The last time I checked the flight schedules at National, nearly half of the daily flights were to or from Boston and New York. With sufficient high-speed rail service on the East Coast, we should be able to alleviate that traffic and leave the airport with more capacity to service destinations outside the Bos-Wash corridor.

by Adam L on Sep 24, 2012 9:07 am • link • report

The Salon writer seems to think Tysons Corner is a lifestyle center. Has he ever been there? It makes it hard to take him seriously about places that ARE lifestyle centers.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Sep 24, 2012 9:15 am • link • report

I think the move away from garages is kind of funny. I never thought I'd care about having a garage, but now I'm in the market for a home with a garage, not for my car, but for secure bike storage! I'll leave the car outside so I can move my bikes somewhere safer.

by RDHD on Sep 24, 2012 9:24 am • link • report

The porches are probably offset by the units with just a few highrise windows and hundreds of garage spaces below.

by Rodney on Sep 24, 2012 9:45 am • link • report

One thing that always pissed me off about apartments in DC is the lack of balconies. They're on every house here in Montreal. I don't understand the difference given the climate in DC. Is there some sort of zoning issue?

by Redline SOS on Sep 24, 2012 9:46 am • link • report

To paraphrase the WalkUPs piece:

Fact: People want to live in walkable urban places.

Problem: Walkable urban places have been used for many decades as a kind of compulsory holding pen for the poor, indigent, and mentally ill so sometimes they have attributes (bad schools, high costs, crime) that people don’t like.

Solution: Build new walkable urban places out in the suburbs.

I'm not sure I follow: Rather than just writing off the actual cities and creating a million Disneyfied simulacrums in the suburbs, couldn't we just grind up the poor and homeless and make pet food out of them? Seems a lot more straightforward.

by oboe on Sep 24, 2012 9:47 am • link • report

@ oboe; it makes a lot more sense when you realize the guy pushing the idea (Leinberger) is a developer who specializes in townhouses.

by charlie on Sep 24, 2012 9:50 am • link • report

Ah, another article that lambasts town centers/anything built in a more traditionally urban context for lack of "Authenticity". Cue up the old brochures for neighborhoods built in 1900 that advertise new features/away from the city that are the same neighborhoods that people say are the most authentic today.

Anyway, the point of these clusters is that they can be connected. The author derides Reston but that is exactly what's happening there. The parking lots are being gradually replaced by more of whats made the core of Reston town center successful. I think we have to get used to the idea of providing lots of parking at first and then chipping away at what's there as more and more people get used to the idea of an area no longer being sub-urban

tl;dr if it looks like a city then it is. Trying to essentialize things like grit, or character is a fruitless exercise. My beloved dive bar is someone else's eyesore.

by drumz on Sep 24, 2012 9:53 am • link • report

Allow me to correct that

Fact: People want to live in walkable urban places.

Problems: 1. Many people have jobs in places in more or less distant from traditional urban centers, and doint want to pay a housing price premium for a long reverse commute. 2.Walkable urban places in traditional urban centers, at least ones with levels of crime acceptable to even moderately adventurously young folks and empty nesters, come at a HUGE premium in many metros - blame it on failure to deal with crime, blame it on NIMBYs, blame it on whatever - its still a fact 3. Similar to 2, there are families with school age children who want WUPs, and dont want to deal with innner city school districts, lotteries, charters, private schools etc.

Solution: Build new walkable urban places out in the suburbs.

Problem: These places are never perfectly like places in traditional cities - A. too little connectivity, B. too many chain storees C. architectural features some hip people do not like

Solutions A. Build better connectivity B. Wait for them to age C. Ignore "hipsters"

by AWalkerInTheCity on Sep 24, 2012 10:06 am • link • report

Oboe, the author is presuming that the reason people don't like cities is because of all the ancillary stuff he mentioned without considering that people may like the cities as they are and are simply fed up with how we currently build our suburbs.

by drumz on Sep 24, 2012 10:06 am • link • report

RTC is a problem in terms of connectivity - because you will never get change in Oakton, which seperates it from RR suburb Vienna to the SE, and most of non-TC Reston will not change, on Loudoun County to the west will not really change (though they WILL build faux town centers like One Loudoun) At best we will get a slightly bigger RTC and connectivity to Herndon. It will always be an island.

