I feel that the religious right will freak over government predestination standards.

by Mike on Mar 1, 2013 8:26 am • link • report

That Post article on the Va transportation bill was very convincing. It doesn't sound like people should be banking on that extra income coming in.

by JW on Mar 1, 2013 8:35 am • link • report

Mike, you beat me to it! LOL.

by phil on Mar 1, 2013 8:35 am • link • report

I am not exactly a fan of Sarles, but he isn't the worse GM Metro has had. More importantly, regardless of whether Sarles just intends to RIP this job ("retire in place", basically people filling chairs, putting forth no effort because the money is great and they are near retirement), having someone in the office for some length of time is better than finding a new GM every 18 months which is what Metro had done for awhile before him.

by Drr on Mar 1, 2013 8:50 am • link • report

Well, since they seem to be committed to Sarles at this point all I can hope for is that they don't replace Kubicek with yet another person from NJ Transit. They really need people with more willingness to be transparent and open.

by MLD on Mar 1, 2013 9:01 am • link • report

With all due respect to Pete Seeger, it's not possible to "keep" Alexandria's waterfront "beautiful." Much of it now ugly and underused. People can quibble about the details of the City's plan, but the status quo benefits few people other than some mostly very wealthy home owners who prefer parking lots to a vibrant waterfront they'd have to share with everybody else.

by jimble on Mar 1, 2013 9:01 am • link • report

Mike: Hahahaha... I've corrected it.

by David Alpert on Mar 1, 2013 9:05 am • link • report

That Orlando neighborhood is amazing.

As I recall, the neighborhood in which Trayvon Martin was killed, in nearby Sanford, was similarly sprawling and disconnected.

http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&q=28.79295,+-81.32965&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x88e71298319af187:0x3ec0dea07d8fd9d4,%2B28%C2%B0+47%27+34.58%22,+-81%C2%B0+19%27+47.15%22&gl=us&sa=X&ei=1bUwUdr8HIjz0gHm3IHgCg&ved=0CDAQ8gEwAA

by Frank IBC on Mar 1, 2013 9:08 am • link • report

I doubt from the note that Seeger has any idea whats going on in Old Town - orobably thinks modernizing involves tearing down historic properties. That said, I guess opposing the policies supported by the legally elected govt of Alexandria, which was returned by a strong majority, would be consistent with Seeger's long time sympathy for Stalinism. Mayor Euille is in good company as someone attacked by Seeger - FDR was as well.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Mar 1, 2013 9:12 am • link • report

Psychologists discover rich jerks care less about other people. More on this story at 11.

by Alan B. on Mar 1, 2013 9:24 am • link • report

It's one thing to say, well, Sarles is doing a decent job with the bad hand he was dealt, and leadership stability is important. I get that.

But the two quotes from the Board are so out-of-touch with Metro reality that they boggle the mind:

[Sarles is] fully committed to safety [and] is an effective leader

We really think he's doing a great job

Apparently the only standard by which Sarles is being measured is whether an accident as deadly as that of the Red Line crash has occurred on his watch. Never mind the number of less-dramatic yet still-egregious safety failures -- incidents that suggest it's less that Sarles has improved things, and more that he's been lucky that none of the close calls has been an actual, mass-casualty accident.

But anyone who saw that the Board was awarding generous bonuses to all -- including the PR & communications people, for god's sake -- would have known that they think all is peachy-dandy with WMATA.

by Bitter Brew on Mar 1, 2013 9:26 am • link • report

It's apparent that Pete Seeger knows at least as much about what's in the Alexandria Waterfront Plan as most of the opponents do.

Which isn't very impressive. But I'm off to try and convince Merle Haggard to write a song about stopping for pedestrians in crosswalks.

by drumz on Mar 1, 2013 9:28 am • link • report

Also I'm impressed with the Orlando story. I thought I had it bad in my various neighborhoods of Northern Va.

It's similarly bemusing when I try to go to my friend's house in McLean and I have to call and ask him what his house number is/how to get to the weird interior space not actually connected to any street apartment he lives in while he can't figure out that I live on the 300 block of a particular street and that if he's parked at the 500 block that means he's two blocks away.

