Latest Comments

  • Have they given any consideration to some of the newer design ideas like the Federal Courthouse in Minneapolis which made security barriers out of raised grass islands with little sculptures and benches in them? This might be a positive direction for federal buildings which all too often function as fortresses

  • Fritz on September 9, 2010 at 3:54 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    @DavidAlpert - The danger to taking a position on elected officials is that people will criticize you for it.

    The bigger danger in doing this ongoing, Hamlet-like series on voting for Vince Gray is that people will catch inconsistencies and point them out forcefully, especially because this election is so close.

    My biggest source of confusion is the illogic of some of your arguments/assumptions: Gray will keep Rhee; Gray will keep Gabe Klein; Gray is totally a Smart Growth advocate; Gray will support the streetcar plan; Gray won’t use budget gimmicks to balance next year’s budget; etc.

    This is your website and you can run it as you see fit and ban whomever you want. But in this political season, you can’t get defensive when people point out perceived inconsistencies in your posts.

  • Jeb on September 9, 2010 at 3:54 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    There’s an important difference between expressing disappointment or disagreement with David’s posts versus slandering the messenger with no regard for the facts or reasoning he presents.

    Follow-up to my own post: I should have illustrated this contrast by pointing to jcm and Bwarn as examples of the former and pdouglas, Josh B, and Maximillan as examples of the latter

  • Catherine on September 9, 2010 at 3:49 pm (Breakfast links: Setting a date)

    I totally agree with Miriam. I grew up in an “old growth” suburb in the 80s and 90s (no sprawling subdivisions connected by highways, but Main Street, USA surrounded by small residential lots—-think Del Ray in Alexandria). I walked to and from school (about a mile) every day starting in 2nd or 3rd Grade (so…age 7 or 8?). There were lots of us—enough so that walkers had their own dismissal time called over the loudspeaker. My route had up to 10 kids on it (though there were only 4 of us who did it daily, year round). We’d stop at the news agency to get penny candy or those silly teen magazines, dawdle on nice days, playing with leaves or (in my case) picking flowers. It was nice.

    When I went to high school in another town, I walked to the commuter rail station and took public transit back and forth—also not uncommon for kids from my area commuting to the schools in my high school’s town.

    This is really not unusual for people from old suburbs of large, mostly Northeastern cities.

  • VI Paige on September 9, 2010 at 3:49 pm (For Prince George's County offices)



    The Ultimate in Campaign FUND RAISING!

    WATCH OUT business owners and residents of DISTRICT 7

    Darrell A Miller

    Over the years I have served on several political election/re-election campaigns with two prominent congress persons. Although in different parts of the country, there was a level of integrity and ethics in campaigning, a code of honor of sorts, with local vendors and other business entities because without them there would be no campaign i.e., marketing and consulting, graphic design, media services, print production and such. However, this campaign season in Prince George’s County, Maryland, I see a new way of funding a campaign has been adopted by one County Council District 7 candidate in particular, Darrell A. Miller (aka Miller 2010) that is quite alarming. My company has provided a service to the Miller for Council District 7 Campaign and we still have not received full payment for services rendered!

    As a new business woman in the area, I have a concern as I watch candidates “in action”, making promises, shaking hands, and conducting the business of campaigns. I’m seeing a pattern of candidates and their staff procuring services similar to mine, (graphic design and web services) agreeing to a contract in principle, and once design concepts are delivered (campaign logo design, in this case), the “contract” is ignored and initial payment is not made. IN THIS CASE, THE CONTRACT WAS NEVER SIGNED by the Miller2010 campaign. They obviously liked our design presentation because I see it printed on signage, t-shirts and other printed materials. He states, “When I win, I’ll take care of you.”

    Question: To those who “bless” and endorse candidates for office: Is there anything more than a brief interview when prominent media companies endorse a candidate for political office? Is there an “integrity and ethics” scorecard that says this individual is someone the citizen should trust to act in our best interest in matters that affect you and your family’s quality of living? Can this person be entrusted with our precious tax dollars to make wise decisions on their behalf? Will they honor their word to the citizens and not further tarnish the perception of our County with unscrupulous behavior?

