You can change things...

Well, about 5 months after I pointed out to Google Maps that they had the location of the New York Avenue Metro Station in the wrong place (they showed it before approximately at the equivalent of 2nd Street NE and New York Avenue, when it is located at 200 Florida Avenue, with another exit at 201 M Street NE), they fixed the location.

When you see problems such as these, report them.

It's a "little" thing, but for people who wouldn't know, it makes a big difference.

Why I am an old urbanist

in response to Rob Goodspeed's latest op-ed on Planetizen, "The Origin of New Urbanism's Persistent Image Problem."

WRT your crack about the "old urbanist," I have never ignored the valuable critical analysis and focus on urbanism that new urbanism provides. I think the Charter is amazing and the transect is an important and powerful way to make evaluations about appropriateness of building type and urban design across the development spectrum. That being said, I prefer to focus on center city revitalization and repopulation, not improvement of suburban spaces. After all, we all have to focus.

Furthermore, just because something is urban infill doesn't mean that it's "new urban." It's fair to say that pro urbanists like William Whyte, Jane Jacobs, the efforts of Project for Public Spaces, etc., predated the development of the new urban field. I think that you dismiss them too easily. The work of Whyte and PPS is equal to the best of the new urban analysis and writing.

Still, I recognize that new urbanism has been particularly valuable in extending, defending, and defining the qualities that make up true urbanism. I am particularly grateful for and impressed by the vision and rigor of new urbanism as expressed by its leaders and proponents.

But since most new urbanism is about greenfield development and refiguring the design of suburban places, it is more accurately termed new suburbanism. Hence my preference to be called an old urbanist.

3 interesting points from articles in the Financial Times

As I mentioned, last weekend's Saturday edition of the Financial Times has a bunch of great articles

1. In the interview with the Aga Khan, "Coffee with the FT: His Highness the Aga Khan," he states:

“There is no point going into economies that are wealthy and have their own resources, so we go into the really poor ones. If you try to put social development ahead of economic support, it doesn’t work. You have to do both together.

“A community whose economics don’t change is not one that can support community structures, education, healthcare, it doesn’t have the wherewithal,” he says.

2. An article about London's Giaconda Dining Room makes the point that by opening in a revitalizing but well-located place, you can pay less rent, as little as 60% of the going rate in "better" locations, and that can be a significant contribution to profitability and success. See "A taste of money."

3. In "Eat, shop, gossip," an article about La Boqueria, the finest public market in Barcelona, mentions in passing how 40 vendors in Borough Market in London are working stalls at La Boqueria and in return those vendors will take a stint in the Borough Market, to promote:

the idea of creating accessible, comfortable, designed areas in public spaces to house markets, providing diverse, affordable and fresh produce for locals and giving producers a leg-up. The Boqueria, with its third and fourth generation stallholders, strong local and international customer base, and incredible produce has proved that this idea can work.

-----Other good articles include one comparing John McCain and Barack Obama based on where they live and what it means, and a couple articles on revitalizing neighborhoods in the House and Home section.

Cities and creativity

Last weekend's Financial Times is full of snippets of wisdom, as well as Tyler Brule's regular column, which focused on whether or not London can remain a capital of creativity, especially in the face of the meltdown of a number of financial companies. See "Capital gains and urban misses."

His column contrasts the beliefs of former mayor Ken Livingstone and former mayor of Bogota, Enrique Peñalosa.

From the article:

At a series of Financial Times talks at the London Design Festival and at a mini-summit for my magazine Monocle, I asked leaders and urban strategists about the role London has to play as not only a financial capital but also as a centre for creativity. ...

The key headlines from Livingstone were that London was well positioned to keep its current position as a centre for finance and innovation but it was going to have to fight hard. This was hardly news.

When I asked him whether the city should be doing more to encourage a more rounded creative community (for example, not just having design studios and headquarters for advertising agencies but also ateliers and light industry to support this sector), I was informed that these days were gone and that he didn’t really see these types of businesses having a place in London. Some in the audience nodded in agreement while others screwed up their noses and made gestures that suggested they disagreed.

