Development
It's time to rethink Rockville Pike
Montgomery County residents have a love-hate relationship with Rockville Pike. It's the place everybody goes, but nobody likes. How did it get this way, and can it get better?
Rockville Pike. Photo by Dan Reed.
Simply mentioning "Rockville Pike" triggers a mental image of honking horns, last-minute weaves, ribbons of heat lofting across large parking lots, and seemingly endless shopping centers with hundreds of businesses. Most people's opinion of the corridor is two-fold: they hate it, but it's a necessary part of life in Montgomery County.
Like a lot of other places in America that came into their own in the 1950s and '60s, Montgomery County planned its new suburbia to be comfortable and convenient for the automobile. Roads would be built wide to accommodate the newest land boats, whose unimpeded movement would take precedence above all else.
After all, what could be better than making everything automobile-accessible, with business strips easy to get in and out of, loads of free parking out front, and convenient drive-through windows aplenty?
That vision might have worked in 1950, but times changed. Population increased. Families bought two, three, or even four cars for multiple drivers. Business success attracted more businesses, as well as office development. "The Pike" changed from a sleepy local shopping street to the most important commercial center for a huge community numbering nearly a million people.
Something else happened too. Roads in general, and the Pike in particular, began to clog like a hardened artery. As more and more people spread out across Montgomery County to live, they all converged on Rockville Pike to shop or work, and almost all of them did so using individual cars.
How has it all turned out? You can get anything you want on the Pike, but the gettin' is slowwww. No matter how exquisitely timed the signals are and no matter how many extra turn lanes and interchanges planners provide, Rockville Pike cannot move the thousands upon thousands of cars that use it every day. Even on the weekends congestion rules.
Bypassing the congestion is nearly impossible. The few brave pedestrians find narrow sidewalks, long street crossings, and short signals. They're often stranded on wind-swept, skinny medians, and then face broad expanses of parking between themselves and every destination. The Metro helps, but stops are too few and too far apart to access the entire corridor. Bus service exists, but is woefully insufficient.
Did we really invent this mess? Can we escape it?
I believe we can attain a different future, and I think Montgomery County officials agree. We can tame the traffic beast and knit the Pike's disparate, spread-out shopping areas into a series of urban neighborhoods, with increased housing opportunities complementing existing and future employment centers.
If we improve transit access to and along the Pike, traffic would become more tolerable, walking and biking more comfortable, and unrelated land uses would come together as functioning neighborhoods.
A high quality Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system along the Pike could whisk residents to many more stops than the Metro system currently allows, and make a visit to the Pike without a car efficient and enjoyable. Such a system could not only improve movement along the Pike, it could also bring people to and from surrounding areas.
At the same time, the Pike could be physically redesigned and made into more of a tree-lined urban boulevard, with benches and attractive streetside landscaping that provide environmental benefits as well, like managing polluted rainwater runoff. This reconfiguration, including the BRT system, would serve new, more urban land uses.
This sort of transformation will be necessary if Montgomery County is to continue to grow and prosper. Without such transformation, the county and the Pike specifically risk stagnation.
Simply put, Montgomery County must accommodate more people, and the best way to do that is to enhance and re-energize its already developed places, rather than bringing development to its precious few open ones.
A few projects are already under construction or in planning that will begin to bring about this change. The Metro station areas are redeveloping, BRT is being seriously considered, and corridor plans are under study.
Change is hard, but in this case not changing would be harder. This important part of Montgomery County must necessarily become more urban, more livable, and economically and more ecologically sustainable.
This post is part of an occasional series on local transportation solutions that will make our region greater.
Lee Epstein is an environmental lawyer and urban planner, and manages the Lands Program at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. The views expressed here are his own.  |
Comments
@ggwash
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by DCster on Sep 27, 2011 10:55 am • link • report
by JustMe on Sep 27, 2011 10:59 am • link • report
by OctaviusIII on Sep 27, 2011 11:07 am • link • report
by mike on Sep 27, 2011 11:07 am • link • report
by oboe on Sep 27, 2011 11:13 am • link • report
1) Whatever service you put there, it will not be rapid. If you want to move a long distance fast in that corridor, you will still take the Red Line. This will fill a niche for relatively short trips, so it will need to make frequent stops. A bus with stops close together is not BRT.
2) Rail is more prestigious than a bus. You can't ignore status considerations when you're building transit any more than you can when you're building real estate. Rail will change the image of Rockville Pike from dreary suburban to lively urban in a way that buses won't. And the people who come to shop at Bloomingdales and Whole Foods will take a streetcar much more than they're going to take a bus.
3) If you try to build BRT, it will inevitably get dumbed down to save money, and there will be pressure to let cars on. The HOV lanes on I-95 in Virginia were originally built as bus-only lanes (before the term BRT was invented).
by Ben Ross on Sep 27, 2011 11:14 am • link • report
Route 355's weekend vehicle counts have exceeded the weekday numbers for some time -- more than 20 years. The exception is when I-270 is blocked or severely backed up at which point 355 becomes a relief route for it.
I used to bike commute along the stretch of 355 from Shady Grove Road to downtown Rockville; it took a while to get used to it but I really didn't mind it. One benefit of that level of automotive congestion was that it brought average speeds down to within bike range.
by cabi addict on Sep 27, 2011 11:17 am • link • report
by Ben Ross on Sep 27, 2011 11:20 am • link • report
@Ben Ross - Yeah, it was originally the Shirlingon Busway. OTOH there are still lots of buses that use it, and the presence of cars (HOV only during rush hour) does not really impede its usefulness for buses. Anyway a local bus route would be something different. I'm not sure what it would look like exactly. I do suspect that arguing for the fixed investment in light rail, in a corridor where heavy rail already exists, without first demonstrating the demand for transit, purely on the basis of the cache of the street car, will be a tough sell.
by AWalkerInTheCity on Sep 27, 2011 11:22 am • link • report
The worse things get--and changing tastes exacerbate that--the heavier the load that needs to be lifted, and the less resources to do so. So it's a race against the clock as well.
