Parking
Lunch links: Protect yourself
Live chat at 1: Our first of what will hopefully become a series of live chats is today at 1 pm. This time, it will feature Greater Greater Washington contributors. Bring your questions!
"NIMBY insurance"? Ryan Avent suggests a clever economic solution to resident opposition to change. If some residents, like the vocal folks in Brookland, are so worried that future development in their neighborhood will reduce their property values, and if having most of your net worth in a home makes people extra nervous about changes that might impact property values, how about allowing people to hedge that risk? Many of us believe the development would actually enhance the neighborhood and drive values up. The city or developers could even pay the premiums in exchange for smoother approvals.
Curb cuts are bad for many reasons: Georgetown's ANC rejected a curb cut because, rightly, it takes away on-street parking to give people off-street parking. But, Georgetown Metropolitan explains, it's also bad a for a host of other reason having nothing to do with other people's parking.
Bus driver assault spree? Yesterday, a number 53 bus driver assaulted a cyclist. It turns out that on Saturday, a number 52 bus driver punched McGruff the crime dog in the head. The MPD definitely takes bus driver assaults seriously when committed against their own officers. Same driver? Or is there something in the air on the 14th Street bus corridor?
From DC CTO to federal CIO: Vivek Kundra will be the new federal Chief Information Officer, everyone is reporting. He did a good job making DC much more open and accessible, through better systems, posting data feeds and encouraging mashups. It'd be great if he can do the same at the federal level.
 | David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington. He has had a lifelong interest in great cities and great communities. 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.   |
Comments
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by Froggie on Mar 5, 2009 1:11 pm
Now, I realize those that view the creation of parking as a bad thing. But fact is we have cars right now, and people need to park 'em. I'd rather not see the cars than see 'em.
by ah on Mar 5, 2009 4:20 pm
by NikolasM on Mar 5, 2009 4:25 pm
Also, the on-street space is public. The off-street space is not. When someone parked on the street takes the car to go somewhere, say to the mall, then someone else visiting that neighborhood can park there. If we take the space away, now the off-street space will stay vacant much of the time. We shouldn't be designing our neighborhoods with 3 times as many spaces as cars (one for home, work, and shopping). Cars should be sharing the spaces that exist.
Finally, having on-street parking narrows the feel of the street. That makes cars move more slowly, which is safer. The cars also provide a safety buffer that protects pedestrians from the traffic. The street in the picture is not wider than many residential streets, but it feels like a higher speed street now. It also makes the area feel more car-oriented and less walkable.
by David Alpert on Mar 5, 2009 4:27 pm
by ah on Mar 5, 2009 4:33 pm
by NikolasM on Mar 5, 2009 5:11 pm
by Gavin Baker on Mar 5, 2009 9:44 pm
by w on Mar 6, 2009 8:58 am
by ah on Mar 7, 2009 9:03 pm
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=596&sid=1618186
by Jazzy on Mar 8, 2009 8:41 am
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