Posts by Steven Yates
 | Steven Yates grew up in Indiana before moving to DC in 2002 to attend college at American University. He currently lives in Southwest DC.    |
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Breakfast links: Let the bikes continue
Photo by thisisbossi on Flickr.
Army Navy cycle track: Arlington is considering a cycle track on Army Navy Drive since the current arrangement of the street is "inhospitable" for cyclists. The plan also includes pedestrian improvements and room for a streetcar. (ARLnow)
Trail trials: A preservation group is blocking allowing the Met Branch Trail to go past a historic Silver Spring train station. (WABA) ... The Kennedy Center wants to let people access the Rock Creek trail from the arts center's terrace. (WashCycle)
Empty warehouse or market?: Congress will hold a hearing at a vacant government-owned warehouse in the Capitol Riverfront area, to bring attention to underused GSA properties. Neighbors hope to turn this one into a market. (City Paper)
Police unions differ on cameras: New York's police union opposes adding traffic cameras, while DC's police union has fought for them and for the existing fines. GGW contributor alum Stephen Miller investigates the difference. (Streetsblog)
We're number 4!: WalkScore ranks DC the 4th best city to visit without a car, behind New York, San Francisco, and Boston. The list combined WalkScore and TransitScore as well as hotel proximity to car share. (UrbanTurf)
The recession halted "job sprawl": The proportion of jobs 10-35 miles from urban cores rose dramatically from 2000-2007, but then stalled out during the recession, Brookings found. The DC region was the only metro area to have more jobs and a larger percentage in the core (3 miles or less) now than in 2000. (Next City)
Groceries on the bus?: Could a cooler on the front of a bus be the solution for food deserts? Grocery stores might be interested in it as a way to cut down on grocery cart theft. (Atlantic Cities)
Don't panic about Cheh bill: Mary Cheh's proposal for a bill to allow ANCs to weigh in on by-right residential projects of a certain size was initially met with skepticism. But it wouldn't give ANCs as much power as originally thought. (UrbanTurf)
Next stop, extreme wealth: Income varies greatly at each stop each along New York's subway lines. Would graphs done for our area look much different? (New Yorker)
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Shocking rhetoric from John Townsend and AAA
This week's Washington City Paper cover story quoted AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman John Townsend calling Greater Greater Washington editor David Alpert "retarded" and a "ninny," and comparing Greater Greater Washington to the Ku Klux Klan.
Many other reporters, people on Twitter, and residents generally have clearly stated in response what should of course go without saying, that such personal attacks are beyond the pale.
Some may get the sense that there is personal animosity between Townsend and the team here at Greater Greater Washington. At least on our end, nothing could be further from the truth. We simply disagree with many of his policy positions and his incendiary rhetoric.
Spirited argument is important in public policy, but it should not cross into insults. When it does, that has a chilling effect on open discourse. Fostering an inclusive conversation about the shape of our region is the purpose of this site, but discourse must be civil to be truly open. That's why our comment policy here on Greater Greater Washington prohibits invective like this. In our articles, we try hard to avoid crossing this line, and are disappointed when we or others do, intentionally or inadvertently.
The "war on cars" frame unnecessarily pits drivers against cyclists and pedestrians instead of working together for positive solutions. The City Paper article, by Aaron Wiener, does a good job of debunking that, and is worth reading for much more than the insults it quotes.
When pressed, Townsend told Wiener he wants to back away from the "war on cars."
"I regret the rhetoric sometimes," he says. "Because I think that when you use that type of language, it shuts down communication with people who disagree."We hope Townsend, his colleagues, and their superiors also regret the things he said about David and Greater Greater Washington. We look forward to the day when AAA ceases using antagonistic language and begins working toward safety, mobility, and harmony among all road users.
In the meantime, residents do have a choice when purchasing towing, insurance, and travel discounts. Better World Club is one company that offers many of the same benefits as AAA, but without the disdain.
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Breakfast links: Who's on top
Bonds sign covering up a pedestrian sign. Photo by Jason Broehm.
