Weekend links: Smart moves
CaBi stands for Cammunity Binefit?
An ANC 6C committee member asked a developer to consider including a Capital Bikeshare station in an upcoming Mount Vernon Triangle project. And who said ANCs don’t push for positive things? A commenter notes that the $50,000 cost equals the price of one underground parking space. (Housing Complex)
Buy SmarTrips, American students
Metro will start selling SmarTrips at AU’s campus bookstore, and students will soon be able to add value there too. Next, how about integrating new compatible chips into future student IDs?
Express lane for peds
Shop owners on London’s Oxford Street want a separate sidewalk lane for fast walkers. This one’s for real, unlike the “tourist” sidewalk lane painted in New York this summer. (WSJ, Eric Fidler) (Tip: Eric Fidler)
DDOT replaces more meters
DDOT is installing more single-space credit card parking meters downtown and on U Street. This will help alleviate the need to carry a pound of of quarters just to park. (DDOT via We Love DC, Eric Fidler) (Tip: Eric Fidler)
Food truck debate continues
Not all brick-and-mortar restaurateurs are fuming over food trucks, recognizing they fill a different niche. Meanwhile food truck owners challenge restaurants to make better, faster and cheaper food. (WUSA9)
Divided we authorize transportation spending
On a hopeful note, Congress passed surface transportation bills during the Nixon, Reagan, Bush I and Clinton administrations, even though the opposition controlled the House. (Streetsblog, Eric Fidler) (Tip: Eric Fidler)
Tech start-ups eschew Valley for city
Tech start-ups in Silicon Valley, once drivers of the area’s auto-dependent sprawl, are increasingly locating to the region’s various downtowns. In our area, tech start-up tend to locate in auto-dependent office parks in Northern Virginia. (WSJ, Eric Fidler) (Tip: Eric Fidler)
And…
DHCD talks in more detail about the project in SE that won HUD grant money in late October. (Region Forward) … A DC suburbanite has an epiphany upon returning home from vacation in London and Paris: our suburbs have no soul. (The Internationalist, Jeff) … New kids books talk about life in the city, one inspires interest in urban planning, the other in riding the subway. (NYTimes) (Tip: Jeff)