About Us

 

The Alliance for Rational Development (ARD) is a coalition of residents who support responsible development that is appropriate to our neighborhoods. Alliance supporters believe that the current character of neighborhoods should be preserved, while acknowledging and welcoming the inevitable growth and development that will continue throughout Washington.

ARD had its origins in earlier citizen efforts to support or oppose projects that would have significant impact on the character of our community.

Principles that guide ARD's vision

ARD’s vision encompasses these principles:

· Upper Northwest D.C. is already a stable, transit-oriented community of neighborhoods.

· We have a right and an obligation to future generations to protect our neighborhoods from excessive development, development that diminishes the community's quality of life.

· Increases in height and density beyond the human scale are not appropriate for the upper Wisconsin Avenue corridor. Ballston and Clarendon are not our models for development that abuts our neighborhoods.

· Rational development requires independently evaluating the capacity of the existing infrastructure to accommodate the plan being proposed and ensuring that permitted development is consistent with the local infrastructure that will have to support it.

· ARD is eager to collaborate with business owners and developers to support projects that can enhance the livability of our neighborhoods.