No bike safety equipment should be required because it may, and suffer my bleeding heart, criminalizethe poor. No worries if a policy of venomous neglect results in a few more deaths; the driver is always responsible.
Honestly, I don't see much police enforcement of anything bike-related, at least in the non-poor areas. Many bike riders are missing some few required things while riding at night, such as a headlight; they may have a required rear reflector, but many seem misaligned. And there's no point to a helmet law. Some aging adolescents won't get the value of a helmet until they've taken a fall and chewed up their forehead.
Even if you suggest that bike stores ought to make an effort to sell bikes with front and rear lights, the bike lobby will say that they are pricing out the poor.
Let's face it, the poor aren't the reason for this minimization; it's the well-to-do bike riders who want to maintain maximum legal leverage if they are involved in a collision. But their arguments are always framed around the poor and underrepresented groups. Nobody ever stops to ask if the problem is really one of bad policing.
I suspect the writer of this piece wears a helmet-wearing and has a bike that's fully loaded with lights and a bell as he bleeds out the arguments on behalf of the poor.
If lights (or bells or whatever) as so essential then you have to take it to the manufacturer level.
So that's what is the case in the Netherlands. You can't sell bikes without proper lights no them, reflecting tires, and a white rain guard (historically the first reflecting thing on a bike), reflectors in the pedals and whatever I forgot.
And therefore, you can't buy a (new) bike without any of that stuff.
I will be very eager to see the data from those 11 charter schools that gave preference to at-risk students. We can speculate a lot about how this reform might turn out, but the first we need to know, did those 11 charter schools actually end up with more at-risk students, and then we need to know, how did those at-risk students do in their first year at their new school?
(Trump hated remote work but hated DC more and wanted to relocate jobs out of this area.)
Trump mainly used moving jobs out of the area as a way to punish departments that contradicted him. Moving your department to Nowheresville becomes less of a threat if employees don't have to move to Nowheresville.
It’s hard to consider any repurposing of any General Destination lanes to BRT Restricted Destination lanes. Additional right of way space or separate routes are required for any comprehensive mass transit routes, especially if they are limited service point to point operations, without any ongoing through service.
The fee is based on linear feet; the “per space” calculation is strictly for ease of comparison: it’s the fee per linear foot times 20 feet (a standard parking space).
And yes, there should absolutely be some kind of fee for the private use of public space.
"Blacks are affected disproportionately therefore structural racism." The study also found that Asians die at the lowest rates - does that mean there is structural racism against whites in favor of asians? It's a non-sequitor argument that just won't die, and the Asian stats are always omitted in these articles because it contradicts the narrative. There are other factors at work like disproportionately high aggressive driving, dangerous biking, and lower rates of helmet usage in Black neighborhoods. But agreed that we must move towards safer biking infrastructure for all. I'm amazed that we are 100+ years into bikes being popular and there aren't protected bike lanes throughout all major cities.
I would also point out that most proposed mixed-use communities to be built around mass transit nodes would likely be very expensive housing indeed in most instances--clustered townhomes, apartment and condo buildings--that many will simply reject out hand as too crowded, too inconvenient, too inflexible, and too small for growing families and others who prefer a more expansive lifestyle. Fine for an existing urban area perhaps, but why the rush to convert existing suburban communities to dense urban-style villages? And there will always be a large subset of people who have a choice between cars and transit who will simply not take transit if it does not go where they need to be. I cannot imagine the costly build-out of such a large and comprehensive transit system capable of taking everyone to everyplace in a timely manner in comfort and security, hence the private vehicle is the transportation mode of choice for all those who aren't car-haters.
If lights (or bells or whatever) as so essential then you have to take it to the manufacturer level. What's the point otherwise?
Carve out exceptions for a performance bike or whatever and don't immediately ban any current bike on the market without it so we can let things filter out but its stupid to think you'll see any sort of safety improvement from a mandate that a consumer provide it themselves.
Adding points to camera tickets is one of the only two ways for cameras to affect driving behavior (the other being reciprocity with VA and MD, to include sending outstanding tickets to collection). It will never happen because, as the DCist article points out, "equity:"
"Proponents said the practice disproportionately impacted low-income residents — who are predominantly Black..."