I left the venue feeling somewhat deflated by Livingstone’s comments and then was overtaken by a mood that was a mix of irritation and depression. ... At a session on Tuesday devoted to the future of cities and London in particular, I chatted to Peñalosa, the urban planner Alejandro Gutierrez of Arup, and the author Alain de Botton.

Their views were a bit more rosy than Livingstone’s, with Peñalosa a strong believer in cities as a place where things happen and are made, across a broad spectrum of fields and areas of specialisation. De Botton supported this view by stating that the process of design and construction were linked and were essential elements for a vibrant city. ...

Come question time, however, the audience was more interested in Peñalosa’s damning views on malls and what the soon to open Westfield Centre in London’s Shepherd’s Bush meant for the city. On record for suggesting that malls are a strong indication that a city is sick, Peñalosa didn’t back down from his previous comments and at one moment challenged both me and the audience members as to why such a project had been allowed to go ahead. “You mean we’re talking about a big, boring, flat-roofed mall? The kind you’d find almost anywhere? Here in London?” ...

In short, London doesn’t need any more malls but should focus on the strengths of its public places, bring creativity and craft back to the heart of the city, create even more bike lanes and places to walk. It should also pay attention to the romance and optimism offered by outstanding terminals – be they rail, marine or aviation focused.

Federal government transportation planning in the DC region

I have been meaning to write about this for a week or two, and then Tom Toles' editorial cartoon from today brings it to a head (from the Washington Post).


This editorial cartoon specifically refers to the appropriateness of a federal role with funding the local subway system, and a pending proposal to provide $150 million/year for 10 years in federal funding, a proposal that may well die with this particular Congress. This proposal has been seized upon by conservative think tanks and called "the largest federal earmark of all time." (WMATA has received a lot of federal funding over the years, although partly this was from funds allocated to states.)

So the editorial cartoon is making the point that if the WMATA funding issue were a crisis of greater proportions, then the funding would come through for the local subway system.

Last week, WMATA announced that it needs $11 billion to fund capital improvements, with about 2/3 of this for repair and maintenance of a system that is beginning to show decline as it begins to age (it's now 32 years old from the date of its opening).

Something I think about from time to time is the fact that the U.S. Congress ordered the dissolution of the DC streetcar system in the early 1950s, after choosing to not renew the franchise, ostensibly in response to a worker strike. (The system was replaced with buses completely in 1962.) This means to my way of thinking that the Federal Government has a special responsibility for rebuilding transit in the region, because the Federal Government has responsibility for the wrecking of fixed rail transit in the region. (Although I recognize that streetcars were on the decline regardless.)

Bus and streetcar by the U.S. Capitol. Horydczak photo, Library of Congress. 1947.

Add to this the fact that the federal impact on local planning as it relates to transportation is under-considered within the "transportation element" of the Federal Elements of the DC Comprehensive Land Use Plan. The Federal Elements are produced by the National Capital Planning Commission, a federal agency, and are paired with the local elements, produced by the DC Office of Planning with the assistance of other agencies, and approved by the DC City Council.

In my opinion, the transportation element of the Federal Elements could be much stronger, calling for a stronger federal role in funding the transit system, acknowledging the impact of Congress on wrecking the streetcar system, and mandating direct federal investments in transportation when federal planning actions lead to massive changes in the mobility pattern and paradigm in the region.

(Technically, the Transportation section of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments is the "Metropolitan Planning Organization" responsible for regional transportation planning. But I don't believe that we truly have regional transportation _planning_ as much as we do some coordination of various state-specific transportation projects, mostly dealing with roads, which are initiated by the separate jurisdictions.)

For example, the closing and relocation of various military installations as a result of (Military) Base Relocation and Consolidation (BRAC) program means that a number of well connected by transit facilities are being closed, and replaced by new installations in exurban or far suburban locations, in locations with extremely limited transit connections, and requiring large local expenditures to upgrade the road system to accommodate new vehicle trips.