But that need not be the case everywhere.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Sep 24, 2012 10:08 am • link • report

I didn't mean to suggest that Reston will someday be an anchor of an urban grid from Arlington to Herndon (or wherever) but to suggest that RTC is growing and it's worthwhile to focus on the incremental changes as the area between the toll road and Baron Cameron Ave. will start to resemble a more traditional "downtown" for people who live in the surrounding suburbs.

Plus in a couple years it will be an island that also has rail access to the other islands developing in Tysons and such.

by drumz on Sep 24, 2012 10:15 am • link • report

Yes - but my hope for Tysons is that it will be more genuinely connected - to Falls Church to the SE, DunnLoring/Mosaic to the south, Mclean to the NE and maybe even Vienna. A connected corridor from TC to Falls Church to Arlington to DC is possible in a way that one out to Reston is not. Similarly the future lifestyle center to replace Landmark mall will connect with the (future) neourban beauregard corridor, to a relatively dense (if poorly laid out) NW alexandria area, to Shirlington and the rest of South Arlington - and in the eastern direction to Cameron Station and Old Town. The lifestyle center movement can be repositioned into aiding extended connectivity - I am concerned too much attention to RTC, which cannot, is obscuring that.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Sep 24, 2012 10:31 am • link • report

I get you,

I had used RTC as an example because it's a dramatic example of saying "this is a city and we're going to make it look like one" and its building on its strengths. But you're right that those other places are adding onto the strengths of the successful examples there. I think the common thread is that you need a place with a solid foundation. Vienna/Alexandria provide that for their places. RTC is providing that for the rest of Reston.

/incidentally I went out of my way this weekend to see the Mosaic district now that the theater is open. It's nice and hopefully it will eventually extend nicely to the Dunn-Loring station though Lee hwy needs a lot of work still.

by drumz on Sep 24, 2012 10:42 am • link • report

@ drumz,
You've nailed it. All this talk about "authenticity" is nonsense. Only time erases the erstaz quality of new architecture, although some buildings have a PeterPan complex, and are designed to only look good when new.

@Walker,
I can't believe we agree on something
C. Ignore "hipsters"

by Thayer-D on Sep 24, 2012 11:01 am • link • report

Rather than just writing off the actual cities and creating a million Disneyfied simulacrums in the suburbs, couldn't we just grind up the poor and homeless and make pet food out of them? 

Thats the Republican "final solution" but oddly, Dems are opposed.

by Falls Church on Sep 24, 2012 12:02 pm • link • report

 A connected corridor from TC to Falls Church to Arlington to DC is possible 

That's why we need light rail down 7!

One modification to your statement -- the last leg should be to Old Town rather than DC since building infrastructure all in one jurisdiction is much easier and faster than trying to get VA and DC to agree on something. The more conservative folks in VA will be automatically suspicious of something the antis will call "turning VA into DC

by Falls Church on Sep 24, 2012 12:10 pm • link • report

Maybe it really is the case that a park can't be carved out of that McMillan reservoir space, but I gaurantee there's a 100% chance that the Army Corps of engineers' answer to the inquiry would be negative no matter the actual facts.

by TM on Sep 24, 2012 12:11 pm • link • report

Reston? A "city?" lol

Ffx county has no "cities," only cookie-cutter suburban developments and is the least urbanized county within 20 miles of DC despite its 1mil+ pop.

by K Street on Sep 24, 2012 12:19 pm • link • report

What would be interesting is a walking tour of that route -- TC to Old Town.

by charlie on Sep 24, 2012 12:19 pm • link • report

@falls church

Nothing actually needs to be done to connect Arlington to DC - that connection already exists, IMO, between Rosslyn and Georgetown via the key bridge.

And yes, transit infrastructure from Tysons to and through Falls Church would be part of that.