What these bien pensant petit bourgeois socialist fools - and they are fools in the truest sense - ignore is that half of all traffic deaths in DC have been in Wards 7 & 8.
Again, just because the homes they lived in had been seized by eminent domain, the government doesn't owe anything to the renters, only the owners.
It was near impossible for black American to buy homes in most places, especially near job centers. The homes that were available were purposefully zoned for industrial and toxic use. Of course homes were "cheaper" in black neighborhoods, because no one wanted to live there. And even cheap homes were mostly inaccessible to many black Americans, due to the lack of wealth.
DCist has a bad habit of not linking to original documents; I can't find the September 19 or 20 document they referenced on the website or on hyperlinks.
Looking at the write up I was amused that for the FY2024 budget they are projecting higher green and yellow line numbers. WMATA fiscal year starts in June, so yeah, once they have a yellow line bridge I'd expect some recovery.
Full ridership is not expected to be restored until FY2029, which again is not a positive for the District. Unclear of that is bus or rail or both; again while the discussion is mostly about rail I don't see bus ridership recovering either.
Alexandria streateries will pay on sliding-scale to rent parking spaces
This is such bullshit. If you close a street, there logically are no more parking spots. If Alexandria wants to charge for the use of public space, that is fine, but at least do it in objective square feet, instead of fictional parking spots.
This author continues to suggest that deprioritizing the sibling preference in the DC school lottery system would be an effective policy intervention to help more at-risk kids land spots in higher performing schools. She claims that the sibling preference preserves existing school demographics, disadvantaging at-risk kids.
The author ignores the unintended consequences of removing sibling preference or diluting it to such a point it would not be the decisive factor it is now.
Make no mistake, undoing the sibling preference will send the DCPS into a death spiral. It’s hard enough transporting your kids to and from one school, let alone two, which could be miles apart.
The author’s previous article is focused entirely on transportation equity, so it’s inexplicable as to how the practical and logistical challenges of undoing sibling preference go completely ignored in her analysis.
If this kind of system became the norm, parents would have no choice but to leave the District to at least keep their kids in one school.
We need to find creative ways to further assist at-risk students, but let’s not ignore the benefits the District already offers, including free pre-k and free breakfast and lunch, among other things.
Once families have a child in a school, it’s only sensible that additional siblings also be given preference to attend that school to avoid a situation where parents need to traipse all over the city for pick-up and drop-off duty.
I’d like to see additional suggestions to help at-risk kids, though, let’s leave out the ill-advised ones that would throw DCPS into chaos.
Also, doesn't the logic of posts like these seem to under cut a lot of the equality arguments? That schools without sufficient numbers of white/Asian students are doomed to failure?
Thought experiment: A black family, both parents college graduates and well into their careers, HHI of ~$150k+, decide to set down roots and choose a school district.
Where do they send their kid to school?
Separately, my own hunch is the that physical school building has relatively little to do with both student performance and enrollment figures. But it's a convenient dodge for administrators, plus an opportunity for more ribbon-cutting ceremonies. I truly hope that the new swimming pool and Spanish program at Roosevelt help, but I'm doubtful.
But what’s really new is the prevalence of 100% remote work. Before the pandemic I knew 2 people doing it. Now there are dozens.
That's very true. Where I'm at now, we basically have the directive of "come in, don't come in, whatever, you're adults and you know when you'll need to be here." And I think that's pretty true. I know which tasks and when are better served in person. Some days, there's just no real reason to go into the office. Last week, every meeting I was in, I was meeting with someone in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and Trenton. Not because we telework there, but because that's where we're all based. There's no reason to make me go sit at a desk in an office building for those calls.
Yeah, the District is totally screwed, and that was before the impact of quantitive tightening and rate hikes. Diversify downtown? That will take a decade or two (if ever) and massive investment (from whom?). Build more housing? As you point out, DC is shrinking, not growing. Simplify business formation? LOL - try simply being a competent, responsive government first (will never happen). Support public transit? With what money, and for whom - without commuters, who will use it? Invest in public safety? No appetite anymore - it's not compatible with "equity." Competitive advantages? Which are what?
