Dallas - Greater Greater Washington

Where light rail is king

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 08:56:00 EDT

In some cities, light rail is the backbone of the transportation network, though not all cities networks are created equal. Portland and San Diego systems score well, while Sacramento and Dallas lag. (Atlantic Cities)

Comment

And...

Sat, 05 May 2012 14:07:00 EDT

by David Edmondson

Many Washingtonians know very little about bicycle laws. (TBD) ... Will $700,000 be enough to attract a restaurant to a Ward 7 shopping center? (City Paper) ... Dallas residents don't want a new freeway through downtown. (Streetsblog)

Comment

Will Thomas push for local business and good urban design? (Dec 28, 2010)
Video: DC cyclists get used to record heat (Aug 9, 2011)

And...

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 09:47:00 EDT

by Erik Weber

The Washington Kastles will build a temporary tennis stadium on the grounds of the old Hogates restaurant on the Southwest Waterfront (DCmud) ... Dallas' DART demonstrated a battery-powered hybrid streetcar (Dallas Morning News) ... WTOP is now sensationalizing crime on the Metro, reporting a stabbing "somewhere near the Metro entrance" at Gallery Place.

Comment

Wheaton town square should belong to the public (Mar 7, 2011)
Bookstores create public places (Dec 1, 2010)
Skybridges and voids return in Silver Spring library designs (Nov 6, 2008)
MoCo makes "public-private partnership" with skaters in Kensington (Mar 20, 2009)
Party time in Silver Spring (Feb 16, 2010)

"Public space" still private

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 09:47:00 EDT

by Erik Weber

Discovery is treating their legally required public space in Silver Spring like private property, kicking Dan Reed out of their courtyard yesterday.

Comment

Charlotte agrees with DC on streetcar technology (Jun 11, 2010)
DC rejected for Urban Circulator streetcar grant (Jul 8, 2010)
Video animates streetcar on K Street (May 27, 2010)
Powering the streetcars, part 3: The hybrid solution (Sep 23, 2009)
NCPC Chair Bryant asks FTA to deny streetcar grant to DC (Jun 25, 2010)

Healing the freeway gash

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 09:34:32 EDT

by Eric Fidler

Dallas is stitching together neighborhoods separated by a downtown freeway by decking over sunken sections, installing LED art in underpasses, and beautifying the space under an interchange. (Dallas Morning News, Eric Fidler)

Comment

Freeway ramp rush (Mar 31, 2004)
New Haven next to boulevardize a freeway (Mar 28, 2008)
Get rid of NY Ave's freeway signs (Dec 8, 2008)
Thin layer of ice found in hell (Jan 26, 2006)

Get that dead body out of my way!

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:27:00 EDT

by David Alpert

A Dallas police officer notices that people become much nastier when behind the wheel. After shutting down a freeway because someone had been killed, drivers yelled at the police officer "standing next to a blood-soaked white sheet."(Freakonomics, Rob P)

Comment

Day off for killing a kid

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:03:00 EDT

by David Alpert

A Dallas police officer (not using lights or sirens) drives 70 mph in a 40 mph zone, and hits and kills a child on a bicycle. His punishment? A one-day suspension. (ScienceBlogs)

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Mid-morning coffee links: tragedy of the commons edition

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:17:08 EDT

by David Alpert

Photo by pslilver on Flickr.

Is more chaos more safe? Too many road signs can, counterintuitively, be less safe than uncontrolled intersections, says an article in the Atlantic, using (slightly improperly) the analogy to the "tragedy of the commons". The basic premise is right; according to George Branyan, Pedestrian Program Coordinator of DDOT, uncontrolled intersections (no traffic lights) with marked crosswalks actually have 8 times the crash rate of unmarked, uncontrolled intersections.

Bikers vs. walkers in Central Park: New York's Central Park has become a battleground between the high-speed packs of exercising bicyclists and slow-moving pedestrians and dog walkers, writes New York Magazine, also invoking (more appropriately this time) the "tragedy of the commons" analogy.

Congestion pricing? In Texas? Highland Park, Texas officials are considering congestion tolls for residential Mockingbird Lane to discourage the packs of Dallas drivers who cut through on their daily commutes. Dallas Morning News via Richard Layman.

How about one at Florida and New Hampshire? Just Up the Pike praises new roundabouts in Montgomery County.

3 comments

MoCo planners considering congestion pricing (May 27, 2008)
MoCo road code, AAA oppose tree-lined medians (Oct 1, 2008)
MDOT improving pedestrian safety in the wake of tragedy (Nov 19, 2010)
Get off the road! No, get on the road! (Jan 26, 2008)
Montgomery making Conn. Ave. more like a freeway (Nov 3, 2010)

Thin layer of ice found in hell

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 17:19:19 EDT

by David Alpert

Smart growth, transit-oriented development - there are many names for the idea of building mixed-use, walkable communities. Whatever you call it, it's starting to catch on in suburban communities from San Mateo to Silver Spring. But most are areas with existing transit, near to already walkable cities. What about America's great bastions of sprawl?

Whether because of burgeoning traffic, rising gas prices, or sudden bursts of common sense, three areas thoroughly addicted to highways are trying to break the habit.

Northern Virginia's recent gubernatorial election hinged on development and sprawl. Democrat Tom Kaine promised to slow development and encourage more use of transit, and performed extremely well in the traditionally conservative suburbs against Republican Jerry Kilgore and his laissez-faire philophies that would exacerbate Virginia's enormous traffic problem.

Los Angeles is so associated with freeway sprawl that the plot of Who Framed Roger Rabbit actually hinged on the famous destruction of the Red Car trolleys in favor of freeways, recently elected a mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, who supports dense central downtowns, affordable housing, transit, parks, and public spaces. NIMBY residents of LA's Westside and their Congressman, Henry Waxman, blocked construction of the Red Line subway through their area toward Santa Monica in 1986, but this past December those same residents and the same Congressman their stance and now support the subway.

But most amazing of all, the city council and development officials in Dallas - that's Dallas, Texas, the one and only, home of the President George Bush Turnpike - is developing plans to change zoning to encourage pedestrian-friendly districts. Encoruaged by the success of a few TODs like Mockingbird Station or West Village (sounds positively New Yorkian!) Dallas officials have decided that "urban character" is the future of Dallas. And they mean it:

To cynics who believe the comprehensive plan will simply sit on a shelf, think again, said Janet Tharp, the city's interim assistant director of development. The plan's advisory committee will consider the draft in the coming weeks. And the Plan Commission and City Council are expected to approve one- to five-year implementation schedules in March and April.

What's next? Houston?

Comment

Three-Beltways boosters perpetuate myths about growth (May 24, 2010)
MoCo "transit-oriented" zoning would encourage non-transit-oriented sprawl (Jul 18, 2008)
Which came first, the city or the liberal? (Jul 4, 2005)
Maryland and Virginia trade places (Dec 19, 2008)
What is "mixed use"? (Apr 9, 2010)