    Is this the personal integrity and business ethics the residents and voters of District 7 want as their representation on the Prince GeorgeÂ’s County Council? Several months ago, the voting residents of the City of Capitol Heights, Md answered that question by making Darrell A. Miller their Former Mayor.

    The current Miller campaign slogan is “Helping Us, Help Ourselves”. I didn’t realize that “Us” and “Ourselves” in the mind of ousted Capitol Heights Mayor Darrell A. Miller is “himself” and not the hard working citizens and business owners of District 7.

    A very interesting way in funding ones campaign, but this unethical and shameful practice of stealing services from any small business or citizen simply turns my stomach!

    Victory Paige, CEO
    VIP Design Studio
    202.276.4948

  • Miriam on September 9, 2010 at 3:48 pm (Breakfast links: Setting a date)

    @dc denizen:

    I agree that not all suburbs are built so that children to get around on their own, even if their parents allowed them—and that’s a big problem. But some suburbs are built that way, and I know from personal experience that children used to get around on their own in those neighborhoods, and now they don’t. Same neighborhood, different times. So it’s not a suburban vs. urban issue.

  • Jeb on September 9, 2010 at 3:44 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    Speaking as someone who intends to vote Fenty and finds no compelling reason to view Gray with smart growth optimism, I must also speak out against the more vitriolic commenters who have decided to trash David and everything he types just because of his take on Gray’s positions. David built GGW into a first-rate community and has given us a spectacular educational resource and meeting ground on smart growth and urbanism in the DC area. Although I am personally skeptical of his recently published viewpoints on the consequences of the impending mayoral election (mainly because I don’t think Gray’s streetcar funding debacle was a fluke), David should be able to express his thought process in an atmosphere of mutual respect and intellectual discussion of our expectations for DC governance and the fate of progressive urbanism. I doubt that the individuals excessively bashing David are running attractive web communities to foster anything as constructive as what he has built. There’s an important difference between expressing disappointment or disagreement with David’s posts versus slandering the messenger with no regard for the facts or reasoning he presents.

  • jcm on September 9, 2010 at 3:39 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    @ David Alpert You ought to review your coverage of the election before you accuse your readers of being unfair. As best as I can can tell, your campaign coverage consisted of the following posts:

    Fenty:



    Gray:


    • Two entirely uncritical posts from the Gray blogger summit that read like a campaing ad.

    • A five part series of entirely uncritical posts that read like a campaign ad.

    • Gray is Greener

    • This post titled “Gray isn’t actually wrong on parking complaints” that doesn’t actually address what Gray said.



    Pointing out that your coverage has been one sided isn’t the “you’re new to DC” argument. It’s entirely accurate.

    It’s your prerogative to write what you like, and support the candidates you like. It’s your blog, and you generally do a great job with it. But don’t be surprised that your readers will wonder why your coverage has been so one sided. It doesn’t read like a guy trying to make up his mind. It reads like a guy selling a candidate.

  • dc denizen on September 9, 2010 at 3:39 pm (Breakfast links: Setting a date)

    @Miriam That’s if the suburb lets children get around on their own. A lot of suburbs don’t have the infrastructure that allows children to go much further than their own cul-de-sac, much less the store or school. And, zoning prevents retail and residential to mix. I think older suburbs allow children to be more independent, but the newer ones, especially in the exurbs don’t. And I don’t think that accompanying your child everywhere on transit is any more impractical, however, when children can get around on their own they are in fact helping their siblings and parents by freeing up time. If a child can get home from soccer practice on their own, it frees up the adult to work and not have to race home.

  • BWarn on September 9, 2010 at 3:37 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    “And yes, I have asked Gray the question you asked. He has said he would build bike lanes and bus lanes and fund Metro.”

    David, did he go into more detail than this? If he did, I would be interested in hearing more, maybe I missed the post where you covered this. But if in a sit down interview this is the best he can come up with then that should signal he doesn’t know wat he’d do really.

    Fund Metro. What does that mean? In what way? Extend hours? decrease time between trains?

    And even though this has become an old attack at this point: Dropping funding for the streetcars is an odd way to get people out of their cars.