by oboe on Sep 27, 2011 11:23 am • link • report
1. The opportunity for Rockville Pike, though, is the shortage of land within walking distance of metro rail stations (such that developers are looking at places in DC they wouldnt have touched a few years ago, and in MoCo are looking at Wheaton) That could enable dense deveopment at the red line metro stations - after that, you establish improved local transit, complete streets, and fill in between
2. Lets be honest - its not ONLY the congestion at issue, but that combined with aging housing stock, and in the case of MoCo, a large part of the population that commutes to DC or to NoVa. Loudoun county seems to be doing very well, despite horrid congestion - but they mostly have newer housing stock, and a larger proportion of folks with short commutes (within Loudoun, or to very close parts of Fairfax)
by AWalkerInTheCity on Sep 27, 2011 11:30 am • link • report
LOL ... it's people in these cars ... and it's people getting the 'precedence' ... It's not like these cars are driving themselves around ... empty. And as far as 'land boats' ... if we're going to go down the road of 'hogging space' ... have you seen some of those Metro buses? ... or worse yet, Metro trains?
As the tremendous growth of the US during the period between 'the 1950s and 1960s' and now attests to, this model of development has worked extremely well in ensuring that that growth can be accommodated efficiently and cheaply. Now, if as some smartgrowthers want, the aim is to stop that growth by stopping the development of more wide boulevards and streets and highways, then yes that can be done. But it comes at a price ... i.e., stopping the very growth which has been the only possible because we had the correct infrastructure in place to handle it. I.e., if the objective is to throw the baby out with the bathwater, then yes, by all means, lets be obstructionist and do all that we can to stop the most efficience and economical development man (and woman) has known to date.
by Lance on Sep 27, 2011 11:30 am • link • report
1. Buy 3 trolley cars. Put them in storage for a few years.
2. Build track. Make sure the construction period is of maximum length by taking the "smart approach" and getting all utilities to do all utility work (except the work you forget to include) during track construction.
3. Finish track. Start looking into where to put end-points, how to connect to Metro.
4. Start running trolleys on tracks after another year or two.
World class!
by Trulee Pist on Sep 27, 2011 11:35 am • link • report
One potential plus for a bus option raised in the article is that upon reaching the end of the busway alignment on the pike, buses could be routed into numerous residential areas of medium density on existing roadways, thus increasing the coverage area of one-seat transit service onto the pike, while still converging to create fluid service connecting Metro stations and the interim destinations along the pike itself.
I do like the Lake Forest-White Flint endpoints you describe for the reserved area for improved transit, regardless of mode.
by Adam on Sep 27, 2011 11:39 am • link • report
Generally though, Rockville is not so far from being bikeable. The Millenium Trail forms an 11-mile ring around the center of the city which provides access to most parts of the city: except (crucially) Rockville Pike, and unfortunately it also makes travelling across town literally roundabout. But if Rockville Pike were the least bit bike-friendly, that would mean a bikeable slice right through the Millenium Trail's center, covering a ton of ground in sum. The residential neighborhoods without bike facilities have lower traffic and lower speeds as is, and are not that daunting to bike in. Many have bike lanes painted on their main streets.
BRT on the Pike would also help connect and complete the move toward walkable areas near the Metro stops (King Farm, Town Center, new developments near Twinbrook & White Flint). As of now, waiting 20 minutes for the 46 and then sitting in traffic with the cars on the Pike is no good. (The real-time bus tracking system that was supposed to be in place by around now will help a bit.)
by ZR on Sep 27, 2011 11:39 am • link • report
And as far as 'land boats' ... if we're going to go down the road of 'hogging space' ... have you seen some of those Metro buses? ... or worse yet, Metro trains?
Oh wait, I thought we were talking about people. So which is it, number of vehicles, or number of people? A bus takes up the space of what? 3 cars? So if 4 people are on the bus you're using space more efficiently than your average commute. Put a whopping 12 people on that bus and you've beaten the HOV-3 requirement. Pretty sure most buses have more than 4 people on them during rush hour.
by MLD on Sep 27, 2011 11:55 am • link • report
by JustMe on Sep 27, 2011 12:12 pm • link • report
to the extent that it is falling into disfavor, it is because we don't need such a giant retail strip anymore. And what jobs are out there -- NIST? Jobs seem to be more along 270.
"Aging" housing stock seems to me more a word to say "crappy post-war housing that gay people don't like renovating and making interesting bringing yuppies and their taxes back". Maybe Rockville can start paying gay people to move in and rennovate.
Macro point: Yes, rennovating Rockville Pike is important, but I don't see running a BRT line as the best way to start. The first focus needs to be on walking.
by charlie on Sep 27, 2011 12:24 pm • link • report
by engrish_major on Sep 27, 2011 12:27 pm • link • report
I would say aging housing stock is an issue period. I think of lot of the crappiest 1920s or earlier housing was already lost, leaving us a selective view of those periods (or its in NYC in the LES). Whether 1970s housing, or 1990s housing, will age better than 1950s housing, I dont know. But yeah, the issue in MoCo today (and in Fairfax inside the beltway) is the 1950s housing. Which has both unfashionable design and its age against it.
by AWalkerInTheCity on Sep 27, 2011 12:33 pm • link • report
by rg on Sep 27, 2011 12:46 pm • link • report
Construction and durability -- maybe. Certainly they don't have chinese drywall issues, and I think the wiring and plumbing would be ok.
But a reasoable commute? I think that is also a limiting factor. They just aren't the jobs for young people in MoCo. Goverment jobs, yes.
by charlie on Sep 27, 2011 12:48 pm • link • report
by Miriam on Sep 27, 2011 12:51 pm • link • report
There's also the home size mismatch. More and more people live alone or as a couple (no kids). Average HH size has been falling for decades, while the average size of new construction has been rising steadily.
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/housing/2011/09/single-occupancy-homes/171/#
There's a huge mis-match out there, and it's not just a stylistic design issue.
by Alex B. on Sep 27, 2011 12:55 pm • link • report
Speaking as someone who has kids, and lives in a rowhouse in NE, on a street with six other families with school age kids, I have to say that this assertion is shaky at best.
