September 2024 Downtowner
By • September 16, 2024 0 436
$42 Million in Residents’ Medical Debt Canceled
Late last month, thousands of District residents (62,000 to be exact) got an exciting surprise: their medical debt had been canceled. A partnership between D.C. government and a nonprofit, Undue Medical Debt, erased $42 million of medical debt. About 60 percent of the total debt relief benefitted 36,000 residents making $25,000 or less. Eighty percent of those getting relief live in primarily Black or Latino zip codes, according to city officials.
D.C. Named Hardest Working City in the Country
Tell us something we don’t know! Washington, D.C., has been named the hardest working city in America, according to a study from WalletHub. The city earned the accolade due to such metrics as employment rate, average commute time, average number of hours worked per week, percentage of workers with multiple jobs and percentage that don’t use vacation time. In second place was Irving, Texas. The Big Apple came in at an embarrassing 99.
And We’re the #1 Solo Travel Destination in the U.S.
Solo travel is up, with a 38-percent increase in solo hotel bookings in the last five years and an eight-percent increase in the number of solo diners last year. According to an analysis of hotel and restaurant bookings in major cities in 2023 and 2024, done by OpenTable and Kayak, the number-one U.S. destination chosen by solo travelers was Washington, D.C. Incidentally, more people travel solo within the U.S. in September than in any other month.
Street Traffic Safety Is Focus of New MPD Unit
In response to record-high deaths, D.C. is putting five officers on a new unit dedicated to street traffic safety. When traffic enforcement was reduced during the height of the pandemic, fatalities rose sharply in D.C. and across the U.S. While they are declining elsewhere, in D.C. they are still on the rise. In 2023, the District saw a 16-year high of 52 deaths. At press time, 34 traffic deaths had been recorded, versus 37 at this point last year.
Jefferson Drive Workers Unearth Historic Hole
Construction crews working along Jefferson Drive SW on the renovation of the 1855 Smithsonian Castle — the first Smithsonian building, designed by James Renwick — came upon an artifact dating to the 1800s. A 30-foot-deep, brick-lined hole discovered under the road is believed to be a cistern, built in 1847 to collect rainwater. The cistern is being documented, but will need to be filled in, since Jefferson Drive receives lots of traffic.