BRAC related transportation planning with regard to the impact on relocation of a number of facilities to Fort Belvoir, because of the transportation impact, seems pretty poor, based on reading articles such as "Army to Relocate 6,400 Workers to Alexandria" and "Springfield Site Losing Out to Alexandria for Defense Jobs" from the Post.

How can it be acceptable to put 6,400 workers at a location that lacks convenient subway access?

But as a planner for a Virginia jurisdiction who attended the H Street alley tour a couple weeks ago pointed out, if land use changes such as BRAC (or the creation of the National Harbor project in Prince George's County) came up in California, under the California Environmental Quality Act there would be a detailed and thorough response and evaluation. Federal planning requirements are not as stringtent.

Likely, with CEQA, BRAC-like relocations wouldn't be approved without mandatory improvements in the transportation infrastructure, and relocations would be steered to locations with better transit infrastructure. Similarly, the Transportation Element of the Federal Elements feels weak to me. A big part of the section is how parking requirements are weighted according to where in the region the facility is to be located, and how close to the subway.

Instead, based on the number of employees I would set up an additional formula, requiring supplemental federal funds to assist in transit infrastructure expansion, paired up with stronger transportation demand management planning, to shift more trips away from cars.

School daze continued

Yesterday's Post Outlook section had a nice op-ed by teachers, "Bargaining For Better Teaching," about the lack of a solid professional development system for teachers in DC. Today Jay Mathews wrote in the Post, "For Kids' Sake, Power to Fire Teachers Crucial," about why it's good to be able to get rid of teachers.

What I found troubling about the piece is some uncovered ground:

(1) So the teachers were evaluated and found deficient. (2) is the only response to fire the teachers? (3) or is there an opportunity for assessment, an evaluation of whether or not the teacher can improve to the point demanded by the school and needed for the students to be able to achieve, and (4) if the teacher has potential, where is the development and implementation of a plan for improvement for the teacher.

It's very expensive to hire and fire personnel. And to develop and retain your staff.

I have made presentations to school children over the years, elementary and high school aged kids. It was very hard. And I presume that the children were better behaved because I was a guest. And that it is a lot more difficult to hold their attention for 6 hours/day for 9 months...

In short, while I could probably be a good teacher, I recognize that it would take a couple years to develop me in terms of organization, classroom management, and presentation and delivery skills. It would be a shame and economically wasteful to fire people that have potential but need time, support, coaching, etc., in order to improve.

Similarly, my problem with Chancellor Rhee is that she isn't focused on this reality. She blames teachers for being inadequate, without focusing on the system and culture in place. Or more accurately, she believes the system and culture to be inadequate, and believes that by firing everyone and hiring fresh she can do better, but she doesn't recognize the need to have robust systems, processes, and structures in place to build the strength in the system and a systemic demand for excellence. Instead she focuses on individuals, personalizing a system, and therefore condemning it to continued mediocrity.

Nothing prevents a school system with the less privileged kids to have great teacher development systems. That's a failure of the people running the system. And that's the whole point of the need for great and robust systems. DC has the money. It just doesn't have the focus or concern. And if its the fault of race based privilege, it's not a white thing. cf. _Black Social Capital_ by Marion Orr.

... in relationship to the point that Montgomery County schools have recognized that while high income children succeed, that they needed to go above and beyond and add resources and development and assistance systems in order to help lower income children succeed as well as the high income children within the same school district.

2010 Olympic tickets will include free transit

So says the article in the Vancouver Sun.

A Translink bus travels by Olympic banners. Photograph by : Mark van Manen/Vancouver Sun

Green thinking in Manchester, UK

Nigel also notes this piece from Euronews, "Hit the North for British ideas on urban renewal" on the revitalization of Manchester, an industrial city that had fallen down greatly and now is undergoing post-industrial revitalization. The story is available in both video and print.

Their greenness goes to the extent of installing a wind turbine at the main soccer stadium (although plans seem to be held up for various reasons currently).


The City of Manchester Stadium, and an artist’s impression of how it would look with the proposed 360ft wind turbine installed.

