Posts about Virginia
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Potomac Yard group debates Metro location and auto-oriented principles
Last night, Alexandria’s Potomac Yard Planning Advisory Group discussed the proposed infill Metrorail station at Potomac Yard. The station would anchor a large area of mixed-use development mostly between Jefferson Davis Highway and the GW Parkway. This land used to be filled with railyards, and is now mostly empty space with some big-box retail. The group is only starting… Keep reading…
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How good is Congress’ word on Metro funding?
If you were selling a house, and had agreed on a price with the buyer, would you decide to simply transfer the house to the buyer before they’d even signed a contract or put down a deposit? If your realtor told you that you have to give the buyer the house, because if not they might decide not to buy, you’d tell the realtor to take a hike and find a new realtor. Some of Maryland’s… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Getting around the Old Dominion
Next stop Lynchburg: A Virginia board approved funding for two new daily trains, one from Lynchburg to DC via Charlottesville and Culpeper, and the other from Richmond to DC. The service could begin as early as October. (News Advance via Stephen) Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: hardball negotiations
PG United? DC United’s owner has announced his intention to move the team to Prince George’s County, though he has no firm deal yet. Owner Victor McFarlane wanted DC to pay 75% of the cost of the new stadium, the Post writes, potentially costing DC up to $225 million in public money. McFarlane also offered to “let” DC use some of the tax revenue from ticket and… Keep reading…
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Doing the same thing over again and expecting different results
Last week, the Washington Post reported that a Prince William County subdivision has the longest average commute in the nation. The piece factually describes the routines of the residents as they cope with such a long commute. However, it unintentionally ends up being a scathing commentary on the suburban living arrangement. Keep reading…
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It’s “Crossover Day” in the Virginia legislature
Virginia’s legislature is now about halfway through their session. The state constitution limits the length of the session to 60 days (90 days for a budget year), and bills have to be passed by today, called “crossover day”, for the other house to consider the bill. Here’s an update on some of the transportation and land use bills for the 2009 session:… Keep reading…
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Arlington collecting bicycle and pedestrian traffic data
Arlington County’s Department of Environmental Services is going to be collecting bicycle and pedestrian traffic data this coming week. Volunteers will be counting bicycles and pedestrians at 20 sites around the county on shared-use trails such as the Four Mile Run trail, urban sidewalks like those near Metro stations, and on-road bicycle lanes (cyclists only). … Keep reading…
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Sharon Bulova for Fairfax Chair
Tomorrow, Fairfax County voters will elect a “Chairman” for the Board of Supervisors, replacing Gerry Connolly who ascended to Congress. Current Supervisors Democrat Sharon Bulova and Republican Pat Herrity, along with Republican Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Cuts and losses
Chopping the point: Clark Realty is not going to develop Poplar Point. Clark could no longer afford to do the whole project amid the bad economic climate, and DC decided to end the partnership rather than pay a portion of the cost. The city will move forward with the land transfer and EIS for now, prepare the land itself, and then re-bid the development. DC United and the District have stopped… Keep reading…
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Dinner links: hungry for good architecture, stimulus money
Not so historic: Prince of Petworth posts a very non-historic building in Capitol Hill. Good reason to have historic preservation laws, or a nice addition of variety to the block? Keep reading…
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Arlington’s TDR program misses Montgomery’s high standard
Arlington recently created a Transfer of Development Rights” (TDR) program. It’s a good start, but so far, it leaves out some of the most valuable components which have made Montgomery County’s a model successful program, protecting the county’s rural and historic land in a way that works for farmers and developers. Though they have existed for nearly… Keep reading…
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How can we make bike sharing programs compatible?
In the comments thread for this morning’s breakfast links, Ben relayed some news (or maybe not so new news) that Arlington is planning a bike sharing program. According to various commenters, the program won’t be compatible with DC’s SmartBike, since SmartBike works with Clear Channel, Arlington doesn’t have bus shelter advertising, Clear Channel… Keep reading…
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Let’s declare war on calling transportation arguments “war”
Maryland Politics Watch has a roundup of the Purple Line debate with the inflammatory headline “MTA Declares War on Chevy Chase.” In the lede, MPW’s Adam Pagnucco calls the DEIS “a Declaration of War on rail opponents in the Town of Chevy Chase.” Keep reading…
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Skip the housing, get the affordable housing tax credit?
According to DCmud, due to some bizarre quirks of Arlington’s tax code, a developer building near the Metro is getting affordable housing tax credits… for not building housing. Or maybe not; see the update below. Keep reading…
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Alexandria delegate candidates apparently haven’t heard of transit
You may not have heard, but there’s an election Tuesday. It’s in Alexandria (and a bit of Fairfax), to fill Brian Moran’s seat in the Virginia House of Delegates. Moran stepped down in December to run for governor. Democrat Charniele Herring and Republican Joe Murray are vying to represent the 46th District, which covers most of western, suburban Alexandria and… Keep reading…
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TOD before transit on the Dulles corridor: Herndon’s Arrowbrook
Herndon is getting a brand new “town center” development, called Arrowbrook Centre. While work on the actual town center hasn’t started yet, a 6-acre wetlands park broke ground earlier this year. The first phase will include 422,000 square feet of office space, 160,000 square feet of specialty retail/restaurant space and 407 luxury apartment homes. Eventually… Keep reading…
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Merrifield: Fairfax’s first try at TOD
The proposed redevelopment (or reinvention) of Tysons Corner, the Silver Line, and Fairfax County’s accompanying rezoning have gotten a lot of attention. But just to the south of that currently nightmarish crossroads is the county’s first stab at transforming an office park and auto-dependent suburb into human-scale mixed use and transit oriented development. Keep reading…
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Transportation in Virginia’s 2009 legislative session
Virginia’s legislative process is pretty easy for citizens to understand and follow, thanks to some constitutionally mandated practices. Each bill can be about only one topic, legislators are limited to a certain number of bills per year, and the legislative session is limited to only 30-60 days. Virginia’s legislative session is about to start, and the Delegates… Keep reading…
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enviroCAB sets a green example in Arlington
Last spring Arlington approved a new cab company, enviroCAB, to provide taxicab service in the county. It was the first new taxi company in Arlington in at least twenty-five years. All its vehicles are hybrids, challenging the status quo of the Crown Victorias other companies use. Most of the time a cab carries a single passenger, so providing a more fuel efficient choice seems like… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: new year, semi-new ideas
Better buses too: Matt Yglesias suggests better bus service as a transit improvement we should have included in our 2009 wish list. For an easy change, he suggests updating the schedule cards to a more state-of-the-art design. Keep reading…