Bonds leads, Silverman ties Mara: A PPP poll of the at-large race finds Anita Bonds leading with 19%, Elissa Silverman and Patrick Mara tied at 13%, and Matthew Frumin at 8%. Most voters are still undecided. (DCist)
Bikeshare blossoms: Capital Bikeshare set a new record for rides in a single day on Saturday, with 11,368. (Post) ... Montgomery County says it will have 50 CaBi stations by late summer, and Frederick is looking at bike sharing. (Gazette)
Meet the parking anger: Meet the Press's David Gregory got upset because people were parking in front of his house in the Palisades. The traffic was for a charity fundraising event nearby. (Post)
Preserve eastern Chinatown?: The DC Preservation League wants to expand the Downtown Historic District to include more of Chinatown, but Chinese-American business owners say there's little of significance and it will cost them a lot of money. (Post)
Bigger, better stations: Metro will spend $70 million to add capacity to the Gallery Place and Union Station stations over 6 years. The stations could get larger mezzanines, more faregates, escalators, and elevators. (Examiner)
No fed dollars for Pike streetcar: The Columbia Pike streetcar will not get federal funding, at least from the latest round of Small Starts, but officials plan to proceed with the project and still hope to get federal funding later. (Post)
Beauregard rezoned: Alexandria has rezoned the Beauregard area, clearing the way for a massive redevelopment and increase in density. Some residents, however, are worried about the loss of affordable housing in the area. (Post)
This camera's a fake: Laurel is using two decoy speed cameras in an effort to slow down speeders. The decoy cameras are just the normal boxes that normally hold cameras, just without a working camera inside them. (Post)
LaHood talks tough on bike safety: USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood called for "zero tolerance for people who don't respect cyclists," and will give more support for bike lanes on a national level. (Streetsblog)
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Breakfast links: A new look
Photo by Ochinko on Flickr.
Bethesda is the future: Bethesda will become the Metro "station of the future" with brighter lighting, faster fare gates, and a new stainless steel and gray color scheme. (Examiner)
Private Purple: Maryland is looking for private partners to help build and pay for the Purple Line and Baltimore's Red Line. (Post)
More Metro morsels: Metro had its 4th highest ridership day Wednesday. (Post) ... New signs in trains will warn people not to self-evacuate in an emergency. (WAMU) ... 389,100 riders will benefit from the Silver Line, but 82,556 will lose out. (Post)
Bike around TJ: Biking around the Jefferson Memorial could improve with some planed security changes. All of the proposed plans have the goal of separating bikes traveling through the area from pedestrians visiting the memorial. (WashCycle)
A new choice in maps: The people who brought you WalkScore have a new tool called ChoiceMaps that shows access to amenities like restaurants, schools, public transit, and grocery stores in DC. (UrbanTurf)
Little houses on the hillside: Kenyan McDuffie does not support a development of tiny houses in the Stronghold neighborhood. Is it because some residents were parking in the alley lot where the houses now stand? (City Paper)
Play nice: Governments in the region should cooperate more and compete less with themselves over luring companies from within the region. (WBJ)
Half-million-dollar highway signs?: Fairfax County says it will spend $500,000 on traffic signs at the I-395 off-ramp onto Route 236. Will this get the same media attention as Arlington's million-dollar bus stop? (Ben Ross)
Outlaw sustainability?: A Kansas state legislator introduced a bill to ban spending any "public funds to promote or implement sustainable development" by the state or any city or town in Kansas. Fortunately, the bill didn't pass—yet. (Bloomberg)
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Breakfast links: Stay safe
Photo by Elvert Barnes on Flickr.
Safe at night: A new Gallup poll shows that 72% of area residents feel safe walking by themselves at night, making the area about average when compared to the rest of the country. (DCist)
Walk safe in Fairfax: In time for spring, Fairfax County Police have started stepping up pedestrian safety enforcement. Police will ticket drivers who fail to stop for pedestrians and fine pedestrians who don't use the crosswalk. (WTOP)
Faster police: Metro Transit Police take on average 9 minutes to respond to a call, more than double what it takes BART's officers. WMATA wants to improve that time, though it may be difficult over such a large system. (Examiner)
Going off the rails: An out of service Metro train derailed coming out of the Brentwood rail yard. There were no injuries, but the incident did create minor delays. (Post)
Don't forget bikes: Alexandria is designing roads in Potomac Yard without bike lanes or other bike infrastructure, and that's a big mistake, says a cyclist. (Alexandria Times)
No FBI HQ at GPO: The GPO says a proposal to locate the FBI on their site near Union Station came as a surprise to them; they have no interest in moving. (DCist)
Georgetown wants the streetcar: Georgetown University wants the streetcar to go to its campus, not just stop at the waterfront; this is a less insular attitude than the university has had in the past. Joe Sternlieb of the BID also would like to see it have dedicated lanes to move faster. (Patch)
BID up Southwest: Southwest DC might get a business improvement district that would cover the entire quadrant west of the river and focus on bringing special events in an effort to enliven the neighborhood. (City Paper)
No-no go-go for park?: Mayor Gray wanted a lively park with music to honor Chuck Brown. Nearby residents are happy to honor Brown, but not so sure about the people and noise (and maybe crime) an outdoor amphitheater would bring. (Post)
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Breakfast links: Know the rails
Photo by infosnackhq on Flickr.
