My RushMinus: Franconia-Springfield - Rosslyn

This morning the platform at F-S was usually busy. A yellow line to F-S rolled in, with a clear often repeated announcement it was gonna stay a yellow line. Great. At least there will be no confusion about trains changing color when turning around. So, about half of the platform sets itself in the train. Apparently, the other half needs a blue line.

A few minutes later, a blue line to F-S rolls in, announcing loudly it will turn around as a blue line to Largo AND that it will be the first train to leave. The people on the platform get in, and some run from the yellow line to the blue line, which leaves pretty much immediately.

The train left about normal full, i.e. most seats taken ad fills up gradually as normal. Oddly, the train got filled up to crush level at Pentagon City. I could not make out if it left people on the platform. Odd, because usually crush level is reached only at the Pentagon. No need to say that at the Pentagon we went from crush to sardine level squeezing a few more people in.

At Rosslyn, a lot of people got of, as usual.

Conclusion: Confusion at F-S with two trains in at the same time, and busier than normal.

by Jasper on Jun 18, 2012 9:04 am • link • report

Climate change threatens Norfolk

Well, glad we have a legislature in VA that is on top of things when it comes to climate change. Oh, wait....

by Jasper on Jun 18, 2012 9:07 am • link • report

I arrived at Pentagon as usual, hoping for more frequent yellows. Blue line to largo in the station as I entered, lots of metro employees trying to get as many people as possible onto the train safely, I guess. Blue line boarding took a bit longer than usual. Then Yellow followed the blue, as usual.

Looks like blue line crush has replaced the orange crush - OTOH these folks havent had time to explore alternatives, like buses. I don't know how many if any decided to use Yellow and transfer at L'Enfant in place of the crowded Blue.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Jun 18, 2012 9:12 am • link • report

That Roger Lewis article was somewhat jarring. First, its unbridled optimism struck me as a tad naive, but I guess that's not a bad thing. But what got me was the overall tone that makes it sound like before redevelopment started moving east of the park, DC was just some wilderness with ruins of a prior civilization. It completely ignores that people and families actually have been living in these newly "discovered" neighborhoods all along. There's no need to rehash the gentrification arguements in every article about development, but this one struck me as particularly insensitive. I don't believe in "the Plan" but that article sure sounded like it was counting down the days until the Plan finishes up its work.

Also, his faith in charter schools is genuinely naive.

by TM on Jun 18, 2012 9:15 am • link • report

TM: I had the same thought, actually. (And full disclosure: I put this into the links this morning anyway, because I thought it's a good thought-stirrer and discussion-inducer, but I did also think that it seemed to oddly make it sound like the neighborhoods were just completely vacant before.)

by David Alpert on Jun 18, 2012 9:16 am • link • report

My morning commute was pretty uneventful. I take Blue/Orange from Potomac Avenue, connecting to Red at Metro Center. East of L'Enfant Plaza, the train was about as full as normal, but it filled up with standing passengers at L'Enfant Plaza, probably former Blue Line commuters who opted to cross the 14th Street Bridge on the Yellow Line. It wasn't completely packed, but it got pretty crowded.

My real concern is about my afternoon commute. I bet some of those eastbound Orange and Blues will be full by the time they get to Metro Center, and trains might sit at L'Enfant Plaza for longer than usual to allow throngs of people to get out. I guess I'll find out this afternoon.

by Alex on Jun 18, 2012 9:18 am • link • report

@TM @David Alpert Lewis is oddly superficial. Just off the top, the deep tunnel sewers he touts are being funded by limitless DC Water annual rate hikes, no less sketchy a source of sustainable revenue than Metro's annual begging to the DC-MD-VA regional governments. The charter school bubble and federal contracting cuts (Pentagon spending, anyone?) are the other monsters in the room. PEPCO brownouts... one can go on.

by Read Scott Martin on Jun 18, 2012 9:45 am • link • report

I'm not all that affected by Rush Plus, since I take the red to Metro Center and transfer to the orange out to WFC. But for whatever reason, the Vienna-bound orange I boarded today switched to ending at WFC at McPherson Square. Of course, then we sat for several minutes outside of WFC...

