Dinner links: bikes, brothels and bloggers

Pedestrians

Dinner links: bikes, brothels and bloggers

by David Alpert • March 3, 2009 6:38 pm

Bike lane blockers: In this comic strip, we see what happens when our hero runs across a car parked in the bicycle lane. No, no cars get keyed. (Tip: Steven)

MoCo launches project viewer: Montgomery County launched a new Web tool providing "three-dimensional and animated views of proposed development." It's pretty good, though it would be even better if it included complete plans. Basically, all the drawings and schematics that a developer files with zoning officials ought to go on this site. And the rest of the jurisdictions should do it too.

There was sex in George Washington's day: A local property owner got fed up with Alexandria's historic preservationists rejecting plans for an addition. So he rented his space to a sex shop. Preservationists are even more upset now.

Commenter spookiness wrote, "Sex existed in GW's day, and I'm thrilled that Old Town has a sex shop right in the "historic" center! How Euro! I think it would be VERY cool if they did their mannequins up in 18th century whore-couture, or curated an exhibition of some sort. Alexandria was a port town, so you know there was some of that business going on. Don't whitewash history." Slate's Brian Palmer either read the comment or had the same idea, because an hour and a half later he published an article on the same topic. No, there weren't sex toy shops, but there were brothels.

Gaithersburg neighborhood to get sidewalks: Some neighbors in Quince Orchard Knolls don't want sidewalks, because they'll lose a few parking spaces. They'll probably get them anyway. (Gazette)

Another argument against modern buildings: Beatus Est argues that modern buildings are less sustainable than old ones. In rejecting the past, the architectural style also rejected all the things that architects figured out about drainage and energy efficiency over centuries.

Tragedy of the cul-de-sacs: Ryan Avent applies "collective action" economic thinking to cul-de-sacs. Each street benefits from cutting itself off to traffic, but the rest of the community suffers. Among other problems, fire trucks take longer to reach homes, costing taxpayers more money.

We appreciate you, Dan: Just Up the Pike's Dan Reed points out that he wrote several times on families and urbanism just days before our article. I have no idea if Cavan did or didn't see Dan's posts, but they're excellent as well. I, for one, am a strong proponent of linking to whatever site gives you inspiration for a post.

Streetcar and pedestrian Tommy: Councilmember Tommy Wells spoke to the H Street-Benning Road Streetcar Alliance about his belief in streetcars as a "transformative investment" and how well they work in other cities around the world. He, along with Jim Graham, also formally introduced a bill to create a Pedestrian Advisory Council, modeled on the existing Bicycle Advisory Council.

And: DC sold a Mount Vernon Triangle lot to a church for a dollar; Apple slightly modified their Georgetown store proposal; Rockville Central has a picture of when Rockville tore down its downtown to build new auto-dependent sprawl, only to reverse itself decades later.

19 comments

Tags: Alexandria, bike lanes, Gaithersburg, Georgetown, historic preservation, links, modernism, Montgomery, Mount Vernon Triangle, pedestrians, road connectivity, Rockville, sidewalks, streetcars, technology, Tommy Wells

Three years ago, GGW was born (Feb 6, 2011)
Streetcars getting closer in Alexandria (Mar 2, 2009)
DDOT moving streetcar toward actual residents (Oct 23, 2008)
M Street bike lane details emerge (Dec 1, 2009)
Olde Towne Gaithersburg: He who hesitated was lost (Apr 13, 2009)

David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.

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"Beatus Est argues that modern buildings are sustainable"

I assume this should read "less sustainable."

by RichardatCourthouse on Mar 3, 2009 7:03 pm • link • report

Thank you. All is forgiven.

by dan reed on Mar 3, 2009 7:33 pm • link • report

Oh Mancur Olson. Is there anything you can't do? Advent actually makes a really good point. If only it were more widely realize by planning types.

by Distantantennas on Mar 3, 2009 8:12 pm • link • report

In one aspect of his criticism, Boots is conflating the abysmal decline in quality and longevity across all techniques from 1930 to today with the development of Modernism. The former is largely due to the end of the apprenticeship system during the Great Depression and World War II and the later rise of consumer culture, rather than being simply the choice of materials and the detailing, The rising cost of even a half-decent bricklayer was not reasonable for most people. A brick wall built in 1970 needs repointing more often than one built in 1890. Drywall just doesn't match the durability of hand-applied plaster. But it's also a lot cheaper. If the Plaza is using fiberglass moulding and precast concrete is seen as being just like limestone even by traditional builders, it's not just the style.

He also makes a mistake in asserting that the older Yale building have never been renovated, but that is simply untrue.

by цarьchitect on Mar 3, 2009 8:37 pm • link • report

So, where is the car supposed to "stand" while loading passengers, unloading groceries, etc? It IS afterall legal (and necessary) for a motorist to stop ("stand" in traffic terms) on most of our city streets. It seems like the bike lanes haven't been well thought out since these types of issues apparently haven't been addressed. Don't blame the driver for doing what is legal and necessary, blame the people who are allowing the introduction of bike lanes without first addressing these types of issues.

by Lance on Mar 3, 2009 9:43 pm • link • report

clarification: I'm not saying it is legal to "stand" in a bike lane. I am saying it is legal (and absolutely necessary) to "stand" on the street for loading/unloading things and picking up/dropping off passengers. When you squeeze a bike lane into a street that already barely has room for a driving lane and this legal standing, where do you propose motorists "stand"? If we had performance parking policies in place, there might be a reasonable chance of being able to "stand" curbside, but given we don't, there isn't.

by Lance on Mar 3, 2009 10:09 pm • link • report

You're right. Bike lanes don't work very well, for several reasons. They're failings are why cycle tracks are entering the discussion in some cities.

by BeyondDC on Mar 3, 2009 11:35 pm • link • report

Their.