There's no short-term solution to this structural problem, and since DC and its electorate are unwilling to do some basic things that are necessary for any sort of rebirth, it's Bad Old Days, here we come. This ends with another control board, which apparently is the only way this city ever functions properly.
Play to the city’s existing competitive advantages
Again building more housing makes little sense in the environment where DC is actually shrinking in population; the metro area would continue a slow growth but even that is questionable. Certainly the recent number for Virginia show prime earners (35-50) leaving the metro area in large numbers as well.
DC is lucky as a city state is has basically 3 large revenue sources -- income tax, CRE and real estate, and sales tax. Income tax is up as DC residents recorded very large gains in 2020 and 2021; however CRE taxes and sales taxes are way down.
Certainly the idea of a 1 million people in the District has been postponed by a decade.
Increasing the quality of life in the District would help attract new residents, but that is a real challenge; as someone who just had to spend 4 hours today trying to fight DDOT for a permit our employees are, well, extremely substandard.
BS. People have been begging MPD to enforce traffic law for decades and they got zilch to show for.
Which "people?"
The problem is that people do not want to pay the taxes for the expansion of the police that would be necessary.
Why would it require additional taxes for MPD to return to pre-Floyd riot traffic enforcement? Remember: We have data that shows that MPD's traffic stops have dropped 50% since the Floyd riots in 2020.
Neither to people want to live in a police state.
I don't know what that has to do with conducting traffic stops - are people in Virginia - where they still conduct stops - living in a "police state?"
Furthermore, people want the police to fine other people, not themselves. See the howling every time MPD tickets a bunch of people.
Says who?
Let's conduct a thought experiment. Assuming, arguendo, that MPD can conduct more traffic stops without "raising taxes," creating a "police state," or causing people to "howl," would you support increased traffic stops (pre-Floyd-riots levels) while we simultaneously redesign our street system?
Remote work may make it easier for a Republican president to transfer federal jobs out of DC. A president can say the agency relocation won't affect you if you work remotely. Still, the government hires locally in a new city and insists on in-office work in whatever city they have relocated federal offices to. It's an evil strategy, but so was flying asylum seekers to Martha's Vineyard.
More than 40 Republican senators signed a letter recently asking the White House to get federal workers back into the office. But by 2024, the GSA may be getting out of leases to reduce its holdings, which may help Republicans who hate DC. (Trump hated remote work but hated DC more and wanted to relocate jobs out of this area.)
Washington's future job growth will depend more on the private sector. Amazon is adding some 25,000 jobs in Crystal City. That's going to generate a lot of other jobs.
Metro is in a rough patch, but it's temporary. The post-pandemic changes will take years to unfold, but for DC, expect more residential downtown, which will boost retail and entertainment and more business relocations -- similar to Amazon -- because of DC's large talent pool, great lifestyle, and infrastructure.
Just make a bus lanes from the Rosslyn Metro over Key Bridge to M St so that buses can bypass all the other traffic, and things will get a lot better.
This! For the cost of the NEPA document they could put in bus lanes and better bike/ped connections across the bridge AND complete it faster than the environmental review process is finished.
And where were these hypothetical sellers moving when supply is so constrained due to redlining?
The supply of housing in black neighborhoods was not a problem. That's why prices were so low in those neighborhoods compared to everywhere else.
But let's say they couldn't find a suitable house to buy. Then they could have put that money into risk free government bonds as I said and also built up generational wealth.
Your interpretation suggests that low-income black Americans in neighborhoods, that were specifically targeted for demolition for highways, received just compensation
I didn't say the compensation was just or market value. But, yes, they did receive compensation and while it probably wasn't enough to buy another house that was equally good, it was probably enough to buy some kind of home.
(assuming they owned the property)
The article is talking about eminent domain which only applies to the owner of the property.
had plenty of options, welcoming real estate agents, and willing mortgage lenders.
No, I didn't say they had plenty of options but they likely had the same options they had when they bought their house originally. Even if they didn't they could have put the money into bonds.
The implication that black Americans had access to wealth, but they just squandered it.
By definition, they got payment for their house through eminent domain. Presumably, you've read the Color of Law. Do they tell you what happened with that money because that's my question.