Detroit Free Press series of editorials on the need for a national urban agenda

Nigel calls our attention to the latest installment in the Detroit Free Press' series of editorials on the need for federal involvement in urban revitalization, "Programs that invest in cities can be key to economic growth." There are more than 8 pieces so far, and they intend to produce more pieces through December.

The article discusses past federal programs, as well as successful programs in other communities such as Cleveland. Now I would quibble with the success of some of the programs the piece outlines, but the point about needing to focus on economic revitalization of center cities, which as Brookings Institution points out ("MetroPolicy: Shaping a New Federal Partnership for a Metropolitan Nation ") are the economic engines of the U.S. economy, of course I agree with.

From the article:

Healthy central cities attract and keep the young talent that drives the new knowledge-based economy. Members of the so-called creative class seek dense, diverse and walkable neighborhoods with access to mass transit. In other words, they want to live in cities that work -- and the lack of such places in Michigan has figured mightily in the exodus of young people from this state. With their transit systems and population density, cities are also certain to become more attractive to energy-conscious businesses, residents and developers.

End policies of neglect

After decades of neglect, the federal government must become a more aggressive partner in the economic redevelopment of cities, as called for by the International Economic Development Council. In that regard, presidential candidate Barack Obama's plan for a White House office of urban policy is encouraging.

Government cannot replace the private-sector in retooling urban and regional economies. Private enterprise is the engine of growth. But government can prime the pump, taking the market to places it would otherwise shun, with tax credits, grants or low-interest loans that stimulate private investment, fund technology and research, or help pay for worker training and education.

Montgomery County historic preservation design guidelines

Are being republished in an updated form. The current design guideline book, published in 1979, is not available online. The new guidelines are available online in draft form. The previous version is decent, typed rather than typeset.

The new guidelines are updated to better reflect concerns of today, and there is the important addition of a new chapter on the narrative themes and cultural landscape of Montgomery County's history (Architectural History - Chapter 2 [PDF]), which helps to put preservation in context, making it a bit easier to explain and demonstrate why history and historic preservation is important, and why certain places and buildings are deemed "historic" and worthy of preserving.

The guidelines will be considered for approval at the next Montgomery County Historic Preservation Commission meeting, which will be held Tuesday October 7th, at 8787 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring.

Updating the mobilityshed / mobility shed concept

The idea has to do with mobility and compact development being linked, where (1) walking, bicycling, and transit is part of your daily and week-in, week-out lifestyle/way of life, rather than something you do specially such as going on a special trip for recreation (such as to a gym or a park miles away) or only to go to and from work; and (2) planning for mobility around what I call the mobilityshed and transitshed.

The transit shed is the area impacted by a transit line, the mobilityshed is the planning for mode shift within catchment areas around stations, which should include bicycle sharing stations, although they weren't listed in my first writing about it, and/or transit lines in total.

Map signs at DC subway stations usually show three concentric circles representing 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 mile walking areas (which are supposed to reflect 5, 10, and 15 minute walking distances).

I think you can think of bicycle sharing systems as different from owning a bicycle in terms of the level of mobility afforded by the method.

Note that other transportation research discusses what they call the mobility hub, see New Mobility: The Next Generation of Sustainable Urban Transportation. But I think that the concept is stronger when paired with the idea of the broader mobility shed. In other words, they have the hub concept down, but not the broader context.

"Conservatives" like to criticize society post-1960s as degenerating into a valueless sphere of relativistic thinking. It happens that this is a pretty facile approach to the nuances involved in cognitive development. I have mentioned before William Perry's work and his 9 stages of cognitive development. Relativistic thinking as a "permanent" form of thinking without commitment is by no means the highest stage.

This comes up with regard to thinking about different forms of mobility, comparing forms, and determining which are "superior." Sometimes I do fall into this trap that I need to extricate myself from too. People would send me stuff about scooters, Segways, etc. and I would always respond, "a bike is better." Sure, a bike is better than a scooter or a Segway for most settings, but that isn't the point.

In a city, for a lot of things, a bike is better than a car. And, now that you can take a bike on buses, and on the subway except for certain times of the day, you get further enhanced mobility that is relatively time-efficient.

