Dinner links: Skyscrapers and Oklahomans
And the best employer to commute to is…
The Consumer Electronics Association, based in Crystal City, has the region’s Best Employer Commuter Incentives. They give employees a transit benefit, carpool incentives, bike parking with showers and lockers, and telecommuting. They also offer employees a $25,000 interest-free mortgage assistance loan to help them live in Arlington. (CommuterPageBlog)
Height limit debate of the day
Ryan Avent and BeyondDC are having an interesting debate about the height limit. Ryan wrote that the best environmental big idea would be allowing more development in DC, including taller buildings downtown; BDC replied that we can be denser without being taller, and the height limit pushes development outside downtown; Ryan argued that too many neighborhoods fight development, limiting the potential for broader density; BDC says there are enough underdeveloped neighborhoods that don’t have that problem today; Ryan says this is all splitting hairs and we just have too many rules period.
Just under the wire
Schools in Bethesda, Clarksburg and Germantown are reaching capacity, triggering an automatic building moratorium. But that could scuttle a planned 457-unit apartment building in Bethesda, which will generate about 50 new students for the schools. To get the tax benefit of all those new units, 90% of which won’t generate students, amid the economic downturn, Planning Board staff and some County Councilmembers are pushing to approve the building before the moratorium takes effect. (Post)
Senators preemptively reject reform
Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Barbara Boxer (D-Whatever Inhofe Wants) called for extending the current transportation bill with no improvements whatsoever. Lame duck Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), though, isn’t giving up on a gas tax increase, even though Boxer’s already given up in advance. Since when did the Senate become the Oklahomate? (Streetsblog Capitol Hill)
Let’s rotate fiscal conservatives through the Transportation Committee to educate them
In an interview on the transportation bill, ranking Republican John Mica of Florida said, “if you’re on the Transportation Committee long enough, even if you’re a fiscal conservative, which I consider myself to be, you quickly see the benefits of transportation investment. Simply, I became a mass transit fan because it’s so much more cost effective than building a highway. Also, it’s good for energy, it’s good for the environment – and that’s why I like it.” (Blueprint America)
And…
The Treasury Department awarded DC a $33.7 million grant for affordable housing (Housing Complex) … Dulles Toll Road tolls will probably double over the next three years, to pay for the Silver Line (Post, Gavin Baker, Froggie) … Maryland’s bridges and tunnels are safe. (Post, Cavan)