I am not sure why identifying the meters cost is important as they will return millions in revenue per year that was currently going uncollected by the folks who simply put grandmas tag in their window and parked for free in front of their downtown office building all day.

Even if each of the meters on brings in 10 dollars a day (Monday thru Friday) which is low, thats 4.3 million a year in additional revenue.

by RedTop on Oct 9, 2012 8:57 am • link • report

RedTop: That's the Examiner—the number of dollars in the price tag for anything government does is a top headline, but the revenue, benefits, reasons, tradeoffs, and other elements besides the top line number are secondary or absent.

by David Alpert on Oct 9, 2012 9:03 am • link • report

As for Republicans hating cities, isn't it part of their "southern strategy" which is a euphomism for making whites feel uncomfortable with people who aren't white? Funny think is they foament this insecurity based on the idea that the malanin population will be hostile to them. Why would they think that?

by Thayer-D on Oct 9, 2012 9:07 am • link • report

RedTop: Actually, there was a different link I had wanted to include in the And, so I've swapped that one out for the other one that is more important.

by David Alpert on Oct 9, 2012 9:10 am • link • report

CEO cuts corners, trees, laughs at $1000 fine.

That would be $1000/130=$7.69 per tree cut. Cheapest permit ever. It cost him more to get his lawyer to write a statement faking showing remorse.

Anti-Muslim ads have been installed in 4 Metro stations.

It's funny that these ads are so controversial. It all depends on who you consider 'civilized'.
[I am not trying to start a flame war here. I am just commenting on the wording of the ad, not giving an opinion on the content of the ad.]

After spending billions on major highway construction, ... current funding insufficient to pay for maintenance.

How can we force politicians to reserve money of maintenance of infrastructure projects? This happens again and again. Metro is suffering the exact same problem.

by Jasper on Oct 9, 2012 9:42 am • link • report

Good on SHA for their plan for Kenilworth and a statement on accomdating everyone.

Re: the first link?

Some people are interested the history of an area. Others are not. Just because you don't particularly appreciate the line of business owners in a particular block doesn't mean that you obviously don't care about your neighborhood.

Moreover, having respect for the history of an area doesn't mean an extreme devotion to preserving the area as-is. Its possible to appreciate that Duke Ellington got his start on U street and be excited for a new apartment building that will have retail that will invariably house a frozen yogurt place.

by drumz on Oct 9, 2012 9:55 am • link • report

@Jasper-It's not really funny. Not at all. Really. It's pretty clear who the author thinks is civilized and who is not.

I'd love to see this Kenilworth Ave. project get started. It's going to be a long way down the funding line though. If you go through that section, at any time of day, you'll see loads of people on foot and bicycles. Despite the strip mall character of the buildings directly adjacent to it, people still walk. I like what Edmonston is trying to do and hope that the SHA can look for new solutions for Rt. 1 as well. Too bad if you use Kenilworth instead of the BW Parkway.

by thump on Oct 9, 2012 10:02 am • link • report

ADDENDUM: It's nice to see the changing city covered in the Post now. It at least has a wider audience thinking about it.

by drumz on Oct 9, 2012 10:04 am • link • report

@Thaddeus:

"Anti-Muslim" ads? How about "Anti-jihad" ads? "Pro-Israel" ads. There are a lot of ways to describe the ad pictured -- i.e. based on its actual content -- without inserting an inflammatory and judgmental inference.

by Arl Fan on Oct 9, 2012 10:09 am • link • report

Note: WAMU's headline called the ads anti-muslim (and they are). Not Thaddeus.

by drumz on Oct 9, 2012 10:13 am • link • report

The ads are crafted so that they could be read as referring only to people who target civilians (including children) as savages, OTOH they also hint that all Israel's adversaries fall in that category. I find the ads embarrassing and unhelpful - but then I find some other ads misleading and unhelpful (like the ones that show an Israeli social worker and a nice Palestinian together, and somehow infer from that that aid to Israel should be cut off) as well. In any case, the first amendment issue is out of WMATA's hands, and I don't think there is any other "GGW angle" to it. Can we get back to the zoning code, please? If I wanted ME politics debates, there are lots of places I could look. For discussions of development, transport, and planning in the DC area, there are few.

by ModerateZionist on Oct 9, 2012 10:29 am • link • report

Agree 100% with ModerateZionist on all accounts.

by selxic on Oct 9, 2012 10:41 am • link • report

Tragic about Bill Line. He could be an ass at times, but the remembrance linked shows his other side, and that nobody is a monolith. He clearly leaves behind a big hole in the places where he was active.

by OctaviusIII on Oct 9, 2012 11:04 am • link • report

It's pretty clear who the author thinks is civilized and who is not.

Yes, it's clear that the ad states the jihadists are not civilized. It's reasonable to assume we're talking about the common usage of the word jihad, which is the struggle against non-believers rather than the more metaphorical meaning which is the internal struggle to better yourself.