For example, I went to a meeting up Georgia Avenue but I didn't want to ride up the hill of Georgia Avenue. So I rode to 7th and Florida Avenue NW and took the bus up. On the way back, aided by the downhill slope, I rode all the way home (made good time too).

Anyway, there is some discussion about the Smart Car, and the response from some is "a bike is better." But the Smart Car isn't about bicyclists. It's about people who already have cars. In auto marketing what they call "conquest" sales is when a particular brand gets someone who drives another brand to switch (a Lexus sale to a Mercedes driver is a "conquest", etc.).

We need to think about "conquest sales" in terms of promoting (more) sustainable transportation options. And moving people along a sort of continuum to better mobility choices. The kinds of "conquests" we need to work towards are getting a car driver to switch to transit, or a multiple car household to get rid of a car, or for a F-350 pickup driver to switch to a Smart Car, etc.


Think of the rings as being of variable size and representing the "shed" of different forms of mobility used to bring people to and from subway-light rail-transportation centers. A mobility shed can be conceived of as the geographic area around a transit station or stop, or an entire bus-streetcar line.

• walking
• short term/short trip bicycle use (bicycle sharing)
• long term bicycle use (owned bicycles)
• electric bicycles
• scooters/Vespas/Segways (?)
• transit
- bus
- rapid bus
- light rail/streetcar
- subway
- railroad
• Motorcycles
• carsharing (Zipcar etc.)/car renting
• owning and driving an automobile
- car (usually big)
- cars (usually many in a household)

(This list isn't necessarily hierarchical, but it could be organized that way in terms of the criteria below.)

This is another element of thinking about transportation planning through the lens of a transit or mobility shed.

Other dimensions include:

• frequency of use;
• trip purpose (for example, delivery services need to come back--if Home Depot can make deliveries in Manhattan, maybe Best Buy and Target and Bed Bath & Beyond could have a shared delivery service from the DC USA shopping center in Columbia Heights);
• habitation type and trip origin location (apartment buildings could develop car sharing Smart car programs as a profit center, etc.);
• trip distance/destination;
• sustainable and efficiency;
• number of people traveling together; etc.

Yeah, a bicycle is better in a lot of instances than a Smart Car. But for someone committed to driving, a Smart Car is way better than most any other car choice they make--for most trips under 25 miles (and most people in the city make relatively short driving trips). And you can almost fit 2 Smart Cars in the same space that one car takes up on the street now.


That's good for cities, and I hope, but don't expect, that United Auto Group would create special dealerships in center cities (the Mini dealerships are in the suburbs).

In short, I think that a bicycle is always better than a Segway and I can't even think of a possible conquest sale-choice favoring Segways (no car driver would give one up; is a Segway ever preferable to a bike or walking or transit?, probably not), but a Vespa would be much better than a car. On the other hand, a Segway can be great for people with mobility issues.

Everything isn't relative, but we need to be sure we are making the right comparisons when we are debating these issues.

In this albeit old New York Times article, "Daimler Hopes Americans Are Finally Ready for the Minicar," a trends analyst is quoted comparing the Smart Car to a Mercedes and using that as a marketing point, rather than focusing on its size and urban-appropriateness. From the article:

Smart will not be the only extreme-subcompact darting in and out of traffic on American city streets. Honda has had success with its new Fit, as has Toyota with the Yaris. DaimlerChrysler notes, however, that the Fortwo is the only car in the world less than 3 meters (roughly 10 feet) long.

That makes it small enough for two to squeeze into a single parking space. Or for drivers to park it perpendicular to the curb without protruding beyond other parked cars — a practice that is forbidden in some cities.

Some experts said DaimlerChrysler should promote Smart's European styling and affiliation with the Mercedes Car Group. "They ought to play it like a Baby Benz," said Joel A. Barker, an author and expert on business trends. "The Smart car just has a style to it that these other cars don't have. They don't have the cachet."

Do you think he is right and I am wrong? Should the Smart Car be marketed primarily as a "city car" or not? I argue that if it's a third or fourth car to supplement an SUV, people are missing the point.