:)
by oboe on Sep 27, 2011 1:07 pm • link • report
Parts of Rockville Pike are walkable, but the different parts are disjointed and it sort of creates "islands" of walkability. Take Congressional Plaza, where it is pretty walkable with stores and housing very close to each other. However, go south to Rollins Ave and the stripmall with Trader Joe's and it's not very ped-friendly. I think a comprehensive sidewalk plan wouldn't be bad, tying all these areas together. Also, I know everyone is poo-pooing the BRT but just having some dedicated lanes for buses during rush-hour would be good, and that's not just along Rockville Pike but in DC and VA as well. Buses carry a lot more people than cars, most cars you see during rush hour have one person in them making for a lot of waste of time and money. See today's articles on DC congestion and its accompanying loss in time and money.
by dc denizen on Sep 27, 2011 1:11 pm • link • report
1. People would have to walk though large parking lots which are not people friendly to get to anything
2. A lot of rockville pike is strip malls, places people may not want to use a LRT for becasue they would have to carry everything they buy back to their house.
3. How would you directly connect the LRT to housing? I guess there are several condos near the metro station, but there would need to be even more for a light rail to work.
by Matt R on Sep 27, 2011 1:12 pm • link • report
@ oboe; your kids will grow up dreaming of cul-de-sacs and basketball hoops. Just saying. Everything changes.
by charlie on Sep 27, 2011 1:12 pm • link • report
that may be true. Fortunately for DC, there are singles, DINKs, Empty nesters, etc, who either want rowhouses or new condos, relative to the total population of the district to offset that. The more affluent families with kids are looking for newer, more fashionable, and often larger houses. Thats hard to find within a reasonable commute of DC - but if you work in MoCo you can find it in Frederick or Howard County I guess - and of course it gives a hiring advantage to firms by Dulles. Thus the 1950s SFHs go to less affluent families, or even to doubled up less affluent families, I suppose, which may be part of why MoCo's income numbers are going down.
Here in NoVa those houses were prime targets for teardowns, when that market was stronger.
by AWalkerInTheCity on Sep 27, 2011 1:16 pm • link • report
by w on Sep 27, 2011 1:19 pm • link • report
kind of how now hipsters want to live in shacks in georgia with tin roofs. Oh wait they dont. A helluva of a lot of the worst housing of the 19th c and early 20th c is simply gone - in part because it wasnt built to be long lived. Some of it is still here - see the tenements in NYC. OTOH while for some particular geographical reasons (Proximity to Soho that drew artists, and then proximity to Wall Street that drew yuppies) the Lower East Side has partially gentrified, AFAICT on any given block tenements have always sold/rented for less than prewar luxury buildings, post war luxury buildings, etc, etc. NOT everything comes into fashion.
by AWalkerInTheCity on Sep 27, 2011 1:23 pm • link • report
Actually, that's the part I'm most familiar with. Pedestrian-friendly, no; but walkable. And people do walk. A comprehensive sidewalk plan would be great, as would traffic engineering that lessened my fear of a right hook at every parking lot entrance.
by Miriam on Sep 27, 2011 1:28 pm • link • report
They just aren't the jobs for young people in MoCo
Actually, there is a vibrant tech/biotech/healthcare industry in MoCo that attracts plenty of young people. That said, most of those premium jobs are closer to 270 or Wisconsin Ave than the Pike.
by Falls Church on Sep 27, 2011 1:34 pm • link • report
by Lee Epstein on Sep 27, 2011 1:37 pm • link • report
I suppose that could be the case. And they may even wish to live out there twenty or thirty years from now--but only if there are any decent public schools they can send their kids to.
by oboe on Sep 27, 2011 1:38 pm • link • report
Cul-de-sac -> Perry Place NE
Basketball hoop -> Turkey Thicket
Just saying.
by dc denizen on Sep 27, 2011 1:45 pm • link • report
1. The Pike as a conduit elsewhere: As people said, it's the main alternate route when I270 has a traffic jam & there are time when people just need to go a few miles on it. More robust BRT or rail between external destinations helps with this.
2. Local to local traffic. Well designed local buses & better pedestrian & biking paths help. The new Montrose intersection was done with no thought to biking or walking.
3. Traffic to a store or office on the road. There's really no way to get to most stores without a car. People come from so many different directions that this will always contribute to car traffic. I'm not going to transfer between 3 buses to buy large items at a box store.
4. People coming to the area for multiple stores. I've lost track of the number of times I do multiple errands on one trip & need to keep bouncing on and off the pike to travel fairly short distances. I'm not sure how much this contributes to total traffic, but if it's nontrivial, it seems like an ideal use of bike share. Assuming strip malls aren't disappearing, I could park once & bike between a few strip malls. I don't think buses would help because, if you're driving there anyway & there's lots of parking why wait even 5 min for a bus? A bus on a nice path could match car speeds for short distances & even be fun.
by Dan H on Sep 27, 2011 1:53 pm • link • report
by BS_Dawg on Sep 27, 2011 2:01 pm • link • report
People go to the Pike to get stuff. Stuff is hard to transport on BikeShare.
Every curbcut is an accident zone. Cars won't check carefully enough in pulling through them.
The sidewalks would need widening.
by Tim on Sep 27, 2011 2:04 pm • link • report
. I've lost track of the number of times I do multiple errands on one trip & need to keep bouncing on and off the pike to travel fairly short distances. I'm not sure how much this contributes to total traffic, but if it's nontrivial,
This is a (misbegotten) feature, not a bug.
One of the things that makes me insane when I find myself in suburban commercial zones is how each zone is segregated to the point that you often can't get from one "pod" to the next without getting out onto the main arterial, driving 20 feet, then pulling into the next pod. Often fences enforce the segregation to dissuade foot traffic. Sometimes, when you're on foot, or on a bike, you don't know you can't get from point A to point B until you've already walked for a couple of hundred yards, and come up against the security fence.
Ugh.
by oboe on Sep 27, 2011 2:13 pm • link • report
@Tim, I doubt bikeshare would be used for a point-to-point trip, but if someone drives to a store to pick up something big & wants to go somewhere else for a meal or a small purchase, bikeshare would be wonderful. There are some place where I'd like to bike from one end of a parking lot to another!
