I think it's debatable whether new DC residents are not as involved in building community as people here were a generation ago. But attachment to a community tends to happen organically over time, so I think Marshall Brown claiming that new people are more focused on their self-interests than on building community isn't very enlightening (is it any different anywhere else?)

by DCster on Apr 11, 2011 9:21 am • link • report

Unfortunatly, Brown is 100% right.

by TGEoA on Apr 11, 2011 9:36 am • link • report

Re: Brown- the most important part of his quote, the "doggie park and bike lane" remark, is that it was prefaced by his "worry" that the "shift in population will result in a racially polarized electorate".

He then goes on to juxtapose "long-time white residents" who were/are in his view involved in state-hood, civil rights and environmental causes, and apparently, in his highly prejudiced view, don't care about bike lanes(???) or dog parks, with newer white residents, who, as mentioned above, don't care about people but only about bike lanes and dog parks.

What an ignorant clown. He doesn't see how his own "worry" of polarization is manifested in his own puny mind and is facilitated by his comment that expresses a poverty of perceptions and insight. He doesn't see the relationship between bike lanes and environmental causes; He doesn't see how civic involvement of any kind, like seeking a place to exercise your dog and meet your neighbors is the foundation of activism needed for DC's struggle for enfranchisement; He doesn't imagine that those longtime white residents also want bike lanes and dog parks.

There is more hostile willful ignorance in his expressed perception in addition to these three obvious blind spots.
He's an ignorant destructive clown who's bad for DC.

by Tina on Apr 11, 2011 9:37 am • link • report

The Bigwheel vs. Bus story is a tragic tale for MTA.

Mayor Bloomberg, are you watching?

by Redline SOS on Apr 11, 2011 9:38 am • link • report

Raising the heights where we're already under the federal law is good, but I think we should have taller buildings where transit and jobs are densest, which probably are as tall as allowed already.

by Vik on Apr 11, 2011 9:45 am • link • report

It takes two to polarize. That is, it's not just opposition to the politics of Marion Barry (et al) that creates a problem, it's the support for them as well.

by ah on Apr 11, 2011 9:53 am • link • report

Watching that video of the big wheel vs. the M42, I was surprised by how little traffic there was on 42nd St. It's definitely a lot less congested than when I worked there a few years ago, and it's no secret (even within the NYC government) that the corridor has major issues that need to be addressed.

The only tricky part is finding the money to actually make the fixes.

by andrew on Apr 11, 2011 9:54 am • link • report

Well, I've been to many ANC meetings since moving to DC in 2008. My ANC spans Capitol Hill, Penn Quarter, and what has been historically called Sursum Corda. The white people from Capitol Hill are very involved and while many of them aren't as progressive as GGW they are mostly rational, diligent and organized. The Penn Quarter residents who are involved are mostly very affulent whites. They are more progressive and very organized when they want to be involved. But usually they just show up when their is a NIMBY issue they care about at that moment. As DCster suggested above I think since they are mostly new they aren't as invested in contributing when the issue doesn't affect them directly.

Finally the lower income blacks from Sursum Corda and surrounding area who serve as ANC commissioners... I'm often embarrassed when they open their mouths. They are usually looking for a handout from any development in their community. They are disorganized and rather than try to put a coherent case for their issues that follows protocols they simply get flustered and raise their voices. They don't regularly serve on any of the major committees our ANC has where alot of the real due diligence is done. They vote against the recommendations those committees make with either no explanation or a very juvenile one. They never write any memos, which is the best way to interact with government agencies, instead they lean on other ANC commissioners from the others SMDs to write them for them... If you disagree with one or more issues they care about they make it personal and label you a racist. Finally they've shown up drunk and fallen asleep in meetings on occasion.

Quite frankly if a lawyer from Capitol Hill who was an ANC commissioner behaved the way the low income black commissioners behaved I'm certain the Citypaper would expose it and flog that person. But low income black commissioners are constantly given wide latitude.