I didn't hear anything about Rush Plus meaning fewer orange trains running all the way to Vienna, so maybe it's not related.

by Gray on Jun 18, 2012 9:58 am • link • report

@Gray

There are some trains that turn around at WFC during rush hour. It's not regularly-scheduled however. I guess it doesn't really affect you either since you're only going to WFC, right? Few people are going all the way to Vienna in the AM rush.

by MLD on Jun 18, 2012 10:04 am • link • report

My Orange Line train from Rosslyn going toward Vienna seemed a bit more crowded than usual. But I’ll give it a week or two before I pass judgement.

by Juanita de Talmas on Jun 18, 2012 10:08 am • link • report

The Roger Lewis article was disturbing to me in its total ignorance or dismissal of the fact that more than half this city is minority and many of them are of modest income and struggling to maintain a foothold here.

Lewis, who teaches architecture and preservation, should be aware of who lives in existing buildings. His article gives the impression that he welcomes their being swept out of the city by this welcome change so that "families" can return and the city can being denser than ever.

I would hope that space limitations and editing are the reason Professor Lewis' article doesn't mention anything at all about racial and income dynamics.

by Mike S. on Jun 18, 2012 10:10 am • link • report

The new metro pattern was horrible this morning. I ride from King Street to Farragut West on the blue line. It was very busy when I got on and packed by the time I reached Crystal City. This type of crowding is part of the reason I moved off of the orange line. The icing on the cake was that we had to wait longer than usual in the tunnel on the approach to Rosslyn. I thought Rush Plus was supposed to alleviate this. Ok. Rant over.

by bennynojets on Jun 18, 2012 10:18 am • link • report

@MLD: Right, it didn't affect me, and I can't imagine that it affected a ton of people on my train. But I've never experienced it in the morning rush before, and it was confusingly handled. I'm curious to see if it repeats.

by Gray on Jun 18, 2012 10:25 am • link • report

Lewis sees less traffic ?

Short of $8/gal gas I don't see how. There are no proposals to limit car access into DC in any way in any part. Every new building has two floors of garage. Performance parking will make it much easier for incoming cars to get parking.

I've seen traffic explode multiple times in the Dupont/Logan area in the past 20 years and each year it gets worse.

DC is just way too timid to try and limit incoming auto traffic.

At least the crime spree of years past kept cars out.

by Tom Coumaris on Jun 18, 2012 10:30 am • link • report

A great alternative to Metro for Alexandria-based commuters who live withing walking distance of Washington Street is the 11Y express bus. It starts out at Mt. Vernon, goes through Old Town on Washington St., then takes GW Parkway to the 14th Street bridge. It makes its way through downtown, stopping at McPherson Square, Farragut West, and ends by the State Department.

A good alternative to taking Metro from Braddock or King Street if you are headed to those destinations.

by JJ on Jun 18, 2012 10:35 am • link • report

In defense of Lewis

"were deemed physically derelict and unsafe; when there were few decent restaurants; and when families were fleeing to the suburbs."

seems to imply that there WERE people living there - including both the perpetrators and victims of the crime that made it unsafe. Folks love to dispute pro-redevelopment assumptions that EVERY neighborhood had crime problems or physical issues, but certainly as a broad brush view, Lewis is not far off.

As for the cost of water infra, well don't the rising incomes and property values make paying those costs more doable?

As for less traffic, he cites transit, biking, and teleworking. I don't have data handy on total VMT in the district - but given the increase in population, employment, and income in the district, I would say things are going surprisinly well on that front.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Jun 18, 2012 10:43 am • link • report

I don't see how Roger Lewis's assesment of East of the Park is so off. He didn't say there weren't wonderful things about some of those communities, but they were unquestionably unsafe, and that's a change that everyone can celebrate. Prince Georges county became majority Black in the 1970's and 1980's precicely becasue so many in the eastern part of the city where fleeing to a place where their kids might have a better chance. That's the double edge sword of progress, that it tends to push out the very people who would benefit the most. To that end, if we focused more on crime wherever it exists, then one wouldn't have such an incentive to leave a community for the sake their kid's safety.

