Breakfast links: Need space

by Steven Yates • February 6, 2012 8:39 am

Photo by thisisbossi on Flickr.

Can't get there: About a third of Metrobus stops are inaccessible by wheelchair. WMATA can do little to force the local jurisdictions to improve the stops, meaning WMATA has to use the more costly MetroAccess service. (Examiner)

BRT will need land: Montgomery County Planners want BRT lanes to replace existing travel lanes wherever possible but in some areas they will likely need to claim property if they hope to avoid the buses getting stuck in traffic. (Examiner)

Cafritz gets OK: The Prince George's Planning Board approved the Cafritz rezoning 4-0, clearing the project to move to the District Council, where there will likely be more debate. (RTCP)

OK to tailgate bikes in Virginia: A Virginia House subcommittee rejected a bill that would have outlawed tailgating a bicycle. Virginia appears to be the only state where tailgating a bike is still legal. (Pilot)

Not so super or grand: Big sporting events, like the Super Bowl and Baltimore Grand Prix, might not be the huge economic wins that the host cities expect. (RPUS)

Cars make room for humans: Manhattan has a fifth less parking than 30 years ago, and residents now park in spaces once used by commuters. A number of former parking garages are now condos. (NYT, Ben Ross)

Bet on downtown Vegas: Zappos is moving its headquarters to downtown Las Vegas and CEO Tony Hsieh is investing $350 million of his own money to revitalize the area. And while other large corporate headquarters tend to be insular, Hsieh wants Zappos to integrate with the community. (Marketplace)

Walk like an Englishman: Urban planners take a new look at the choices pedestrians make, taking into account things like desire lines, and come up with clever solutions like a shared space for London's newly opened Exhibition Road and instituting a Barnes Dance in Oxford Circus. (The Economist, David Gorsline)

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13 comments

Tags: Baltimore, Barnes Dance, bicycling, bike safety, BRT, buses, Cafritz property, eminent domain, Las Vegas, links, London, Maryland, MetroAccess, Montgomery, Nevada, New York, parking, pedestrianized streets, pedestrians, Prince George's, stadiums, Virginia, Virginia legislature, WMATA

Steven Yates grew up in Indiana before moving to DC in 2002 to attend college at American University. He currently lives in Southwest DC.

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Funny, if NYC is following the Shoupian way, why haven't we seen the benefits of Shoup?

Traffic congestion is still bad. Cars are still on the road - perhaps more taxis than private cars now.

In terms of converting parking garages into condos, you have to wonder how much the tax code is distorting things. Clearly, if you own a parking garage in NYC that is a steady revenue stream -- taxed at income rate. Sell it to a developer and you've got capital gains.

by charlie on Feb 6, 2012 10:35 am

All things being equal I see it two ways, the planning board doesn't require parking which seems very shoupian, however they have prevented parking being built as well which could contribute to the supply squeeze. Regardless I don't think the parking was the main source of traffic on Manhattan streets however the article is really talking about storage rather than short term parking.

by x on Feb 6, 2012 10:48 am

@x; yep, but that is the shoup way:

1. Drive out parking from buildings -- allowing both cheaper buildings are more saleable space.

2. Use performance parking to moderate increased demand for street parking

3. Claim reduced congestion as a benefit

I'd fully agree that the geography on Manhatten is what makes creates traffic congestion. THat all being said, I've never thought traffic in Manhatten is horrible.

by charlie on Feb 6, 2012 11:16 am

That's the thing, I don't recall the story or anything else I've read recently talk about the street parking side in NYC being anything approaching a performance based approach. Also, Manhattan seems to be about the last place in the world I'd want to be responsible for a car so maybe there is just a baseline of people who will pay to park a car no matter what the price.

by x on Feb 6, 2012 11:24 am

Funny, if NYC is following the Shoupian way, why haven't we seen the benefits of Shoup?

How is New York following the Shoupian way? If you're talking about Shoup's ideas, then you're talking about many things, not just minimum parking requirements. The article said nothing about on-street pricing, for example.

Plus, all you need to do is to read Streetsblog for a bit to realize that those kinds of parking minimums are still in place for large portions of the rest of the city. The NYT article only really talked about Manhattan.

http://www.streetsblog.org/2012/01/03/dcp-advances-promising-manhattan-parking-reforms-fixes-flawed-study/

http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/05/10/dcp-likely-to-propose-lower-parking-minimums-for-nycs-inner-ring/

http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/10/26/flawed-dcp-studies-might-undermine-dcps-own-parking-reforms/

http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/11/16/d-c-planning-chief-urges-new-york-city-to-scrap-parking-minimums/

http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/02/24/parking-requirements-force-affordable-housing-project-to-shrink/

by Alex B. on Feb 6, 2012 11:44 am

Zappos will save downtown Las Vegas!

Just like...

The Fremont Street Experience,
The World Market Center,
The arts district,
The high rise condos,
The lofts,
The new federal building,

and 50 years of other "can't miss" projects have done.

by dcdriver on Feb 6, 2012 12:34 pm

Getting a "Page Not Found" error for the Metrobus stop link (1st link). But on the subject, I'm not surprised...on my commute there are several Metrobus stops that aren't even accessible via normal sidewalk (like the one in the links photo by Bossi), let alone by disabled persons.

by Froggie on Feb 6, 2012 1:03 pm

Considering bicycles already share the rights and responsibilities of motor vehicles, this bill is moot -- and a complete waste of time.

by TGEoA on Feb 6, 2012 1:10 pm

dcdriver, have you been to downtown las vegas...? Its certainly not in decline or blighted.

charlie, parking is still under $2 an hour on streets in NYC, and free on thousands of side streets.

by JJJJJ on Feb 6, 2012 3:27 pm

Quintuple J, do you know that Downtown LV is not The Strip?

by Kolohe on Feb 6, 2012 9:13 pm

@JJJJ

Exactly what Kolohe said. The "strip" is not downtown Las Vegas, in fact, it is not even in the city of Las Vegas. Downtown Las Vegas, the area north of Charleston Ave and South of Washington Ave would certainly meet any reasonable definition of "blight." If it is not declining, it is only because it was once so bad that there is really nowhere to go but up.

One could write an very interesting book (I am sure many have) on Las Vegas politics, business, and the booms and busts of that city. When it comes to downtown, it seems like Las Vegas is always just one big "can't miss" project away from turning it all around. Yet the projects either never materialize (the big NBA/NHL arena that was promised a few years ago), or materialize without having any real impact (the World Market Center, a giant convention center complex that for some reason never brought with it any hotels, restaurants, etc).

Next time you are in Vegas, take a break from the strip and take the #1 bus (a double-decker public transit bus, the only one?) to downtown and walk around a bit. Once you get past the glitz of Fremont St, its an eye-opening experience, and not in a good way.

by dcdriver on Feb 7, 2012 1:24 pm

my sense from listening to marketplace, is that Zappos is aware of all that, and is determined to move forward anyway.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Feb 7, 2012 1:52 pm

Of course I know what downtown las vegas is, thats why I asked. Its certainly better than the strip is. Cheaper games. And there are two buses that take you from the strip downtown, the deuce and a fake BRT line.

by JJJJJ on Feb 7, 2012 2:43 pm