Whether or not it is true that Virginia is friendlier toward business than Maryland, there's no denying that businesses think so. And to a significant extent, perception trumps reality here. The jobs figures certainly indicate a bit of a competitive disadvantage in the last decade for the Maryland suburbs.

The reality here is that Virginia actually is probably a little friendlier. Businesses setting up in Maryland can reach as good an accomodation with the various local governments (especially Montgomery County), but the burden is more on them to reach out and make it happen, and the reception by the agencies is warier than in the close-in Virginia counties.

by Crickey7 on Nov 10, 2011 9:17 am • link • report

Maryland should implement a 'relocation consideration' tax. That will discourage the problem and generate much needed revenue.

by Cyclone on Nov 10, 2011 9:49 am • link • report

But Maryland Governor O'Malley says businesses just go for the state's 2 airports and the Pentagon, and tax policy has little to do with it.

And Maryland does not have BWI, NIH, JHU, UMD, ARL, NASA-Goddard and several other government agencies within its borders. Totally uncompetitive things those acronyms.

by Jasper on Nov 10, 2011 10:00 am • link • report

It's just like the legions of friends I have who all swear they pay fewer taxes in VA. At my income level, that's just not true.

Perception is indeed everything, and VA does have a very positive perception as being business-friendly. Methinks that DC should (modestly) cut taxes on businesses, and launch a huge PR campaign to advertise the fact that we are indeed a good place to set up shop.

It's more than a little embarrassing that other states take out advertisements on our buses to advertise the fact that they have lower business taxes.

I'm not saying that we should be a tax-free corporate utopia. However, DC should try to be competitive, and loudly advertise that fact.

by andrew on Nov 10, 2011 10:11 am • link • report

I was a little confused about the Metro closings. Last time, instead of going to CHeights like I normally would, I hiked it to Southern Ave and then was forced to get on a bus which took us to L'enfant - and it didn't make sense.

Southern Ave wasn't a "closed" station so I thought I would be able to catch the green line north..but couldn't. HAd I known that I would've walked to cong heights and caught the shuttle from there.

by HogWash on Nov 10, 2011 10:13 am • link • report

@ andrew:However, DC should try to be competitive, and loudly advertise that fact.

Are you crazy? That would mean even more sububers driving into DC and clogging up the roads? And who know? Perhaps one of those companies might actually hire Washingtonians and reduce unemployment! Aaah! And what if they want to expand? They'd only have to look at complete neglect and opposition great cooperation that DC's current large employers get to expand.

As long as DC is a city where people think they can run for city council on a platform completely ignoring the largest employers and the associated voters, DC will rightfully be known as flat-out hostile to business.

by Jasper on Nov 10, 2011 10:40 am • link • report

I think with Bechtel you can definitely make the access argument. The difference between Reston and Frederick distance wise is way more than I expected. With something like the difference between bethesda and fairfax/arlington it may come down to taxes but the infrastructure/density is still important. It will be interesting to see how the silver vs. purple line will matter to businesses in a few years.

by X on Nov 10, 2011 10:53 am • link • report

@HogWash:
You're right. Southern Avenue wasn't closed before and it won't be closed this time. So if you want to walk to Southern Avenue, you'll be able to catch a train to Naylor Road, Suitland, or Branch Avenue ONLY.

The line between L'Enfant and Southern Avenue is closed. No trains are operating across it. Waterfront, Navy Yard, Anacostia, and Congress Heights are closed, and no trains are passing through them.

by Matt Johnson on Nov 10, 2011 11:13 am • link • report

If pole dancing doesn't have sexual overtones, they're doing it wrong. Just sayin.

by CJ on Nov 10, 2011 11:26 am • link • report

@Matt, Oh...well that makes more sense than what I attempted to find on Metro's website. You can imagine the looks from the number of people who arrived at the station only to find out that we had to get on a bus to L'enfant.

And this might sound like a silly question but if no trains are passing through those stations, how would someone (let's say) at Suitland Metro get to DC? I'm just wondering if I can catch the green line down..then back up?

by HogWash on Nov 10, 2011 12:06 pm • link • report

Virginia is more business friendly than Maryland and this can easily be backed by facts/stats. That's not to say that there are not many other advantages to MD, but business friendliness is not one of them:

Virginia is Victorious — Again — In CNBC's Top States For Business
The Old Dominion State returns as America’s Top State for Business in 2011, and we’re starting to detect a pattern here.