As for the Corcoran, why can't the Smithsonian take it over? I agree going to the suburbs would put a stake in the heart of that institution, but if it can't hold on to this building, I would look to other local institutions to fill the void. Come to think about it, maybe the AIA could move there, if they didn't mind being in a wedding cake!

by Thayer-D on Jun 18, 2012 10:46 am • link • report

Got on a regular green line train at Columbia Heights headed south. Today was the first time I've ever gotten to sit down on a southbound rush hour green line. I think they haven't gotten the spacing right on the green line as we were right behind an 8 car train the whole way to L'Enfant.

by Steve S. on Jun 18, 2012 10:49 am • link • report

As for the cost of water infra, well don't the rising incomes and property values make paying those costs more doable?

Rising income: yes. Rising property value: no, because this will increase taxes, and without a corresponding income increase, will put greater burden on the property owner.

Water rates have been increasing steadily at about 10%/year. The average bill rate is now $65.62/month. It is projected to increase to $100/month by 2019. This will sting everybody, especially considering that the water bills were around $40/quarter about 10 years ago. That is a spectacular increase, even more than oil and gasoline.

Will these water rate increases provoke "peak water" theories and discussions?

by goldfish on Jun 18, 2012 11:04 am • link • report

re the corcoran

yes, building a new building is costly and could take a long time. That would be true if the Corcoran moved to a new site in DC though - thats not just a suburban problem. The only examply the article gives of a suburban location not working out, is the Newseum - which was mainly aimed at tourists. Im not saying a "suburban" (some proposed locations are suburbs only in a narrow sense, like Old Town Alex) the Corcoran will work out, but I don't think its a given that it will not. I don't know much about the Wheaton proposal - I am more familiar with Old Town Alex, where the Torpedo Factory has been, AFAICT,a great success for many years - it in fact was one of the things that started the redevelopment of Old Town. There is also another art school near by. I think the Corcoran could fit well into Alexandria's arts community. It would not only draw suburbanites, but tourists as well. What space they would use, or how they would finance it, I do not know.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Jun 18, 2012 11:07 am • link • report

I was running late for work this morning and I usually take one of the L's down with no problem if I leave after 9. Today, because L4 has been eliminated, Connecticut Ave had about 50 minutes between buses going down with only L2 running after 9. Maybe they're still working out the glitches since the metro website says "The L2 will operate every 20 minutes during middays and on Saturdays." I ended up driving to work so I wouldn't have to add an additional hour to my commute this morning. Not happy with this at all. I hate it when my time waiting at the stop is longer than the bus ride to work.

by Alycia on Jun 18, 2012 11:16 am • link • report

The lewis article is notable because it doesn't include a place for the poor or working class. I don't find that surprising, becuase a lot of boosterism doesn't include a working class.

But to question some of his foundations:

"All these urban enhancements and benefits promise to attract new businesses and new residents. They will keep coming despite high D.C. taxes and high real estate costs. And they will keep coming because of the city’s and region’s stable, relatively recession-resistant economy, fueled largely by the federal government but increasingly by private-sector investment and activity.

They also will come to Washington for non-economic reasons: a favorable, four-season climate, with spring and fall being exceptionally beautiful; countless parks, historic sites and natural landscapes; increasingly vibrant nightlife and excellent restaurants; an expanding, diverse cultural network rivaling New York’s; and a geographic location making Washington convenient for people traveling to and from anywhere on the planet."

It is incredibly hard to measure how much money has flowed into the DC area in the last 10 years, and how much of that is defense/intelligence/security related. Lots of people with security clearances and overseas work are pulling in 200K for goverment work. That isn't sustainable, or wanted, and I suspect the next 10 years will be different.