Then again lord help you if you call me for directions and I tell you to head in a cardinal direction rather than left/right.

by drumz on Mar 1, 2013 9:32 am • link • report

Drumz, there is actually a tribe in New Guinea or somewhere in the Pacific in which the people describe ALL movements in terms of absolute, cardinal direction rather than "left", "right", "in front of", "behind", or any other terminology relative to the persons involved.

by Frank IBC on Mar 1, 2013 9:38 am • link • report

None of the boneheads in the legislature or executive branch realized that it was unconstitutional before voting 'yes' on it? Politics is frustrating.

by m2fc on Mar 1, 2013 9:42 am • link • report

The Orlando piece is a non-story trying to make a point while missing several others.

by selxic on Mar 1, 2013 9:44 am • link • report

Frank,
I read about that once. I'm not trained to always know my cardinal directions but in downtown DC where the streets are literally plotted out on the cardinal directions then it shouldn't be hard.

Selxic,
You don't think street connectivity is a big deal? It has all sorts of ramifications from traffic management, to bike safety, to being able to get un-lost easier. This is an extreme example but a big thing that hampered me from biking more in Fairfax when I lived there was the absolute unavoidance of certain streets.

by drumz on Mar 1, 2013 9:52 am • link • report

@drumz

I'm with you!! I'm always telling people things are north or east or whatever, and they look at me like I'm speaking another language. DC is a perfect place for directional orientation (It's right there in the street names! Alphabetic names one way, numbers another, and all streets are NE/SW etc, what more could you want?) I think a lot of people just have trouble placing themselves on a mental map, in a matter of speaking.

by CapHill on Mar 1, 2013 9:57 am • link • report

And unlike Manhattan, the addresses follow the cross-streets.

by Frank IBC on Mar 1, 2013 9:59 am • link • report

I love the study on class and behavior! Its like an Onion article but its peer-reviewed science. This is the best:

..the higher a person's class, the more likely they were to ... pilfer sweets meant for children in a neighbouring lab.

Haha! They were literally stealing candy from babies.

by Tina on Mar 1, 2013 9:59 am • link • report

Some people find the overlay of the avenues over the north-south and east-west street grid to be confusing. It isn't, really. The orientation of most avenues makes it obvious whether they follow the north-south or east-west streets in terms of addresses. The only really confusing street is Massachusetts Avenue, which shifts direction slightly through its course and in some areas is at nearly a 45 angle between north-south and east-west.

by Frank IBC on Mar 1, 2013 10:04 am • link • report

Seeger's long time sympathy for Stalinism.
What??

by Tina on Mar 1, 2013 10:13 am • link • report

@AWITC -its time to update;
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/01/arts/music/01seeg.html?_r=0

by Tina on Mar 1, 2013 10:21 am • link • report

Seeger's long time sympathy for Stalinism.
What??

http://www.nysun.com/arts/seeger-speaks-and-sings-against-stalin/61666/

by oboe on Mar 1, 2013 10:24 am • link • report

It has all sorts of ramifications from traffic management, to bike safety, to being able to get un-lost easier.

It also has public safety ramifications. If police/fire/ems turn down the wrong street they can't just take the next right/left to get to the correct one, they have to head out of the subdivision, get back on an arterial, then turn into the next subdivision. It can substantially slow response times.

by thump on Mar 1, 2013 10:29 am • link • report

The Orlando story reminded me of living on a cul de sac in high school. It wasn't quite that bad, but it was pretty bad.

In that neighborhood, kids cut through yards all the time. My parents made my sister and I ask the neighbors if they minded. Long after my sister and I left, my parents were known as being ok with the fact that walking up their driveway, behind the compost pile, and through the break in the trees, was the established path to the pool. I hope the people who bought their house when they retired didn't mind.

by Kate W. on Mar 1, 2013 10:39 am • link • report

I don't personally have a huge problem windy, circuitous roads. I think from a pedestrian bike point of view, it's really important to have trails or other connections that make sure that an inefficient road network doesn't become completely hostile to people trying to get around by other means. The issue in Orlando could have been solved in my mind by including a few logical trail connections. Of course I'd guess this is the kind of place that doesn't have much in the way of sidewalks or bike lanes anyway. But for me it's more about removing barriers than requiring everything to be 100% efficient.

by Alan B. on Mar 1, 2013 10:46 am • link • report

It also has public safety ramifications. If police/fire/ems turn down the wrong street they can't just take the next right/left to get to the correct one, they have to head out of the subdivision, get back on an arterial, then turn into the next subdivision. It can substantially slow response times.