Why I probably will vote for Patrick Mara in the DC City Council election (even though he is the candidate of "big business")

His background is in renewable energy and transportation.

He's committed to transit expansion in DC, including streetcars.

He has, on many occasions, read my writings.

Now granted, the latter shouldn't matter much. But I can't imagine many of the other at-large candidates are likely to read the neighborhood e-lists, themail e-newsletter, (Sam Smith's City Desk), or this particular blog, and frankly these are some of the only real sources of critique, critical analysis and vision (not just my writings) for a better Washington, DC as a place to live.

He's intelligent.

I figure maybe it's worth having more intelligent people on City Council than we have currently, even if I don't always agree with him (or his supporters).

[I just started reading The Emancipatory City, edited by Loretta Lees, which focuses on the city as a place for emancipation--spaces of diversity, difference, celebration, and change--and it occurs to me that perhaps DC is a meaner place, more parochial than the kind of thinking and doing that is the foundation of the city as a utopian, visionary space, a "city on the hill."]

Purposeful planning to reduce the likelihood of public participation in the District of Columbia

Is best effected by holding meetings in difficult to reach locations that are not easily accessible by transit.

I think that there should be legislation passed by DC Council requiring that public meetings be held in places that are transit accessible, with specific benchmarks.

Of course, the other thing is proper notice. More and more, DC Govt. agencies are releasing notice of meetings with less than 7 days advance (although this particular notice is about two weeks).

From email:

MASTER FACILITIES PLAN COMMUNITY INFORMATION MEETINGS AT PHELPS, HARDY SCHOOLS

WHO: The Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization, The Office of the Chancellor, DC Public Schools

WHAT: Community Meetings on 2008 MFP

WHEN: Monday, Oct. 6, 2008 — 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Phelps Senior High School — Auditorium, 704 26th St., NE

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008 — 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Hardy Middle School — Auditorium, 1819 35th St. , NW

WHY: The road map the Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization will use to deliver world-class public school facilities faster and more cost effectively – the Master Facilities Plan – will be explained.

Carbon dioxide per passenger mile

Carbon dioxide per passenger mile
Originally uploaded by rllayman

Many things going on this weekend

Barracks Row Octoberfest, the National Book Festival (the tent of the states I jokingly call the "tent of best practices" for those of us who work in the cultural heritage field--at least a couple years, each state had a booth featuring its State Library and/or history units), Magical Montgomery, the county arts fair for MoCo all on Saturday, plust the BikeDC event, which is a 17 mile ride throughout DC. Register at http://www.bikedc.net/.

------
Plus in a comment, BeyondDC adds + Clarendon Day on Saturday and Crafty Bastards on Sunday.

(There's no way I can get my gf to agree to go with me to all these events... See, for me they are fun to evaluate, and to talk to the people at the nonprofit booths. She doesn't get the same kind of charge from those activities.)

Automobile related economic development in the 21st Century

Last Sunday, I wrote incredulously about the proposal by Councilmember Brown, chair of the DC City Council Committee on Economic Development, to put multiple car dealerships in the old Hecht's Warehouse in Ivy City (on New York Avenue NE).

I didn't get into how the U.S. automobile industry is failing, I did discuss how cars take up valuable space in the city's land inventory. Nor did I really discuss what's going on with oil prices...

A Nashville station out of gas. Hurricanes knocked offshore production out of service in the Gulf of Mexico, disrupting regional supply. (By Mark Humphrey -- Associated Press)

Economic development in Westminster borough, London, where EDF has installed on-street electricity meters for recharging electric vehicles. Photo by Smart Planet.

Meanwhile, Electricite de France, the company that seems to have been screwed out of buying the company by Chairman Mayo Shattuck of Constellation Energy, the company that owns the local utility (mostly serving Baltimore and its environs, but reaching out into Howard County, maybe even the far reaches of Montgomery County?) Baltimore Gas & Electric, which instead sold out to Warren Buffett for less money, has introduced on-street electricity "juice points" for electric cars in Westminster, London. See "Westminster City Council juices up electric cars" from Smart Planet and "Plug-in hybrid boosts electric motoring" from the BBC.

