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Weekend links: What conservative people like
Photo by irrational_cat on Flickr.
Republicans for multimodalism, not mixed-use: 74% of Republicans support bike lanes, and 80% support more public transit. But 59% oppose letting property owners have more freedom to put mixed uses on their property. (Streetsblog Capitol Hill)
GOP staff like Virginia: 62% of GOP Hill staffers live in Virginia, compared to only 32% of Democratic staffers. 50% of the Dems live in DC but only 30% of their counterparts do. More Dems also choose Maryland. (National Journal via City Paper)
Home buyers want less driving: Realtors say both urban and suburban homebuyers want to spend less time in their cars. City buyers want the option to live without cars, and suburban ones want some retail within walking distance. (Washington Times)
LAPD blames cyclists for being hit by drunk: A drunk driver injured 11 cyclists in Culver City, Calif. Yet the preliminary LAPD report blames "pedestrians in the roadway" as the main cause and makes many other excuses for the driver. (Bikeside LA, Streetsblog)
What's with officials using public money for their cars?: Another Ward 5 elected official is under investigation: ANC 5B Chair William Shelton allegedly spent $30,000 in ANC money for personal purchases including payments on his Lexus. (WUSA9)
City Paper files to dismiss Snyder suit: Last year, DC enacted an "anti-SLAPP" law to stop just the kind of lawsuit Dan Snyder brought against the City Paper to shut them up. They've filed to dismiss the suit under that act. Hopefully the court will promptly agree.
Current supports keeping meter rates: A Current editorial says $2 an hour for parking "seems reasonable," it would just be nice to have credit cards and/or pay-by-phone on all the meters. Agreed. So who in Ward 2 is complaining to Jack Evans? (Ken Archer)
Really, Wrigley doesn't need more parking: While advocating for a new stadium for the Chicago Cubs (itself a controversial view), a Sports Illustrated writer also requests more parking. Given that Wrigley is always packed despite not being surrounded by seas of parking lots, the status quo seems just fine. (Adam S.)
Bike butlers relocate Danish bikes: Bikes locked up illegally in Copenhagen will be kindly relocated to a bike rack, have their chains oiled, their tires pumped, get a kind note asking the owners to lock to racks in the future. This is no joke. (Copenhagenize)
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 | David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington. He has had a lifelong interest in great cities and great communities. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.   |
Comments
VDOT ignores own data, pushes widening I-66
- VDOT ignores own data, pushes widening I-66
- Understanding can help cyclists, drivers better share the road
- Half-hour Metro headways are not acceptable
- "Degree density" maps show region's east-west divide
- Give up your seat on the bus or train to those in need
- Planners are the new public health officials
- Anti-transit ideology endangers Silver Line
Mon May 21
Wed May 23
12:00 pm Live chat with Matt Yglesias
Wed May 30
10:00 am Bike-ped safety enforcement hearing
by MattF on Jun 18, 2011 9:42 am
by Canaan on Jun 18, 2011 10:12 am
by Lucre on Jun 18, 2011 11:14 am
I wonder if that is simply a legacy of times past when VA was significantly more conservative, i.e., today's Hill staffers are just using the old housing connections that have been "in the [GOP] family" for generations. Perhaps the data do not exist, but it would be interesting to see if anything has shifted over the years.
Anyway, that (rather interesting) study does not help me in my quest to assure some of my District-dwelling friends that Arlington is not some gun-toting haven of fiscal and social conservatism.
by Nick on Jun 18, 2011 11:50 am
The fetishization of the die-hard but lovable Cubs fan is mainly the product of lazy sportswriters (and, apparently, urbanist bloggers who don't do much research). Wrigley Field is only packed when the Cubs are winning. When they stink (in other words, most of the time) attendance is horrible. Look at some of the averages in the mid-1970s: they couldn't get 13K a game (and the mid-1960s are worse than that).
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/cubsatte.shtml
by Anon on Jun 18, 2011 12:49 pm
It's not like there was a major economic event in 2008 that might cause attendance to drop, is there?