Which also explains traffic congestion. All traffic of any kind must funnel onto those arterial roads, as there are few alternative routes. You force all the traffic through those few choke points and you will end up with a much greater level of congestion on those roads than you would see if you had a well-connected street grid for buildings of the same density.

That kind of street network a) makes all trips longer, b) forces them all to use the same arterials, c) limits route choices to a few common options, and d) effectively eliminates the option for non-auto trips. All of those increase congestion.

There is a very valid public reason for banning those kinds of street layouts.

by Alex B. on Mar 1, 2013 10:52 am • link • report

Which granted, the thought behind those arterials was that it would decrease traffic in neighborhoods, make it safer for kids to play, etc. but you have to balance with the cost of decreased mobility and that frequently the only solution is to make the arterials wider and wider or grade separate the intersections.

In my old neighborhood in fairfax adjacent to GMU the streets had a nice middle ground. They were had winds and turns but they all still connected to one another meaning I had multiple ways of egress out of the neighborhood.

by drumz on Mar 1, 2013 10:58 am • link • report

The "Springfield Flasher/Peeping Thomasina" incident a few years ago happened along a path like the one that Kate W. describes.

by Frank IBC on Mar 1, 2013 11:07 am • link • report

The street grid in the Orlando is a crazy story. I'm sure it's well outside the norm but geez. DCStreets could've found a more relevant item though.

Not sure why the anti-helmet'rs didn't focus enough on the 3-foot bill. A little focus on the important matters can go a long way.

It is about time for METRO to close it's CEO revolving door. Well, past time actually.

The McMillan renderings certainly look nice. But I question whether a park is the best use of that space...considering it's access to metro.

by HogWash on Mar 1, 2013 11:38 am • link • report

The street grid in the Orlando is a crazy story. I'm sure it's well outside the norm but geez.

A seven mile diversion might be more than normal, but those kinds of really long routes to get to things right next to one another, sadly, is the norm.

The severity of that case might be exceptional, but the core issue is not exceptional at all.

by Alex B. on Mar 1, 2013 11:44 am • link • report

considering it's access to metro.

The McMillan site is over a mile from the nearest Metro station I think.

by MLD on Mar 1, 2013 11:46 am • link • report

I had the same thought on McMillan. It's surrounded by a cemetery, a reservoir, and a hospital center. As it is right between two universities so I hope they at least considering selling it to one of them to use for housing or facilities that would generate economic returns. However, it is only the southern quarter that will be used for the park, so that's probably reasonable. I doubt it will serve as more than a local amenity though.

by Alan B. on Mar 1, 2013 11:50 am • link • report

A seven mile diversion might be more than normal, but those kinds of really long routes to get to things right next to one another, sadly, is the norm.

Oh ok. It hasn't been my experience growing up in the South but I haven't lived everywhere.

The McMillan site is over a mile from the nearest Metro station I think.

Yeah I know. I used to live 2blocks from Brookland Metro. Not sure your point here.

by HogWash on Mar 1, 2013 11:54 am • link • report

The street grid in the Orlando is a crazy story. I'm sure it's well outside the norm but geez. DCStreets could've found a more relevant item though.
Here are some local examples.

https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Wye+Oak+Commons+Cir&daddr=Wood+Flower+Ct&hl=en&ll=38.7898,-77.292767&spn=0.00756,0.0212&sll=38.790687,-77.293625&sspn=0.00756,0.0212&geocode=FYztTwIdloxk-w%3BFdbsTwIdXZFk-w&mra=me&mrsp=0,1&sz=16&t=m&z=16

and http://goo.gl/maps/iDMDa

by drumz on Mar 1, 2013 11:56 am • link • report

Also on the McMillan plan, this from the article annoyed me:
Well, UrbanTurf got its hands on a few more detailed renderings of the park, and frankly, it looks incredible. Above and below are what could be DC’s (albeit much smaller) version of NYC’s Central Park.

