Dinner links: Skyscrapers and Oklahomans

by David Alpert • June 25, 2009 5:24 pm

Photo by CellPhoneSusie.

And the best employer to commute to is...: The Consumer Electronics Association, based in Crystal City, has the region's Best Employer Commuter Incentives. They give employees a transit benefit, carpool incentives, bike parking with showers and lockers, and telecommuting. They also offer employees a $25,000 interest-free mortgage assistance loan to help them live in Arlington. (CommuterPageBlog)

Height limit debate of the day: Ryan Avent and BeyondDC are having an interesting debate about the height limit. Ryan wrote that the best environmental big idea would be allowing more development in DC, including taller buildings downtown; BDC replied that we can be denser without being taller, and the height limit pushes development outside downtown; Ryan argued that too many neighborhoods fight development, limiting the potential for broader density; BDC says there are enough underdeveloped neighborhoods that don't have that problem today; Ryan says this is all splitting hairs and we just have too many rules period.

Just under the wire: Schools in Bethesda, Clarksburg and Germantown are reaching capacity, triggering an automatic building moratorium. But that could scuttle a planned 457-unit apartment building in Bethesda, which will generate about 50 new students for the schools. To get the tax benefit of all those new units, 90% of which won't generate students, amid the economic downturn, Planning Board staff and some County Councilmembers are pushing to approve the building before the moratorium takes effect. (Post)

Senators preemptively reject reform: Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Barbara Boxer (D-Whatever Inhofe Wants) called for extending the current transportation bill with no improvements whatsoever. Lame duck Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), though, isn't giving up on a gas tax increase, even though Boxer's already given up in advance. Since when did the Senate become the Oklahomate? (Streetsblog Capitol Hill)

Let's rotate fiscal conservatives through the Transportation Committee to educate them: In an interview on the transportation bill, ranking Republican John Mica of Florida said, "if you're on the Transportation Committee long enough, even if you're a fiscal conservative, which I consider myself to be, you quickly see the benefits of transportation investment. Simply, I became a mass transit fan because it's so much more cost effective than building a highway. Also, it's good for energy, it's good for the environment – and that's why I like it." (Blueprint America)

And...: The Treasury Department awarded DC a $33.7 million grant for affordable housing (Housing Complex) ... Dulles Toll Road tolls will probably double over the next three years, to pay for the Silver Line (Post, Gavin Baker, Froggie) ... Maryland's bridges and tunnels are safe. (Post, Cavan)

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11 comments

Tags: affordable housing, Arlington, Barbara Boxer, Bethesda, bike parking, commuting, Congress, Crystal City, DC, density, development, environment, gas taxes, George Voinovich, height limit, Jim Inhofe, John Mica, links, Maryland, Montgomery, Republicans, schools, Silver Line, transportation reauthorization, Virginia

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.

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Michael Jackson dies and you don't even mention his death on this blog? Shame on you for dancing on the grave of this great artist. WE LOVE YOU MICHAEL. LONG LIVE THE KING!!!

by MPC on Jun 25, 2009 6:56 pm

@ OK issue: You gotta realize that all these Wackos in Congress never ever use the transit systems that most urban citizens yearn for. They get swooshed around in black limos and SUVs, usually even without experiencing any traffic because there is a nice cop driving in front of them. And they fly to and from Reagan.

Many people are very worried about the bubble the president lives in. I am much more worried in the bubble that members of Congress and State Legislators live in. The president wakes up in the White House. That must be a hint he's living in a bubble. Members of Congress live in a bubble that's way harder to see. They see move around somewhat freely. At least, that's what they think. But they never stand in traffic. And they never need to get through the bad part of town. And surely, they never have any financial problems (other than for their campaigns).

by Jasper on Jun 26, 2009 7:22 am

Jasper, you are painting a broad, stereotypcial brush that misses its mark by a wide margin.

