn last week that the $5,000 tax credit for homebuyers in the District is back in effect. Tucked away in the massive tax bill that President Obama signed last Friday was an extension of the $5,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers in DC that expired at the end of 2009. The extension was renewed for 2010 and 2011, which means that qualified buyers who purchased this year are eligible to receive it. For more information on the credit, click here.


Previous Best Of 2010 entries:

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/best_additions_capital_bikeshare_the_return_of_housing_complex/2786.

DC Real Estate Guides

Short guides to navigating the DC-area real estate market

We've collected all our helpful guides for buying, selling and renting in and around Washington, DC in one place. Start browsing below!