Have these people ever been to Central Park? Because it's not a flat, treeless wasteland like the one depicted in the mockup for McMillan. Central Park has shade, and places to sit down and relax on a hot day.

DC has too much of an obsession with "open space", probably because all the monumental spaces in the city are designed this way.

by MLD on Mar 1, 2013 11:57 am • link • report

Now in fairfax, the county has done a good job preserving a lot of stream valleys which creates nice long bands of greenery between neighborhoods but again that can come at the cost of a lot of strain on a few arterials. Couple that with car dependency found via single use zoning and that just exacerbates it further.

by drumz on Mar 1, 2013 11:59 am • link • report

Yeah I know. I used to live 2blocks from Brookland Metro. Not sure your point here.

What was your point in mentioning Metro access then? Seems like you thought there are better uses for the space than a park - presumably housing/commercial because of Metro? But it's pretty far from Metro, especially compared to other places in this part of the city. Maybe you could clarify.

by MLD on Mar 1, 2013 12:01 pm • link • report

DC has too much of an obsession with "open space",probably because all the monumental spaces in the city are designed this way.

That and a general desire to prevent development and keep parking (perceivably) easier but wanting something that sounds nice to deflect from that.

by drumz on Mar 1, 2013 12:06 pm • link • report

I wondered whether there were better uses for the space than a park because it wasn't close to metro. You responded that it was over a mile away, essentially repeating what I said. That's why I was confused.

by HogWash on Mar 1, 2013 12:10 pm • link • report

Here is another one that use to infuriate me as I would sit in traffic trying to go any direction. But GMU is planning on making this a real connection. It gets worse if you move the waypoints into the the neighborhood.

http://goo.gl/maps/3ScT4

by drumz on Mar 1, 2013 12:10 pm • link • report

I don't know what Hogwash meant but I actually think it's too far from the metro and it's location makes it not the greatest for a local park that size. It's going to end up serving a relatively small area.

by Alan B. on Mar 1, 2013 12:17 pm • link • report

DC is a perfect place for directional orientation

No, it is not because most main throughway are diagonals that make no sense to noobs. Also, many of the grid streets are discontinuous and interspersed with extra streets. Sure, finding 35th & P Sts NW is easy. But try and find the intersection of North Dakota and Kansas Aves and that handy grid is useless.

Try to get a new person in DC to follow FL Ave from begin to end. They won't be able to. Try it with DE Ave and nobody can.

by Jasper on Mar 1, 2013 12:52 pm • link • report

Under the Virginia Constitution, all taxes levied must be equal in all areas, so could that mean the recently passed Virginia transportation bill is unconstitutional?

If Dems get this law thrown out for that reason, they have their ultimate revenge on Gov McDonald.

by Jasper on Mar 1, 2013 12:53 pm • link • report

Under the Virginia Constitution, all taxes levied must be equal in all areas, so could that mean the recently passed Virginia transportation bill is unconstitutional?

Even if it's unconstitutional, all the lawmakers who passed the bill have to do is tweak it to grant permission to NOVA to tax itself rather than mandate that it do so.

by Falls Church on Mar 1, 2013 1:00 pm • link • report

Having gotten some of the emails, I think that it is going to be the local tourist boards and hospitality industry that is going to be the most likely to challenge the new taxes. Since details were released, I have gotten at least one email per day from one group or another about the tax increase (so far, they focused on getting the Gov to veto the bill, but with this, I imagine their tone may change).

About the Waterfront plan note from Seeger, from reading his note, it is obvious that he wasn't given any information about it except that it would change the "character" of Old Town's Waterfront ... with the person that requesting the endorsement being anti-plan, forgetting to inform him of the current state of that area.

by Thad on Mar 1, 2013 1:02 pm • link • report

drumz, where were you trying to go?

View Larger Map

The Orlando piece doesn't mention geography, zoning, age of the communities, a golf course or even that they are GATED communities. Of course there is going to be limited accessibility to gated communities.

View Larger Map
I understand concerns about connectivity. One neighborhood does a better job than the other, but there does not appear to be street parking and there are sidewalks on both sides of all roads.