  • Miriam on September 9, 2010 at 3:29 pm (Breakfast links: Setting a date)

    @dc denizen

    I don’t think it’s accurate to call not letting your child go places without parental supervision the “suburban model”. I know plenty of people who grew up in suburbs who went all over the place without parental supervision. And why would accompanying your child everywhere on transit be any more impractical than driving your child everywhere in a car? Without question, there is much, much less tolerance than there used to be for children going places on their own, but this is not something the suburbs are responsible for.

  • charlie on September 9, 2010 at 3:21 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    @ andrew; someone who finally understands how plastic bags end up in the river. Although you misunderstand the damage. The plastic bags get into the storm sewers and block them, so when it rains they have to be all dumped into the river. So it isn’t about the Anacostia at all—it is about how to fix the problems of storm sewers.

  • PJ on September 9, 2010 at 3:12 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    Is there any reason I’m missing as to why people can’t feed the meter with their smartrip cards?

    Does it have to do with the Smartrip benefit subsidy?

  • Jamie on September 9, 2010 at 3:12 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    “what’s wrong with using the bag fee revenue to pay for street sweeping?”

    Because, we’ve always paid for street sweeping out of the general fund. This is a new tax, and it was sold entirely on the premise that it was supposed to be an earmark for actual river cleanup. This is a bogus way of eliminating the earmark, which is what we were told the money would be used for.

    I’m not disputing that street sweeping may have some impact on bags in the river, but this is like taking an earmark for eduction, throwing it in the general fund, and saying “paying for crossing signals to assist children in getting safely to school.”

  • Erik W on September 9, 2010 at 3:09 pm (Breakfast links: Setting a date)

    @grumpy & Eileen - And I’m surprised that you all lack the sense of humor that you suppose we GGWers lack to realize the combination of “accident” and “stray car” were used comically.

  • andrew on September 9, 2010 at 3:07 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    @Jamie: Drifting offtopic, but what’s wrong with using the bag fee revenue to pay for street sweeping? If you spend any time around the Anacostia, you’ll realize that the vast majority of the river’s pollution comes from runoff after storms. Drive down to the riverfront after a torrential downpour, and witness the sea of styrofoam cups on the surface. Pollution from industrial dumping is long gone, and most of the crap in the river gets washed off of the streets, and diverted into the river through the combined sewer overflow.

    Until the underlying infrastructure issues are fixed (raw sewage also gets dumped in the river during storms), this seems like an acceptable measure to mitigate pollution of the river.

    Plastic bags also make up a considerable portion of the river’s trash pollution. Reducing the number of those in circulation has already had a tremendous effect. As far as I’m concerned, the bag tax has been a slam-dunk success by this metric alone.

  • charlie on September 9, 2010 at 3:02 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    I think everyone is avoiding the elephant here.

    Fenty HAD to raise parking fees to meet a budget deficit—because he won’t raise taxes.

    Increasing taxes on those making over $100K or taxing more expensive houses is a no brainer, albeit very unpopular with Fenty’s base.

  • andrew on September 9, 2010 at 2:58 pm (Breakfast links: Setting a date)

    Heh. My mother used to tell us stories of how her parents would send her to the store to buy cigarettes. More recently, as a kid, I had free reign to roam about my (admittedly bland, vanilla, and suburban) hometown, as long as I was home before dark.

  • Jamie on September 9, 2010 at 2:54 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    If you are interested in platitudes, be sure to check out Fenty’s 2006 campaign web site, too! Dude, it’s a campaign.

    As far as Gray’s record, you are seriously mischaracterizing the events, but believe what you want to believe.

    For comparison, here’s some fun Fenty quotes:

    “I donÂ’t know the details of any scheduling.”

    2010 budget - “$2.6 million in disposable bag fee revenue to pay for street sweeping programs to keep litter out of the river”

    Nickels (on Fenty): “the letter of the law has not been violated.”

    More Nickles - “It was an effort to keep people that didn’t belong in Trinidad from driving into Trinidad,” Mr. Nickles said. “That is not unlawful; it is not unconstitutional; and that’s the end of it.” Oopsie!!

    “Can you tell me who you’re meeting in New York, what the business is?” [Mark Segraves]. “No,” Adrian Fenty.