A good ridership reduction: WMATA is saving millions by encouraging riders eligible for MetroAccess to ride the bus or Metro, such as by having escorts teach disabled riders how to use the system. The agency also limited eligibility more in recent years. (Examiner)
Roads vs. rails: To relieve congestion on I-66 outside the Beltway, Fairfax Supervisor Pat Herrity wants I-66 express lanes while Reps. Jim Moran and Gerry Connolly want Metro extended to Centreville. (Examiner)
Can you hear me now? How about 2015?: The deadline for full cell phone coverage in the Metro got extended to September of this year, through WMATA says it won't be up until the end of 2015. (Patch)
I can park where I want: Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert lost it over $25 NPS parking ticket and tried to intimidate an NPS police officer. Though Congressmen can park in any available curb space while on official business, his visit seemed recreational. (Politico)
Alerts on Maps: The Google Maps app on smart phones will now show Metro service alerts in its transit directions. They've also started rolling out real-time departure information in New York and Salt Lake City. (Post)
Transit greatly helps congestion: Transit reduces auto traffic even more than usually thought, because it takes drivers off the most crowded roads, say economists based on the change in congestion during a Los Angeles transit strike. (NYT, Ben Ross)
Inspectors didn't inspect: The contractor responsible for inspecting the concrete at the Silver Spring Transit Center failed to do their job, say independent engineers. They didn't measure concrete thickness and didn't raise alarms when cracks emerged. (Post)
And...: Higher speed limits come to the ICC this weekend, saving drivers a whopping 90 seconds. (Post) ... 10% of Mt. Pleasant homes have solar panels. (Grist) ... WMATA will run late service Thursday night for the NCAA Sweet 16. (NBC)
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Breakfast links: Get around in Virginia
Photo by thisisbossi on Flickr.
Businesses want streetcar: Arlington businesses of all sizes are enthusiastic about the streetcar, and want it as soon as possible. (Crystal City BID)
Road diet a success: 2 years after giving Lawyers Road a road diet, crashes and speeding is down while maintaining travel times. 74% of residents in a survey say the road is better than before. (FABB)
Bike lanes... for whom?: Many cyclists in Arlington aren't riding for recreation and aren't wealthy hipsters, but because they can't drive; it's too expensive or they can't get a driver's license. (Arlington Mercury)
DASH will cost more, do less: Alexandria's DASH is raising fares. The King Street trolley will also come every 20 minutes instead of every 15, along with a few other service cuts, while a few lines will see greater service. (Patch)
Weaver may run: Bryan Weaver is laying the groundwork to run for the Ward 1 DC Council seat currently held by Jim Graham. Brianne Nadeau is already running, and with Weaver in the race there is a greater chance both will split anti-Graham votes. (Post)
DC government runs on hot air: All DC government buildings are now wind-powered. The switch saves the equivalent of 32.8 million gallons of gasoline, enough to power 61,000 cars in a year. (Borderstan)
Traffic causes asthma: For the first time, scientists have found that traffic pollution causes asthma in children. Before, scientists knew pollution could trigger episodes in children who already had asthma, but weren't sure if it was a cause. (LA Times)
And...: Some cool stuff people are doing with open data. (Atlantic Cities) ... As Arlington has grown enormously in 15 years, traffic hasn't gotten worse. (WAMU) ... The Washington housing market is not in another bubble. (Post)
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Breakfast links: Buy this
Photo by timkelley on Flickr.
A less common mall: Developers want to convert the Ballston Common Mall into a more urban-form shopping center with sidewalk-facing retail and even add some housing to the development. (Post)
Nice bus stop: Some people have expressed befuddlement at Arlington's $1 million bus stop, but as a prototype the high cost is not a surprise and it's also OK to spend money on transit. (Post, RPUS)
A road with a view: Alexandria plans to spend $125,000 to build models of the Potomac Yard Metro Station to gauge the visual impact from the George Washington Parkway and assuage resident opposition. (The Arlandrian)
Silver delay?: The Silver Line may be delayed if a needed rail yard isn't completed. WMATA needs the extra space to store and maintain Silver Line trains. (Examiner)
MD gas tax on the move: The Maryland House has passed the gas sales tax bill, which now moves to the Senate. The increased revenue will help fund the Purple Line and complete streets in Maryland. (WashCycle)
SideCar arrives: SideCar, which allows any driver to pick up passengers for a suggested donation, launched in DC. This surprised the Taxicab Commission which, after talking with the company, thought SideCar was not going to open in DC. (Post, City Desk)
Transit land values do better: Real estate values in transit-accessible areas outperformed land in transit poor areas by more than 40% between 2006 and 2011. Does this show that people want to live near transit or were the transit-poor exurbs just more prone to the real estate bubble? (City Paper, Keeping the Rain Off)
And...: There's a new design for the Chuck Brown Park. (RIA Insider) ... Conservative bloggers flipped out over Matthew Yglesias buying a pricey condo. (Atlantic Wire) ... Serena Williams rode a bike to a match, and it was faster than driving in traffic. (Post)
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Breakfast links: The future of roads
Photo by rsgreen89 on Flickr.