I wouldn't normally air all this on a GGW thread. But if our black elected officials and/or their advisors want to belittle the white newcomer I think a reality check is in store every now and again.

by Jason on Apr 11, 2011 9:58 am • link • report

Maybe I'm wrong, but I read the "dog parks and bike lanes" comment as grouchy rather than inflammatory. If it makes people stop and think for a minute (rather than, e.g., indulge in name-calling) I don't have a problem with it.

by MattF on Apr 11, 2011 10:01 am • link • report

Unfortunately, TGEoA is 100% wrong.

by Geoffrey Hatchard on Apr 11, 2011 10:03 am • link • report

Bike lanes and dog parks are 100% about creating community.

by wd on Apr 11, 2011 10:20 am • link • report

@MattF:

No idea what you're on about.

Perhaps if you were to expound on it a bit, rather than just leaving the "Think about it!" hanging out there.

As it is, Brown's "Dog parks and bike lanes for WHOM?" rhetoric isn't much more attractive when he breaks it down: since The Interlopers aren't active in black churches, black fraternities, and schools, they really can be dismissed out of hand.

Setting aside the fact that white newcomers are highly active in their local schools--I won't argue "more so" than "old-timers", though that's been my experience--is it really any shock that the White Interlopers aren't all coming out of the black fraternity system, or busting down the doors of the local AME while wearing monstrously large flowered hats?

I was at the Cosmopolitan Club the other night, and there was just a really, really great sense of community there. Didn't see any black folk, though. Why are they so apathetic, I wonder?

ONE CITY!

by oboe on Apr 11, 2011 10:35 am • link • report

@Mattf i guess you're responding to me. I name called. (puny minded clown, etc.) So did Brown. I responded to his provocation. i do that sometimes. However I agree w/ you that he comes off as a grouchy old man who just doesn't understand kids these days. Apprently he doesn't understand his white peers either though. I find his lack of knowledge and insight, and his willingness to write off whole groups of people based on one or two superficial qualities (young and white) expansive and repugnant. (is that name calling?)

by Tina on Apr 11, 2011 10:47 am • link • report

@Tina,

Unless you want to show us your Zeta Phi Beta key, or your church-lady hat, I think we've heard quite enough out of you.

:P

by oboe on Apr 11, 2011 11:26 am • link • report

Well as you can see from the comments, "people" often recoil at any suggestion calling into question their motivations.

Both Brown and the other guy make valid points. This recent election WAS racially polarized and in this case, you can't blame marion barry for it. As the person said, we still live in a city where white residents measure everything against Marion Barry. Well hello!!!!!! Of course they do and this website is no different.

But it's always a problem "at the other end." That is, well dumb people like Brown don't understand blah blah.

Then you have Brown saying that "they" don't understand blah blah blah.

In the end, both sides will vehemently argue that the other side is wrong w/o taking into account the merits of both arguments.

@Jason, what exactly is a "low income commissioner?" Are you talking about an ANC whose "class" is low income OR an ANC who serves low income areas. As it stands, your post is just as inflammatory as what Brown is accused of here.

Now I will disagree with Brown in that "they" aren't in our schools because its blatantly false. The "majority" of people I see volunteering in schools, don't look like Mr. Brown and me.

by HogWash on Apr 11, 2011 11:28 am • link • report

Amazing,

Metro claims to have been responssible for 25 billion dollars (2009 dollars) of development total in the 35 years its been in existence (lets call it 750 million a year.

Yet apparently this streetcar system which when fully developed will be 1/3rd the length and even considering its highest assumed ridership, carry 1/6th the daily number of people, and yet it is supposed to produce $800 million a year in development for the first 10 years?

Yeah...ok..."suuuuure" it will.

by freely on Apr 11, 2011 11:32 am • link • report

Golly! Streetcars will give 50% of household access to transit!!!!!