    “I’ve got a staff who could sit down and look at it and say, “I think we have a problem here.”” - Adrian Fenty, regarding the fact that nobody knew which roads would be closed for the 2007 DC Marathon, in which he participated

    “I’m not interested in talking about the baseball ticket story with you” - Adrian Fenty

    There are so many more…

  • andrew on September 9, 2010 at 2:49 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    @David

    In the interest of full disclosure, will you be pursuing a job within Gray’s administration if he is elected? Stroup and a few others have speculated on this…

  • Eileen on September 9, 2010 at 2:49 pm (Breakfast links: Setting a date)

    And I was surprised that you chose to characterize the crash last night as an “accident”. The Post used “crash” and “collision”—particularly appropriate in this instance where it appears that the driver managed to hit 2 peds on a “traffic safety island” and then crash into a restaurant.

  • Ken Archer on September 9, 2010 at 2:48 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    Without the nuance, though, isn’t Gray’s comment that parking rates are too high just as incorrect as is DDOT’s across-the-board rate increase? Why is DDOT wrong for making an across-the-board rate increase and Gray right for making an across-the-board statement that the rates are too high?

  • andrew on September 9, 2010 at 2:44 pm (The legacy of Charles Bond)

    Well, that’s one heck of a pop-up!

    Great essay. Thanks!

  • Cyrus on September 9, 2010 at 2:39 pm (Underpriced Metro parking doesn't justify more parking)

    Parking at Metro stations is not simply about supply/demand. People often have no other alternative to get to the Metro station (and hence their jobs) becuase feeder bus routes are inadequate and there is inadequate safe bicycle parking at stations. Metro has long been using parking fees to subsidize low fares. I have long supported geting WMATA out of the parking business and transferring those lots to the local jurisdictions which can apply their own parking policies.

  • Phil on September 9, 2010 at 2:37 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    “And yes, I have asked Gray the question you asked. He has said he would build bike lanes and bus lanes and fund Metro.”

    David, those are platitudes and not a plan. When I look at things Gray has actually done, I see that he has characterized pro-cyclist planners as potheads, cut streetcar funding in the dead of night, and brought members of the Committee of 100 on board as senior staffers. That’s Gray’s real record, and you shouldn’t be so easily fooled.

    If Gray is really serious about pushing smart growth where’s the detailed smart growth policy paper on his website? It doesn’t exist.

  • beatbox on September 9, 2010 at 2:34 pm (Underpriced Metro parking doesn't justify more parking)

    @Michael Perkins

    Free parking would be great at suburban metro stops. VDOT thinks that the plan needs to account for future parking demand. I think that is great. Put another garage there at some point and encourage more people to use the metro.

  • Jamie on September 9, 2010 at 2:32 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    @Maximillian “The increase in parking fees have only been implemented in zones where they’ve installed the new meters.”

    The parking fees increased everywhere. I am looking at a parking meter that can only be paid for using quarters. Are you really asserting that all parking meters have been replaced with kiosks or credit-card accepting models in this city? Do you even live here?

    Or maybe you actually meant to say the premium demand zone? No, sorry, that is also not true. I parked near the mall a couple weeks ago in the evening, where it’s 2 bucks an hour and goes until 10:30. There was definitely a parking meter there. The kind that only takes quarters. Well, the kind that would have taken quarters had it worked.

  • Maximillian:

    Your comment has clearly crossed the line of acceptable comments on our site with its use of ad hominem attacks and name calling. I will delete any future comments by you that stoop to this level.

    And yes, I have asked Gray the question you asked. He has said he would build bike lanes and bus lanes and fund Metro. However, when I report things like that, people say that he’s just telling special interest groups what they want to hear. So do you want to hear what he says he’ll do or not?

  • Peter Smith on September 9, 2010 at 2:26 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    Feel free to disagree with my arguments, but I’m getting tired of the comments claiming I’m being disingenuous.

    i have to agree with this—I don’t know the mind of Greater Greater Alpert better than I know anyone else’s, but his writing seems to me to be genuine.

