Franklin Sq desperately needs a makeover. At the very least some new landscaping though a better plaza/fountain area would be nice. And while they are at it they can fix the shoddy sidewalks around Farragut.

by Alan B. on Mar 15, 2013 8:47 am • link • report

Franklin Square could use more trash receptacles for people to ignore. And maybe a staging for the suburban ministries that come there on the weekends to hand out food and plastic bags, most of which usually winds up deposited on the ground. snark you very much.

by aaa on Mar 15, 2013 8:53 am • link • report

I feel like a greenhorn for asking this but what exactly is the sequester? What did it do? And what did it cut?

Also, what does "furloughed" mean?

Thanks.

by Zac on Mar 15, 2013 8:55 am • link • report

I can see how limiting the number spaces food trucks can operate in benefits restaurant owners but why would the consumer need protection from that?

by drumz on Mar 15, 2013 8:58 am • link • report

[This comment has been deleted for violating the comment policy.]

by Sequester on Mar 15, 2013 8:58 am • link • report

1. rental oversupply - seeing rents come down would be nice evidence of supply and demand working -I don't expect them to come down much, even with all that product in the pipeline - there is such a hugge reservoir of people in crowded group house/roommate situations, of people renting out rooms in houses, of people living in basements that would work better as basements than as apartments, - not to mention couples who would move from 1BR apt to 2Brs, but are out bid for the 2 BR's by pairs of roommates, etc.

Also, I think even if rents came down, say, 10% that would leave new development profitable for the most part - which is why most developers arent pulling back.

2. Baltimore Penn - thanks for the link. I enjoy coverage of Baltimore - esp of urbanist developments near the train stations, which is particularly relevant to Washingtonians.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Mar 15, 2013 9:03 am • link • report

WMATA as usual looks for any excuse that they don't hit revenue targets besides crappy service and expensive fares.

Most agencies are allowing furloughs in 4 hour segments which will have no effect on people's free Metro rides.

Yes, improve Franklin square by getting rid of the homeless. It is the only place in DC where I've seen such a giant collection of plastic bags. Someone tell Tommy Wells!

by charlie on Mar 15, 2013 9:07 am • link • report

Zac,

Furloughed is basically a pay cut. If you work 40 hours a week you're now working 32 hours a week for a set time.

The sequester is a number of automatic budget cuts that was a result of the US raising its debt ceiling limit a while back. But good lord the discussions about the federal government's budget can get tiring on here so any other info and you're on your own.

Anyway,

by drumz on Mar 15, 2013 9:07 am • link • report

The market is beginning to feel the effects of the new units, Delta reports. Rent declines were registered in the second half of 2012 in certain oversupplied submarkets.

So after an historic run-up in rents, one of the most expensive housing markets in the world saw minor declines for part of last year in a couple of neighborhoods? And this is a bad thing?

by oboe on Mar 15, 2013 9:16 am • link • report

Re: Entertainment districts

I think what we think of as DC's entertainment districts (Adams-Morgan, Clarendon, maybe National Harbor) all do mixed use pretty well. Adams-Morgan has a lot of day time retail and lots of residents and the same for Clarendon which has two grocery stores about two blocks away from each other.

National Harbor is adding residences and filling in a lot. Meanwhile its greenfield development anyway and not a redevelopment attempt.

by drumz on Mar 15, 2013 9:17 am • link • report

Yes please to re-doing anything to Franklin Square. I work around the corner, but often go to other parks (Lafayette, Pershing(?), McPherson) because they are much nicer. Franklin has a lot of seating and great trees, but the grass is dead, the benches are filthy, and unfortunately usually occupied by the homeless (who I guess get kicked out of McPherson, Farragut, and Lafayette).

@Zac, @drumz's description of the sequester is all you really need to know. This wonkblog post provides a great summary, though: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/09/14/the-sequester-explained/

by Nick on Mar 15, 2013 9:18 am • link • report

Oboe

I think the question is, if there are modest declines in rents, will the developers keep putting new projects in the pipeline - IE what really does the supply curve for new units look like (in WUP-type areas, in particular). I am optimistic, as I said above.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Mar 15, 2013 9:19 am • link • report

Entertainment districts are fine if they are surrounded by other urban uses. I honestly can't see a thriving city without one in the US. They can easily be served by mass transit by concentrating uses and people can live nearby without having to live next to a bar. I think the author meant cities can't strive to succeed by being only entertainment districts, but it was perhaps not entirely made clear in the post.

by Alan B. on Mar 15, 2013 9:24 am • link • report

Again, with the builders it is all financing. You can get finacing to build a big apartment building right now. The pricing is insane -- look up Equity's stock.

