On Friday, September 29, 2023 at 7 pm, the Society will present the 2023 Dick Wolf Lecture at Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. The speaker will be Professor John Rennie Short, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland Baltimore County. He will discuss changes to the urban core of Washington, DC and what the future may bring.  Reception to follow.

After a four-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Dick Wolf Memorial Lecture is resuming. Sponsored by the Capitol Hill Restoration Society (CHRS) this event showcases excellence in research and writing on issues related to urban planning and historical preservation. This year’s lecture will cover the topic of cities after COVID, with a particular focus on the unique challenges and opportunities for Washington, DC.

Since the pandemic, workers have great leverage in the decision about how and where they will work. With so much commercial real estate currently underutilized in downtown DC, there are crucial decisions to be made about how and whether to convert buildings to residential or to mixed-use. These decisions will impact the feel of the city and affect the type of residents that DC will likely attract and retain.

This year’s lecturer will be John Rennie Short, emeritus professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland. Dr. Short’s research interests include cities, environmental issues, geopolitics, and the history of cartography. He has widely published on these issues and is a resident of Washington, DC.

His newest book is The Urban Now: Living in an Age of Urban Globalism.

Free. The public is encouraged attend. No registration is required.

The event will be preceded by a Membership Meeting at which the CHRS budget will be approved.