Comments on Big plans for better transit in Ward 5 will take some time - Greater Greater Washington

Comment by tom veil

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:37:20 EDT

He also announced that a formal application had been made to change the name of the New York Avenue/Florida Avenue/Gallaudet University Metro station to NoMa.

NoMa is the dumbest neighborhood name I have ever, ever heard.

I know what they're going for; they're going for SoHo. But it's a mistake for a couple reasons. First, SoHo, New York, got that name because it's a cutesy way of recalling Soho, London, which is not an acronym at all, just an ancient neighborhood that happens to look a lot like the New York neighborhood. SoHo and Soho go well together. What is the parallel for NoMa? Because all I think of is Nomar Garciaparra.

Second, SoHo, New York, is an intuitively confined space. Houston Street only covers Manhattan, and the portion South of it is small and bounded on all other sides by river. Half of DC is North of Massachusetts. The NoMA BID barely touches Massachusetts. What the BID does interact with is the rail yard. And that's what the neighborhood should be called: Union Yards. Or, just go back to Swampoodle.

Comment by JJJJJ

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:41:34 EDT

NoMa? Emancipation fools?

Comment by andrew

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:27:53 EDT

Beginning in June, WMATA will undertake a two-year program to replace all the bus stop flags in the system with ones that have reflective coating, larger type, and show the stop ID number and the NextBus phone number and website on the flag.

Please, please, please hold off on doing this until you can come up with a better design for the flags. The current design lists WMATA's phone number in a larger font than the list of the routes that stop at that particular place. In what world does this make sense?

Comment by Jerome

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:25:34 EDT

I am all for Express bus routes to move the people arond the region a little faster but the problem with express bus service in DC thats devires for a local route is the express route run so far off course of the local route that it doesnt help service the people that really wanted or needed the more direct service