Highways and climate change: Possible new regulations could factor in carbon dioxide emissions in environmental impact studies (they're not now!) The change could force judging highways on their impact on climate change. (Streetsblog)
Squeeze in bike lanes: Some cities claim there is not enough room for bike facilities, but simply narrowing lanes could open up more than enough room for a bike lane. (Copenhagenize)
DC gets credit upgrade: Budget surpluses and increased reserves led S&P to upgrade DC's credit rating. But there likely won't be much savings from the upgrade. (Post)
Ban the moratorium: ANC 1B's Alcoholic Beverage Control Committee voted to reject the proposed U Street liquor license moratorium. Some members cited overwhelming community opposition to the ban as their reason for voting against it. (Borderstan)
Bag fee jitters: Roger Berliner says he's gotten a lot of complaints about the Montgomery County bag fee, and Craig Rice thinks people more often racially profile black shoppers who don't have disposable store bags. (Examiner)
Creative class writing: Joel Kotkin argues against and Richard Florida argues for focusing on the creative class to help rejuvenate city economies. (Daily Beast)
Bracket time: Did you have New Mexico going all the way? Then try these brackets on urbanism tools or the worst parking craters in America. (Atlantic Cities, Streetsblog)
And...: DC cabs will likely get new, uniform roof lights along with credit card readers. (Post) ... Some H Street and Benning Road bus stops will get security cameras. (DCist) ... The Washington Post endorses Patrick Mara for DC Council.
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Breakfast links: Get out of park
Photo by GarberDC on Flickr.
Parking minimums impede Anacostia: One obstacle to Anacostia revitalization? Parking minimums. Getting zoning relief is costly and time-consuming, a large burden for businesses and nonprofits like the Anacostia Playhouse. (City Paper)
Streetlights people: Alexandria has rolled out an excellent new system that lets residents report issues. It works well, but there's no way to report streetlight problems online. (Arlandrian)
Wrongheaded enforcement: In an effort to promote pedestrian safety, Montgomery Police gave citations to 1100 pedestrians but to only 38 drivers. (Gazette, Ben Ross)
WSSC would force suburban patterns: WSSC, Montgomery's and Prince George's water utility, wants 80-foot setbacks near large water pipes. This could protect builldings against pipes exploding, but also impede walkable urban development. (Post)
Credit card readers maybe?: DC may get credit card readers in its cabs by August, but likely also with a higher flag drop fee and $1 surcharge per extra passenger. (DCist)
Bag some bag fees?: The Montgomery County Council will consider changes to the bag fee, including exempting non-food stores (as DC does) or even banning plastic bags altogether. But most likely they will leave it as is. (WTOP, Examiner)
Where the cranes are: The number of cranes is often a good proxy for development activity. DC has 50 of them spread across the city. While most sites have one or two, there are 12 at Blue Plains. (Park View DC)
Report card time: Civil engineers gave US infrastructure a D+, actually an improvement from last year. Passenger rail scored a C+, while transit got a D. (Next City)
And..: What if all North American heavy rail systems connected together? (BeyondDC) ... DC's medical marijuana dispensaries are set to open next month. (Examiner) ... The Walter Reed site draws interest from 9 developers. (WBJ)
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Cyclists are special and do have their own rules
- Cyclists are special and do have their own rules
- M Street cycle track keeps improving, draws church anger
- O'Malley announces first projects using new gas tax money
- Can Loudoun grow while protecting its rural areas?
- ICC losing bus service in classic bait and switch
- Silver Spring mall could get massive facelift, new name
- WMATA launches "Short Trip" rail pass on SmarTrip
Tue May 21
Sun May 26
11:00 am Roosevelt Ride in Greenbelt
Sat Jun 1
10:00 am CSG walking tour of Wheaton
2013-special-election AAA Alexandria anti-neighbors April-Fool Arlington bicycling BRT budget buses Capitol-Hill Columbia-Pike data-openness DC DC-Council DCPS DDOT demographics density development education Elissa-Silverman enforcement events gas-taxes government historic-preservation history links maps Maryland Metro Montgomery parking pedestrian-safety photography politics Prince-George's Purple-Line retail Silver-Spring streetcars technology transit transportation-financing truancy Vincent-Gray Virginia WMATA zoning zoning-update
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