Living City Block Program looks for a DC beachhead

Is this one solution to the challenges of FHFA vs. PACE? The Living City Block program takes a larger, cohesive geographic area and provides funding and empirical guidance to improve the functioning of a city block.

Urban Planning Experiment Coming to 14th and U – Housing Complex – Washington City Paper:

“Here’s how it works: LCB puts in the ‘soft costs’ of bringing in property owners, studying the project area, and coordinating with local politicians and government agencies to integrate power, water, and waste systems. Since the businesses themselves need to put up the capital expenses, though, the initiative depends heavily on making the business case for things like solar panels, geothermal heat, energy efficient piping, and permeable sidewalks. It’s a very easy case for large structures, like the Empire State building. Smaller buildings need to work together to create economies of scale, but older buildings are especially worth saving, since they possess the kinds of walls built for an era before air conditioning. “