Does this mean access to an "additional" mode of rail transit or simply "rail transit." The latter seems like more a worthy goal which would justify the 50% number.

by HogWash on Apr 11, 2011 11:40 am • link • report

Does the supposed $5-7B in property value increases take into account either decreases elsewhere (within the District) or even merely atrophying of growth elsewhere? Sure, it may increase development around the street car lines but how do we know it's not simply pulling that growth from elsewhere?

by ah on Apr 11, 2011 11:41 am • link • report

Hogwash-How can someone be accoladed for being involved in/caring about environmental causes and castigated for advocating for bike lanes at the same time? How do you have a dialogue with someone that illogical? Only one example of Browns cognitive dissonance as expressed in his comments in the WP.

by Tina on Apr 11, 2011 11:44 am • link • report

@freely,

You're comparing apples to oranges. One is a purely urban light-rail system, exclusively serving the city. The other is a hybrid commuter/urban-transit option. Why not take the figures for the national rail system east of the Mississippi and compare it with Amtrak's Northeast corridor service.

If the numbers were comparable, it would be entirely coincidental. They're two completely different things.

by oboe on Apr 11, 2011 11:52 am • link • report

How can someone be accoladed for being involved in/caring about environmental causes and castigated for advocating for bike lanes at the same time? How do you have a dialogue with someone that illogical? Only one example of Browns cognitive dissonance as expressed in his comments in the WP.

@Tina, can you explain that a bit more. I don't follow.

by HogWash on Apr 11, 2011 11:54 am • link • report

Does this mean access to an "additional" mode of rail transit or simply "rail transit." The latter seems like more a worthy goal which would justify the 50% number.

The article argues it's simply "rail transit." That's the only thing that makes sense, because otherwise it would be saying that 16% of DC residents currently have access to an "additional" mode of rail transit to what they have now.

by oboe on Apr 11, 2011 11:55 am • link • report

you don't know about the connection between fewer VMT, replaced by more bike MT and environmental causes?

by Tina on Apr 11, 2011 11:57 am • link • report

Alright first, isn't clamoring for dog parks and bike lanes an example of civic involvement? I would imagine those who want those are going to meetings and such to ask for those. 2nd, it would seem somewhat natural that as neighborhoods have improved throughout dc would lead to less crime, trash and other things like that thus necessitating less civic involvement to fight the blight in those neighborhoods. Granted those issues haven't stopped completely but in a neighborhood like shaw or columbia heights that has completely transformed its silly to think that those issues have stayed completely the same.

But I really think that its just the nature of involvement has changed. People get together along different lines.

by canaan on Apr 11, 2011 12:03 pm • link • report

Can Brown explain how two customized Lincoln Navigators on the taxpayer's expense reflects community involvement and care for civil rights? Perhaps his son can explain.

by SJE on Apr 11, 2011 12:04 pm • link • report

@Oboe, oh ok. Although those numbers aren't really a good selling point for why specifically need the Anacostia line, who knows.

SJE, vehicles that the DPW selects for city officials and the idea of community involvement are two different things.

by HogWash on Apr 11, 2011 12:31 pm • link • report

@freely re metro bersus streetcar benefits

Freely
I don't think anyone is saying a streetcar will give the same benefits as metrorail, but you need to look at the figurs not in absolute terms but in percentages. An increase of 750 million a year in the 1970s for metro was percentage wise much greater than 800 million will be over the next decade.

by nathaniel on Apr 11, 2011 12:33 pm • link • report

@Hogwash-its all connected. Black children are disproportionately affected by acute and chronic asthma, a condition exacerbated by auto exhaust emissions. Those vehicles are notorious gas guzzlers/burners. Anyone who doesn't make an effort to reduce their auto emissions directly contributes to the adverse health outcomes of children. Access to bike lanes helps people in their personal efforts to reduce the amount they drive. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11180733

by Tina on Apr 11, 2011 12:40 pm • link • report

@Nathanial,

I said "2009 dollars" in my post. Not 1976 dollars.

@Oboe,

@Oboe,

Well then, if thats the way you want to look at it, then the payoff is worse.

Metro: The bulk of the development metro is taking credit for as been along the previously completely undeveloped sections of their track. The organge line is a perfect example. The billions in dense transportation centric development that has occured from Rosslyn to Vienna. The redline from Bethesda to Rockville is another perfect example. Before metro, there was nothing, as in grassy fields. Metro's development success came in taking what was nothing and changing it into something.