I don't see DC becoming a city, like Vancouver, Honolulu, Miami or even Toronto, where rich international poeple buy houses as an investment or refuge.

by charlie on Jun 18, 2012 11:31 am • link • report

I think it makes great sense for GW to merge with the Corcoran!

by GWalum on Jun 18, 2012 11:44 am • link • report

Professor Lewis' article doesn't mention anything at all about racial and income dynamics.

And thank God for that. Excessive focusing on race over the last 40 years is one of the things that have held this city back (review the Barry years if you doubt this).

by Vinh An Nguyen on Jun 18, 2012 11:55 am • link • report

The farmer's market is not "one of the few nearby opportunities for fresh produce."

I guess it depends on your definition of "few." In any case, Ward 8 is not a "food desert" by any means.

On Alabama Ave you have both a Safeway and a Giant. Both of which sell a wide selection of fresh produce. You also have a Yes Organic Market on Pennsylvania Ave. Plus a handful of smaller grocery places and a bunch of large supermarkets right over the border in PG County (all accessible by bus).

by dcdriver on Jun 18, 2012 12:10 pm • link • report

@dcdriver, I think it has much more to do with the definition of "fresh."

by Lackadaisi on Jun 18, 2012 1:39 pm • link • report

@dcdriver, I think it has much more to do with the definition of "fresh."

Since when is the produce sold at Giant, Safeway, and Yes not fresh?

I would suggest that if the goal is to get the residents of the poorest section of the city to eat more fresh produce, shuttle buses to Safeway and Giant, where there is a greater diversity of produce (sorry, but you can't "locally source" oranges) and lower prices than at any farmer's market would make more sense that driving people to a farmer's market.

by dcdriver on Jun 18, 2012 2:09 pm • link • report

@dcdriver

Feel free to swing by the stinky Safeway in Petworth pretty much any day of the week. I would happy to point out spoiled produce for you.

by Kyle W on Jun 18, 2012 2:13 pm • link • report

It's not just city stores. The Rosslyn Safeway is just as nasty.

by Vicente Fox on Jun 18, 2012 2:19 pm • link • report

@ Vincente Fox:It's not just city stores. The Rosslyn Safeway is just as nasty.

Rosslyn in not (in) a city?

by Jasper on Jun 18, 2012 2:26 pm • link • report

AWalkerintheCity -- most suburban arts institutions are substantively different than the ones in the center city. They have different audiences. So what they cover and their relevance is different. Their audience #s are different, and usually much lower. cf. Barnes in Lower Merion Township vs. Philadelphia. Etc.

E.g., Udvar-Hazy's audience #s suck compared to the museum on the Mall, etc. I wrote about this general issue years ago.

- http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2008/03/living-history-museums-struggle-to-draw.html

It's not exactly on suburban museums. I can't seem to find the entry I am thinking about. But the Torpedo Factory is hardly a good example. It's significantly declined in "quality" over the past 20 years, and I can't imagine a lot of the artists there make much money selling what they produce.

WRT the Smithsonian suggestion, it won't ever happen. They don't have the money or vision to do something like that. Not in these times, with their Board, with their Secretary, with Sen. Grassley watching every move they make.

This old WSJ piece explains the point I made about Strathmore. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB111033520661874317.html?mod=googlewsj

Without the BSO as a foundation, I expect it would not be very successful.

by Richard Layman on Jun 18, 2012 2:38 pm • link • report

@GWalum: As a fellow colonial, my initial instinct was the same. But after thinking about it, I'm not sure a merger would really work. If the Corcoran went for it, I imagine they would at least demand the full renovation and art school expansion that they want, so GW would be shelling out $130 million plus indefinite operating expenses. The debt/endowment ratio is 1:1, with about $1.2 billion apiece, and that's not including the expenditure of $250 million on the Science and Engineering Hall (another major expenditure in a non-core area).

Given that GW is primarily financed by tuition, lacks a debt/endowment buffer, and is already spending lots of money trying to expand beyond its core areas of expertise, I don't see how a merger is in GW's best interests.

by JW on Jun 18, 2012 2:44 pm • link • report

"most suburban arts institutions are substantively different than the ones in the center city"

hmm - first off is the distinction city vs "suburbs" or downtown vs "uptown" I mean say, the Cloisters in NYC is hardly more convenient to midtown than Old Town is to the Mall. Or the Baltimore Museum of Art, or even the Brooklyn Museum.