In a secular society like America, it's reasonable to call people who try to force their beliefs on you through a "struggle" uncivilized, especially if they are using force as most jihadists today use.

To call the ad anti-muslim unfairly chracterizes all muslims as jihadists when in fact, only a very small fraction of them are.

by Falls Church on Oct 9, 2012 11:18 am • link • report

There are a number of links that I thought were interesting, but I don't feel like commenting on them since it is just now through GGW that I found out about Bill Line's death. I knew him on a personal level and I always found him to be a nice, gregarious soul. RIP my friend.

by watcher on Oct 9, 2012 11:35 am • link • report

Sorry to read about Bill Line's passing as well. I've written critical posts on here about some of the things he's said in regards to DC's parks. But I also know that DC is only a miniscule part of the NPS, and Mr. Line did a fantastic job as a spokesperson for an agency that governs and protects some of the most beautiful places in the world. May he rest in peace.

by aaa on Oct 9, 2012 12:14 pm • link • report

@ thump:It's pretty clear who the author thinks is civilized and who is not.

Sure. And Coca-cola thinks they're better than Pepsi. Of course the author thinks he/they're better than the opponent. But it's an ad. A piece of marketing. Inherently biased. Just like all the other political ads. Do you ever read the crap you get the mail these days from the campaigns? If you believe it, every politician is lying POS doing the exact opposite of what he or she says [hmmm, well, that might actually be true...]

You do not have to believe what they say. In fact, you can think whatever you want. You can think the author is right. Or you can think he's a pompous ass. Whatever you want. That's the beauty of free thought.

I fully understand the subject is sensitive. But so are many ads. The Pentagon and Pentagon City metro stations are plastered with ads for war fighter planes. Quite a rarity. I doubt the Tube has those near the MOD in London. This is a political city, so you get political ads.

I'd rather have (offensive) political ads than a transit authority playing judge over what is and what is not offensive. That would be really offensive. And in DC, no republican would ever get an ad published.

Do I wish there were less ads? Of course. I get so tired that every morning I get harassed by two ad-folder dudes trying to stuff their ad-folder in my hands. They literally step in my way. I am stunned that many people believe those ad-folders are newspapers. I hate that in trains I have to look at bank ads.

And I get even more annoyed by all the people that think that metro stops are excellent places to hang around advocating for their cause. For this, against that. A couple of weeks ago, there was a pro-life demonstration on Friday afternoon at Franconia-Springfield. Why anybody would think that the subject of abortion is a good subject to raise to thousands of people coming home after a hot metro ride and a long week of work mystifies me. A beer ad perhaps, but nothing else please.

But that's the consequence of freedom of speech. People get to day think you like and stuff you don't like. And they get to lie about it.

And the fact that it happens at metro stops is a consequence of the fact that we don't want to pay higher fares or taxes to fund metro.

by Jasper on Oct 9, 2012 12:19 pm • link • report

@Falls Church

To call the ad anti-muslim unfairly chracterizes all muslims as jihadists when in fact, only a very small fraction of them are.

I think you and everyone else above who espouses that view needs to brush up on Pam Geller (who paid for the ad) and her ilk. According to her world view, you cannot be a Muslim without being a jihadist--the two are simply intertwined. Furthermore, she's regularly called for the deportation of all Muslims from the US (ironic for someone who hides behind the First Amendment), and people through her blog routinely call for Muslims to be "wiped out."

And if you think this is all talk, well, tell that to the families of the 77 people murdered in Norway last summer by Anders Behring Breivik, who was a regular contributor to the Atlas Shrugs blog, and believed the killings would wake people up to the "Muslim threat" facing the country.

by Circle Thomas on Oct 9, 2012 12:20 pm • link • report

Yates article in the Post is right on. Washington was a Scotch-Irish/German/Irish/Jewish/Greek/African-American city.

But then he goes on to repeat the newbie conventional wisdom that whites fled DC after the '68 riots when it was actually after the '54 school integration.

by Tom Coumaris on Oct 9, 2012 12:24 pm • link • report

Whatever her view is, the ads in question do not state that (though they can be read to imply that).