So, as long as builders can borrow cheap money, they will throw up the buildings. After a bad 2-3 years they will recoup the money or throw out the debts.

In terms of Walker's point, I'd be curious to know how many in DC are really 2br. I'd agree there is a pent up demand for 1BR by roomates. But I doubt many 2BR are being built for couples....

by charlie on Mar 15, 2013 9:27 am • link • report

@charlie
Most agencies are allowing furloughs in 4 hour segments which will have no effect on people's free Metro rides.

I can't say I buy this - most people won't be willing to go through their usual morning routine and 1-2 hours of commuting to and from the office to put in 4 hours of work.

by MLD on Mar 15, 2013 9:33 am • link • report

"“We’re going to end up with a glut of apartments in the Washington area because the job growth and population numbers won’t support it,” said Steve Silverman

Come on!!! This is what's going to bring rents down. On the one hand we have people saying we need skyscrapers becasue the rents are too damn high and on the otherhand people are fretting about Silver Spring getting too much residential buildings becasue the office vacancy rate is too high. What about this picture makes no sense, every thing escept what the market is doing.

Silver Spring is just another DC neighborhood under a different jurisdiction. They are part of the DC market and anyoverbuilding there and else where on the metro lines will bring rents down, due to over building. If the demand for office space comes back, the market will resopond, but the idea that government officials can or should dictate what get's built is counter productive. All government should do is speed up the process to allow the market to self correct with in a clear and transparent regulatory framework.

by Thayer-D on Mar 15, 2013 9:34 am • link • report

MLD,Charlie,

If they were going to cut 20% of my pay at least let me save 20% of my commuting costs.

by drumz on Mar 15, 2013 9:36 am • link • report

WMATA may defer some projects and considering closings some station mezzanines on weekends.

Why screw weekend travelers when weekday commuters do not show up?

How about WMATA does some strategic entrance closures? How about Capitol South and Federal Center? How about all the bus stops about the Capitol (within the box 3rd St W, Constitution Ave, LA Ave, Mass Ave, 2nd St E and Independence Ave)? Specifically around Congressional business hours.

Yes, I know members of Congress does not use transit. But their staff does. And it's them in the end who make policy.

And if the FAA can please hit Reagan with low staffing at the beginning and end of Congressional sessions.

The NPS can also start doing some really annoying maintenance around the Capitol. Perhaps they need to repave some of the parking areas near the House and Senate buildings.

by Jasper on Mar 15, 2013 9:37 am • link • report

I whole-heartedly support a major-reworking of Franklin Park. The space is ridiculously underused given its central location. This is compounded by the hobo population, which only feeds I to the cycle of driving pedestrians away.

Some suggestions:

- an amitheathre or open space for public performances (this could be used for theatre companies, a la Shakespeare in the Park, outdoor movies in the summer, staging areas for public protests, community/charity events, etc). Currently there is no central meeting place within the park - the entire grounds have trees at close intervals, and the fountain feels like an intersection more than a plaza where one lingers.

- a dog park (it'll be packed everyday of the week)

- a small playground for children. There are small play grounds all over, even in the most urban/packed squares, in NYC (ex. Union Square, Mandison Square Park). They are unobtrusive and aafe.I hope that the needs of families (both residents & tourists)will be considered.

- more art/statuary. There's definitely more space for public art, especially on the eastern side bordering 13th Street. Maybe a statue honoring L'Enfant? (Located in the center of his grand vision of a city? Or another notable official. Or something more abstract and could be iconic in its own right, and work to "brand" the surrounding neighborhood? The fountain in the center is okay, but underwhelming. I doubt a single tourist wold ever recall it (unlike Dupont) which begs the question of why we allow it to remain when something elese more unique/notable could take its place.

- landscaping. Lets get some more creative/beautiful greenery, & seasonal flowers. Let Farragut and McPherson remain the barren dull yards the Nat'l Park Service seems to love. How about some bamboo, or inviting notable landscape artists to design gardens/arbors, etc.. I fear that some people will fight the removal of even a single tree at all costs, but there are too many trees in the park to allow the creation of spaces where people can gather. At least some should be removed so plazas, circles, etc, can be added. But I do appreciate the importance of preserving as many as possible, given their beauty, age, and scarcity downtown.

- safe public restrooms. Yes, please.

- bike racks & better bus stop facilities

- repair of all sidewalks/paths ( a given)

I'm not sure food/retail is necessary, given there are so many food vendors in the surrounding streets.

by Adam on Mar 15, 2013 9:39 am • link • report

Charlie

My sense is lots of the new buildings have at least some 2BR units - I don't think they are so much aimed at couples, as at roommates. Some 2BR 2 bath units have one full bath off each bedroom, but none directly off the living room/dining room/kitchen, and the bedrooms are equally sized. That shouts "designed for 2 roommates" to me.