Serving in the Senate, Joe Biden got to work every day via Amtrak, and if it weren't for him and Edward Kennedy and a core of other dedicated guys in the Senate, ACELA would still be on the drawing board at best and at worst Amtrak would have been completely abolished.

President Obama is the first president in a long time who hearkens from a large, transit oriented city. Not every member of congress wants to pass the highway bill as it stands, and not all of their support for that bill is necessarily a vote against mass transit. The Californians are looking for quick construction cash--sort of a second stimulus, to help them out of a big mess.

Federal support for light rail has skyrocketed in the last 20 years, which is why last year, with quite a bit of help from the feds, we saw new lines come online in Charlotte, Austin, Albuquerque and Phoenix--places where 20 years ago mass transit rail links were pretty much unthinkable.

Support for transit at the federal level is indeed on the uptick.

by MichaelA on Jun 26, 2009 8:51 am

MichaelA, I hope you were referring to Chicago and not Honolulu as the "transit oriented city" the President "hearkens from".

by Bianchi on Jun 26, 2009 10:10 am

@ Jasper - Rank and file members of Congress and Senators usually don't get motorcades. That treatment is for leadership and other key committee posts (think intelligence etc.), and even then it is usually just an armored SUV, driver and trailing car - they will sit in traffic like the rest of us chumps.

by Local on Jun 26, 2009 10:21 am

@ MichaelA and Local: The problem is that Biden, Kennedy and Obama are not in charge of the transporation committees.

And quite frankly, it would have been better if the ACELA was still on the drawing board. It's not a fast train. Really.

I didn't say that Members of Congress get motorcades. But I am pretty sure there are very few members of Congress that drive their own vehicles. They are driven. In large cars (for safety, you know). There's Mr Bike from OR, but he's considered a nutcase. And Bloomberg also gets a lot of flack for riding the NY metro. The fact that it is considered noteworthy that a mayor takes transit, shows what's wrong.

by Jasper on Jun 26, 2009 11:03 am

What on earth is wrong with Boxer? Both Senators from Oklahoma are crackpots that deserve not one whiff of listening to their bad ideas or any compromise to those bad ideas.

by NikolasM on Jun 26, 2009 11:28 am

>And quite frankly, it would have been better if the ACELA >was still on the drawing board

do you really believe that? ACELA has captured over 50% of the air/train traffic in the corridor, which is significant. Sure, it could be faster, but it reinvigorated interested in intercity train travel, and likely saved AMTRAK from being completely scrapped. While a bit pricey, is the best option for DC/NYC, especially during the business week, where flying is a huge productivity hit schlepping to and from the airport, especially on the NYC side.

by MichaelA on Jun 26, 2009 1:43 pm

While a bit pricey, is the best option for DC/NYC, especially during the business week, where flying is a huge productivity hit schlepping to and from the airport, especially on the NYC side.

My $25 Vamoose ticket and Rosslyn departure point would like to talk with you.

by MPC on Jun 26, 2009 2:02 pm

If you have a same day business meeting in NYC, but have to be back in DC that night, Vamoose (at 4-5 hours EACH WAY) ain't gonna cut it. I can get to NYC by 11:00 on ACELA, have 3 hours with a client, and be home for dinner.

That's the niche ACELA has captured, and that's the niche of folks who would, absent the train, pretty much have to fly. So, the train presents an enormous carbon reduction.

by MichaelA on Jun 26, 2009 2:12 pm

If you have a same day business meeting in NYC, but have to be back in DC that night, Vamoose (at 4-5 hours EACH WAY) ain't gonna cut it.

Your little scenario is fast on it's way to being obsolete anyways, thanks to improved teleconferencing equipment, so if that's the niche that Acela is depending on, I worry for the future of Amtrak.

My old man had to go from downtown to the UN for a conference. DOC sent him by plane and paid for his cab. Ergo, your way is inferior to flying.

by MPC on Jun 26, 2009 3:34 pm