If its actual low density suburbs, I can think of fewer examples - the Getty seems to manage, but I dont know their visitor numbers.

Udvar Hazy and Air and Space - well Udvar H doesnt have the variety of exhibits that Air and Space has and Air and Space gets mostly, well, tourists, of the kind that Newseum gets - I would think a destination art museum might work differently. Also of course Udvar is pretty far out and difficult to get to without a car, and isnt that close WITH a car from the core, and has nothing much nearby. Old Town is totally different - metro accessible (and water taxi from National Harbor), lots of vibrant street life that already gets plenty of visitors, a relatively short auto ride, and an existing arts scene.

I am sorry to hear artists having problems at Torpedo Factory. I'd like to hear more about it. Do you disagree that TF was a place changer for old town? At this point it may be less important to Old Town, but I think the City will be willing to put a lot of resources into keeping it going.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Jun 18, 2012 2:57 pm • link • report

Re: the Stinky Safeway and Rosslyn's Subterranean Safeway--I think Safeway just has some overall produce supply chain issues for this area. Even the otherwise pleasant Sexy Safeway at City Vista tends to stack up some pretty withered veggies.

by worthing on Jun 18, 2012 3:26 pm • link • report

JW: The George Washington University has the largest endowment of any university in DC and is about to embark on a major fundraising campaign, so the finances would work - and this would be a major investment in the growth and stability of GW. The purchase of the Mount Vernon campus was a genius move at the time - they are not making any more land in DC! GU would kill to have another shot at Mount Vernon. With the DC-imposed student enrollment and zoning limitations on the main Foggy Bottom campus, adding the Corcoran property would give GW room to expand downtown - for the arts, for graduate programs and maybe for a new home for the GW Law School. It would then free up space for undergraduate uses on the main campus and give the university an amazing landmark presence near the White House and the Washington Monument. It is too good an opportunity not to consider seriously.

by GWalum on Jun 18, 2012 4:19 pm • link • report

@Worthing

That seems reasonable. All the more reason to be excited for the Walmart opening at Georgia and Missouri. A short 10 blocks from my house. I get the feeling Walmart's supply chain will be slighly better in this regard than Safeway's.

by Kyle W on Jun 18, 2012 4:30 pm • link • report

@GWalum: The "significant fundraising campaign" is primarily meant to cover the SEC costs, and is very aggressive given the economy and GW's historic fundraising abilities, so I'm still wary about the financial aspects of a merger.

As for your larger point, I think either you or I are confused on the amount of real estate at issue here. If a merger was to happen, the museum would certainly stay in place, leaving only the Corcoran's current classroom space for GW to play with (my understanding is they have no other significant real estate?). The Corcoran currently has about 400 students. GW Law, for instance, has about 1800. Even if the art school was merged with the GW art program and say, moved out to the Vern, the increase in classroom space would not allow for a significant expansion in students. Besides, lack of real estate isn't the school's issue (GW has plenty of land downtown, and if they really wanted to add undergrad space, they would have added some in the 23rd and I development), the enrollment caps are the issue. And while the city would likely adjust them slightly, I don't foresee the city allowing much enrollment growth just because they acquire the Corcoran.

by JW on Jun 18, 2012 5:10 pm • link • report

That's not to say I think it shouldn't happen, just that while it would likely be a great move for DC, it might not be a great move for GW, assuming the pricetag for a merger is the $130 million that is being thrown around (which it may or may not be).

by JW on Jun 18, 2012 5:14 pm • link • report

The Corcoran is DC's art museum. But unfortunately, DC has an attitude toward the arts(and public parks), of "Let the Feds Do It".

by Tom Coumaris on Jun 18, 2012 5:25 pm • link • report

Rather than thinking of DC as a "world class city" in terms of having skyscrapers or not, I wish one of the ways we measured our "class" would be in how we handled our built heritage. DC ought to step in and make sure a landmark like the Corcoran building isn't auctioned off to the highest bidder, regardless of use.