Forcing workers back to offices for the purpose of propping up DC's local economy is the sort of planned economy nonsense that creates huge inefficiencies. Do what makes most sense for the employer, employees and clients and let the market work out what needs to be done with excess office space. Worst case scenario is property owners default on their mortgages, the properties are foreclosed on and
only what a Democrat POTUS won’t do to address this issue and why. Care to comment on that instead?
It's not POTUS's job to address the this local issue for DC's economy. DC's leaders will have to figure out a way to evolve its economy much like many rust belt cities have to do as a result of the decline in manufacturing.
And where were these hypothetical sellers moving when supply is so constrained due to redlining?
Your interpretation suggests that low-income black Americans in neighborhoods, that were specifically targeted for demolition for highways, received just compensation (assuming they owned the property) and had plenty of options, welcoming real estate agents, and willing mortgage lenders. The implication that black Americans had access to wealth, but they just squandered it.
This is missing so much context. Please read the Color of Law. It really is the most important book on de jure segregation perpetrated by our government.
As do you; we could ask MPD to enforce traffic law with vehicle stops right now, but people like you don’t want them to.
BS. People have been begging MPD to enforce traffic law for decades and they got zilch to show for. The problem is that people do not want to pay the taxes for the expansion of the police that would be necessary. Neither to people want to live in a police state. Furthermore, people want the police to fine other people, not themselves. See the howling every time MPD tickets a bunch of people.
My observation is that MPD has not, is not, and will not do this, so try something else. Something else, that does work elsewhere.
Fed workers should not be forced back to the office because of concerns about DCs office vacancy rate. That is DCs problem.
DC pols and government needs to make their regulatory and tax structure more attractive, or at least on par with Virginia, to **earn** more business and office workers. One idea.
Also, with what I will describe as a general sense of a decreased environmental quality (see crime increases, shootings at Metro stations, complaints about fare evasion, the near constant smell of weed in the air, car jackings, vagrancy……), I sure as heck would not want to go to DC for a job because someone thinks workers who at one time used their office computer in DC owe DC (we don’t). No thanks.
I mean, under a republican president maybe you get a stronger “return to office” order but they also want to hollow out the bureaucracy and just eliminate a ton of positions entirely.
What an odd pavlovian non sequitur - I mentioned nothing about what a Republican POTUS would want to do to "the bureaucracy," only what a Democrat POTUS won't do to address this issue and why. Care to comment on that instead? Or do you just want to sperg out about Trump or something?
What leads you to believe that they were empty homes in Harlem and central Brooklyn just ready to absorb the demand of entire neighborhoods being demolished?
They don't need to be empty. You could buy them from the existing owners. As we know, property values in black areas were (and still are) depressed and below true market value. So, it shouldn't have been hard to buy a home in a black neighborhood for cheap.
And even if there were homes available, what leads you to believe that banks and lenders were readily giving out mortgages to black Americans?
Either the people who's home were bought out had mortgages -- indicating they could get a mortgage again -- or they didn't have mortgages in which case they don't need one to buy a new home.
It’s like telling a homeless person to not use this money to meet their immediate needs, such as food, shelter, and healthcare for themselves and family, but instead forgo all that and instead save and invest.
These weren't homeless people. These were homeowners who got paid for their homes when they were bought out. If they lived in public housing after that, as the article indicated, they didn't need that money to buy a new home.
Bottom line: how much did they get paid for their homes and what happened to that money? That's the answer to the mystery of why there
As do you; we could ask MPD to enforce traffic law with vehicle stops right now, but people like you don't want them to.
You're not really interested in solutions, just leveraging your agenda through your preferred policy. If that weren't the case, you'd support every solution in the policy quiver - real enforcement (not cameras, which have totally failed) as a stop-gap while implementing better road design.
"Unfortunately, that will never happen under Biden or any Democrat - the public service unions are one of his most lucrative and powerful constituencies. "
I mean, under a republican president maybe you get a stronger "return to office" order but they also want to hollow out the bureaucracy and just eliminate a ton of positions entirely.
No bike safety equipment should be required because it may, and suffer my bleeding heart, criminalize the poor. No worries if a policy of venomous neglect results in a few more deaths; the driver is always responsible.