It think it could also be a boon for many of the smaller businesses in the area. A box store brings you to the area, & you won't drive between a few strip malls for small purchases, but might bike & window shop on your way to lunch.
by Dan H on Sep 27, 2011 2:21 pm • link • report
"..this model of development has worked extremely well in ensuring that that growth can be accommodated efficiently and cheaply"
As far as efficiency, I have never considered sitting in major traffic jams virtually every day no matter where I want to go to be very efficient.
And as for cheap, I take it you haven't been to a gas station in the last 20 years. Let alone considered the cost of water pollution, air pollution and habitat loss your "cheap and efficient" development solution has imposed on society. It is "cheap and efficient" because these external costs are imposed on society at large and not paid for by the developers who cause them.
"..we had the correct infrastructure in place to handle it."
Ah yes, because we all know how smoothly traffic is and has always moved on Rockville Pike, the Beltway and every other major road in the DC area. The fact is, the correct infrastructure to handle the traffic in the DC area has NEVER been in place, as the many projects to add lanes to trafficways in the area can attest to.
So I'm not sure what world you're living in, but it certainly isn't the same world the rest of us are living in.
by Steve on Sep 27, 2011 2:45 pm • link • report
But it's also worth pointing out that not everyone is going to move to the city, whether because of higher housing costs, the quality of housing (group houses aren't for everyone), or distance from friends/family/activities and most importantly JOBS, of which there are large clusters well outside of D.C. That positions "urban-lite" places like Bethesda or potentially Rockville as desirable for twentysomethings. I've seen it firsthand: a lot of my friends out of college are locating along Rockville Pike, because it's close to their jobs, their hangouts, and their friends.
So if anything that's a reason to rethink Rockville Pike. It's not competition for DC but a complement or alternative. I'd rather renovate Rockville Pike than continue gobbling up farmland at the region's edges, and I think the next generation of homebuyers might prefer it as well.
by dan reed! on Sep 27, 2011 2:53 pm • link • report
because of higher housing costs, the quality of housing (group houses aren't for everyone),
I think one could argue that the first and second factors are actually the same factor.
Totally agree with you that it's desirable to make various centers of exurban sprawl less sprawly. The only question is whether it can be done. There's a lot of institutional pushback. But really it's their only chance.
by oboe on Sep 27, 2011 2:58 pm • link • report
Instead of re-thinking Rockville Pike as a whole, which runs lengthwise, I think it would be better to re-think a more square shaped area around a metro station or two. You can access a lot more area within a 10 minute walk from the center of a square shaped area than from the middle of a lengthwise area. This seems like a minor point but actually has significant ramifications for how we think of redeveloping that area.
Good point. It would make sense to use the existing transit options-in this case, Metro rail-as a starting point to assess redevelopment. For Rockville Pike that would be from White Flint to Twinbrook, or maybe even just only White Flint.
Someone else also mentioned the whole walkable vs. pedestrian friendly aspect, because most sidewalks of Rockville Pike are the former but not the latter.
by Fitz on Sep 27, 2011 3:01 pm • link • report
by mike on Sep 27, 2011 3:08 pm • link • report
by mike on Sep 27, 2011 3:12 pm • link • report
"Moco on the other hand is still hasn't gotten a plan for Rockville Pike implemented yet much less project started to atleast start competing with Arlington/Ustreet/Hstreet etc etc."
I think you haven't been following Bethesda, Rockville, and White Flint construction if you think 355 "still hasn't gotten a plan." Besides, your assertion doesn't make sense. Arlington is "urban-lite" and successful, so MoCo shouldn't continue in that direction on this corridor?
by jag on Sep 27, 2011 3:20 pm • link • report
If Montgomery County can make more well-designed urban-lite communities, they will attract people. The improvements in Bethesda and Silver Spring show this. How and where to improve more of Rockville Pike, Wheaton, etc is the big open question.
by Dan H on Sep 27, 2011 3:23 pm • link • report
Keep in mind that I could have looked over obvious bike paths since the whole area was new to me...sorta..
Maybe I was in the more commercial district in Tysons.
by HogWash on Sep 27, 2011 3:40 pm • link • report
I never said the region should only have one Urban-lite place I am saying Rockville Pike is going to face some stiff competition from Arlington/DC. It needs to implement a plan and quickly. I haven't "been following Bethesda, Rockville, and White Flint construction" but I know that when I have traveled through Arlington vs the 355 corridor I have seen something like 8-9 large mixed use infill projects currently going up in Arlington vs the 2 I have seen going on in 355. Dan H your also correct that when "Montgomery County can make more well-designed urban-lite communities, they can attract people." But judging from number of high tech jobs locating in Northern VA and the income growth in VA & DC. All the people and business you need to make a successful urban lite communities are not moving to or growing in the maryland suburbs, they are setting up shop in U street or Ballston.
by mike on Sep 27, 2011 3:44 pm • link • report
This reflects the extent to which NoVA has leapfrogged over Maryland (employment, "the place to live", quality of life).
As a Marylander, I hate it. But I also recognize it's true as I have to drive to Tysons Corner every fing day.
by WRD on Sep 27, 2011 4:29 pm • link • report
by JustMe on Sep 27, 2011 4:30 pm • link • report
Here's income in Montgomery County:
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/MYPTable?_bm=y&-context=myp&-qr_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_CP3_1&-ds_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_&-tree_id=309&-redoLog=true&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=05000US24031&-format=&-_lang=en
Here it is for Arlington County:
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/MYPTable?_bm=y&-context=myp&-qr_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_CP3_1&-ds_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_&-tree_id=309&-redoLog=true&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=05000US51013&-format=&-_lang=en
The median & mean incomes for 2006-2009 are included in each. There are slight differences various sub-populations, but it's a wash which has incoming growing more or less. Considering Montgomery County has 4X the population of Arlington and includes a much more diverse range of lower paying industries such as agriculture, that's not too bad. Yes, areas of VA are on the rise, but the idea that Montgomery isn't attracting the people needed to make these communities is simply false.
by Dan H on Sep 27, 2011 4:36 pm • link • report
Well first off there arent enought transit friendly places (esp if by that you mean places next to a metro rail station) in the region, and creating more is rather costly. A fortiori there arent enough that are close to the MoCo employment centers.
