Question on streetcars. When they're implemented, will they discontinue the X2 bus? Because I don't see how 3 streetcars could possibly replace all the X2 buses, which also have shorter headways than what's being proposed with 3 streetcars.

Good news on R ST sharrows. Now, where are those L&M cycletracks????

by Falls Church on Feb 24, 2012 9:06 am • link • report

But an informed policy response should consider long-term trends and the volatile nature of crime over short-time periods

Exactly. Which is why it was such a bad idea for the Mayor/Council to reject Chief Lanier's requested number of police officers for this year just because crime was abnormally low last year. Usually they provide what she shows as necessary.

by Falls Church on Feb 24, 2012 9:11 am • link • report

So, on R St NW we're going to have sharrows now in addition to the existing bike lane? Or are they removing the bike lane and replacing it with sharrows instead? Washcycle's picture without an explanationd doesn't do a very good job of what they're 'reporting' on ...

by Lance on Feb 24, 2012 9:14 am • link • report

@Lance

The picture is at R St & 1st St NW - there's no bike lane there.

by MLD on Feb 24, 2012 9:21 am • link • report

@Lance The sharrows on R St go from the 100 block of R St NW to the 300 block of R St NE - the entrance to the MBT. There has been discussion of building a one block separated counterflow bike lane in the 300 block of R NE to make the final connection to the MBT - for now, most of us just ride counterflow anyway.

by elizqueenmama on Feb 24, 2012 9:40 am • link • report

@Falls Church:
There are no plans to discontinue or reduce service on the X2 or X9 as a result of the streetcar.

by Matt Johnson on Feb 24, 2012 9:48 am • link • report

Re: Loitering.

Just look at how wonderful loitering has made Chinatown and Gallery Place, especially at night on the weekends.

We definitely need more of that.

by Fitz on Feb 24, 2012 9:56 am • link • report

The MetroTrends article on the crime stats being up for the first 6 weeks of this year compared to 2010 and 2011 overlooks the effect of the weather. In 2010, the region got Snowmageddon and other snow storms. 2011 had several snowstorms as I recall. This year, a very mild winter and the crime rate is back to where it was in 2009 and before. So one way to lower the violent crime rate in DC for the first 2 months of the year is to have severe winter weather.

by AlanF on Feb 24, 2012 10:09 am • link • report

"Just look at how wonderful loitering has made Chinatown and Gallery Place, especially at night on the weekends."

On the other hand it seems to work fine in Dupont Circle on weekend afternoons. There are different kinds of "loitering."

by Phil on Feb 24, 2012 10:21 am • link • report

Would it be a lost cause at this point to advocate for changes in the sharrow symbol design to better communicate their meaning? I've found that a symbol with only a bike on it sends the message of "only bikes are allowed here" rather than "bikes and cars are allowed here", and I've seen people freak out and try turning around upon seeing them because they think they're on a bikes-only street. Sharrows are still new and uncommon enough most places that most people aren't familiar with them, and the "shared" meaning is not intuitive at all when only one mode is depicted. It makes me wonder if there was any usability testing of this symbol at all.

by pagodat on Feb 24, 2012 10:26 am • link • report

I like the loitering in Chinatown. As someone who's been here long enough to remember back when Chinatown emptied out at night, I will gladly take a thousand rambunctious teenagers -- and even a thousand drunk and disorderly Capitals fans -- over a dark street that's empty aside from one or two thugs in parked cars. Loitering is what makes Chinatown safe.

by tom veil on Feb 24, 2012 10:56 am • link • report

@MLD and elizqueenmama, thanks for the explanation.

It's like 'reporting' is sinking to all time lows. I know 'a picture says a thousand words', but come on, in this case it didn't. And unless you were alredy completely aware of what was happening there, the story told you nothing. I saw something similar on another blog this morning where the blogger did write something but didn't go into any detail about the subject matter. It just mentioned that some tool was going to be used to get public collaboration on the development of 14th Street. It didn't explain the tool or how it was going to be used or anything. It's like since the means of publishing has because so simple to use, 'reporters' are feeling they should 'report' even if they really don't have anything more to 'report' than a newsflash ...or a picture. This isn't good. Facilitated collaboration was never meant to mean just 'repeat what you heard' .... it was intended to foster discussion and collaborative thinking as we do on GGW. I hope GGW doesn't go down that road of mistaking 'repeating' for 'reporting' ...

by Lance on Feb 24, 2012 12:07 pm • link • report

@Tom Veil has clearly never been physically accosted at Gallery place or inside the metro by a group of teens who's intent is unclear.

Probably because he thinks that that's just "city life" or that it's the victims fault or it's just "kids being kids" or any of the other 1000's of excuses provided to keep the mean old police from enforcing codes of conduct.

by Goog on Feb 24, 2012 12:29 pm • link • report

Im not going to address gallery place, but I know in Old Town Alex, people hanging out on the sidewalk and talking to friends often adds to the atmosphere.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Feb 24, 2012 12:36 pm • link • report

Best quote so far from the Kojo show with Marion Barry as a guest. "Let's talk about the issues in Ward 8.....I'm not the issue."
He also spent 5 or so minutes dodging questions and follow ups by Tom Sherwood by interrupting him every time he started to ask a question.

by thump on Feb 24, 2012 12:45 pm • link • report

"I've seen people freak out and try turning around upon seeing them because they think they're on a bikes-only street."

