Breakfast links: Profiles in courage and not

A tale of three “cities”

Fairfax’s planning commission may be about to back off from the Tysons Corner vision, again blowing its big chance (Examiner) … but the Montgomery County Council is expected to approve White Flint today, turning miles of strip malls into livable places (FOWF) … Critics of Gaithersburg West charge it’s just about making a huge profit for Hopkins, and little real research will actually happen. (Examiner)

MWAA’s bait and switch

The Reston Connection investigates MWAA’s taking away funding for transit in the Dulles Corridor. MWAA promised to use the money for transportation in the corridor, but then reinterpreted that to include freeways on the west side of the airport.

Committee of 500% more expensive

At a recent streetcar debate, the Committee of 100 said that they oppose overhead wires anywhere in DC, even if wireless costs 5 times as much as wire systems. DDOT has looked at 4 hybrid systems and 3 in-ground power systems. (Streetcars 4 DC) Update: The Committee disputes the contention.

Federal transit benefit benefits Metro

Proposed fare increases might not be so painful because the federal government pays for its workers’ transit rides (and parking). President Carter actually tried to eliminate the parking portion in 1979 but employees revolted. (Examiner)

Really a 2-way path?

Cyclists, rollerbladers, and even parents with strollers have been using the 15th Street bike lane as a two-way, multi-purpose path. If it’s not interfering with cycling and not causing any real danger, that might not be so bad. (Borderstan)

Police don’t want you to know

Refusing to release incident reports or arrest records doesn’t just happen in DC: Virginia police departments are even worse, with a blanket policy of refusing to release any records regardless of whether it’s actually confidential. Some counties’ departments even refuse to answer questions about refusing to answer questions. (Connection)

The granite nation

What if all 300 million Americans lived at the population density of Brooklyn. Where could we all fit? New Hampshire. (Good.is, Matt’) … Ryan Avent adds more statistics: The U.S. could fit the entire world’s population at the density of Fairfax County, or inside 70% of Texas at Brooklyn density.  (Tip: Matt')