Secondly this is something MoCo is considering. Why would they just want to watch the county decline further?
Thirdly, its likely that if this isnt changed, lots of people will still go there, with resultant impacts on oil usage, etc.
by AWalkerInTheCity on Sep 27, 2011 4:38 pm • link • report
Stop the MoCo bashing. If I based my impressions on NoVa by driving up Leesburg Pike, which is similar to 355, I could have sentiments similar to yours about NoVa. Or even worse I could base my judgment on driving down route 1. But I don't, because I know all real estate has a life cycle. I also know that our country's incredible buildup of our military industrial complex is the reason for NoVa'a recent success, not because 3 orange line communities are such an attractive place for young tech workers. Arlington County had an incentive to promote redevelopment of it's Wilson Blvd corridor into urban-lite areas because it was so unproductive 20 years ago. By comparison, Rockville Pike's malls and strip malls were considered the retail darlings of the nation 20 years ago and today the 355 strip malls still bring in some of the highest retail $/per customer. Now, these properties' life-cycle are ending and MoCo is planning for their next incarnation. I also know that MoCo is home to more than 350 Biotech companies, such as Human Genome Sciences, and has the highest concentration of PHD's in the world. MoCo has plenty of jobs( especially if you have an advanced degree) because it is home to NIH, Walter Reed, the US Nuclear Regulatory commmission, 19 other federal research and regulatory agencies, and the headquarters of well known private sector companies such as Discovery, Lockheed Martin, Marriott, Ritz Carlton,Choice Hotels, MedImmune, Hughes Network, BAE Systems, Phillips Publishing, Federal Realty and many more.
by keith on Sep 27, 2011 5:45 pm • link • report
The shopping center at Montrose/Randolph Roads and Rockville Pike, where Timpano's, the Giant, Sports Authority, Old Navy, Target, and other stores are is the worst. I absolutely HATE driving through that strip mall. The parking is horrible there.
by Rain17 on Sep 27, 2011 5:56 pm • link • report
============================================================
Well I think you're right about the older generations. That is, those who fled DC after the riots were pretty much lost causes for ever returning. Once they left they were NEVER going to return. I live in DC, but my friend's parents would NEVER consider it. They live in Montgomery County, but still think DC is still like it was back in the 1970s and 1980s. I know a lot of older people who still carry negative impressions of DC. And thus, up until the late 1990s, developers wouldn't touch DC because there weren't enough people who would be willing to consider moving there.
By the late 1990s, when the neighborhoods immediately east of DuPont Circle, Capitol Hill, and Chinatown began improving, younger people started to move in. By then children of the 1970s were now in their 20s; and, while memories of the riots and gross incompetence in the DC government were still vivid in their parents' minds, the younger generation wasn't old enough to have experienced to have turned them against DC.
But I do have to question your comment about "young people not being interested in the suburbs any more" in one minor area. I think that, when they're young, single, not married, and without kids, the city (or inner suburbs that are all but urban like Rossyln, Crystal City, Clarendon, Ballston, Chevy Chase, and downtown Bethesda) is a great place for them. However, once they get married, have children, and then have to worry about school systems, I think that they'll be more "interested in the suburbs". Unless they're wealthy enough where they can afford to send their kids to schools like Landon, Sidwell, St. Alban's, National Cathedral, Georgetown Day, and other private schools, I think you'll see couples with children move to the suburbs.
That is why I would say that DC's target demographic is probably young singles and couples without children. As they don't have to worry about the schools, they'll stay. But once young people have kids, once they have to start worry about the quality of the schools, I think the suburbs will become more attractive to them.
And the problem for DC is their school system. The system has such negative perceptions is that, even if the schools were to become significantly better, many parents (especially those in affluent parts of the city) would still be lost causes. I'm not sure how many of those younger people will remain once they start their families.
That being said, though, there are enough young people who will be keeping coming to DC. So they will be able to more than compensate for the couples with children who, due to school system issues, leave DC for either Fairfax or Montgomery counties.
by Rain17 on Sep 27, 2011 6:29 pm • link • report
Not sure your point about NoVa being overly reliant on military industry. Almost all of the economic assets you list for MoCo are dependent or tied to the federal government.
by Mike on Sep 27, 2011 6:31 pm • link • report
by Rain17 on Sep 27, 2011 6:33 pm • link • report
Except for one post, no one here has mentioned the parallel road systems here, which have to be considered in any redevelopment. On the West is Executive Blvd & Jefferson which more or less paralle the Pike to Congressional Plaza. On the other side is a series of roads that connect Twinbrook and White Flint Metros. The latter encompasses an area with unglamorous service businesses which provide useful close to the Beltway services of the sort that have been gentrified out of existence in Arlington. The west route includes a highly successful; office park and separates commercial areas from housing.
As someone pointed out there are a variety of different trips in the areas and trying to alter the travel pattern needs to take them into account. The outer roads, which have limited pedestrian potential could be fashioned as a through traffic route which would allow Rt 355 to be refashioned into a more pedestrian friendly boulevard. A streetcar will take forever, but BRT with all its shortcomings would be a helpful short-term change. The places that make walking unpleasanat also tend to be lousy driving environments, as well (Mid-Pike--which apparently will be redeveloped in the future as mixed use), Flagship, & Federal plaza are all God awful. OTOH, simply widening the sidewalks and creating more separation from vehicular traffic would make it a better walking environment. I often run errands along the Pike and I'm never the only pedestrian I see (nor the only white middle class one), so i think there is a place to start with the area as a pedestrian environment and improving it as a transit environment would add to that.
the comparison to Arlington has to take into account that the various Arlington strips were dying as retail areas and had large parcels available for redevelopment because they had been occupied by car dealerships, Sears, etc. Rockville Pike is a healthy retail environment with a mix of large and small properties, a great many established national and local chains and healthy component of moms and pops. it's much more difficult to change something that is economically functional and so heterogenous in terms of ownership. Arlington, save for some of the restaurants has become heavily chain oriented which makes it easy to mock as urban-lite.