I hope streetsblog doesn't feature farmland I own next week and complain how far I have to drive to get to my "next door" neighbor's house. :P

by selxic on Mar 1, 2013 1:08 pm • link • report

I used to work down braddock closer to centreville but lived in the neighborhoods around GMU. If I was two minutes late leaving my house I'd be 15 minutes late actually getting to work because traffic at braddock/123 would get so backed up because there isn't a lot of alternate routes unless you really know the side streets.

Or if I was at the GMU field house/intramural fields and wanted to go to the movie theater in centreville for a different example.

by drumz on Mar 1, 2013 1:38 pm • link • report

And after living in Fairfax I became grateful for the country roads I grew up on because at least then the map was clear that there was only one way to get to where I was going.

by drumz on Mar 1, 2013 1:44 pm • link • report

I should have been more clear, drumz. My fault. I was unsure what the start point and destination were supposed to be in the map you linked to.

by selxic on Mar 1, 2013 2:25 pm • link • report

It's all good, I was just originally pointint that you definitely don't have to go to Orlando to be frustrated with street connectivity.

But in the University Drive/Braddock example I know GMU is eventually going to extend the whole thing to be a real through street. Maybe that will help stave off an eventual interchange at Braddock 123.

by drumz on Mar 1, 2013 2:28 pm • link • report

I think the idea for the park in Mcmillin is to be used as an overflow area for Stormwater runoff. So, it's not really a park at all.

by David C on Mar 1, 2013 2:36 pm • link • report

@ Jasper: No, it is not because most main throughway are diagonals that make no sense

It's true that the diagonals are a bother, but I meant that the general arrangement was directionally useful in more of an orientation sense. If you were dropped randomly to some place in DC and you had a basic idea of the layout, you could walk one block and figure out what you need to know. "OK, I just walked from 44th and Windom NW to 44th and Verplanck NW. I must be going south, I'm 44 blocks west of North Capitol, and About 40 blocks north of (a line passing through) the Mall." At least gives you a general idea of how to navigate places and you can tell someone "go east until you hit Wisconsin", since even if you have to search around for a through street you know which way to go and that eventually you'll run into it. I've gotten around unfamiliar areas in exactly that way, figuring I'll go one direction or another until I run into a street I know to be useful.

Again, a lot of people can't work this way. But since I can, I find DC's layout to be very convenient.

by CapHill on Mar 1, 2013 2:43 pm • link • report

I'll add an example: I once biked from the Wheaton area to the National Mall via the Sligo Creek Trail. I took a wrong turn somewhere, but since I knew which way was south I just brute-forced a route and managed to get where I was going without a map. Although I did find a few streets that are Not Fun to bike on.

by CapHill on Mar 1, 2013 3:06 pm • link • report

No, it is not because most main throughway are diagonals that make no sense to noobs. Also, many of the grid streets are discontinuous and interspersed with extra streets.

I think that after a quick glance at a map, an out-of-towner gets the basic layout of east-west lettered streets and north-south numbered streets, and state diagonals with no set pattern. This sort of convention is very common in most US cities; for example, I think this same l'Enfant design was used for Indianapolis.

What they find confusing is the NE-NW-SE-SW quadrants, which are not described on most maps but are crucial in understanding where you are in certain parts. Also the highway network which is truncated and not well signed; and when you are on this drivers are cutting everywhere in front of you and it is not possible to ask a pedestrian for directions.

by goldfish on Mar 1, 2013 4:41 pm • link • report

@Falls Church: Even if it's unconstitutional, all the lawmakers who passed the bill have to do is tweak it to grant permission to NOVA to tax itself rather than mandate that it do so.