    I’ve been thinking of coming to his defense for a while—I thought the whining would stop, but it hasn’t. I didn’t do it, in part, b/c I’ve been chopping down the racism/sexism trees lately, and didn’t want to be too much of a bore—well, time’s up, people who leave boorish comments! :)

    Also, as a non-resident of DC, I figured voters/people there (in DC) deserved a bit more leeway in getting out their angst at The All-Powerful One, Supreme Leader of GGW, THE DA OF THE DISTRICT, but I just don’t find the charges credible.

    So, David, about the weekly paid guest column…

  • Maximillan on September 9, 2010 at 2:22 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    Alpert—

    I’m convinced that you’re a moron. DDOT did plan. Did you ever take a moment to vet the budget before you drafted this blog? Did you know that Council stripped in excess of $4M from the budget which was directed to performance parking?? That’s what this Council does. They’ll remove the funding to support the infrastructure and tell the Mayor to ‘figure it out’. Then they’ll talk to misinformed folks like yourself and tell you that the Government is going about it irresponsibly.

    The increase in parking fees have only been implemented in zones where they’ve installed the new meters.

    I’ll go on the record again and say that your blog is half-factual and is becoming way too political. Have you asked Gray how he plans to get people out of their cars, reduce parking meter increases and still maintain revenue?

    If you really cared, you would run for something. Shadow Senator, ANC, anything. At least that way you can be held accountable for all the garbage that comes out of your mouth!

    Educate yourself…

  • bob T on September 9, 2010 at 2:15 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    David: you should reread your posts. They are pretty opinionated, and moreso than based on facts. I think if you were more dispassionate, you would get less of a passionate response. You normally do. Its directly correlated, don’t take offense.

  • charlie on September 9, 2010 at 2:12 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    @ Jamie; because far too many people see their transportation choice as identity, instead of just as a way to get around.

    I can’t wait to bring back horses into the city!

  • Okay, idea: instead of scrapping the going-into-the-negative part of the Smartrip, which is obviously the best part, they should expand it. So instead of buying a Smartrip card for $5 dollars, I could choose between a Smartrip card that cost $5, $10, $25, or even $100 dollars. The mechanism would work the same: since I have already put my money down, Metro is not actually losing money when I go into “debt” - they are simply allowing me to recoup what I’ve already spent on the card. For the lazy customer like me its great - I can buy a $50 dollar card, put money on it, and feel better knowing that if I hit the end of the month and need to save some cash, I can go into pseudo-debt on my Smartrip - all the way up to the -$50 that I’ve already put on the card. For Metro its great too - when people (like me) misplace or break their cards, its more likely to be a higher value card and thus translate into direct profits for Metro. The other benefit for them is an instant uptick in the amount of money that people spend on metro, even before they start using the system.

    It seems to me that the only potential problem here is the upstart costs, but given the fact that they’re already considering overhauling the system, it seems that they’ve already set aside that money.

  • Jamie on September 9, 2010 at 2:09 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    I’m glad to see that the vitriolic, kneejerk, reactionary comments, which make no effort to dispute the actual logic of their object, flow just as easily towards David as they do towards a few of us mere readers who deign to disagree with something, on occasion.

    I’ll say one thing, you’re a consistent pack of wolves: if it’s critical of DDOT or Fenty, or if it isn’t designed specifically to make life more difficult for people in cars, then OFF WITH THEIR HEADS.

  • charlie on September 9, 2010 at 1:58 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    @dave; I said before I wasn’t a fan of the idea of you endorsing candidates. That being said, the endorsements you wrote were excellent.

    I think part of the problem here is you are sharing TOO much of your mindstream with us; if you endorsed someone first then did an article like this it would be more acceptable. Timing is everything.

    Note to Mr. Gray’s campaign: Put him on a bike. That would get people a lot less scared. Note to Mr. Fenty: buy a real car.

  • Feel free to disagree with my arguments, but I’m getting tired of the comments claiming I’m being disingenuous. This is just a variant of the “you’re new to DC so you don’t know anything” argument, but now that that hasn’t worked, people are on to the “you are just trying to curry favor with politicans” argument.

    I’m just trying to call it as I see it. If your mind is made up, great, please vote for whomever you support, but mine is not. When I say positive things about someone, whether Wells, Gray or Graham, it’s not because I want access (I have good access to people who I’ve constantly criticized), but maybe because I see things differently than you do.