Honestly, I don't see much police enforcement of anything bike-related, at least in the non-poor areas. Many bike riders are missing some few required things while riding at night, such as a headlight; they may have a required rear reflector, but many seem misaligned. And there's no point to a helmet law. Some aging adolescents won't get the value of a helmet until they've taken a fall and chewed up their forehead.
Even if you suggest that bike stores ought to make an effort to sell bikes with front and rear lights, the bike lobby will say that they are pricing out the poor.
Let's face it, the poor aren't the reason for this minimization; it's the well-to-do bike riders who want to maintain maximum legal leverage if they are involved in a collision. But their arguments are always framed around the poor and underrepresented groups. Nobody ever stops to ask if the problem is really one of bad policing.
I suspect the writer of this piece wears a helmet-wearing and has a bike that's fully loaded with lights and a bell as he bleeds out the arguments on behalf of the poor.
linear foot
So, they're paying for lines? Sigh.
It’s a non-sequitor argument that just won’t die, and the Asian stats are always omitted in these articles because it contradicts the narrative.
Wait, you mean that systemic racism is baked into the system and does not require individuals to act in a racist manner? Noooo.....
If lights (or bells or whatever) as so essential then you have to take it to the manufacturer level.
So that's what is the case in the Netherlands. You can't sell bikes without proper lights no them, reflecting tires, and a white rain guard (historically the first reflecting thing on a bike), reflectors in the pedals and whatever I forgot.
And therefore, you can't buy a (new) bike without any of that stuff.
Trump mainly used moving jobs out of the area as a way to punish departments that contradicted him. Moving your department to Nowheresville becomes less of a threat if employees don't have to move to Nowheresville.
It’s hard to consider any repurposing of any General Destination lanes to BRT Restricted Destination lanes. Additional right of way space or separate routes are required for any comprehensive mass transit routes, especially if they are limited service point to point operations, without any ongoing through service.
The fee is based on linear feet; the “per space” calculation is strictly for ease of comparison: it’s the fee per linear foot times 20 feet (a standard parking space).
And yes, there should absolutely be some kind of fee for the private use of public space.Did you report the comment (I don't know if that does any good)?
"Blacks are affected disproportionately therefore structural racism." The study also found that Asians die at the lowest rates - does that mean there is structural racism against whites in favor of asians? It's a non-sequitor argument that just won't die, and the Asian stats are always omitted in these articles because it contradicts the narrative. There are other factors at work like disproportionately high aggressive driving, dangerous biking, and lower rates of helmet usage in Black neighborhoods. But agreed that we must move towards safer biking infrastructure for all. I'm amazed that we are 100+ years into bikes being popular and there aren't protected bike lanes throughout all major cities.
I would also point out that most proposed mixed-use communities to be built around mass transit nodes would likely be very expensive housing indeed in most instances--clustered townhomes, apartment and condo buildings--that many will simply reject out hand as too crowded, too inconvenient, too inflexible, and too small for growing families and others who prefer a more expansive lifestyle. Fine for an existing urban area perhaps, but why the rush to convert existing suburban communities to dense urban-style villages? And there will always be a large subset of people who have a choice between cars and transit who will simply not take transit if it does not go where they need to be. I cannot imagine the costly build-out of such a large and comprehensive transit system capable of taking everyone to everyplace in a timely manner in comfort and security, hence the private vehicle is the transportation mode of choice for all those who aren't car-haters.
If lights (or bells or whatever) as so essential then you have to take it to the manufacturer level. What's the point otherwise?
Carve out exceptions for a performance bike or whatever and don't immediately ban any current bike on the market without it so we can let things filter out but its stupid to think you'll see any sort of safety improvement from a mandate that a consumer provide it themselves.
at least do it in objective square feet, instead of fictional parking spots.
$150 per linear foot for businesses along King Street, or $3,000 per space
$50 per linear foot in Arlandria and the West End, or $1,000 per space
$100 per linear foot for all other area, or $2,000 per space
Adding points to camera tickets is one of the only two ways for cameras to affect driving behavior (the other being reciprocity with VA and MD, to include sending outstanding tickets to collection). It will never happen because, as the DCist article points out, "equity:"
"Proponents said the practice disproportionately impacted low-income residents — who are predominantly Black..."