I guess this is the difference between a City Council (DC) that is backwards looking rather than forward looking (Westminster borough, London).

Paying students paying parents

WRT the plan in DC to pay middle school students for school... ("D.C. Tries Cash as a Motivator In School" from the Post).

1. I say, switch the high school program to a cooperative education program, at least for some, with internships-jobs that aren't make work like the DC Summer Youth Employment Program is.

2. CNN reports how rather than pay students, a program in a school district in Iowa focuses on parents.

"Our parents are disconnected. They're disconnected from a system that doesn't respect them," says Wiley. "They're disconnected from a system they don't have a positive relationship with, so we've got to reconnect our parents."

Wiley's program, the Education Brain Trust, runs daylong seminars that show parents how to work with teachers, help with homework and support their kids. Parents are given a T-shirt, a tote bag, food and provided with on-site babysitting.

The parents are required to sign a commitment letter agreeing to have at least four positive experiences in their child's classroom, including attending parent-teacher conferences and supervising an hour of homework a night.

Given the reality that a big part of the failure of student performance in DC Schools is family-based, it makes more sense to focus there.

What do you think? (about the financing-construction crash and its impact on DC and others)

1. Many commercial buildings are under construction.

2. Some finished commercial buildings sit empty.

3. Many companies active in the DC market were reliant on Lehman Brothers, now defunct, for funding.

4. Other companies active in the market, such as Broadway Partners, have financing issues.

5. Many projects that were announced have stalled until they get financing. How long will empty parcels and holes sit there until the projects get moving again? (How many _years_?) Today's Washington Business Journal reports that a building with 70% preleased to a number one law firm tenant still is working to lining up financing...

6. What does this do to B, C and D locations (anything outside of Downtown and immediately abutting it is less than an A location)? E.g., will the Rhode Island Station development really break ground in November?

7. Although the Federal Government and the organizations that rely on it (lobbyists, law firms) will continue to grow and can be counted on to still rent space, at high prices. (I.e., don't you think that financial regulation will increase leading to agency growth, more lawyers, etc.)

8. Does it really make sense for DC City Council to give away the store in tax increment financing deals, and things like Soccer and Baseball Stadiums, without prioritizing what truly generates the highest return on the investment of public monies?

9. We know that many buildings intended to be condominiums are being rented as apartments in the meantime.

10. How much of the activity in the active condominium market for individual units was driven by investors looking to flip properties for a quick profit? Are they able to rent units for enough to pay the mortgage? (In some places, non-mortgage paying condominium units, and houses in communities with homeowners associations, the monthly fees aren't being paid either, leading to serious revenue problems and deferred maintenance.)

11. And people buying 2nd, 3rd, 4th homes/pied a terres? And has it dried up?

12. And what impact are foreclosures having on the DC residential property market (recognizing that the conditions and strength of the residential markets vary significantly by neighborhood and proximity to Metrorail and housing stock attractiveness/historicity)?

13. Oh, and people in the nonprofit world who hope that FannieMae and FreddieMac will keep providing lots of funds to local organizations (see "Mortgage Giants' Fall May Hurt Nonprofits" from the Post), forget about it. That money is gone. And DC has a very small philanthropic community as it is... (Also see "Nonprofits gird for loss of funding" from the Boston Globe about the impact more generally because of the crash on Wall Street financial companies.)

14. Of course, if you want a buy a house/place to live, now is a good time to buy, especially in well-located, transit connected neighborhoods in DC and the inner ring suburbs. Houses are cheaper. The best houses are still expensive, although not like before. Will prices still drop some? That's a big question. But people with enough money to buy now, but not in the previous hot market, are well positioned to invest in their future.

15. As far as the work I do goes, focusing on revitalization of traditional commercial districts, since a big theme in my work is promoting the development and strengthening of independent retail and entertainment businesses, and the reality is that much of independent retail is funded through tapping home equity, will this limit new business startups significantly?