Now lets look at the streetcar plan. Where are the lines going to go where there isn't already, and haven't been for decades, an already established commercical corridor in which to improve upon?

Perhaps the K street section? Yes, we all know there is zero development or commercial activity there. 14th Street, Columbia Rd, these are clearly zero developed areas screaming for development dollars.

All hyperbole aside, you have a couple of sections (upper Georgia and Rhode Island Ave) with the "potential" to become dense and succesful in the way Arlington or Montgomery County has around their public transport.

The scale simply isn't there. You don't get the same bang for the buck with a streetcar system as you do a heavy rail that carries ~750K trips during the average weekday, especially considering half the system is slated for already dense and succesful commerical corridors.

by freely on Apr 11, 2011 12:59 pm • link • report

@Tina, I'm not sure that the study you linked is the best example here. In it, the researchers sought to analyze traffic changes during the 1996 Olympics.

How does that relate to bike lanes?

Also, suggesting that anyone who doesn't reduce their auto emissions greatly contribute negatively to the health of children sounds a bit hyperbolic. It's like saying anyone who supports Planned Parenthood also supports abortions.

@Freely, good points.

by HogWash on Apr 11, 2011 1:15 pm • link • report

@freely,

All interesting points to look into. Write up your report, and I'll read it along with the Goody Clancy & Associates study.

by oboe on Apr 11, 2011 1:22 pm • link • report

@HogWash,

Suggesting that anyone who doesn't reduce their auto emissions greatly contribute negatively to the health of children sounds a bit hyperbolic. It's like saying anyone who supports Planned Parenthood also supports abortions.

No, it's like saying that someone who only performs a few abortions performs abortions. If you're driving a car, you are actively contributing emissions which acerbate the problem. I drive occasionally; I'm part of the problem.

by oboe on Apr 11, 2011 1:26 pm • link • report

I suppose due to a pretty strong racial divide in this city (almost hate to write that lest it become self-perpetuating), it is not surprising that generalizations that all whites want is dog parks and bike lanes come out so easily. This white bike rider emphatically does not! Having worked outdoors a lot, I can testify first hand how off-leash dogs degrade land. But that's not the only thing contributing to the degradation. Just that it sure does not help.

I understand and agree with the sentiment that we are going after short term desires and quick fixes at the expense of a more family-oriented programs and plans.

by Jazzy on Apr 11, 2011 1:30 pm • link • report

@Hogwash, in the field that study is considered seminal. There are plenty more recent studies from all over including in DC with similar results that strengthen the conclusions, one of which is that alternative modes of transportation, i.e. non-individual auto, will help reduce emissions. (like biking instead of driving)

I did not say anyone who doesn't make an effort to reduce emmissions is in favor of children going to the ED for acute astma, which is the parallel of your PP analogy. I said not making an effort to reduce your personal emissions contributes to the problem; the problem of harmful emissions. Its not hyperbole. Just like if you don't make an effort to reduce your electricity consumption you also contribute to the problem of air pollution, if you get your electricity from coal burning plants. Thats not hyperbole either. You're either making an effort to reduce or you're not. Everytime you pass up an opportunity to reduce and instead emit more than you could have you're contributing to the problem.

Again, access to bike lanes and biking as an alternative to driving reduces the amount of air pollution and all its ill effects that a person would have otherwise contributed by driving.

by Tina on Apr 11, 2011 1:37 pm • link • report

@freely: There was nothing but grassy fields between Bethesda and Rockville before 1984?

by Miriam on Apr 11, 2011 1:40 pm • link • report

@Oboe, I thought and still believe the comparison was hyperbolic and it is w/in that context I responded. I did not say there wasn't an element of truth to it.

@Tina, maybe I'm just lost here and unable to understand your point. What are you responding to?

Brown's statement that "they" care more about bike lanes and dog parks? And if so, this is where you lost me: Hogwash-How can someone be accoladed for being involved in/caring about environmental causes and castigated for advocating for bike lanes at the same time?