What these bien pensant petit bourgeois socialist fools - and they are fools in the truest sense - ignore is that half of all traffic deaths in DC have been in Wards 7 & 8.
"So Do Nothing?" -
I'd take your complaints more seriously if you didn't change your screen-name several times in a given week.
Again, just because the homes they lived in had been seized by eminent domain, the government doesn't owe anything to the renters, only the owners.
It was near impossible for black American to buy homes in most places, especially near job centers. The homes that were available were purposefully zoned for industrial and toxic use. Of course homes were "cheaper" in black neighborhoods, because no one wanted to live there. And even cheap homes were mostly inaccessible to many black Americans, due to the lack of wealth.
DCist has a bad habit of not linking to original documents; I can't find the September 19 or 20 document they referenced on the website or on hyperlinks.
Looking at the write up I was amused that for the FY2024 budget they are projecting higher green and yellow line numbers. WMATA fiscal year starts in June, so yeah, once they have a yellow line bridge I'd expect some recovery.
Full ridership is not expected to be restored until FY2029, which again is not a positive for the District. Unclear of that is bus or rail or both; again while the discussion is mostly about rail I don't see bus ridership recovering either.
Alexandria streateries will pay on sliding-scale to rent parking spaces
This is such bullshit. If you close a street, there logically are no more parking spots. If Alexandria wants to charge for the use of public space, that is fine, but at least do it in objective square feet, instead of fictional parking spots.
This author continues to suggest that deprioritizing the sibling preference in the DC school lottery system would be an effective policy intervention to help more at-risk kids land spots in higher performing schools. She claims that the sibling preference preserves existing school demographics, disadvantaging at-risk kids.
The author ignores the unintended consequences of removing sibling preference or diluting it to such a point it would not be the decisive factor it is now.
Make no mistake, undoing the sibling preference will send the DCPS into a death spiral. It’s hard enough transporting your kids to and from one school, let alone two, which could be miles apart.
The author’s previous article is focused entirely on transportation equity, so it’s inexplicable as to how the practical and logistical challenges of undoing sibling preference go completely ignored in her analysis.
If this kind of system became the norm, parents would have no choice but to leave the District to at least keep their kids in one school.
We need to find creative ways to further assist at-risk students, but let’s not ignore the benefits the District already offers, including free pre-k and free breakfast and lunch, among other things.
Once families have a child in a school, it’s only sensible that additional siblings also be given preference to attend that school to avoid a situation where parents need to traipse all over the city for pick-up and drop-off duty.
I’d like to see additional suggestions to help at-risk kids, though, let’s leave out the ill-advised ones that would throw DCPS into chaos.
@Jasper
Sure, I’d fall in love with you in 10 minutes if we both wash up at an uninhabited island and you’d look like Bo Derek at the time.
Why are you dodging the question? Why can't you defend your position?
When you have to resort to fallacies and dodges to support your ideas, perhaps you are ideologically bankrupt.
At least in the DC region, people with those characteristics are choosing Loudoun County and Charles County in large numbers.
Thought experiment: A black family, both parents college graduates and well into their careers, HHI of ~$150k+, decide to set down roots and choose a school district.
Where do they send their kid to school?
Separately, my own hunch is the that physical school building has relatively little to do with both student performance and enrollment figures. But it's a convenient dodge for administrators, plus an opportunity for more ribbon-cutting ceremonies. I truly hope that the new swimming pool and Spanish program at Roosevelt help, but I'm doubtful.Yes, I wish the comment system would be updated so it's not so easy to switch handles!
But what’s really new is the prevalence of 100% remote work. Before the pandemic I knew 2 people doing it. Now there are dozens.
That's very true. Where I'm at now, we basically have the directive of "come in, don't come in, whatever, you're adults and you know when you'll need to be here." And I think that's pretty true. I know which tasks and when are better served in person. Some days, there's just no real reason to go into the office. Last week, every meeting I was in, I was meeting with someone in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and Trenton. Not because we telework there, but because that's where we're all based. There's no reason to make me go sit at a desk in an office building for those calls.