The areas E of the Pike are filled with GI Bill houses and, yes, some of them have been taken up and renovated by young singles and couples, while others increasingly are owned by the children of immigrants from Asia and Latin America. The housing stock on the other side is much more upscale and in high demand by families. If the people I see at the Metro stop are any indication, the new condo and apt developments have no trouble attracting younger people.
Comparing the area to Arlington is like apples and organes and any effort to reshape it will be vastly more complicated because, despite the traffic, it's a very successful retail area that continues to succeed.
by Rich on Sep 27, 2011 9:24 pm • link • report
Montgomery County itself accepts the flaws with the Pike. There are master plans to dramatically increase density in White Flint and Twinbrook. The author throws these plans away in the last paragraph, as if they are minor. They are master planned, which means they are coming. Maybe not tomorrow, but they will get here. The White Flint plan is massive.
BRT is being seriously studied, and Rockville wants the type of boulevard that you describe in their section of the Pike. There are questions about how different modes will be accommodated.
The White Flint master plan calls for a cycling circular route through the heart of what will be downtown White Flint.
Also, the 55 Bus, which runs on 355, has the highest ridership in the Ride On system. Service could still be improved, but the transit offerings there do get good use.
by thesixteenwords on Sep 27, 2011 11:42 pm • link • report
Those schedules worked well if you were the old retired woman who would get up early around 8 AM, go to the mall, do your errands, and be home by late afternoon. For people who needed to go places in the evening those schedules didn't work.
by Rain17 on Sep 27, 2011 11:47 pm • link • report
The ironic thing is that you completely nail the dynamic when it comes to 40-somethings and older largely having an outdated mindset when it comes to DC in general, but then fall prey to the same fallacy yourself when it comes to schools. There are a growing number of parents who are staying in DC, and either sending their kids to DCPS schools, or charters. Their improvement is only going to accelerate as DC in general trends wealthier, and the middle-suburban communities become more traffic choked and less livable.
by oboe on Sep 27, 2011 11:49 pm • link • report
Maybe there are more parents willing to give the DC Public Schools (DCPS) a shot. Maybe, despite DCPS's decades-long horrible reputation, they're willing to send their kids there. But I would still venture to guess that the VAST majority of affluent parents, especially in the wealthy neighborhoods in upper Northwest, Georgetown, Foggy Bottom, downtown, upper 16th Street, and Capitol Hill are sending their children to private schools. They are lost causes and I just don't see them sending their kids to DCPS when they can afford schools like Landon, Sidwell, St. Alban's, National Cathedral, Holton Arms, Georgetown Day, Georgetown Prep, St. John's, and Catholic schools. I don't see that demographic suddenly becoming willing to send their children to a school system that, despite some improvement, still has systemic weaknesses.
The only area where I do agree with you is with some of the elementary schools in Ward 3. Some affluent parents are willing to send their kids to Murch, Oyster, Lafayette, Janney, Key, Eaton, and Stoddert elementary schools. When I lived in Ward 3 I knew parents who sent their kids to those schools. But once they leave elementary school the overwhelming majority of these kids switch to private school. They don't go to Deal Junior High and Wilson High School.
But even though DC may be becoming more wealthy, I don't envision drastic improvements in DCPS--at least not in the short to medium term. Those with the means to do, especially in Ward 3, will avoid DCPS, sending their kids to private schools. And other parents will move to Fairfax or Montgomery counties. I just don't see DCPS's reputation changing significantly to the point where affluent and upper-middle class parents will consider sending their kids there.
by Rain17 on Sep 28, 2011 12:17 am • link • report
Of course, without access to municipal bonds to aid in their retirement income planning, these people will remain in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs (try buying a bond on the market today - despite the claims of DC officials, you can't)
I would also add that the renovated Wilson High School and Deal Junior High School are increasingly sought after options for DCPS families. DCPS need to ensure there are other options as good as, if not better than those two. It seems like it is on the right track, but there is a ways to go.
by William on Sep 28, 2011 7:41 am • link • report
by Froggie on Sep 28, 2011 8:12 am • link • report
by Flora on Sep 28, 2011 8:26 am • link • report
What Michele Rhee (and partially, her predecessor) understood was that the choices granted the parents by the charters meant that DCPS would have to compete for students, or else go out of business. It was astonishing to see Rhee at school information night, to attract parents seeking schools for their pre-schoolers. Many elementary schools have been turned around, and now the action is the middle and high schools. We'll see how the baccalaureate program at Eastern turns out.
You have grasped the importance of schools, but you have not considered how that affects property values. You can easily see where the good schools are by the housing prices, and where schools are improving by the price increases. Prices on the Hill have tripled since 1998, partly because the schools have improved. Do the math: the added mortgage payment on the $200k price difference between a house in neighborhood with good schools, versus one a neighborhood with bad schools, amounts to private school tuition for one kid.
by goldfish on Sep 28, 2011 8:50 am • link • report
Elementary school options for those families are proliferating wildly. Right now, many of those families may move out of the city at middle-school age, but less than a decade ago, there were hardly any elementary school options for middle-class families. The general pace of change in the city has been accelerating. In another 5-10 years, we'll likely see a few more middle-school options for middle-class parents. If not, many parents may reevaluate, but at that point you're still talking about parents staying in DC with kids for a decade, not loading up a U-Haul truck when the pregnancy test comes back positive.
by oboe on Sep 28, 2011 10:16 am • link • report
I truly believe DC schools can become great, but they're not matching the high quality and consistency of MD and VA schools in my kid's primary & secondary education lifetimes. I hope they get good enough to convince more families to stay in DC, but it's still sandwiched between two of the top school systems in the nation.
by Dan H on Sep 28, 2011 10:35 am • link • report
I think you nailed it as to why comparing Rockville Pike to Arlington's Rosslyn-Ballston corridor is specious. Like it or not, it's a very healthy retail environment. It's understandable that so many would lament the amount of strip malls and large parking lots that line the Pike for miles, but there has to be an understanding that the lack of vacancies is going to raise major barriers to the pedestrian-friendly, Smarth Growth model that this blog advocates.