Does that depend on who is governor? The last time this happenned it was defeated by regional referenda. If authority is granted to local governments this time, the prospects for local enactment seem better--but possibly not guaranteed everywhere. Would the regional portion of the tax require all the local governments to agree?

by JimT on Mar 1, 2013 6:05 pm • link • report

Kate, I think you hit on something much bigger than just how modern communities are laid out - a sense of community that is missing in a lot of places these days. My grandparent's house lies squarely across the street from the street the local elementary school is on (only about 2 blocks up). It's a post-war suburb, so things are grid-ish, but streets don't always line up across the main drag (which their house is on), and the cross street there dead-ends into their house, with a slight jog to continue a house away. Forever and ever (amen, until the local schools' "consolidation plan" is realized about 5 years from now), the crossing guard for that intersection parks in their driveway for the few hours she's on duty (so she can duck into it easily out of the cold in the really bitter months between times crossing the kids) and the kids coming to and from the school cut through their driveway. It's NBD, the driveway goes through to an alley out back, so we can get out when the crossing guard is blocking the front entrance, we have the option to either go into the neighbor's driveway and drive through the small strip of grass between the drives to get into the GP's driveway (the grass is on their side of the property line, so while the neighbors - also long-timers - don't mind, they also have no say on the "driving over the grass" bit) or pull in through the alley if we need to arrive when she's there, and it's not like the kids walking through are hurting the blacktop. The building next door is a small apartment complex, so there's high turnover. One day, when I arrived around school letting-out time, pulled in the back, and joined my mother weeding the flower beds, a new-ish neighbor from the apartments came over and expressed shock that we let the crossing guard park in the drive and the kids walk through. I told her that, while our schedules have changed over the years, at the time we first let the crossing guards park there - before I was even born (that's a whole lot of years and a whole lot of crossing guards) - no cars were using the driveway at those times, and it's really a minor inconvenience for us to use the back entrance or neighbor's drive on the rare occasion we need to come or go while she's there, and the kids aren't hurting anything. She just shook her head and muttered something about the kids "destroying" the property. When *I* was a kid, I was FAR more likely to trapse through the neighbors' back yards en route to my friends' houses than use the sidewalk out front. No one minded, though sometimes a neighbor would put me to work picking stuff from their garden if they saw me passing through (I never minded, since helping the neighbors pick their gardens meant that I was taking some home for dinner...we were the asparagus, corn, blackberry, and strawberry house, since we had one of the larger yards...it was very much so a "victory garden" situation, everyone on the block grew something different and shared - our immediate neighbors who grew zucchini and string beans were my favorites). Today, I'd imagine that people might call the police on even a neighbor walking across their yard, but, just 20, 25 short years ago, in that neighborhood at least, if you were known or a kid, the "backyard path" was a totally acceptable pathway to get around the neighborhood, without question.

by Ms. D on Mar 1, 2013 9:22 pm • link • report

Sarles is the best kind of leadership for Metro I’ve seen since the 70s and Old Town can live with an activated waterfront be it old or new looking. Behind both comments is a hope that most of us common folk need great transportation and places to relax and appreciate what actually do every week which is too much.

by AndrewD on Mar 2, 2013 6:24 am • link • report

I know I'm a bit late to the party here, but regarding the potential unconstitutionality of parts of the Virginia transportation bill, take note of this last line from that bill:

16. That should any portion of this act be held unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining portions of this act shall remain in effect.

Emphasis mine...

by Froggie on Mar 3, 2013 7:19 am • link • report

@JimT: Would the regional portion of the tax require all the local governments to agree?

My understanding is that from a constitutionality viewpoint, the state could grant permission for any region to tax itself to raise transpo funds. Some regions may opt to exercise that option, some not. So, no, not all regions would have to agree to a tax because the tax could be as narrow as a sales tax in tge city of falls church for improvements in falls church.

Of course, just because the state grants permission for regions to tax themselves doesn't mean any or all of them will exercise that option. It would also require a special session of the assembly to pass the modified law.

by Falls Church on Mar 3, 2013 3:17 pm • link • report

Further proof that the WMATA board is so detached from reality that it simply has no idea what Metro riders experience on a day to day basis. Safety and reliability have been consistently going down since Sarles took over (the number and severity of dangerous Metro incidents in the past few years and WMATA's complete failure to address any of the systemic issues responsible for them make clear that it is only blind luck that has prevented another incident as bad as the red line crash) and if this is the board's idea of leadership I'd hate to see what it considers disinterest and incompetence. The only things Sarles is dedicated to are maintaining the status quo and stonewalling the media.

Just more proof that WMATA board members should be required to commute by Metrorail or buses at least 3 days a week.

by Jacob on Mar 4, 2013 3:23 pm • link • report