  • charlie on September 9, 2010 at 1:50 pm (Underpriced Metro parking doesn't justify more parking)

    Arlington should get a couple of free passes—they have shown they know how to do this right. That being said:

    1: Removing 2/3 of the parking at EFC to me sounds like a bad idea;
    2: Is adding underground parking too expensive, or would it involve compromises that would hurt the project overall (i.e. the developer would want to put in a bigger building?)
    3. Other Orange line stops don’t have metro parking, but they all have extensive private parking.
    4. Does the small increase in density result in greater metro traffic that would make up the revenue in lost parking. EFC is underutilized as it is.
    5. Getting more detail on who uses the parking lot would be interesting.

  • resident on September 9, 2010 at 1:45 pm (Underpriced Metro parking doesn't justify more parking)

    VDOT, thank you for standing up for the interests of residents, particularly where local government is failing to do so. There are middle-class residents of the DC area who cannot afford to live within walking distance of a metro station and have to drive to a station. Parking one’s car at a train station should not be a social experiment; it should not be the most complicated part of one’s day. During a time when employers have frozen wages—particularly with respect to the middle class, government should not be destroying the means by which people get to work or subjecting it to an economic experiment designed by one subset of people who, for whatever reason, live within walking distance to a Metro station.

    Again, VDOT, thank you for standing up for the State’s broader needs.

  • Peter Smith on September 9, 2010 at 1:41 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    What was it Gray called parking rates in the city—‘outrageous’?

    There are lots of things in DC that are outrageous, like the lack of bike lanes and lack of decent transit service, but car parking rates are not one of them.

    Oh, Fenty applied a blanket parking rate increase? ‘Outrageous!’ exclaims the man seeking higher office. What will rich people do??!! Poor poor rich people! It’s Armageddon for the rich people of DC!

    Where is the outrage with regards to lack of bike facilities and transit service? This is how working-class people want and need to get around—they don’t have the choice to pay $3/hr for car parking, and $2+ per gallon of gas, and $10,000/yr overall for the cost of owning a car. And they don’t have $5/day to pay for meager and humiliating transit service that doesn’t offer even the minimal amount of service that would be required to allow them to improve their station in life.

    Let’s all direct our outrage at things that actually deserve it.

  • Trulee Pist on September 9, 2010 at 1:39 pm (Robinson's wedge politics destructive for DC)

    @ oboe

    You put quotation marks around the first part of this statement:

    “Tommy Wells wants to make walking and cycling safer so children can walk to school without getting run over—but whose children??? Meanwhile, Kelvin Robinson is going to make sure every single DC resident draws a six-figure salary, and will eliminate crime by impoverished, unsupervised young men.”

    Good luck with that.

    Can you tell me exactly whom you are quoting? Or are you just “quoting” the voices in your head?

  • Lance on September 9, 2010 at 1:38 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    @David I don’t think there’s been a problem with the planning for the H Street streetcar line.

    well ... if you view it as ‘planning for the H Street streetcar line’, then no ... it’s progressed quickly ... BUT if you view it as ‘planning for a $1.5 billion, 37 mile system’, then the expediencies taken to just ‘get the H Street streetcar line out there’ will come back to haunt and hurt ‘the system’. Must we now buy the same type of vehicles for all other lines that will one day connect to this line? And since these vehicles can’t be retrofitted to go ‘wireless’, what does that mean in how the District will move toward the goal of going entirely wireless as technology permits it? Ditto, does rushing to put the H Street line where it is lay future problems out for us in that the owners of the area under the H St Bridge have made clear that it’ll be many years and many dollars before this line can use eminent domain to force its way across their property to connect with Metro, MARC, etc. at Union Station ... or even connect to future streetcar lines ... ? The ‘system’ is thus far not planned and building a part of it (any part of it) before the basics of the entire system have been planned out is ... well, just bad planning.

  • @beatbox: Increasing the price may cause some people to drive into the city. As long as the price is not increased too much, those spaces will still be filled by people that are willing to pay the new price.

    Meanwhile, Metro gets more money, which they can use to keep service levels up, keep fare increases lower, or require smaller subsidy increases.