I've seen the White Flint master plan too, and I think it's a great start.
by Fitz on Sep 28, 2011 10:36 am • link • report
But can we just accept the evidence in front of us and admit that thousands of middle class parents ARE staying in DCPS, and are doing it past 1st grade. I can't speak for NW, but on Capitol Hill the majority of affluent and upper middle class parents are NOT sending their children to private schools.
by Tim Krepp on Sep 28, 2011 10:42 am • link • report
by alex p on Sep 28, 2011 12:07 pm • link • report
To the people complaining about the aging housing stock ---that is the only redeeming quality left in Montgomery county(which has been destroyed over the past 15-20 years).
The houses built from 1950-1980 and prior are much better looking and better built than the junk they are throwing up everywhere now.
by augie on Sep 28, 2011 12:56 pm • link • report
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Well I grew up in Montgomery County, lived in Rockville, and went to high school in Bethesda. Plenty of wealthy families send their kids to the public schools there, including Whitman, Churchill, Walter Johnson, and BCC. There were children of they very well-off there. I am also sure that Langley and McLean High Schools in Fairfax County attract plenty of wealthy children. Those schools are just as good as the private schools in the area.
by Rain17 on Sep 28, 2011 1:08 pm • link • report
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With all due respect I find that hard to believe. Maybe they are staying in those schools. Or it could be that the schools that feed Capitol Hill have strong principals and teachers who, unlike the rest of the system, run good schools. I would guess that those with money on the Hill are bypassing DCPS completely.
by Rain17 on Sep 28, 2011 1:12 pm • link • report
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You are right about some retired people coming back. While a lot of older people I know in the suburbs still harbor negative views of DC, there are some older couples who have decided to scale down. That is, with their children long since gone, they don't need the expense or burden of owning a home. So some of them have scaled down to buy condos in places like downtown Behtesda, Chevy Chase, Arlington, and DC.
So yeah DC could also attract retirees who don't have children and don't want the burden of owning a house.
by Rain17 on Sep 28, 2011 1:15 pm • link • report
by Rain17 on Sep 28, 2011 1:17 pm • link • report
by Rain17 on Sep 28, 2011 1:18 pm • link • report
Just curious - how do you know the troublemakers are OOB kids? Are they made to wear signs? Sandwich boards? Scarlet Ward numbers?
As for charter schools I'm honestly not impressed with them. I'm not sure I'd consider sending my kids to one.
Which ones don't impress you? What about them doesn't impress you?
by dcd on Sep 28, 2011 1:25 pm • link • report
You know how I know that I'm not alone? Because my kids' schools, and most of the other Hill schools, are bursting at the seems with gynormous wait lists. And that only a smattering of my neighbors send their kids to private schools. And hell, realtors are bragging about being in-bounds for such and such a school on their info. We're snazzier than granite countertops now!
Why is this so hard to understand? DCPS elementary schools on the Hill aren't getting better. They are better.
Next task: Getting rid of the words "elementary" and "on the Hill" from the above sentence.
by Tim Krepp on Sep 28, 2011 1:37 pm • link • report
Gentrification is the best thing to happen to DCPS since indoor plumbing and air conditioning. Politicians can only put the right people in place (like Fenty did). Changing the school environment takes properly raised kids and caring, involved parents.
by ahk on Sep 28, 2011 1:43 pm • link • report
by Tim Krepp on Sep 28, 2011 1:46 pm • link • report
With that being said, however, I do think the school system needs to take a more aggressive line with kids who are nothing but troublemakers, don't want to learn, and who don't want to do well. I know some people will bristle at what I am suggesting, but I think those kids need to be removed. And their kids do hurt other people or commit crimes I think the parents also need to face charges because they have failed to parent their children correctly.
As for other low income parents, while they may care, due to economic pressures, they may not be able to advocate for their children. That is many of these parents, even if they want the best for their kids, may not know how to navigate the educational bureaucracy or how to advocate for their kids. I think that it's important to reach out to low income parents who do care and make efforts to involve them in their children's education.
But another reason why Wilson may do better than its opposite, Ballou High School, is that more affluent parents can contribute more. That is, parents in Ward 3 are likely to have jobs with flexible hours that will let them perhaps work 4 ten hour days per week that will enable them to volunteer at their kid's school on their days off. They also are likely to have more education and thus be more able to help their kids with their homework. They're also likely more able to offer their kids opportunities for professional development, such as visits to their offices, or perhaps coming to their kid's classroom to talk about their jobs, and so forth. As they're likely to have degrees they're more able to know how to apply for college and how to prepare their kids. They also know how to deal with administrators.
The parent in Ward 8 is likely to be in a low-paying minimum wage job with no benefits. That is, even if a determined parent wants to take a day off to help or volunteer at the school, he/she can't because it means either not getting paid--or, even worse, being fired. Not having much education said parents are less likely to be able to help their kids with their homework. And, as many have probably not gone to college themselves, they are likely to be unaware of what skills are required to succeed or how to apply.
I think the key point is to identify which kids are the troublemakers and get them into a special school with staff who know how to deal with them--and keep kids who want to learn and do well in the public schools.
by Rain17 on Sep 28, 2011 1:57 pm • link • report
by goldfish on Sep 28, 2011 1:58 pm • link • report
Well I grew up in Montgomery County, lived in Rockville, and went to high school in Bethesda. Plenty of wealthy families send their kids to the public schools there, including Whitman, Churchill, Walter Johnson, and BCC.
You've just named the, what, the top handful of public high schools in the region--and the country. They're the outliers. The reason wealthy parents send their kids to those schools is that those schools have successfully created a firewall between themselves and any kind of economic diversity. But that's the same thing you're seeing happen at the elementary school level in wealthy areas of the city--now including Capitol Hill.
To put it in perspective, how many families with household income over $500k are sending their kids to Richard Montgomery? Or Wheaton? Or Rockville HS for that matter?
Ain't happening.