I've tried to reconcile the two but can't.

by HogWash on Apr 11, 2011 1:45 pm • link • report

Hogwash - in the WaPo article Brown accolades "old whitey" for being involved in "state-hood, civil rights and environmental causes". Bike lanes ARE an environmental cause. Air pollution is a fundamental environmental cause and is directly related to human health. African Americans are disproportianetly affected by asthma, which is exacerbated by air pollution from car emissions.

Car trips>emissions>black children w/asthma>emergency room visits

Reduced car trips>reduced emissions>reduced number of acute asthma events requiring ER visits>better health outcomes for black children>happier black people.

by Tina on Apr 11, 2011 1:58 pm • link • report

@HogWash "SJE, vehicles that the DPW selects for city officials and the idea of community involvement are two different things."

Are you telling me that Kwame Brown's Lincoln Navigators were entirely the idea of the DPW? LOL!

Anyway, I disagree. When the father of the Council Chair is criticizing new white residents for lacking "community involvment" what he is really saying is that he does not like or agree with what they consider important....such as their criticism of his son or the Mayor for their bad decisions. It's a way to minimize the views of opponents.

The community also has an interest in seeing that its limited funds are used for good purposes, such as libraries, and not for luxury vehicles.

by SJE on Apr 11, 2011 2:07 pm • link • report

Tony Williams made an interesting point in the Post Article, which is ethnic political traditions outlast the ethnic group.

But given the ongoing demographic collapse of blacks in this city, I suspect that won't be the case in DC. If you remove Ward 7 and 8, DC is already a majority white city. The "black political tradition", as others have noted, is based on a highly incompetent political class, and does not have much of a future.

by charlie on Apr 11, 2011 2:43 pm • link • report

Charlie: I don't think its a "demographic collapse," only that the black population is headed to lower than 50%.

by SJE on Apr 11, 2011 2:52 pm • link • report

@ SJE; I'm talking about the collapse outside of ward 7 and 8. Clearly those two wards will retain a black majority for a long time, and the "institutions" there are stable. 2 council seats and an important vote block for all-city elections.

Clearly, the best thing for goo-goo to do is move to the Arlington at-large system for all seats. that would be very effective in squeezing E-O-T-R out.

by charlie on Apr 11, 2011 2:58 pm • link • report

@Tina, that sounds like a stretch and I don't believe Brown used the inflammatory "whitey" as you have here.

He said that longtime white dc residents were more concerned about the environment etc than the "newer" ones he believes are more concerned with things like bike lanes and dog parks. In the grand scheme of things, bike lanes and environmental impact are known to not be used interchangeably. That's where you lost me.

And I still shake my head at your less emissions = more healthy black children oddity.

@SJE, Are you telling me that Kwame Brown's Lincoln Navigators were entirely the idea of the DPW? LOL!

Uhm, well based on e-mails and testimony. Brown was given the option by DPW to choose the type of vehicle he wanted and DPW was the agency charged with it's approval.

Also, it's no point in arguing that Brown "meant" what he didn't say. And based on your interpretation of what he didn't say, it seems out of place to conclude that he doesn't like the fact that white residents are criticizing his son when blacks are doing the same.

And if the community was really concerned with this, they (including Wells' convenient political posturing) would have protested these procurements when Williams' administration was actively engaged in the practice.

@Charlie, what does DC's "black political tradition" look like? Adrian Fenty?

by HogWash on Apr 11, 2011 3:38 pm • link • report

@hogwash I don't believe Brown used the inflammatory "whitey" as you have here. No he did not. Those are my words. Sorry for the confusion. Did not mean to ascribe them to Brown.