As for Old Town - Rosslyn to Pentagon City to Old Town is well along already. Are you thinking Falls Church - Seven Corners - Baileys/Skyline - Fairlington - Shirlington - North Alexandria - Old Town ?

by AWalkerInTheCity on Sep 24, 2012 12:28 pm • link • report

Ffx county has no "cities,"

Tysons Corner is the 12th largest employment center in the country and the classic example of an edge city. As part of the Silver Line rezoning, unlimited density will be permitted at the metro stations and the tallest buildings in the DMV will likely be constructed there.

Presently, Rosslyn has FARs similar to K St.

by Falls Church on Sep 24, 2012 12:29 pm • link • report

Are you thinking Falls Church - Seven Corners - Baileys/Skyline - Fairlington - Shirlington - North Alexandria - Old Town ?

Yes, that's exactly what I'm thinking. I know it would be difficult and costly but easier than a separated blue line. Although we really need both.

by Falls Church on Sep 24, 2012 12:31 pm • link • report

Adding alerts to Metro's trip planner is a great idea. I hope they get all the kinks worked out. (Aside: I couldn't find any announcement by Metro. A blog post or something would be a great way for them to get some user feedback on changes like this.)

Another thing I hope they'll do is keep NextBus updated. When a bus stop moves and it's still listed in NextBus, it's really frustrating to sit there for half an hour until you realize the stop isn't there anymore...

by Gavin on Sep 24, 2012 12:59 pm • link • report

Ffx county has no "cities," only cookie-cutter suburban developments and is the least urbanized county within 20 miles of DC despite its 1mil+ pop.

Yet is much more diverse than the District of Columbia.

by Vinh An Nguyen on Sep 24, 2012 1:09 pm • link • report

K Street,

I presume you've heard of Tyson's Corner and Reston? You're correct that they are not formally cities and certainly I wouldn't say they're the not the most functional cities or urban environments (certainly Tyson's at the moment) but they strike me as more urban than say spring valley or woodridge in DC.

All that to say, it doesn't matter if it's incorporated as a city or not. Arlington county is vastly denser than most of Virginia's independent cities. Some places are still cities even if you don't like to go there.

by drumz on Sep 24, 2012 1:17 pm • link • report

@Gavin
Another thing I hope they'll do is keep NextBus updated. When a bus stop moves and it's still listed in NextBus, it's really frustrating to sit there for half an hour until you realize the stop isn't there anymore...

I have noticed that the nextbus website and my Android app are updated quite quickly after a stop moves or a route changes, but the iPhone app doesn't update the stop/route location for weeks/months. So it seems like it's a problem with the developers of the app.

by MLD on Sep 24, 2012 1:18 pm • link • report

And I can't ignore it. Isn't it incredibly self-evident that a someone who sells bikes is interested in getting people to take up cycling?

by drumz on Sep 24, 2012 1:34 pm • link • report

@ Falls Church
"Ffx county has no "cities,"
Tysons Corner is the 12th largest employment center in the country and the classic example of an edge city. As part of the Silver Line rezoning, unlimited density will be permitted at the metro stations and the tallest buildings in the DMV will likely be constructed there.

Presently, Rosslyn has FARs similar to K St."

Ha Tyson's Corner is even less of a city than Reston TC. Tysons Corner is just a really big glorified office park which are found in every county in the region to different degrees. TC has ZERO walkability and ZERO transit access (Silver Line isn't open yet). Driving down Route 7 is like driving down a commercial wasteland.

TC is just like that part of Bethesda north of the Beltway and between the I-270 spurs but on a larger scale--high end suburban mall adjacent to large F500 corporate complex. Ditto White Flint/North Bethesda, but at least they have a Metro Station.

Comparing Rosslyn to TC/Reston is like comparing night to day, which is why I said "Ffx county."

@Vinh An Nguyen
Yet is much more diverse than the District of Columbia.

I'm just gonna pretend you're joking, and that you didn't just call a 2/3 WASP suburb more diverse than DC.

@drumz
I presume you've heard of Tyson's Corner and Reston? You're correct that they are not formally cities and certainly I wouldn't say they're the not the most functional cities or urban environments (certainly Tyson's at the moment) but they strike me as more urban than say spring valley or woodridge in DC.