Frankly, you seem to have a lot of opinions about DC public school options, but not a whole lot of concrete information. And I say this as someone who's spent way, way too much time researching this stuff over the last 4-5 years.
by oboe on Sep 28, 2011 2:20 pm • link • report
More to the point, it's not as though Whitman, Churchill, Walter Johnson, and BCC were the only good high schools in Montgomery County, and the rest were Thunderdome. I'm guessing -- although indeed I don't have a lot of concrete information -- that even the worst Montgomery County high schools are currently still better than the worst DC high schools. (Not that this is a competition anybody should be proud of.)
Even more to the point, DC public schools and Montgomery County public schools are not a zero sum. I'm pleased as pleased to hear that DC public schools are getting better. That doesn't mean ipso facto that Montgomery County public schools are getting worse.
And, finally, how did a post about the awfulness of Rockville Pike turn into a discussion about the present and future quality of DC and Montgomery County public schools? Montgomery County and DC are not a zero sum either.
by Miriam on Sep 28, 2011 3:57 pm • link • report
1.it kinda sorta made sense in its day (or maybe not), but its not the highest and best use now
2. Its difficult to change cause the retail is still successful, though the congestion is bad
3. The best places to redevelop are close to the metro stations, where plans are already in place
4. It would be nice to get a more complete boulevard between the metro stations, once everyone can agree on what it should look like
5. There probably isnt the market yet for LRT, but maybe for improved bus service
6. Improved bike/ped would be relatively low hanging fruit that makes sense right now
7. There may or may not be adequate demand for a full fledged densification. Redevelopment in Arlington and elsewhere either makes redevelopment in MoCo harder, it makes it more urgent, or its irrelevant. MoCo faces many challenges. But has many strengths. Some of the challenges may actually look like strengths from a different POV.
by AWalkerInTheCity on Sep 28, 2011 4:15 pm • link • report
The relative quality between DCPS versus MCPS and FCPS is a function of racial and economic segregation that came post- Brown vs BOE. Their success is a legacy of white-flight from the cities, and the subsequent quasi-legal housing discrimination that followed. There was a universal, almost instantaneous divestment by the white middle-class, who moved a mile across the city limits, and set up shop.
It's always easy to be optimistic about the outcome of the game when the rules are rigged in one's favor. Maybe the solution is for the wealthy wards of the city to declare financial independence from the poor ones. After all, that's the model for success the wealthy suburbs followed.
Of course, that would be deeply immoral, and the idea should fill any reasonable person with dread.
by oboe on Sep 28, 2011 4:19 pm • link • report
To bring it back to the topic at hand, as someone said up-thread the orderly revitalization of Rockville Pike "may not happen in the near future, but it will happen". My point was that if it doesn't happen in the near future, there may not be the resources to do so in the medium future. I'm sure the political leadership in Detroit had all sorts of plans for their city in the early '60s. Sometimes you run out of time.
by oboe on Sep 28, 2011 4:25 pm • link • report
by Tina on Sep 28, 2011 4:48 pm • link • report
As usual, you're right. At least after the passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968. But by then the dynamics had already been largely established.
The real crime is that decade after decade, nothing is ever done to address the underlying issues. And they're not intractable issues. Take Sweden for example:
Stratification in the educational system is further diminished by providing all Swedish citizens and legal residents with the option of choosing which school they want their children to be placed in, regardless of what neighborhood they reside in or what property taxes they pay. Additionally, the Swedish government not only provides its citizens with a free college education, but also with an actual monthly allowance for attending school and college.
Of course, as everyone knows, in the US, school funding is done at the most hyper-local level. Supposedly this is done to give parents a maximum level of parental involvement...
Of course, a completely unexpected (and surely completely unintended) side-effect is the perpetuation of pre- Brown vs BOE legacy of "separate but equal" across the country. But it's obviously much easier to ignore all of that and blame "the welfare state" and incompetence in DCPS.
I still believe that the only hope of addressing this issue is the suburbanization of poverty.
by oboe on Sep 28, 2011 5:29 pm • link • report
Interesting article.....what's even more interesting is that it was written 4 years ago, I wonder what progress has been made since it was written
by mike on Sep 28, 2011 9:01 pm • link • report
With Science City and Science City East in development, a Bioscience Triangle will be created that will take advantage of the newly built ICC to create synergies in the bioscience sector that will create tens of thousands of jobs in the county. Rockville Pike will become the downtown of Montgomery County, much like Tysons’s is planned to become the downtown of Fairfax, although Montgomery already has three stable urban cores and Fairfax none. In addition because of greenfield development in the Clarksburg area as well as development of the remaining infill sites and urban redevelopment, Montgomery County has a larger housing pipeline than Fairfax which is little greenfield development capacity remaining. Tysons corner will only approximate the size of the Rockville Pike corridor when built out. Exciting things are happening in Montgomery County as the community is undergoing changes that will become evident in about 10 years when the economy is transformed into a high-tech scienced-based economy that does not rely so heavily on federal government and creation of urban infrastructure that will result in a pipeline of development for the foreseeable future.
by Cyrus on Sep 28, 2011 9:32 pm • link • report
Oh my. Does your wife know you're using these sweet words with another woman?
by Tina on Sep 29, 2011 11:58 am • link • report
I moved to Rockville precisely because I could actually afford a house within walking distance of a Metro stop - it was literally the only place that was close to possible, including on the other side of the Red Line. Not surprisingly, I'm on the Pike as little as humanly possible. I too agree with the comment that Rockville is far more bikeable than people give it credit - it's not hard at all to get around town, and it's even possible to get down to Bethesda, DC, Twinbrook and elsewhere from Rockville Town Center with a bit of effort. Fixing the Pike would help immensely, but it's not the be-all-and-end-all.
As for Rockville's planning, it's helpful to know that the City of Rockville actually only has control of a small section of the Pike and has a plan for the part that they do control: http://www.rockvillemd.gov/rockvillespike Most of it is controlled by the state and/or county.
by Shannon on Oct 3, 2011 11:11 pm • link • report
by Shannon on Oct 3, 2011 11:16 pm • link • report
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