Virginia topped our inaugural study in 2007 with Texas at number two. In 2008, they switched positions and Texas took the title. In 2009 , it was Virginia/Texas. In 2010, Texas/Virginia.

This year, Virginia powers back to the top spot with the best overall score in the history of our study — 1,660 out of 2,500 points. Texas slips back to number two with a respectable 1,578 points.

Trust us. We couldn’t have planned it this way, and if we could have, we might have mixed things up a bit.

Our fifth annual study once again puts all 50 states to the test, measuring them on 43 different metrics in ten key categories of competitiveness. We weight those categories based on how frequently the states use them as selling points to attract business. That way, we hold the states to their own standards, and tell you how they measure up.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/43381920/Virginia_is_Victorious_Again_In_CNBC_s_Top_States_For_Business

by Falls Church on Nov 10, 2011 12:12 pm • link • report

@HogWash:
Someone riding the Green Line from Branch Avenue toward Downtown will get off the train at Southern Avenue, go upstairs and get on a shuttle bus. This shuttle bus will take them to L'Enfant Plaza, where they can get on a train again.

I think Metro has done a much better job recently of getting the word out. On the WMATA homepage, there's a graphic that rotates through the center of the page (I can't seem to link directly to it) showing the Green Line closed there.

Since I'm actually interested in map design and communication, I'd be curious to hear how you think Metro could show this more effectively.

Personally, I'd love to see a "modifiable" map in rail cars. Perhaps the digital screens in the 7000-series cars will allow this. So instead of showing the normal map, they would show a modified map on weekends when the work is underway.

by Matt Johnson on Nov 10, 2011 12:14 pm • link • report

@FallsChurch; fascinating study.

What I see under that chart is that Virgnia excels in "business friendlyness". Very unclear what that means. They put it down to red tape.

What I don't see in taxiation.

Much of their categories would be specific to Northern Virginia -- not the rest of the state. And Arlington is not "business friendly" in any sense of the word.

by charlie on Nov 10, 2011 12:57 pm • link • report

@Matt, I went to the splash page and looked for map. The one I saw wasn't interactive but linked you to the page explaining the changes.

I have on my dunce cap today. I guess I was trying to map in mind how it worked but you explained well enough. I could've also read the website a bit more closely because it does really does explain what you just said. So my complaint really isn't a valid complaint. It's merely what happen when you do cursory reads. :)

Re: the map, since I've already acknowledged my dunce'ness (and don't see that map u r talking about) I don't want to suggest that the map do something it already does.

by HogWash on Nov 10, 2011 1:09 pm • link • report

Google removed the superfluous "D.C." from "Washington, D.C., DC."

Not really.

Type in 'address, MD, zip' and get the address with 'MD' in it once.
Type in 'address, DC' and get "DC, DC".

by Tina on Nov 10, 2011 1:40 pm • link • report

Whether or not it is true that Virginia is friendlier toward business than Maryland, there's no denying that businesses think so. And to a significant extent, perception trumps reality here. The jobs figures certainly indicate a bit of a competitive disadvantage in the last decade for the Maryland suburbs.

Perhaps this is true. If so, it's a reason for DC not to bother to try to be more "business friendly". Bottom line is, we're quite good at attracting businesses which need to be near the federal government. And businesses that provides services to the middle-class and upper-middle class people who live here. Let's keep attracting those businesses, and let the ones that need special incentives and various financial incentives and regulatory perks locate in the suburbs.

by oboe on Nov 10, 2011 4:10 pm • link • report

From the vice piece:

When Jordan's turn came, he made the case that the regulations are just too vague to make fine distinctions, and that some of the activities the investigator described are totally innocuous. "Pole dancing is the new fad for physical exercise," he pointed out.

"They're not naked when they're doing that!" Moldenhauer protested.

Jordan countered that the skimpy clothing found in some fitness centers would fall under the definition of clothing worn at a sexually oriented business establishment. And is it even worse than entertainment at football games?

"Our Redskins cheerleaders touch their bodies, and they do it in a sexual way," he said.

"They're not naked!" Moldenhauer yelped.

"Some people would consider them naked," Jordan said. "See, there we go again with the standard of what's naked, and what's opaque, and what's partially covered."

"These women are 100 percent naked."

"I don't remember that there was a percentage in our regulations that talked about how much covering, percentagewise."

"I'm talking about coverage of the breast and of the buttocks."

"You see some of the Redskins cheerleaders' buttocks, too."

