Don't hold your breath. PG and the east side of DC is where poors and blacks live. White people don't wanna go there, politicians only wanna spend enough on them to keep their votes. Why do you think they're breaking ground in Tysons as opposed to Oxon Hill.

A utopian vision of a transit system that is clean, cheap, accessible and feeds starving children in Africa is great, but money talks and BS walks.

The local Democrats just wanna make sure the blacks vote for them. They'll throw them a bone while they get to work on the Silver Line and listen to (rich) people in Bethesda bitch about losing their running trails (oh the humanity)

by Economic Geography on Dec 29, 2008 12:24 am  

Economic Geography-

I am of European descent, I live in Prince George's County, and I am wholly offended by your simplistic characterization of where I live. I can only assume that this xenophobic overview of the area implies that you rarely if ever visit PG or eastern DC. PG County is predominantly African-American, yes, but to imply that interest should not be taken in this region for that reason is downright racist.

Your characterization of abject poverty is also incredibly unsettling. No, PG does not have the levels of affluence of Montgomery or Howard counties, but the median average household income is greater than the Maryland average:

http://tinyurl.com/7ojng7

PG County is also said to have the highest concentration of wealth among minorities in the United States.

As for breaking ground in Oxon Hill, perhaps you might want to visit National Harbor (http://nationalharbor.com), the high end mixed use development on the Potomac River in Oxon Hill that opened this past spring.

Perhaps there is some merit to your bleak statement on the political situation in PG and eastern DC, but I might consider this to be all the more reason it is important that we address issues with these regions on a public forum.

by Dave Murphy on Dec 29, 2008 1:34 am  

How you can mention Oxon Hill without National Harbor(though one-sixth the size of Tyson's) I'm not sure.

Dave: One can imply racism without implying endorsement of it. The demographic statements seem to be pretty reasonably generalizations outside of Capitol Hill, though of course all generalizations need to be taken with a grain of salt. Welcome to Reason 1 why mixed-income residential areas are valuable for the health of a city, even in a postracial era: because they don't end up being neglected for lack of campaign contributions, developers, & lawyers like segregated-income areas do.

by Squalish on Dec 29, 2008 4:00 am  

The Silver Line is not about favoring certain demographics. Tyson's Corner is one of the major job centers in the country. Reston is one of the major job centers in the region. Dulles Airport is the major airport in the Greater Washington area. The Silver Line is about hooking these assets of our region into metro and it's taken a decade+ of lobbying and fighting for funds. I'm sure National Harbor will eventually get metro but it's just opened this year. These things take time.

by FourthandEye on Dec 29, 2008 8:01 am  

While it is true that southern Prince George's and southern Fairfax counties are not in the Favored Quarter, they are a part of our region and are interconnected to the whole region, just like any other part of the region. There are many nice communities on the eastern side of the region, too. I know many nice people who live there and like the peace and quiet of their community.

As David said, there are actually just as many local and regional transportation/urbanism issues on the eastern side of our region. It would be great to hear more from there.

by Cavan on Dec 29, 2008 9:33 am  

Listen guys, I'm not saying it's right. But having grown up in the area (those of the rest of you who have know what I'm talking about) I understand where and how stuff gets done in this area.

Why did the Red line get finished before the Green Line (a 20 year difference)? They're both MD/DC lines, so don't say it was something about jurisdiction.

Call me racist or xenophobic or whatever you wanna call me, facts are facts. PG and NE/SE is poorer and blacker than most of the rest of the area and they definitely have less real and planned infrastructure investments.

Idealism is nice, realities are real.

by Economic Geography on Dec 29, 2008 11:25 am  

Economic Geography,

Have you read Zach Schrag's history of the Washington Metro? It explains in great detail why the green line lagged behind the red line so much. If anything, the delay was thanks to far more planning and care being taken with the green line - to the tune of more mitigation, several re-routes, etc. - than with the Red Line, not to mention the operational concerns that dictated the Red line be the first under construction (yard access, right of way, etc.)

by Alex B. on Dec 29, 2008 11:38 am  

Yea, I'm sure that the 20 extra years of real estate appreciation along the Red Line was worth saving a few trees in Anacostia.

So the Silver Line is built to accommodate Tyson's, fair enough. You just made my point. The transit follows the money. Again, not endorsing it, just saying how it is.

And the National Harbor? Please. MD's yuppie response to Old Town at best. There isn't anything special about that place except they screwed up the view from across the river in VA by tearing out all those trees.

by Economic Geography on Dec 29, 2008 11:56 am  

Economic Geography: You're describing the Favored Quarter phenomenon, and yes, it's real. More investment has historically gone into the wealthier and whiter sector of a city's suburbs.

However, in DC, the Favored Quarter is expanding. Formerly less invested areas like eastern Montgomery County are getting the infrastructure and development.

More importantly, that doesn't mean nothing is happening in these other areas, or that nobody is interested because they're all poor black people. It just means blogs like GGW should work harder to highlight the challenges, opportunities and controversies in those areas, and to encourage projects that span outside the Favored Quarter, like the Purple Line.

As for the Metro history, it's true that the earliest plans were heaviest on Favored Quarter destinations. According to Schrag's book, activists (mostyl African-American leaders) in the mid-city area (like Shaw and Columbia Heights) lobbied for a line in their neighborhoods, largely on economic justice grounds, and got it.

Instead of writing off some areas and their leaders, we should work to improve decisionmaking and push for more and better investment in neglected parts of our region.

by David Alpert on Dec 29, 2008 12:10 pm  

Why did the Red line get finished before the Green Line (a 20 year difference)?

Because planning for the Green line didn't start until much later.

Originally Metro was only going to have two trunk downtown subway tubes (Red and Orange/Blue). Green was added fairly late in the process, specifically because folks noticed Mid City wasn't well served.

by BeyondDC on Dec 29, 2008 5:46 pm