@ buying a house take 3.5 years to break even in DC

Here is a link to the report's methodology on Zillow:
http://www.zillow.com/blog/research/2012/08/01/buy-versus-rent-breakeven-analysis-methodology-2/

For all metros, they assume a 2% home appreciation over the next 30 years. This is not realistic especially in the short term. In Las Vegas for example, the breakeven point is 1.7 years however home prices continue to decline so you would likely save money by renting at a much higher price until prices stabilize. Though I think this is interesting analysis buyers would be better informed using NyTimes's tool if they need help making a rent or buy decision: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/buy-rent-calculator.html

by Nicoli on Aug 3, 2012 8:43 am • link • report

with track work happening nearly every weekend, can't the hours be regularly scheduled?

Not when overtime is cheaper than hiring new personnel. It's one of the perverse side-effects of the union contract. You'd think the Examiner would be ready to pounce on that.

student improvement is 35% of a teacher's score, instead of 50%, and there are fewer in-classroom observations

Wohoo! Less accountability for the excellent DC teachers!

You can now take the train from Downtown Miami to the Miami Airport.

Wait, what? They make you change trains just before the airport? That's worse than long walk they're gonna build at Dulles!

by Jasper on Aug 3, 2012 9:08 am • link • report

RE: King County Frequency Map

Does anyone have WMATA bus maps in Illustrator-readable formats? I'd be willing to take a stab at it if I don't have to draw everything from scratch.

by Bossi on Aug 3, 2012 9:22 am • link • report

@Jasper:

Wait, what? They make you change trains just before the airport? That's worse than long walk they're gonna build at Dulles!

It's even better than that. Not only do you have to switch to a people mover to get to the actual airport, but the line to the intermodal airport station is itself a spur off of what has been the main line until now.

by Gray on Aug 3, 2012 9:29 am • link • report

And I should further clarify: it's a spur off of the main line with only one stop--just short of the airport.

by Gray on Aug 3, 2012 9:30 am • link • report

There's always been something fishy about metro's lengthy turnaround times for repairs (like the Dupont escalators). I wouldn't at all be surprising if overtime pay and a wink-nudge with the union had something to with it.

by aaa on Aug 3, 2012 9:35 am • link • report

According to the Post article about the IMPACT reforms, half of a teacher's evaluation (in certain grades) will now be based on a mix of the state test scores (35%) and end-of-year exams or other tests agreed upon by the principals and teachers (15%), instead of all 50% being based on the state test scores alone. This should minimize the weight any one test will have on evaluation (though hopefully safeguards will be in place to prevent tampering with scores on the non-state tests).
Another feature not mentioned in the Examiner article, is that (merit-based) salary increases will now only be available to the highest-performing teachers who work in high-poverty schools. This should help retain effective teachers where they are having the largest impact in reducing the achievement gap.

by DCster on Aug 3, 2012 9:37 am • link • report

@ aaa: There's always been something fishy about metro's lengthy turnaround times for repairs

Senior employees get to pick jobs first (and pick the easy ones), leaving newer, less experienced employees the more difficult jobs. Union rules!

by Jasper on Aug 3, 2012 9:53 am • link • report

Re: Weekend track work

This would be a great opportunity for WMATA to test out the idea of using more contractors instead of paying overtime or hiring additional personnel. That way you could set completion dates for the work and if the contractor misses the deadline, slap a penalty on them. Of course, the Union will have none of that as they want more lucrative overtime pay!

For all metros, they assume a 2% home appreciation over the next 30 years. This is not realistic especially in the short term.

Historically, real estate has appreciated at the rate of inflation. Over the past 100 years, the average inflation rate is a little over 3%.

by Falls Church on Aug 3, 2012 10:07 am • link • report

The Examiner only wants people who sit around writing partisan position papers at tax-exempt (i.e., tax subsidized, but they'll never admit it) "think tanks" make a good living. Well, them and CEOs. My usual rant--if you're linking to the Examine, make sure you also link to Daily Worker or at least The Nation.

by Rich on Aug 3, 2012 10:49 am • link • report

@Jasper et. al.

It's true that Miami visitors will have to change to a peoplemover at the intermodal station to get to the airport, but the intermodal station itself houses (or by 2013 will house) Amtrak, intercity bus lines, a rental car hub, and a commuter train terminal.

So to compare this with DC, imagine that Union Station was a remote terminal at Dulles, connected to the rest of Dulles by a peoplemover. Although it might be nice to connect to both Union Station and Dulles proper, connecting to the train terminal isn't a bad option at all, and definitely not worse than a *similarly* placed Metro station at Dulles (though arguably worse than the currently proposed Metro station at Dulles).

by Steven H on Aug 3, 2012 11:22 am • link • report

Rich, whatever the partisanship of the Examiner's opinion columnists, I think you are unfairly maligning the hard work and professionalism of Examiner local news reporters such as Kytja Weir, Liz Essley, and Lisa Gartner. The content of the schools article (by Gartner) linked above is descriptive and factual, not editorial. Their staff manages to keep the local news coverage of a free subway tabloid on par with the Post -- which admittedly says more about the deemphasis of local news in the latter.

by Arl Fan on Aug 3, 2012 11:34 am • link • report

That's a really nice transit hub. Definitely like the futuristic look and artistic themes. It looks every bit of its $2b price tag.