The debate went on. Whether or not you notice just how much skin the Redskins cheerleaders are showing, it's an entertaining exchange (watch it here). And the ruling is also an important precedent: It's going to be quite a bit harder from now on to prove that a restaurant with live entertainment is explicitly sexual, and would therefore need a special zoning exception, which can be difficult to get.

Red light district, here we come.

Wow. So who is this Lloyd Jordan character, anyway? After a particularly lame google session, I came up with this:

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/looselips/2011/03/18/lloyd-jordan-responds-to-1999-story-about-lloyd-jordan/

Now, I want to go on record as saying I'm not particularly anti-smut. But I am fairly anti- "disingenuous douchebag". Thanks Gray! You've really burnished your good-government bona fides here.

I wonder how long it'll be before the illegal used car dumping lots are back in business on Bladensburg Rd.

by oboe on Nov 10, 2011 4:19 pm • link • report

The good stuff's at 3:46:40, btw.

by oboe on Nov 10, 2011 4:44 pm • link • report

Pole dancing is the new fitness! Pole dancing is now being petitioned to be part of the Olympics! Helen Mirren says she loves watching pole dancing!

http://tinyclip.tv/3128442c

by oboe on Nov 10, 2011 4:47 pm • link • report

HA@Oboe.

I'm sure most who read your post would wonder how does a city's zoning board's decision have to do with the mayor of that city.

But for what it's worth, "pole dancing" is an art form that some women want to learn. Hence the establishment of places that teach it.

by HogWash on Nov 10, 2011 5:28 pm • link • report

@ Matt Johnson

WMATA has always done a piss poor job of communicating anything. I dont remember anytime in the past 25 years that they have done a good job at it.

Metrorail : they make changes and dont tell anyone until the last second literally (case in point trains changing destinations)

Metrobus : no communication at all until 2 years ago

when there are detours they dont tell you where the bus will stop; there could add details such as X Route will stop at the corner of X & Y Streets but they dont.

Sometimes dont mention detours I have seen many detours to Metrobus routes where there is not a damn thing about it on the website. I called an complained once and the people there did not know anything about it.

I have seen bus stops be there in the morning and its now across the street in the evening with no signs, no notices on the website and sometimes the drivers dont know.

If WMATA truly wanted to do good at communicating with riders they would have someone available to Update their site within ten minutes of something occurring at a station, on a train or the route of a bus.

by kk on Nov 10, 2011 6:54 pm • link • report

@HogWash,

I'm sure most who read your post would wonder how does a city's zoning board's decision have to do with the mayor of that city.

Well, just to refresh your memory:

The D.C. Council is moving quickly towards confirmation of two appointments to one of the most powerful land-use regulatory bodies in District Government, the Board of Zoning Adjustment.

(Photo by: The Georgetown Dish)
Lloyd Jordan testifies before Chairman Brown's on his nomination to be on the BZA
Lloyd J. Jordan served as the campaign attorney for Mayor Vincent Gray and was an incorporator last year -- along with the Mayor’s embattled close adviser Lorraine Green -- of the D.C. One City Fund. Green has been criticized for her actions related to the hiring of Sulaimon Brown, a former mayoral candidate who claims he was paid by Gray's operation and has since left the D.C. government.
Jordan has held many governmental positions, including an appointment by Mayor Marion Barry and confirmation by the Control Board to be director of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.

Jordan’s nomination was received by the Council on March 2. It was the subject of a hearing a week later on March 9, in the Committee of Whole under Chairman Kwame Brown, and is scheduled for final action by the full Council on Tuesday, March 15.

"We don't want another DCRA bureaucrat, land use lawyer, and political insider on the BZA," said Robin Diener who is director of the Library Renaissance Project, a Ralph Nader organization, which is monitoring an appeal to the BZA on the Mt Pleasant Library. She is also president of the Dupont Circle Citizens Association. "We need a neighborhood person, who will represent citizens and residents,” Diener added. “The Council should not rush this appointment."
(http://thegeorgetowndish.com/thedish/gray-noms-fastracked-dc-council-chairman)

It's one thing to defend such establishments as such; it's entirely another to embarrass oneself with shameless arguments about Helen Mirren and pole-dancing as an Olympic sport.

I'm not making any value judgements on strip-clubs in general, people who work in the sex trade, or those who patronize them. Just saying that the contrast between the largely professional other zoning members and this Barry-era throwback was pretty illuminating.

by oboe on Nov 10, 2011 10:03 pm • link • report

"Residents fear their streets will become marijuana dumping grounds."

I hereby volunteer my street to be a marijuana dumping ground.

by Brian White on Nov 11, 2011 4:24 pm • link • report