Thayer - I have to agree with Oboe here. So $2800 2 BR units go down 5%? To $2640? The rent in that case is still too high. By historic standards for this area, and compared to many other metros of the same size. And that "glut" is likely to be temporary.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Mar 15, 2013 9:46 am • link • report

One food truck is closing down and blames DC bureaucracy, though it also just sounds like he wasn't making enough money. (City Paper)

Isn't it just possible that bureaucracy was driving up this guy's costs?

Compliance, opportunity cost, etc., etc.: the costs (seen and unseen) of regulation can easily drive any business into the red but small businesses are, of course, especially vulnerable.

by Harry Limosne on Mar 15, 2013 10:00 am • link • report

@MLD, they are going to choose that option because rather than taking a full day out of a payperiod, they are going to take 4 hours. So yes, it is going to be a popular option with no effect on WMATA.

Depends on the agency and their policies.

by charlie on Mar 15, 2013 10:26 am • link • report

If you want to transform Franklin Square you need to have the churches that feed the homeless go somewhere else. What's ironic is that when I've been in that area when the churches serve lunch, I've notices that the congregations are overwhelmingly suburban and almost all come from places that have serious problems with poverty and often homelessness, themselves: Alexandria, various places in prince William County, temple Hills, etc. You could make the case that they should be doing something in their own backyards rather than contributing to the foisting of social and economic problems onto the District. A little health code enforcement might push them out even faster.

Many of DC's own congregations do a great deal of charity, but they usually do it out of their own facilities like Foundry Methodist. With the dispersion of facilities for the homeless, the District needs to rethink how to channel charity in ways that free up public spaces like Franklin Park for other users and prevent places like MLK from becoming de facto day shelters.

Franklin needs other uses, but as long as its dominated by the homeless other users will be discouraged.

by Rich on Mar 15, 2013 10:33 am • link • report

several federal employees I know plan to take their fourlough hours combined with a telework day. Depends on their specific job, agency rules, and how many hours they have to take, of course. but telework+fourlough seems to be the desired way to handle things.

by Birdie on Mar 15, 2013 10:35 am • link • report

Thayer, as the country has recently seen, asset bubbles have knock-on effects that can seriously impact the broader economy. A localized glut of apartments may reduce area rents to more affordable levels, but inflating and piercing real estate bubbles is probably not the ideal way to plan for future growth. I think it's reasonable for the planning director to sound a warning if he's seeing signals that the area is overbuilding in the short to medium term. Also, why is Sturtevant often quoted? Her analysis is so simplistic (long term household formation = additional housing needs) as to be useless.

by Dno on Mar 15, 2013 10:50 am • link • report

Rents-
Silverman as the economic development director probably has other thoughts and concerns in mind besides rent prices. He see's that most of the transformative projects in Montgomery County (and the region for that matter), are based on blocks upon blocks of new mid and high rise apartment buildings, with ground level retail, streetscaping, a new sitting area and courtyard, an ice rink/concert area and a frozen yogurt stand. If for some reason the market for apartments starts to cool off to the point of developers questioning profitability, then where does that leave all of the TODs around the region? A few projects could come in as Condo's, Bethesda is already seeing interest from Condo developers again, but that won't keep all of the areas transit neighborhoods steadily under construction.

This over-supply probably is a short term problem, and in 3-5 years as the buildings begin to fill up (assuming new construction starts will drop off in a year or two), no one will even blink and the market can get back to a normalized pace of construction. Hopefully, the increase in housing stock and retail options in many of these TOD areas will bring back a demand for office space, and generate (or relocate) jobs for places like Silver Spring.

As consumers (renters), we want to see rents drop, as developers, they do not, as they've invested $50-80+ million in some of these projects they and their lenders expect to get back. If one or two projects flop it's not a big deal, if half the area projects flop, we won't have any local developers left to construct the next wave of urban development.

by Gull on Mar 15, 2013 11:04 am • link • report

Looking at photos of Franklin Park, it seems pretty nice to me. I certainly don't think chopping down trees would be any kind of improvement.

"Silver Spring is just another DC neighborhood"

Ouch. Them's fightin' words there. It would be historically more accurate to say DC is a former Maryland jurisdiction.

by Chris S. on Mar 15, 2013 11:07 am • link • report

Rich, if you see people feed the homeless at Franklin Square that means there are people there to be fed, but it does not mean the people helping them are not also helping elsewhere or that they are "contributing to the foisting of social and economic problems onto the District."

by selxic on Mar 15, 2013 11:27 am • link • report

Franklin Square makeover would be most welcome. Too many bums.