All that to say, it doesn't matter if it's incorporated as a city or not. Arlington county is vastly denser than most of Virginia's independent cities. Some places are still cities even if you don't like to go there.

I wasn't speaking so much to their being incorporated as much as I was talking about how urban they are, and they're neither.

In my mind Arlington County is a "city." Virginia's other big "cities" (Richmond and Hampton Roads cities) are low density, car-centric, and sprawling which is the typical pattern for every city south of DC and north of Orlando.

DC is obviously an urban city, even though it's level of density isn't uniform throughout. As far as walkable, transit-accessible, urban areas outside of DC are concerned the following would be true examples:
-DT Bethesda (best example)
-Rosslyn
-DT Silver Spring
-Ballston

by K Street on Sep 24, 2012 2:28 pm • link • report

I think then we'll just end up nitpicking on what makes a city (which is most of problem with the Salon article in the first place).

So to step back a bit, there is a difference between a place being a city and a place being urban. The former speaks mostly to qualifications like population and how its incorporated. The latter requires a little more finesse. Moreover, there is a gradient to how urban a place can be but it ends up boiling down to value judgments which ends up being very imprecise. Mostly that boils down to whether its urban enough for an individual.

Anyway, I still disagree that there isn't an urban presence in Fairfax. There clearly is and while the quality and scale is certainly up for debate and examination its still there.

by drumz on Sep 24, 2012 2:44 pm • link • report

"I'm just gonna pretend you're joking, and that you didn't just call a 2/3 WASP suburb more diverse than DC."

yeah ffx is not diverse

Signed
mr nguyen
mr Park chung ju
Mr singh
Mr lopez
Mr muhammed

And of course the folks who ARE white all WASPs

Like congressman Connolly, and Rabbi Aft, etc, etc.

by you are so right on Sep 24, 2012 3:16 pm • link • report

Ha Tyson's Corner is even less of a city than Reston TC.

It depends whether you consider an "edge city" to be a city. Tysons Corner is clearly the very definition of an edge city and there are plenty of experts who would consider an edge city to be a type of city.

I'm just gonna pretend you're joking, and that you didn't just call a 2/3 WASP suburb more diverse than DC.

It depends on how you define diversity. For example, I wouldn't call a place that is all one race (even if that one race is a minority) as diverse as a place of many races. Here are the stats:

% POPULATION, TOP TWO RACES
Fairfax -- 80% (white, asian)
DC -- 89% (black, white)

% POPULATION, TOP THREE RACES
Fairfax -- 96% (white, asian, hispanic)
DC -- 98.3% (black, white, hispanic)

% POPULATION, FOREIGN BORN
Fairfax -- 29%
DC -- 13%

The only way you could say that DC is more diverse than Fairfax is if you look at the % population of the top race. In DC that's 51% (black) while in FFX has a greater concentration in the top race at 63% (white).

by Falls Church on Sep 24, 2012 4:58 pm • link • report

@Falls Church

Asian, Black are generic terms which can many anyone should they should not even be counted.

Anyone from Israel to Russia to Papua New Guinea is Asian

You could have people from All over North America, South America, Africa, Southern Asia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Polynesia that could be considered black.

That 51% black can be a diverse population; people who are called black can be African American(descendants of slaves), African, Mulatto from Latin America/British America/Dutch America or people from Papua New Guinea, Australia, Solomon Islands etc.

by kk on Sep 24, 2012 11:41 pm • link • report

@kk

But, if you look at the stat for % foreign born, you'll see that the vast majority of blacks in DC are American-born, not from all over. You might meet a lot of African-born blacks in DC (like taxi drivers) but most of them actually live in the suburbs.

by Falls Church on Sep 25, 2012 10:39 am • link • report

@ Falls Church

There are also a lot of children of mixed local and foreign descent born here and abroad.

Being born here means nothing is the person a local makes a lot of difference ( I was born here but grew up in Oman, Sweden and New Zealand and later on returned to DC)

by kk on Sep 26, 2012 1:59 pm • link • report