Posts about Maryland
-
Breakfast links: Actions for transit
MoCo planning staff endorse light rail: Reports of Planning Board staff endorsing a bus Purple Line have been greatly exaggerated. A staff report released yesterday endorses the surface light rail option, including the segment parallel to the Capital Crescent Trail. “We have to grow, and we have to do it in a way that is sustainable … in a reasonable way that is less dependent… Keep reading…
-
Montgomery County: America in microcosm
Montgomery County, and most of the Washington region, is far from typical of the United States in many ways. Both Montgomery County and the region as a whole have higher education and income levels than the nation on average, and even the less affluent parts of the county have a median income that is well above the national median income. However, on land use, the county is grappling with… Keep reading…
-
Maryland and Virginia trade places
Virginia has made huge strides in smart development and transportation policies in recent years, just as Maryland has taken huge leaps in the opposite direction. Former Maryland Governor Parris Glendening gets credit for coining the term “Smart Growth”, and DC’s progressive Planning director Harriet Tregoning used to run Maryland’s Smart Growth… Keep reading…
-
Has preservation become an echo chamber?
The District of Columbia is not the only jurisdiction in the region that is having an ongoing debate about historic preservation. While nowhere near as high-profile as the debate over the Third Church, preservation groups are working to landmark the Perpetual Bank Building at 8700 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring. Keep reading…
-
Breakfast links: How to get to Pennsylvania Avenue
By whistlestop railroad tour: President-elect Obama will get on a train after a rally in Philadelphia, meet Joe Biden for a rally in Wilmington, then stop in Baltimore before continuing to DC. Keep reading…
-
Working people might live in Rockville! Everybody panic!
Tonight, the Rockville City Council will debate Beall’s Grant II, a proposed mixed-income housing development around the corner from Rockville Town Square and 0.4 miles from the Rockville Metro. Opponents have a long laundry list of complaints that mostly fall into two categories: “This project is too big and will destroy our neighborhood,” and “Poor… Keep reading…
-
Brunch links: Foolishness in Maryland
News flash: cheap parking encourages driving: Montgomery County’s Office of Legislative Oversight issued a report saying what we knew: the county’s practice of building lots of cheap or free parking undermines their attempts to encourage non-auto commuting. Councilmember Nancy Floreen wants to hear your thoughts. Keep reading…
-
Tell Maryland MTA you support the light rail Purple Line
The Gazette has endorsed the light rail option for the Purple Line. But opponents of light rail have been making a big push to derail the rail option. Keep reading…
-
Reversible pains
Bustling downtown Silver Spring has a decidedly suburban-oriented feature that is strangely unique to denser urban areas: reversible lanes. This feature shows up in a few other places scattered throughout the region (most notably Connecticut Avenue in Cleveland Park), but Silver Spring’s are the most prominent because they appear on two major thoroughfares that intersect… Keep reading…
-
Buses and BRT: some facts
Montgomery County Councilmember Marc Elrich has a plan for “rapid bus” corridors around the county. While I applaud Councilman Elrich’s vision, he’s not the first person to articulate such an idea. In fact, the Action Commitee for Transit sent BeyondDC some excellent recommendations to immediately improve existing bus service on major routes in Montgomery County for no cost,… Keep reading…