We do not limit first amendment rights to those who believe in them (there was a rally the other day near the white house by muslims against blasphemy - their rally was protected by the first amendment, though their understanding of it conflicts with SCOTUS). If we did, we would have a different public sphere.

by ModerateZionist on Oct 9, 2012 12:42 pm • link • report

@Tom Coumaris

Actually, Clinton specifically cites school deseggregation as the cause for white flight:

"When the Brown v. Board of Education decision led to the integration of public schools, white families took flight."

by TM on Oct 9, 2012 1:22 pm • link • report

Alot of the "white flight" from DC into Maryland can be attributed to post-War wealth, the rise of the automobile, and highway construction. Many young people who moved to Washington in the 1940s wanted to keep their jobs but move to communities that more resembled the towns where they grew up.

by Jim T on Oct 9, 2012 2:53 pm • link • report

"move to communities that more resembled the towns where they grew up." The early postwar suburbs weren't exactly that. they were the look alike houses on often treeless lots that dot much of places like Wheaton, College Park, Silver Spring Langley Park and other relatively close-in suburbs. many people came here from big cities others came from small towns which frankly would have resembled tidy neighborhoods in outer parts of DC proper. The GI Bill and VA mortgages did much to push people out because they supported new construction and tolerated segregation.

by Rich on Oct 9, 2012 5:30 pm • link • report

Wow, that is really sad about Bill Line. Excellent column by Dvorak.

First time I've ever seen a Post article with 100% respectful comments. I guess they are moderating pretty heavily now - and frankly I'm glad to see it, since their comments used to be just a zoo of hatred.

by DavidDuck on Oct 9, 2012 9:27 pm • link • report

Regarding Geller's ads

I am neither a judge nor a WMATA official. Maybe placing those ads in Metro and NYC Subways are covered by the first amendment - a lot of things are.

But you gotta call it the way you see it.

It is hateful evil stuff. It's not like some other propaganda about the ME that is simplistic or distorted. It says one side is civilized and the other is not, full stop. Distorting the truth to that degree is vile racism, which history has shown to be dangerous, dangerous stuff. Some Googling of Geller and her crowd will quickly, as Circle Thomas has mentioned, show you how racist and inflammatory she is.

I don't know whether WMATA can refuse her material. But I do know it is racist. And I know that it is critical that when you see overt or covert racism you call it out and condemn it. Full stop.

by DavidDuck on Oct 9, 2012 9:38 pm • link • report

Yates does mention the '54 exodus but in the next sentence also says that areas became black enclaves after the '68 riots. In fact '68 was about the time that predominately white renovation of certain neighbors started.

At any rate, the uniqueness of Washington was that it was from about the 1880's until the late 1950's a genuinely multicultural city. In my own block of S there was a Greek community, an Italian presence, and an African-American Harlem Renaissance type community. And there were several mixed-race couples. My own house had an Italian husband and an African-American wife who was refused maternity delivery at Providence Hospital. (The child came to visit me regularly for 30 years until her death).

But that didn't detract from the surrounding ethnic families accomplishments, including The Pelecanos family of George Pelecanos. To try and ethically cleanse the history of non-African-Americans in the city because of some political correctness misses the uniqueness of the way Washington was.

by Tom Coumaris on Oct 10, 2012 12:38 am • link • report

"SHA goes on a diet"

Another selfish attempt to Discriminate against People that drive cars and choose to live in the Maryland Suburbs. If they remove lanes on MD Highway 201 then it will create a serious traffic Bottleneck due to a large population of people using the Highway to commute in and out of DC, University of Maryland, and Greenbelt and it is an alternative to the B-W Parkway when there is a traffic incident on 295.

If that plan is such a smart idea then they(VDOT) would be pushing for reducing lanes on US Highway 1(Arlington, Alexandria, and Fairfax County) and VA Highway 7(Alexandria, Falls Church, Tysons Corner, Reston, and Sterling) for adding Bike Lanes and Light Rail.

by Richad on Oct 10, 2012 12:50 am • link • report

Another selfish attempt to Discriminate against People that drive cars and choose to live in the Maryland Suburbs.

So a road that only goes through maryland, and is administered by a Maryland agency. And will soon have light rail service that only goes through maryland is discriminating against people who live in maryland?

And Light rail along 7 and US 1 is a good idea. Its not like those roads are gonna get wider either.

and finally, a street that only serves cars and doesn't do anything to safely accomodate cyclists or pedestrians is a discriminatory road towards those users.

by drumz on Oct 10, 2012 9:33 am • link • report

@ Richad:If that plan is such a smart idea then they(VDOT) would be pushing for reducing lanes on US Highway 1(Arlington, Alexandria, and Fairfax County) and VA Highway 7(Alexandria, Falls Church, Tysons Corner, Reston, and Sterling) for adding Bike Lanes and Light Rail.

Well, there is a significant push to get a streetcar along US-1 in Arlandia. There is a significant push to extend the Yellow Line along US-1. I can only dream of metro along VA-7. And you're forgetting US-50 from the Mall to Middleburg, which is turning into a traffic light hell.

by Jasper on Oct 10, 2012 9:56 am • link • report

In a secular society like America, it's reasonable to call people who try to force their beliefs on you through a "struggle" uncivilized, especially if they are using force as most jihadists today use.

You mean like the way the United States used force to force our beliefs in democracy and capitalism on Iraq?

by David C on Oct 12, 2012 9:59 pm • link • report