Oh funny, like a bikes-only street would happen here in the US.

by Michael Perkins on Feb 24, 2012 3:09 pm • link • report

@Tom V. I like the loitering in Chinatown.

Chinatown is a total mess nowadays. And it's not even Chinese anymore. It's not even Washingtonian anymore. I bet if you took a survey of the people there, you'd find few Washingtonians ...never mind neighborhood people. It's a good example of what was a really nice neighborhood for its residents, and a great 'ethinic restaurant' locale for Washingtonians being ruined being recognition by commercialization on steriods. If you Chinatown, I bet you just LUV the Mall ... Wheaton Mall that is ... :)

by Lance on Feb 24, 2012 3:10 pm • link • report

@Lance
While there are some tourists in Chinatown, though not that many as there isn't any actual tourist attraction there, most of the people are actually DC residents.

I also think there are very few people who would consider Chinatown now ruined when compared to what it was like in the 90s.

By the way there are still a number of good Chinese restaurants combined with some other great non-chines ones.

by nathaniel on Feb 24, 2012 3:23 pm • link • report

@Nathanial, back in the 90s if you wanted a good (and real) Chinatown experience you could 'on the fly' get in your car, drive down to Chinatown, park (for free) and have a nice authentic Chinese meal ... It was a nice experience. Contrast that to now where you'll have to circle to find curbside parking (if you're lucky enough to find it) or pay through the nose to park under the Verizon Center .. then walk a 360 around the block because the developers want you hitting all their storespace before you can get to the 'real' Chinatown (or at least what's left of it) and then you'll be accosted by unruly kids who probably won't assault you physically, but WILL assault you with their bad mouths (i.e., swearing that would make a truck driver blush), and then you get to your old haunt and there's a line full of tourists making you wait for your table.

And I don't believe those are all DC youths that are loitering. Because of the convenience of the Metro, it's likely that most are actually from the suburbs where they'd otherwise be sitting home being bored ...

Of course I'm half joking in this post ... BUT there's no denying that we've lost a DC neighborhood here, and we really need to question if this is the kind of 'growth and development' we want. Personally, I'm okay with this kind of growth and development staying in MD and VA ...

by Lance on Feb 24, 2012 4:24 pm • link • report

Minor correction: The cupcake shop the Star Tribune article mentions is in St. Paul, not Minneapolis.

by imperator3733 on Feb 24, 2012 6:55 pm • link • report

@lance

The problem is that the people who owned or currently own land in chinatown are not fine if all the development happens in MD and VA. Chinatown is the way it is today because the residents and landowners there want it that way.

by Falls Church on Feb 24, 2012 10:41 pm • link • report

@Falls Church,

"Chinatown is the way it is today because the residents and landowners there want it that way"

Really?

Read this: www.washingtonpost.com/local/wah-luck-house-maintains-culture-in-dying-dc-chinatown/2011/07/01/gIQAz51h7H_story.html

The real story is how the District, in conjunction with the developer Abe Pollin, shaped the transformation there via TIFs and other government subsidizes. MOST of the locals had little input (or output) in what was undertaken.

by Lance on Feb 25, 2012 2:36 pm • link • report

And incidentally the 'dangerous' Chinatown pre-redevelopment which some people on here are remembering could be the Chinatown which existed for that period between when the residents got evicted and the buildings boarded up and the time the redevelopment got completed. It could also be those areas adjacent to Chinatown which weren't known as Chinatown back then ... i.e., like Bethesda which now includes large chunks of what is legally deeded non-incorporated Rockville, the definition of 'where is Chinatown' seems to everexpand ... Soon it'll include everything from Union Station to Lafayette Park! ;)

by Lance on Feb 25, 2012 5:20 pm • link • report

One neighborhood was lost, another one came in. Clearly the neighborhood is worse off because its harder to park. A sure sign of failure that no one goes there anymore. Meanwhile the metro being there means that people from md. and va. have the gall to hang out where there is stuff happening rather than staying in their quiet hamlets just to piss off DC residents.

by x on Feb 25, 2012 6:07 pm • link • report

I hope GGW doesn't go down that road of mistaking 'repeating' for 'reporting' ...

Too late. Way too late.

by Jazzy on Feb 26, 2012 9:30 am • link • report

I have some sympathy for the renters living in the old chinatown because they got kicked out or had their rent go up. As for landowners, regardless of whether the changes were to their liking, I have zero sympathy since they all made a killing. I'm sure they had no problems with becoming millionaires. In that sense, chinatown became what it is today because the landowners wanted it that way (that is, the way that ended up making them rich). Sure, its far from perfect but with that kind of money, they can move to some "more real" place they find perfect.

by Falls Church on Feb 26, 2012 9:39 am • link • report

I have a chinese american friend who has inlaws who owned a restaurant in chinatown. he told me they were happy to get the money they did for their place, far more than they had have ever made serving food. He says the restaurants have mostly relocated to Rockville, and there does not seem to be major discontent in the Chinese community about that move.

by trythecrispyduck on Feb 26, 2012 11:17 am • link • report