MoCo apartments...not enough affordable condos for median income federal employees. Same problem with median income apartments.

Amtrak...well done in Baltimore. Desperately needed.

by Redline SOS on Mar 15, 2013 11:33 am • link • report

"Thayer, as the country has recently seen, asset bubbles have knock-on effects that can seriously impact the broader economy. A localized glut of apartments may reduce area rents to more affordable levels, but inflating and piercing real estate bubbles is probably not the ideal way to plan for future growth."

A LOCALIZED glut is not likely to bring down banks, cause federal intervention, etc. It might deter developers for several years true - though I think not unless rents fall a good bit more than Delta for example is forecasting. It would be better perhaps to see a more gradual slowing or slight decline in the rents rather than sharp ups and downs, but unfortunately thats often not the way RE works, esp multifamily and office development.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Mar 15, 2013 11:42 am • link • report

IMHO, the combo of the sequester furloughs and telework could have a significant impact on WMATA's funding, even beyond the levels that they are predicting ...

by Thad on Mar 15, 2013 11:46 am • link • report

"Ouch. Them's fightin' words there. It would be historically more accurate to say DC is a former Maryland jurisdiction."

I playfully refer to Washington as an Alexandria suburb or a contrived planned "town center" all the time!

by Another Nick on Mar 15, 2013 12:32 pm • link • report

Great news about Franklin Square. I used to work near the park and would often eat my lunch in the park. The paved paths are in terrible shape, the grass has been worn away in many places, and much of the park is needlessly inaccessible to people in wheelchairs or pushing strollers.

This RFP, however, didn't come out of the blue. GGW has written on this park before and numerous volunteers have helped push the NPS, Del. Norton, and the DC Council to help turn around this park. It goes to show that writing blog posts, contacting your elected officials, and showing up at public meetings can make a meaningful difference in your community.

by Eric F on Mar 15, 2013 1:06 pm • link • report

My beloved agency plans to basically treat furlough it like any other type of leave except for not paying or providing benefits. So for me a combination of longer weekends and leaving early to pick daughter up at school. Some people who are low on leave might not change behavior at all and just accumulate more annual leave for an eventual vacation.

by JimT on Mar 15, 2013 1:48 pm • link • report

PS. Except our entire agency will shut down to make 3 day weekends into 4day weekends. If most agencies do that metro will have a slow day .

by JimT on Mar 15, 2013 1:51 pm • link • report

Everything you always wanted to know about sequestration and furloughs:

http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/furlough-guidance/supplemental-guidance-administrative-furloughs.pdf

by Eileen on Mar 15, 2013 1:55 pm • link • report

@selxic: There are people to be fed in Temple Hills, Alexandria, etc. and there already are various outreach programs in DC by DC congregations of all sorts. If charity began it home, then problems of poverty and homelessness would be more distributed within the metro area and perhaps addressed in a less piecemeal way. If those nice church people saw their neighbors using services, they might do something about their home communities rather than act out the notion of the needy as "the other" in a distant place.

No one has to be fed in Franklin Park.

by Rich on Mar 15, 2013 3:28 pm • link • report

My suggestion is to close stations near Congress DURING THE WEEK. That would at least get the attention of staffers and maybe have them rethink the sequester.

by Steve on Mar 15, 2013 3:50 pm • link • report

Please read my comment again, Rich.

I held a door for a few people in Maryland today. Amazingly enough, I held a completely different door for a completely different group of people in Virginia today too. (I apologize for not holding a door for anyone in DC today.) People are capable of doing multiple activities in multiple locations.

by selxic on Mar 15, 2013 10:53 pm • link • report

@ Eric F

You pretty much described the whole city; most of the public spaces be it parks, sidewalks, crosswalks, bridges, govt buildings, schools, are inaccessible to people in wheelchairs or pushing strollers by having steps where there is no need for any.

Some are designed like that now days when they don't need to be. Examples would be NPR's new building with steps in the front when there is no need or use for them, and almost every apartment building in Mt Vernon Triangle and NOMA built it the past 5 years

by kk on Mar 16, 2013 2:40 am • link • report

MoCo's concerns about apartments is (1) that the property taxes are lower per unit of services demanded (2) it is harder to plan for schools etc. When property prices reflected wealth more closely, you could justify lower taxes on social equity grounds. Now, apartments are increasingly considered desirable alternatives for middle and upper income people, with kids, and not just a refuge for the poor or childless. This leads especially to the second problem: the schools in inner MoCo are bursting not only because older folks are selling their houses to new families, but because more people are moving into apartments in Bethesda and Silver Spring.

The solutions are difficult

by SJE on Mar 17, 2013 6:47 pm • link • report