Many D.C. commuters were saddened to learn in July that hundreds of flowers surreptitiously planted at an area Metro station would be removed by officials. But has the city's "Phantom Planter" had the last laugh?
"Early this summer, guerrilla gardener Henry Docter surreptitiously planted 1,000 flowering plants in the long, tubelike entryway to the Dupont Circle Metro station. He did it, he said, to beautify the prominent but shabbily kept public space. Metro officials waited a couple of weeks before yanking out the hundreds of morning glories and other plants in July, prompting more than 10,000 supporters to sign a “Let Our Flowers Grow” petition."
Seeking "artistic closure", Docter and a "young collaborator" suspended "a 6-by-6-by-4-foot boxlike artwork, which was covered with quotes about the July flower standoff" above the Q Street entrance of the Dupont Circle Metro station on Sunday. Docter's act of closure "wound up being a merger of performance art, civil disobedience and fodder for a bunch of strangers to have an impromptu Sunday chat about government power and the need for unexpected beauty," reports Michelle Boorstein.
FULL STORY: Metro pulled out his flowers, but guerrilla gardener pops back up in Dupont Circle

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

Study: Maui’s Plan to Convert Vacation Rentals to Long-Term Housing Could Cause Nearly $1 Billion Economic Loss
The plan would reduce visitor accommodation by 25% resulting in 1,900 jobs lost.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Waymo Gets Permission to Map SF’s Market Street
If allowed to operate on the traffic-restricted street, Waymo’s autonomous taxis would have a leg up over ride-hailing competitors — and counter the city’s efforts to grow bike and pedestrian on the thoroughfare.

Parklet Symposium Highlights the Success of Shared Spaces
Parklets got a boost during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the concept was translated to outdoor dining programs that offered restaurants a lifeline during the shutdown.

Federal Homelessness Agency Places Entire Staff on Leave
The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness is the only federal agency dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness.
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