Wrigley needs Fenway-style renovations, not a new stadium. Aside from that, the writer's ideas are simply ludicrous - more parking isn't the answer (thought it would be a nice revenue stream for the owners). Likewise, he wants to preserve Wrigley, but for college and HS baseball while finding another site on the Northside to build a new Cubs stadium - that's simply a non-starter.
They'll never be able to find a better location than the one they have now - one that combines transit access with the surrounding neighborhood.
by Alex B. on Jun 18, 2011 1:08 pm
That may be true if this were a program in the U.S., but honestly, I don't think they need to worry about that kind of thing in Denmark.
Scandinavians just seem to be on a higher plane of humanity than the rest of the world. I'd guess this partially stems from their very homogenous society and lack of true multi-culturalism (every just 'gets along'). Not saying that's a good thing at all, but it certainly produces an educated, well-mannered society (As long as you're lucky enough to be born there and not a muslim immigrant. I'd guess things aren't so great for them).
by N Bluth on Jun 18, 2011 2:39 pm
by Rich on Jun 18, 2011 6:02 pm
by Rich on Jun 18, 2011 6:03 pm
by Bossi on Jun 18, 2011 7:02 pm
Why does Ken Archer ask questions to which he has already received the answers? Or perhaps he doesn't like the answers and so he pretends not to hear them?
@Ken,
1. If there's anything I've learned from my time in Georgetown, it's to never assume that what someone tells you to your face matches up with what they say behind closed doors.
2. Consider this to be a good exercise in logic. Start coming up with a list of all the people who would benefit from reduced rates and hours and/or would be hurt by the opposite. Once you feel like you've exhausted the possibilities, look at which ones have the capacity to influence the distinguished CM. Rank the possibilities in order of likelihood and voila!
by Dizzy on May 19, 2011 11:13 am
I even supplied some helpful examples thereof:
1. Restaurateurs like cheap/abundant parking because it makes diners (especially high-end diners) feel more at ease about ordering a lot of alcohol - which is where the real money is made - without feeling pressured to leave because their meter is going to expire or its going to cost them $20 to park. They also know that people are often irrational and don't want to pay $10 for parking while freely spending many times that on their orders.
2. Clothiers know that those who have made the investment to drive down to Georgetown (or any retail area) are more likely to purchase something, rather than leave empty-handed, since that would make for a "wasted trip." Psychologically, those who arrived on transit (unless they came from very far away) and are not tethered to cars do not feel the same sense of investment in the trip. It's the old "sunk costs" fallacy. Again, not necessarily rational, but it is a commonly observed behavior.
3. I'll elaborate on one I've alluded to earlier: residents, particularly older residents, often assume the worst when it comes to outsiders. They also generally assume that anyone who can get something for free is going to be loath to pay money for it. Call it a "generational mentality of frugality" that stays with folks long after they have passed in the point in their lives when they have to care about such trifling sums.
So, the assumption is that if paid parking in the commercial areas is expensive, visitors will simply park on neighborhood streets, where it is free. This will make it more difficult for residents to park. Therefore, the preferred course of action is to keep commercial parking cheap, so that visitors won't be tempted to park on neighborhood streets.
And who are these people? Well, Jack Evans just raised $50,000 in one night at a fundraiser. That'd be a good place to start.
by Dizzy on Jun 19, 2011 11:26 am
In the past VA was a Democratic state. It wasn't until the 70's it moved right - as least voting wise.
Also, I'd guess given the political differences between Maryland and Virginia this isn't that surprising because of the background of the GOP and Democrats. VA is a lower taxed state - particularly income - v. Maryland which taxes income at three levels which means they attract people that view lower taxes and regulation whereas Maryland does the opposite. It isn't rocket science.
by Burger on Jun 20, 2011 11:23 am
You point to the fact the Cubs don't draw is hilarious. The Cubs haven't been below 3 million attendants in 13 years. and haven't hit below 20K in almost 30 years. I think you need to go over to the stadium. Even if they stink, people go there for no other reason that it is the oldest baseball stadium.
Further, the Cubs attendance figures do not include all the private apartment boxes on Waveland and Addison.
by Burger on Jun 20, 2011 11:26 am
Most Hill staffers have worked there for years, so they may well have moved to their respective areas long ago.
by Tuba on Jun 20, 2011 11:34 am
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