    The existing parking is overcrowded, and building more isn’t a cheap solution.

    Take your argument the other direction. Metro parking at EFC is $4.75 per day. Why shouldn’t it be $4.00? Why should we charge at all? The price just forces people to drive instead of using the parking lot. If we make it free, we’ll encourage more people to use Metro, and the roads will be clear.

    But wait, the lot is full.

  • grumpy on September 9, 2010 at 1:36 pm (Breakfast links: Setting a date)

    Given this blog’s obsession with the semantics of reporting on pedestrian- and car-related incidents, I’m surprised you chose to characterize the crash last night in Adams Morgan as caused by a “stray car.”

  • dcplanner on September 9, 2010 at 1:35 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    What makes you think that ddot plans-less? I know Karina Ricks, and Harriet Tregoning who works closely with DDOT on many efforts. They are nationally respected, and I would imagine are offended at your notions.

  • goldfish on September 9, 2010 at 1:34 pm (Robinson's wedge politics destructive for DC)

    @Trulee—thanks for fixing it. Cut-and-paste did not work.

    @oboe—True, making the curfew at half-hour earlier probably won’t do much. But making it 8:30 probably would. And why should any school-age kid be out that late?

  • charlie on September 9, 2010 at 1:31 pm (Gray isn't actually wrong on parking complaints)

    Or, if all spaces aren’t filling up even on weekends, lower those rates too. The real problem in many other neighborhoods, like mine, is that all the free RPP spaces get filled up by diners or employee”

    Funny, I thought we were trying to attract diners.

    And exactly how are employees going to get home when the restaurants close after the buses/rail shuts down?

    Maybe we should mandate parking garage spaces need to be sold with every residence in crowded areas. That would solve the RPP problem…

  • reader on September 9, 2010 at 1:29 pm (Don't block the box... or else?)

    Uhmmm… this post doesn’t really make sense. It seems to just express general disdain for drivers and does not seem to evidence much of an understanding of urban driving.

    No, blocking the box is not tantamount to running a red light. Yes, intentional blocking the box is obnoxious. But as several comments have noted, many instances of blocking the box are not intentional, but are caused by unforeseeable, sudden stops in traffic. Short of everyone stopping at an intersection on a green light and waiting for the car ahead to clear the intersection, there would be no way to guarantee “obeying” the law. The automated ticketing proposed in the post would catch some folks acting intentionally, but would also tax a large number of people, chosen randomly, simply for driving. If drivers wanted to “obey” such cameras by stopping on the green and waiting for the car ahead to clear the intersection, having every car stop on the green wouldn’t seem to do much for efficiency.

    By the way—Arlington County, nice job in targeting out-of-state residents with those red light cameras on the border in Rosslyn, just over the key bridge. It seems like your short yellow cycle has done a lot to help tax interstate drivers. For residents, it is a bit of a pain to have to jam on the breaks when the light is still green, but just keep publicizing the intersections in local publications and local residents can learn to treat these intersections as being different from anywhere else—essentially as toll roads for out-of-state drivers.

  • beatbox on September 9, 2010 at 1:28 pm (Underpriced Metro parking doesn't justify more parking)

    There is no making you happy. The metro commute is already too expensive from the outer burbs. You want to encourage people to drive into the city? Oh no, that is right, you do not want them to come into the city at all.

    For the record I live in DC and dont’ even own a car, but think this little luddite utopia you imagine is BS.

  • Fred on September 9, 2010 at 1:26 pm (Underpriced Metro parking doesn't justify more parking)

    A larger problem at the East Falls Church Metro is the monthly parking that people do not use. It might be more efficient if all the parking was daily.

  • Peaceoholics- Tommy Wells on September 9, 2010 at 1:26 pm (For District of Columbia Council)

    WELLS URGES MORE DRUGS IN OUR LIVEABLE WALKABLE NEIGHBORHOODS

    Night in the Jack Morton Auditorium.

    Councilmember Tommy Wells, who represents Ward 6, said that the surge of heroin use and cases of HIV in the District is a crisis that demands an aggressive and maybe even unconventional approach to combat - treatment for heroin addiction with heroin itself. TOMMY WELLS

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