Newmark's Door

DC seems to be yet another city offering a useful comparison between conservative policies--lower taxes, more school choice, more effort to fight crime--and not-so-conservative policies. 

Much of the credit for D.C.'s revival belongs to Anthony Williams, who pulled the District from the brink of insolvency, cut taxes, and brought greater attentiveness to crime and quality-of-life issues during his eight years as Barry's successor as mayor (and four previous years as its chief financial officer). Another person responsible for D.C.'s revival is Virginia Walden Ford. a mother and activist now living in Arkansas, whose agitation against the city's abysmal school district led to the growth of school choice (including charter schools and the recently revived D.C. Opportunity voucher program saved last month from the Obama administration's latest attempt to shutter it), and, ultimately, the school district's takeover under Fenty during his first year in office.