Breakfast links: Teeming with Teeters

by David Alpert • June 27, 2011 8:42 am

Image from Rust|Orling Architects.

Teeter to North Old Town: Alexandria approved a development for a Harris Teeter and 175 residences in northern Old Town. Some oppose the project because of traffic, but most trips should come from within 1 mile. (How about a CaBi station there for easy trips to Braddock Road?) (AlexandriaNews)

Yards getting retail: Another Harris Teeter will be a tenant at the Yards development in Near Southeast, along with a bunch of different restaurants. (WBJ)

Crossroads at a crossroads?: The Purple Line will bring changes to Takoma-Langley Crossroads, and some fear that change. George Leventhal says look at Glenmont, where little has changed; but Glenmont is not exactly a model to emulate. (Examiner, RPUS)

One way to get a road project done: The road to a small town in Colombia is in very bad shape, so women in the town are withholding sex until it gets fixed. (Jezebel)

Policies impact pregnant, breastfeeding first responders: The police union is concerned that MPD is forcing breastfeeding officers to work the street. Some officers want the option to work desk jobs while breastfeeding. (Examiner) And recent fire department changes have limited part-time duty options for pregnant firefighters. (Post)

12 arrested for voting rights: 400 attended a rally for voting rights Saturday and 12 got arrested including Markus Batchelor, pregnant Reverend Amanda Poppei and Tracy Loh, who testified at the bike hearing. Will getting arrested have an impact? (DCist)

What a creative name: In 2007, there was a contest to name a footbridge in the Southwest Waterfront. The winner: "Southwest Waterfront Footbridge." (Jake Sticka)

2 competing reauthorizations coming: As the federal transportation trust fund gets farther into the red, two separate transportation reauthorization bills will come out soon: one from 4 senators in both parties, and the other from the House. (Streetsblog)

And...: An engine defect means 351 new hybrid buses need repair. (Examiner) ... Once, the Old Post Office was a new post office. (DC Metrocentric) ... Want to be on the Alexandria Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee? (JTDP)

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David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. 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.

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I remember that bridge contest. I think I proposed Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing Memorial Bridge (because it connects to the Mandarin Hotel). But I guess that wasn't creative enough

by David C on Jun 27, 2011 9:33 am • link • report

The "old" old post office was designed by Robert Mills and built between 1836 and 1886. It currently houses the Hotel Monaco. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Post_Office_(Washington,_D.C.)

by Christine on Jun 27, 2011 9:47 am • link • report

Alexandria Harris Teeter: Interesting location because there is a Trader Joes one block from there, and a Giant two blocks in the other direction. Granted, the Giant is kind of crappy, but how many grocery stores are needed in a 4 block stretch?

Sex for Roads: The Columbian women must have read Lysistrada.

Arrested for votes: I was at the rally, and one takeaway from the speakers there was that people of DC must take action DAILY to get our vote, not one rally every month or so.

by BenZ on Jun 27, 2011 10:11 am • link • report

Great article in NYT today on how European cities are discouraging auto traffic for real unlike here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/27/science/earth/27traffic.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&hp&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1309183276-W4BXqJX8QBK379qmqrkO0w

Also mentions a terrific San Francisco urbanist blog:

http://sf.streetsblog.org/2010/05/04/dreaming-of-pedestrian-heaven-on-san-franciscos-oldest-street/

(click the streetsblog name to see current articles)

by Tom Coumaris on Jun 27, 2011 10:15 am • link • report

David, I like the suggestion of a Bikeshare station at the proposed Harris Teeter in Old Town. I've passed that suggestion along to the city's bike/ped coordinator.

by Froggie on Jun 27, 2011 10:20 am • link • report

Re: Alexandria harris teeter.

Most of alexandria's traffic woes comes from people driving to or through alexandria to get to work. Smart planning (ie not putting in a surface lot, I can't check the website to see specifics)should be relied on to mitigate traffic woes, not fighting every potential development. Especially a grocery store.

by Canaan on Jun 27, 2011 11:15 am • link • report

Langley Park isn't going to attract high end retail. Economically, that area was developed with GI Bill homes and probably was a mix of middle income blue collar and white collar folks in its heyday. It hasn't exactly become a hub of gentrification and existing patterns of gentrification would need to jump over large chunks of Northeast DC, lower PG County, and Silver Spring to reach it.

by Rich on Jun 27, 2011 1:39 pm • link • report

Re: Alexandria Harris Teeter:

I doubt it'll make a significant impact on traffic in the area--there are already two grocery stores nearby and I think the HT will be more likely to pull in those existing customers who would be there anyway rather than draw in new ones from farther afield.

Canaan's right, the majority of the traffic problems are people going through Old Town, or non-residents coming in for waterfront/restaurants/nightlife rather than residents going about their daily business.

by Catherine on Jun 27, 2011 2:04 pm • link • report

I work a block from the proposed Alexandria Harris Teeter. It will make parking more difficult (street parking) but then the development is good for the area. I need to be riding my bike to work anyway... The Giant/ABC block will be redeveloped at some point so who knows how much longer Giant will even be in that location?

by Travis on Jun 27, 2011 9:11 pm • link • report