In the grand scheme of things, bike lanes and environmental impact are known to not be used interchangeably. Yes they are. For at least 3 decades now. For the obvious reason that if more people ride a bike for short trips instead of driving, driving trips will be reduced and thus emissions from cars will be reduced, especially since short car trips are the most polluting given that the car engine is least efficient for short trips. http://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/2000BB2S.txt?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=EPA&Index=1976%20Thru%201980&Docs=&Query=400978008%20or%20bicycling%20or%20reduces%20or%20air%20or%20pollution&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod=1&TocRestrict=n&Toc=&TocEntry=&QField=pubnumber%5E%22400978008%22&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&UseQField=pubnumber&IntQFieldOp=1&ExtQFieldOp=1&XmlQuery=&File=D%3A%5CZYFILES%5CINDEX%20DATA%5C76THRU80%5CTXT%5C00000000%5C2000BB2S.txt&User=ANONYMOUS&Password=anonymous&SortMethod=h%7C-&MaximumDocuments=10&FuzzyDegree=0&ImageQuality=r75g8/r75g8/x150y150g16/i425&Display=p%7Cf&DefSeekPage=x&SearchBack=ZyActionL&Back=ZyActionS&BackDesc=Results%20page&MaximumPages=1&ZyEntry=2

And I still shake my head at your less emissions = more healthy black children oddity. The only way you can see this as an "oddity" is if you don't accept that, 1) African Americans are disproportionately affected by asthma, especially children http://smysp.stanford.edu/documentation/researchProjects/2010/prevalenceOfAsthma.pdf

and that, 2)emissions from automobiles contribute to worsening of asthma http://www.ehhi.org/reports/exhaust/summary.shtml

by Tina on Apr 11, 2011 4:18 pm • link • report

@Tina -- If I may suggest, that you use the HTML codes for a link:

i.e., the link is http://www.quackit.com/html/codes/link/

but it is a lot easier on your readers when you embed the link, particularly if it is a long one.

That is, type in <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.quackit.com/html/codes/link/">embed the link</a>

by goldfish on Apr 11, 2011 5:06 pm • link • report

Height limit raisers include Gray: Ryan Avent and Dan Malouff may still disagree on the exact effects of DC's height limit, but they seem to agree it's worth raising, at least in places. (BeyondDC) ... Turns out, Mayor Gray may have some interest in raising the hight limit in places were it's allowed under Federal law. (Housing Complex)

I do NOT think the height limit should be raised. Below is an excerpt of a longer piece I'd like to post here in this blog, at the appropriate moment:

Washington is not a lifetime place, and in order for it to be a truly great city, it should be a lifetime place. In order to be a lifetime city, it must meet more demands and not simply the demand for high rise apartments. Real quality of life issues are not getting addressed. Anywhere. Including here.

I recently listened to a radio show in which a writer, for the New Yorker, said that the solution to sprawl and population is to “stack people.” I listened to that man on the radio and thought that he had not adequately thought it through. How good for the spirit is that? What does a man whose AIDS symptoms eventually force him into a wheelchair do when he can’t use the 19 plus sets of stairs to his new high-rise apartment (advocated for by many on this blog) when the elevator goes out? I bet that of all the participants on this blog, my share of living space and consumed products is among the least (I no longer have a car). I love living simply, I think it is the way to go, but stacking people and reducing their space is not. It is especially not when those people who are stacked and living in reduced quarters do not have a responsive system of government or decision-making to deal with or even acknowledge the unique problems that come from living so close together.

The New Yorker writer also said that per capita consumption (of fossil fuels I think) is lowest in NYC, but total output is not. I would be much more interested in exploring what that means.

by Jazzy on Apr 11, 2011 9:54 pm • link • report

"Uhm, well based on e-mails and testimony. Brown was given the option by DPW to choose the type of vehicle he wanted and DPW was the agency charged with it's approval."

This is one of the oldest blame shifting tricks in the book, the flip side to "just following orders." Kwame Brown showed poor judgement, and is getting the heat that comes from it.

by SJE on Apr 11, 2011 10:14 pm • link • report

The New Yorker writer also said that per capita consumption (of fossil fuels I think) is lowest in NYC, but total output is not. I would be much more interested in exploring what that means.

It means that each person individual has a low carbon footprint, but because there are so many people in NYC, the city of NYC has a large carbon footprint: similarly, a building full of short people has a low average height per person, but if you stack them all on top of each other, the total height of all of those is very tall.

by Tyro on Apr 11, 2011 11:15 pm • link • report