Breakfast links: Happy birthday, but don't sing

by David Alpert • March 29, 2010 9:24 am

Photo by baslow.

Happy birthday Metro!: Metro opened 34 years ago this past Saturday (March 27th, 1976). (railroad.net)

High spirits not allowed in the Capitol: For some inexplicable reason, singing is not permitted in the Capitol Visitors Center, organizers from the Capitol Hill BID discovered when they screened a documentary and hosted special guest Mr. McFeely from Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. Webcasting the event was also denied, and just taping it required a Congressional committee to intervene. (Examiner)

Now Dr. Gridlock-Metrocrowd-Busysidewalk?: One letter writer thinks Dr. Gridlock is writing about Metro too much. The doc says "all travelers are created equal... mobility for all—drivers, transit users, bikers and walkers—[is] the key to our future" and besides, plenty of his letter writers talk about Metro these days. (Post)

Fairfax rallying against Connector cuts: The Post covers the impending cuts to Fairfax Connector buses and even links to the Facebook group and petition. But when covering the Fair Share for Metro campaign, reporter Ann Scott Tyson mangled the name of the campaign to avoid revealing the URL. Fairfax's budget hearings are April 6-8. (Post)

DHS needs even more space: Even the huge St. Elizabeth's campus isn't big enough for the entire Department of Homeland Security. GSA will issue an RFP for 1.1 million more square feet. How about a site on top of Metro station? (DCmud)

3 Ike towers in Alexandria?: The Hoffman Company wants to build three high-rises up to 370 feet near Eisenhower Avenue Metro. Hoffman touts 55 affordable units, "the largest ... by a developer in Alexandria," but out of 1,200 units total. (Examiner)

Pike art: Rockville Pike is getting a new urban district at White Flint. Now, they'll be getting some public art as well. (Gazette)

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11 comments

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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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Great idea to build those towers next to Eisenhower. Those parking lots are an embarrassment to Alexandria. The Ike Towers will be truly in a mixed landscape because they're also building new exits of I-(4)95 right there.

On the other hand, does Hoffman know what happened to the pricing of all the condo's that are in Carlyle? They were hard to fill at the original (overpriced) listings.

by Jasper on Mar 29, 2010 9:36 am • link • report

Re Dr. Gridlock talking about Metro too much: perhaps he is talking too much right now, but over time the column focussed perhaps too much on the roads.

As the writer states "By Metro's numbers, it carries, on average, 670,000 people by rail daily and 450,000 by bus. When one considers an estimated 1.2 million auto commuters in the area daily" That would make it about 50:50

by SJE on Mar 29, 2010 10:04 am • link • report

The three Ike towers would be a nice addition but the Alexan Carlyle which is a new building down the road was slow to fill its occupancy. It doesn't help that its unclear when the Patent Office will start hiring again. The area had a constant stream of new people moving in with the 1250 new hires a year coming to work in the area but now I think that has slowed down or stopped due to budget concerns at the PTO.

by RH on Mar 29, 2010 10:12 am • link • report

RE: DHS needs additional office space.

Has anyone considered the acres and acres of parking at the University Town Center/ Prince George's Plaza metro? Perhaps for security reasons, they would not be able to locate in the proposed ~30 story Belcrest Plaza office building, but there are several open parking lots available for building next door (http://tinyurl.com/ya9mvhd), all walking distance from the PG Plaza metro station.

With the addition of the Purple Line just one stop away in College Park, and a few blocks walking distance north on Adelphi, this could potentially draw from residents in the west (Silver Spring, Bethesda) areas, and possibly from the East/Green Lines.

by Scott on Mar 29, 2010 10:14 am • link • report

I'm also not sure what driving issues have been of particular significance in recent months, as compared to Metro's on-going funding woes. There haven't been too many significant debates about new highways/roads/etc. recently--only construction/repairs (bridges, etc.) which aren't that interesting as "issues."

by ah on Mar 29, 2010 10:52 am • link • report

If DHS is worried about its security, then maybe it isn't doing its job so well. Just sayin'....

by SJE on Mar 29, 2010 11:34 am • link • report

SJE,
For Metro trips you have to divide by 2 since 1 person usually equals 2 trips.

Wiki had this, not sure how old the data is:
This of those that work in Washington, D.C., 44.8% drive alone to work, 21.2% take Metro, 14.4% carpool/slug, 8.8% use Metrobus, 4.5% walk to work, 2.7% travel by commuter rail, and 0.6% ride their bicycle to work.

by RJ on Mar 29, 2010 11:55 am • link • report

I'd agree that a focus on WMATA is good and neccessary right now, as WMATA is in a bit of trouble. And besides the Beltway HOV lanes (a waste) there isn't much in terms of highway construction.

But a focus on WMATA tends to

1. Focus on commuters coming into DC for work, as opposed to the huge number of people who work (and live) in the suburbs and so rail isn't an option.

2. Always focus more on rail than bus

3. Ignore that the worse congestion isn't the highways -- they work alright in this area -- but the secondary roads and access roads which are badly designed and overcrowded.

by charlie on Mar 29, 2010 12:08 pm • link • report

@ charlie: And that's why we need more peripheral metro lines. The purple line is a good start. Now extend the orange, blue and yellow lines. Orange to Manassas. Blue along the FFX parkway & 123 towards Fairfax and Oakten. Yellow along US 1 to Woodbridge and then along the PW parkway. Sorry, no advise on the MD side of things - don't know the place as well. Also, make the purple line go full circle (via National Harbor across the WW bridge and then along Rt 7). And get that M St tunnel going downtown.

Metrobus should be starved to death with the peripheral bus systems taking lines over to contain labor costs. If Arlington can hire a bus driver for half the price WMATA can, there should be no more WMATA buses in Arlington.

by Jasper on Mar 29, 2010 1:20 pm • link • report

If we're going to talk about MD-side Metro pipe dreams, Green Line to Andrews/Clinton, or super-pipe-dream mode, Waldorf, southbound, and northbound to Laurel would be nice. Orange, up the MARC tracks to Bowie. Blue, farther out into Largo, like Six Flags-ish.

by Mike on Mar 29, 2010 9:48 pm • link • report

Jasper- The master plan for Hoffman calls for dense development on most of the current parking lots. See http://hoffmantowncenter.com/hoffman_map.html

RH- Alexan Carlyle has the worst location in Carlyle. It's the furthest complex from both Metros and its sandwiched between a sewage plant and a jail. But if you look at the prices they're charging, it's right on par with the better located Meridians and Carlyle Place. It's no wonder they're having trouble filling up.

Also, I'm not sure the lack of USPTO hiring has much to do with Carlyle's success or lack thereof. Most USPTO hires can't afford or don't want to pay the prices of the nearby luxury apartments and end up near Van Dorn or Huntington Metros instead.

by pcity on Mar 30, 2010 1:14 am • link • report