Breakfast links: Symbols of sprawl

Walmart reveals suburban site plan

Walmart filed plans for their store at New York Avenue and Bladensburg Road without talking to the Office of Planning; planners say they “have some issues” with the plan, which has no buildings facing the street. (Post) … Rhode Island Insider is not so charitable.

ICC not (yet) causing sprawl

The ICC isn’t triggering much housing growth right nearby, partly because Montgomery County has zoning tools that try to prevent sprawl in the area and encourage housing growth in existing “nodes.” (Examiner)

Kwame Brown insisted on “fully loaded” SUV

Mike DeBonis discovers that Kwame Brown’s $1,963/month SUV is so expensive because he insisted on a “fully loaded” one with an entertainment system, moon roof, aluminum wheels, and more, and DC had to pay top dollar to get one from Michigan so quickly. Also, emails contradict Brown’s own previous statements on this issue. (Post)

Get hit in PW, get a ticket

Two pedestrians tried to cross Route 1 in Woodbridge, a road with few crosswalks; they got hit by cars, and police gave the pedestrians citations for “careless interference with traffic.” (TBD On Foot)

VA legislature has no time to hear from you

The unusually short Virginia legislative session deprives the public of much input; a Richmond clinic director was forced to stop talking on a bill after only 15 seconds. (Bob McCartney)

T is for trouble

Boston’s T is in a lot of trouble, with decades of deferred maintenance and so little funds they just keep borrowing more each year to close their gap. From the looks of the article, their straits seem much worse than the Metro’s. (Boston Magazine)

Conservative columnist supports rail spending

House Republicans are trying to derail high-speed rail, but a conservative New Jersey columnist thinks more rail money for northeast is worthwhile, because densities there are similar to Europe and New Jersey pays more in taxes than it gets back. (NJ Star Ledger)