:facepalm:

by BeyondDC on Mar 3, 2009 11:36 pm • link • report

We need to focus Gabe Klein and the DC council on how we are going to power the streetcars inside L'Enfant city (including the crucial H Street line). This needs to addressed ASAP if we are going to implement streetcars in a timely manner.

by SG on Mar 3, 2009 11:43 pm • link • report

The answer is no, there isn't anything Mancur Olson can't do.

by Gavin Baker on Mar 3, 2009 11:45 pm • link • report

BeyondDC, good illustration. Yeah, cycle tracks seem the way to go. Would work well in areas with wide streets such as Arlington and Silver Spring. Much less so in DC though where the only really streets wide enough to accomodate them are also our "monumental streets" such as Pennsylvania Avenue. Of course we already have a pretty good path system in many areas. On the narrower streets, sharing lanes with other traffic is probably the best route to go when the needs of all (i.e., bicyclist, motorist, and pedestrian) are considered.

by Lance on Mar 4, 2009 12:58 am • link • report

Not quite everything you want from Montgomery County, but it's being worked on:

http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/development/daic/

by james on Mar 4, 2009 6:21 am • link • report

One solution would be to eliminate some street parking to create a lane, and filter in some dedicated loading space if rear/alley loading isn't available.

by William on Mar 4, 2009 6:44 am • link • report

With some of the "narrower streets", how about having a wider outside lane and utilizing signage and "sharrow" painting in the street. This is being planned in a few other areas (including my hometown), and I've seen it firsthand in this region on Mt. Vernon Ave in Alexandria.

by Froggie on Mar 4, 2009 7:51 am • link • report

Dan, sorry I didn't mean to look like I was ripping you off. I have a subscription to GQ magazine and the article that I linked to got me thinking. It was a sentiment that I've had for a while but the magazine article gave a nationally published example of the concepts that we agree on. (comment cross-posted on Dan Reed's excellent Just Up the Pike blog.)

by Cavan on Mar 4, 2009 9:35 am • link • report

Oh, but um (has nobody asked this before?) why don't they combine the bicycle and pedestrian advisory committees? (A number of cities do.) Is the bike committee's agenda so packed that they can't take on any more work? It seems they'd share much of the agenda and some of the membership (staff will need to liaise with both, etc.).

by Gavin Baker on Mar 4, 2009 9:50 am • link • report

bike lanes and share lanes don't work because some people were just not raised right

people drive like idiots and assholes

their actions are without logic

absent of common sense and common courtesy

the driving style of people today does not get them any faster

in fact their efforts do not facilitate flow but blocks flow

people suck

enough on that

thanks for the cartoon

gwadzilla

http://gwadzilla.blogspot.com/

a bicycle blog from Washington DC

by gwadzilla on Mar 4, 2009 10:04 am • link • report

tsarchitect:

I don't believe I asserted that the Yale buildings had never been renovated or maintained, but that they had not had MAJOR renovations, at least not at the level that 1970s buildings were receiving. I might add I've only heard the story second hand, and as such facts may be fuzzy, but if presented with the true facts, I'll be glad to be corrected, though I doubt I'll need to be.

Quality and longevity may indeed be due to material quality, but I argue that the detailing, and specifically the lack of details that properly accept the facts of nature, affect the longevity of the building to a much larger extent. A building that allows water to run down the surface of the facade, or allow water and ice to pool up on a roof will have significant problems very quickly in its lifetime.

I give you the example of the Army Navy Club on Farragut Square, which I look at from my drafting table every day. On rainy days, the new addition, glommed onto the roof, with very poor detailing, allows water to run down the surface of the mouldings and the surface of the brick. The original building has a large cornice that keeps water from cascading down the surface of the building. Brick is NOT impermeable, and allowing water to run down this surface, and allowing it to run over windows and into the steel lintels of the windows is asking for trouble.

These sorts of "details" have been used now since the rise of Modernism with disastrous results. Classical details such as cornices, string courses and pediments are NOT just a pretty face, they have jobs to do keeping a building free from water and its deleterious effects. Certainly there are poorly built classical buildings all over, but most function well.

Modernist buildings, by ignoring nature entirely are sure to fail, what is so sustainable about that?

by Boots on Mar 4, 2009 12:41 pm • link • report

I'm not disagreeing entirely, eaves and cornices are there for a reason. If you have some empirical resources, do pass them on. You may enjoy a book called Form Follows Fiasco, which talks at length about water infiltration in bauhaus buildings.

At Yale, I know the Residential Colleges were considerably renovated in the 70s, although not as much as they are being renovated now. One thing to remember is that buildings built in 1920 and 1970 are essentially the same on the technology front, perhaps gaining AC in the intervening time. This technology upgrade contributes a lot to Yale's current program of renovation, as well as elsewhere.

The materials thing stands, though. That fact that most renovations of modernist structures are to gut the building and leave the shell suggest that the bits and pieces are not durable. Drywall and drop ceilings, especially.

by цarьchitect on Mar 4, 2009 6:21 pm • link • report