Let’s conduct a thought experiment.
Sure, I'd fall in love with you in 10 minutes if we both wash up at an uninhabited island and you'd look like Bo Derek at the time.
/end experiment.
@ "It Will Never Happen"
Could you please pick one screen-name and stick with it?
@Charlie
Yeah, the District is totally screwed, and that was before the impact of quantitive tightening and rate hikes. Diversify downtown? That will take a decade or two (if ever) and massive investment (from whom?). Build more housing? As you point out, DC is shrinking, not growing. Simplify business formation? LOL - try simply being a competent, responsive government first (will never happen). Support public transit? With what money, and for whom - without commuters, who will use it? Invest in public safety? No appetite anymore - it's not compatible with "equity." Competitive advantages? Which are what?There's no short-term solution to this structural problem, and since DC and its electorate are unwilling to do some basic things that are necessary for any sort of rebirth, it's Bad Old Days, here we come. This ends with another control board, which apparently is the only way this city ever functions properly.
Again a decent backgrounder is here:
www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/r...
www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/r...
None of this is positive news.
Their recommendations are:
Diversify downtown,
Build more housing,
Simplify business formation,
Support public transit,
Invest in public safety,
Focus on forward-thinking policy, and
Play to the city’s existing competitive advantages
Again building more housing makes little sense in the environment where DC is actually shrinking in population; the metro area would continue a slow growth but even that is questionable. Certainly the recent number for Virginia show prime earners (35-50) leaving the metro area in large numbers as well.
DC is lucky as a city state is has basically 3 large revenue sources -- income tax, CRE and real estate, and sales tax. Income tax is up as DC residents recorded very large gains in 2020 and 2021; however CRE taxes and sales taxes are way down.
Certainly the idea of a 1 million people in the District has been postponed by a decade.
Increasing the quality of life in the District would help attract new residents, but that is a real challenge; as someone who just had to spend 4 hours today trying to fight DDOT for a permit our employees are, well, extremely substandard.
@Jasper
BS. People have been begging MPD to enforce traffic law for decades and they got zilch to show for.
Which "people?"
The problem is that people do not want to pay the taxes for the expansion of the police that would be necessary.
Why would it require additional taxes for MPD to return to pre-Floyd riot traffic enforcement? Remember: We have data that shows that MPD's traffic stops have dropped 50% since the Floyd riots in 2020.
Neither to people want to live in a police state.
I don't know what that has to do with conducting traffic stops - are people in Virginia - where they still conduct stops - living in a "police state?"
Furthermore, people want the police to fine other people, not themselves. See the howling every time MPD tickets a bunch of people.
Says who?
Let's conduct a thought experiment. Assuming, arguendo, that MPD can conduct more traffic stops without "raising taxes," creating a "police state," or causing people to "howl," would you support increased traffic stops (pre-Floyd-riots levels) while we simultaneously redesign our street system?
Remote work may make it easier for a Republican president to transfer federal jobs out of DC. A president can say the agency relocation won't affect you if you work remotely. Still, the government hires locally in a new city and insists on in-office work in whatever city they have relocated federal offices to. It's an evil strategy, but so was flying asylum seekers to Martha's Vineyard.
More than 40 Republican senators signed a letter recently asking the White House to get federal workers back into the office. But by 2024, the GSA may be getting out of leases to reduce its holdings, which may help Republicans who hate DC. (Trump hated remote work but hated DC more and wanted to relocate jobs out of this area.)
Washington's future job growth will depend more on the private sector. Amazon is adding some 25,000 jobs in Crystal City. That's going to generate a lot of other jobs.
Metro is in a rough patch, but it's temporary. The post-pandemic changes will take years to unfold, but for DC, expect more residential downtown, which will boost retail and entertainment and more business relocations -- similar to Amazon -- because of DC's large talent pool, great lifestyle, and infrastructure.
This! For the cost of the NEPA document they could put in bus lanes and better bike/ped connections across the bridge AND complete it faster than the environmental review process is finished.
The supply of housing in black neighborhoods was not a problem. That's why prices were so low in those neighborhoods compared to everywhere else.