by Thayer-D on Jun 18, 2012 9:38 pm • link • report

"U-turn across the Pennsylvania Avenue bike lanes". Of course we all knew this was going to happen, didn't we? This is precisely why flexiposts are needed here. or bollards, or a fence, or planters, etc. It will inevitably save lives by making people second-guess an impulsive mid-block u-turn.

by Lee on Jun 19, 2012 7:43 am • link • report

"DC is great and getting greater"

You rich, spoiled, overpaid, underworked brats of the nation's capital really have no idea how the rest of us live, do you?

by Ironchef on Jun 19, 2012 2:19 pm • link • report

@Ironchef,

Go eat cake.

by oboe on Jun 19, 2012 2:47 pm • link • report

JW: Let me clarify my proposal for consideration: GW would purchase the Corcoran property and possibly merge the Corcoran School of Art into the university. The museum would then have the funds from the sale of the 17th Street building for a new home and the landmark museum building could house the GW Law School, graduate programs, etc. This in turn would free up space on the main campus in Foggy Bottom and provide GW with a magnificant high profile physical presence near the White House and monuments.

by GWalum on Jun 19, 2012 2:48 pm • link • report

@Ironchef: You rich, spoiled, overpaid, underworked brats of the nation's capital really have no idea how the rest of us live, do you?

Are you under the impression that everyone who lives in DC is a government worker who actually works 10 out of 40 hours per week shuffling paper from bin A to pile B, then goes home to be waited upon by a butler and chef, all while waiting for his (or her) chauffeur to pick up the kids from Sidwell Friends so they can go on holiday to Paris?

(Not that I adhere to these comic misperceptions of the federal worker, but sometimes you need to speak the language of the people you're addressing.)

by dcd on Jun 19, 2012 2:59 pm • link • report

@GWalum: I see, I didn't understand your initial proposal. However, I actually think it's less viable now that I do. The media reports talking about the sale all start that it will be difficult for Corcoran to sell the building because it is so specialized, and that due to historic preservation rules it would be extremely expensive and difficult to convert it to a non-museum space. Also, the Corcoran seems focused on keeping the museum and school together, so your proposal would basically mean GW spending around 100 million for a building that would require at least tens of millions more to turn into classrooms. Moving or adding students there would require city approval, since the building is outside the campus boundaries, and GW is at the enrollment caps. Again, if the school really wanted more space, it could have gotten it at 23 & I for much less money.

And as both an undergrad and law alum, moving the law school isn't going to happen. The law school is overcrowded as it is, and the Corcoran would provide less space. They're building a new law building on G st. right now btw. Also, the Law School is the wealthiest of GW's schools (about a third of the total endowment belongs to it), is the source of many of GW's wealthier/more prestigious alums (ex: the Lerners, Sen. Reid), and are the source of several trustees. Moving the Law School would not happen over its objection, and the LS would never go for it (they're very happy on the quad, and the new dean has seemed unenthusiastic about major capital projects, preferring to spend money on adding faculty & scholarships).

I agree that having the building would be nice, but I'm really not sure it's worth $100-200 million to get it (especially if we don't get the museum, school, and name/goodwill with it).

by JW on Jun 19, 2012 6:46 pm • link • report

JW: Buildings outside the approved main campus boundaries are not included in the enrollment caps so adding sites is the only way to add capacity. I'm surprised that our Law School would not want to at least consider designing a new, state of the art facility either on or near the main campus that would be far superior than having to squeeze into multiple existing smaller buildings that have to be retrofitted as is the case at the existing law complex. And the project on the 2000 block of G Street is just approved for parking and minor academic space so far. You keep bringing up the use of land at the former GW Hospital site - 23rd & I, but that was developed by Boston Properties for the university to provide revenue to construct the new Science and Enginering hall as well as other projects. Yes, the cost of the Corcoran property is high, but let's keep our minds open and explore all options!

by GWalum on Jun 19, 2012 7:12 pm • link • report