Breakfast links: Get transit-oriented

by David Alpert • October 29, 2009 9:08 am

Area around Muirkirk MARC. Image from Google Maps via Matt Yglesias.

How about some Oriented Development with your Transit?: Matt Yeglesias and Ryan Avent react to yesterday's Green Line story, noting that transit (whether MARC or Green Line) would make a lot more sense if Prince George's and Anne Arundel committed to building real TOD around many of those stations.

Maryland agencies to become more transit-oriented: Maryland state agencies will now try to locate near transit, according to a new executive order from Governor O'Malley. If "appropriate and feasible," new state offices and laboratories should be within a half-mile of a "fixed guideway transit station." This is a big step for a governor who six months ago located a new Clean Energy Center about four miles from Shady Grove Metro. (Maryland Politics Watch)

City-dwelling car-loving writers riding transit: A WSJ reporter moves from a car-based lifestyle in suburban Detroit to a single-car lifestyle on Capitol Hill that includes a lot more transit and walking, and discovers some pros and some cons. A Slate writer now commutes by transit from Baltimore to Washington and stashes away all the money he's saving to one day buy a Porsche. (WSJ, Slate, Stephen Miller)

Inalienable right to get light poles moved?: Some new homeowners on H Street want to be able to park in their backyard, but a light pole in the alley blocks the optimal place to put a gate. The city said they would do it if the owners paid the $5,000-7,800 cost. They don't want to. Prince of Petworth readers get into an interesting debate in the comments.

School with safer routes: A DC school, Ben W. Murch Elementary in what ЦarЬchitect calls Tobago in Ward 3, has won a national award for its Safe Routes to School program. The school reversed a policy against biking to school, built neighborhood support for new sidewalks, and helped enforce safe driving. (TheWashCycle)

Now there were three against HOT lanes: The Alexandria City Council has unanimously voted to oppose HOT lanes on I-95/395. It won't join Arlington's suit, but is now formally opposed. Prince William is also opposed to the lanes. (Examiner)

People not so mad about ICC tolls: Despite near constant media coverage about ICC tolls, only a dozen people showed up at a hearing on the toll rates last night in Beltsville. Meanwhile, ICC opponents keep pointing out that the road is really expensive, including some recent Gazette letter writers. One chides editors for calling those who had been warning of high tolls "desperate people," and now suddenly warning about high tolls. (Post, Gazette)

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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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Not surprised that Alexandria is now against the 95/395 HO/T lane project.

Though here's a thought: how about if the HO/T lane project continued, but stayed just 2 lanes north of the Beltway?

by Froggie on Oct 29, 2009 9:18 am • link • report

A funny thing to note about the WSJ and Slate articles is that both journalists write about cars for their day job.

by TM on Oct 29, 2009 9:31 am • link • report

With all its naievete and quietly privileged attitudes, Prince of Petworth and its commenters can annoy the hell out of me sometimes. It's all kind of typified by the nonstop parade of $600,000 homes in their "Good Deal or Not?" series.

by J.D. Hammond on Oct 29, 2009 9:36 am • link • report

I think that the point of the WSJ and Slate articles is that if you use transit to commute and do other things such as reducing the number of cars your family has, living closer to where you work, etc., you save a bunch of money, help out the environment and some other things.

But the bigger point of both of them is that you can still live that lifestyle and use cars. For WSJ, the editor and his wife still have one car for occasional use. For Slate, the author is planning to buy a Porsche for weekend joy rides.

So they're essentially saying that cars are useful, but if you don't need them to commute, don't use them for that.

by Tim on Oct 29, 2009 10:50 am • link • report

Actually, the WSJ article doesn't mention anything about his wife owning a car. The fact he has to rent a truck to move boxes suggests that he doesn't have access to any car.

It would have been nice if they mentioned car sharing as a means to address the occasional need for a car. Maybe ZipCar could start offering Porsches for weekend jaunts.

by TM on Oct 29, 2009 11:02 am • link • report

@TM: Oh, that's strange. For some reason I could swear I read that, but it's obviously not there.

by Tim on Oct 29, 2009 11:08 am • link • report

TM/Tim: Actually, I own a car (not that I usually use it to commute), but I've had to rent trucks and vans from Enterprise or ZipCar to move things before. So he may have access to a car but needs specialty vehicles for special tasks.

by J.D. Hammond on Oct 29, 2009 11:19 am • link • report

I can easily carry home a large pumpkin and I have no car & live in the same neighborhood as the Detroit guy does-

answer;

cargo bicycle.

by w on Oct 29, 2009 11:40 am • link • report

i didn't see any "cons" in the capitol hill dudes article.

by a on Oct 29, 2009 12:28 pm • link • report

Sounds like a niche for a pumpkin delivery service.

When I went carless, I found that I spent less on groceries because I was weighing the necessity of the purchase (literally). And also that I went grocery-shopping more frequently. And that I really dread when the box of cat sand starts getting low.

by Matt on Oct 29, 2009 12:53 pm • link • report

w/ a cargo bicycle I can get two weeks worth or more full of groceries safely balanced to fill my fridge & freezer units.

I have seen what people can get into their cars- and it really is not that much of a difference.

When I was in Germany I saw grandmoms loading up their cargo bikes with more than most 20 year olds here would dare to carry. It is all a matter of working it into your life. It does not have to be some kind of "hardship".
People do this- that is- live car -free- all over the world and make out quite well.

You can save a boatload of money by going car-free.

Everything else is a side benefit resulting from this decision/action.

by w on Oct 29, 2009 1:26 pm • link • report

Other than rehabilitating some of the interchanges along the Beltway where the HOT Lanes will go, will those lanes actually do good once their finished? Or will more cars and congestion lurk?

by Zac on Oct 29, 2009 2:57 pm • link • report

Froggie, If they are trying to stop HOT Lanes from being built along I-270 then why should they continue to build HOT Lanes along I-95/395 and VA I-495?????

by Jason on Oct 30, 2009 2:33 am • link • report