But let's say they couldn't find a suitable house to buy. Then they could have put that money into risk free government bonds as I said and also built up generational wealth.
I didn't say the compensation was just or market value. But, yes, they did receive compensation and while it probably wasn't enough to buy another house that was equally good, it was probably enough to buy some kind of home.
The article is talking about eminent domain which only applies to the owner of the property.
No, I didn't say they had plenty of options but they likely had the same options they had when they bought their house originally. Even if they didn't they could have put the money into bonds.
By definition, they got payment for their house through eminent domain. Presumably, you've read the Color of Law. Do they tell you what happened with that money because that's my question.
It's not POTUS's job to address the this local issue for DC's economy. DC's leaders will have to figure out a way to evolve its economy much like many rust belt cities have to do as a result of the decline in manufacturing.
And where were these hypothetical sellers moving when supply is so constrained due to redlining?
Your interpretation suggests that low-income black Americans in neighborhoods, that were specifically targeted for demolition for highways, received just compensation (assuming they owned the property) and had plenty of options, welcoming real estate agents, and willing mortgage lenders. The implication that black Americans had access to wealth, but they just squandered it.
This is missing so much context. Please read the Color of Law. It really is the most important book on de jure segregation perpetrated by our government.
As do you; we could ask MPD to enforce traffic law with vehicle stops right now, but people like you don’t want them to.
BS. People have been begging MPD to enforce traffic law for decades and they got zilch to show for. The problem is that people do not want to pay the taxes for the expansion of the police that would be necessary. Neither to people want to live in a police state. Furthermore, people want the police to fine other people, not themselves. See the howling every time MPD tickets a bunch of people.
My observation is that MPD has not, is not, and will not do this, so try something else. Something else, that does work elsewhere.
Fed workers should not be forced back to the office because of concerns about DCs office vacancy rate. That is DCs problem.
DC pols and government needs to make their regulatory and tax structure more attractive, or at least on par with Virginia, to **earn** more business and office workers. One idea.
Also, with what I will describe as a general sense of a decreased environmental quality (see crime increases, shootings at Metro stations, complaints about fare evasion, the near constant smell of weed in the air, car jackings, vagrancy……), I sure as heck would not want to go to DC for a job because someone thinks workers who at one time used their office computer in DC owe DC (we don’t). No thanks.
@Drumz
I mean, under a republican president maybe you get a stronger “return to office” order but they also want to hollow out the bureaucracy and just eliminate a ton of positions entirely.
What an odd pavlovian non sequitur - I mentioned nothing about what a Republican POTUS would want to do to "the bureaucracy," only what a Democrat POTUS won't do to address this issue and why. Care to comment on that instead? Or do you just want to sperg out about Trump or something?
They don't need to be empty. You could buy them from the existing owners. As we know, property values in black areas were (and still are) depressed and below true market value. So, it shouldn't have been hard to buy a home in a black neighborhood for cheap.
Either the people who's home were bought out had mortgages -- indicating they could get a mortgage again -- or they didn't have mortgages in which case they don't need one to buy a new home.
These weren't homeless people. These were homeowners who got paid for their homes when they were bought out. If they lived in public housing after that, as the article indicated, they didn't need that money to buy a new home.
Bottom line: how much did they get paid for their homes and what happened to that money? That's the answer to the mystery of why there
@Jasper
But DDOT keeps choosing not to
As do you; we could ask MPD to enforce traffic law with vehicle stops right now, but people like you don't want them to.
You're not really interested in solutions, just leveraging your agenda through your preferred policy. If that weren't the case, you'd support every solution in the policy quiver - real enforcement (not cameras, which have totally failed) as a stop-gap while implementing better road design.
"Unfortunately, that will never happen under Biden or any Democrat - the public service unions are one of his most lucrative and powerful constituencies. "
I mean, under a republican president maybe you get a stronger "return to office" order but they also want to hollow out the bureaucracy and just eliminate a ton of positions entirely.
If there was only something we could do in the meantime
We can. But DDOT keeps choosing not to, while <s>doing</s> announcing shit that won't work.
Paris, London and New York City have shown you can make great progress in a few years.