I guess if they spent that much on the Miami center it won't look that bad spending $7 billion on Union Station, although it's really just a terminal improvement/congestion mitigation project rather than an all new station.

by King Terrapin on Aug 3, 2012 11:40 am • link • report

Although the addition is a small spur, this new station has brought about the creation of an entirely new Metrorail line, the Orange Line connecting the southern suburbs of Dadeland through Downtown Miami to MIA airport.

So, if you're coming from Downtown, you can catch an Orange Line train that will take you directly to the MIA Metro station and from there you catch the people mover, the MIA Mover directly to the airport terminals. It's very convenient.

by Kyle on Aug 3, 2012 12:40 pm • link • report

@Jasper, Wohoo! Less accountability for the excellent DC teachers!

You know, it's actually OK if you comprehended what's in the article and then offered your snark. It makes you sound like one of "them," the angrylords who consistently complain about everything DC, especially when it comes to DCPS.

Senior employees get to pick jobs first (and pick the easy ones), leaving newer, less experienced employees the more difficult jobs. Union rules!

It's equally ok if you chose to disseminate facts rather than your opinion used as a substitute to them.

More and more anti-DC rhetoric. Geez!

by HogWash on Aug 3, 2012 12:52 pm • link • report

@HogWash - I often vigorously disagree with Jasper but he's right about the senior union employees getting dibs on jobs. The Post ran a story about that a few years ago.

by Cherry Picker on Aug 3, 2012 1:13 pm • link • report

@ HogWash: the angrylords who consistently complain about everything DC, especially when it comes to DCPS.

I'm sorry. Did I miss something good happening in DCPS? Please let me know when that happens. I'll be happy to praise them. I'll stop snarking when DCPS starts improving and is not among the worst school systems in the nation.

Also, I don't complain about everything in DC. For instance, I love CaBi. And DCs bike trails. But I do complain about its incompetent political and educational leadership. There is plenty to complain about.

by Jasper on Aug 3, 2012 1:33 pm • link • report

I live in FFX and had a kid in FCPS for some years, and I am one of significant group of FFX parents who thinks the obession with test scores has not been all that good for our kids.

I don't know the best way to make DCPS teachers accountable. But I cannot take serioiusly a knee jerk response that equates less weight to test scores (and this instance just less weight to particular test scores) and less accountability.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Aug 3, 2012 2:01 pm • link • report

@CherryPicker, I often vigorously disagree with Jasper but he's right about the senior union employees getting dibs on jobs. The Post ran a story about that a few years ago.

I'm not sure which Post article you're referring to but I recall the GGW forum where the WMATA rep responded to similar allegations about the pick system being 1)unfair and 2)decreases safety. The rep stated that while unions "seniority" rules does allow for them to pick their location, management is responsible for dolling them out. I have no problem w/senior employees having certain perks. It applies to the overwhelming majority of american businesses.

That said, Jasper's claim that newer/less experienced employees get the more difficult jobs is much ado about nothing. He would have an excellent point had it been found that the "pick" system affects safety/maintenance/performance. Has it?

Did I miss something good happening in DCPS? Please let me know when that happens.

Of course you did. Well, you likely didn't miss the DC's CAS report from a couple of weeks ago stating that both public and charter schools showed gains in math and W7's Thomas Elementary posted double-digits gains in reading and math. No, you didn't miss it. You just were likely less interested in hearing anything good about the system that counters your current perception. So sure, if you close your eyes, you can miss a lot of things.

Also, I don't complain about everything in DC. For instance, I love CaBi. And DCs bike trails

This is tailor-made for a SNL skit or Milloy article.

by HogWash on Aug 3, 2012 2:18 pm • link • report

That's a really nice transit hub. Definitely like the futuristic look and artistic themes. It looks every bit of its $2b price tag.

It looks like a gigantic parking deck surrounded by a freeway interchange.

Oops.

by andrew on Aug 3, 2012 2:25 pm • link • report

@ HogWash: He would have an excellent point had it been found that the "pick" system affects safety/maintenance/performance. Has it?

That is impossible to show. However, WMATA maintenance is a mess. It does not seem far fetched to conclude that that is partially due to not sending the most experienced workers to the most difficult jobs.

[Deleted for violating the comment policy.]

by Jasper on Aug 3, 2012 3:51 pm • link • report

[This comment has been deleted for violating the comment policy.]

by HogWash on Aug 3, 2012 5:31 pm • link • report

@andrew

I was talking more about the Metrorail/MIA Mover station, but I do agree with you on the rental car facility (the exterior of it anyway).

by King Terrapin on Aug 3, 2012 10:19 pm • link • report

@Ari: When someine us part of the machine that causes the damage, they need to be called out. If these reporters were that good, they would apply for jobs at real papers, not biased rags that seek nothing more than to tear down 24/7.

And don't tell me about "accountability." Beating up the poor and LGBT people, for example, is not "accountability," it's trash and hate.

by MikeR on Aug 4, 2012 10:54 am • link • report