On the other hand, the Post and the Washington Business Journal have stories featuring community banks, which claim to still be lending to small businesses. See "Smaller Banks Thrive Out of the Fray of Crisis" from the Post.

16. But I had an interesting conversation with someone who figures after the fallout from the bailout settles out, that banks will work to get Congress to eviscerate Community Reinvestment Act provisions which support community investment, especially into affordable housing.

17. Plus, preservation-related building tax credits and low income housing tax credits (maybe even New Markets Tax Credits) become much less attractive in the marketplace, because if you don't have profits to pay taxes on, you don't need tax credits. (For example, about 1/5 of the cost of the rehabilitation of the Atlas Performing Arts Center was funded through historic preservation tax credits.)

18. And state and local governments are facing revenue shortfalls, budget reductions, and deficits, which makes it harder to get contracts for planning studies for commercial district revitalization...

Save Shoreditch

Is a citizens campaign in London opposed to a proposal to build a variety of high density skyscrapers abutting conservation areas. I can't claim to know anything about the setting, having (alas) never been to London.

I like how especially clear and direct they are with the first three tabs on the site:

- the threat
- who we are
- who they are

On the H Street alley tour

img_1825
Originally uploaded by chelt

Last Sunday, as part of CulturalTourismDC's Fall WalkingTown tours, I led a tour of alleys around H Street NE, east of the Union Station railyard. There were between 40 and 50 people and it was a great group. The tour is a combination tour of the neighborhood as well as alleys, although it doesn't cover the neighborhood exhaustively. A group of us finished with a late brunch at Argonaut.

Flickr photographer chelt was on the tour and he graciously offers us his photos. If you click through on this one, you'll have access to his set of photos from the tour.

National Capital Planning Commission Framework Plan

-- National Capital Framework Plan

There is a lot in there that is quite good. At the same time, there needs to be greater acknowledgement about the barriers to the creation, development and implementation of such a plan, which in reality, requires changes in how other agencies such as the National Park Service, the General Services Administration, the Smithsonian Institution (and the National Gallery, which is a separate organization) see their roles as "destination managers" in addition to their normal responsibilities.

For example, the Smithsonian Institutions don't really have a master plan. And the External Review Committee initiated by the former Undersecretary of Art Ned Rifkin ended up causing so much consternation with the various art museums--they couldn't believe that they weren't the best museums in the world--that it led to the dissolution of the Office of the Undersecretary of Art and the merging of that office in with the office that manages the history museums (NMAI, NMAH, etc.).

And the National Park Service still has a hard time grappling with commerce as being appropriate in parks.

For example, I walked through Franklin Square today, mostly it was used by homeless people, and I contrasted that to Bryant Park or Madison Park in New York City, or Schenley Plaza in Pittsburgh, all of which are in similar kinds of locations to Franklin Square, but by contrast barely used, barely vital, because of the need to positively activate the space.

Bryant Park reading room. Bridge and Tunnel Club photo.


Bryant Park skating rink. New York Times photo.



And the Commission on Fine Arts is so enamored of starchitects and glass buildings that they seem to not be noticing that they are assisting the "reproduction" of the Downtown and the expanded central business district into glass box sameness.

We need to think of the broader cultural landscape in the city and that requires more carefully defining the "federal" interest, which serves both federal government agencies and their operations, as well as the broader national interest and the role of the city as the National Capital. An agency managing its space for its needs doesn't really care or see the need to be concerned with broader concerns about how its buildings shape the landscape of the city more broadly and within the urban form context of the area in which it is located.

Granted that is what the NCPC is supposed to do, but they don't get much help to do so...

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On July 10 the National Capital Framework Plan was released for a 90-day public review and comment period that extends through October 10. Comments may be directed to FrameworkPlan@ncpc.gov or by regular mail. Apublic comment meeting will take place on Thursday, September 25 at NCPC's offices. An open house will take place at 5:30 p.m. with a presentation and discussion to follow at 6:00 p.m.

I will be testifying, although I don't expect my final written testimony to be ready until October.

Mixed modes in New Delhi, India

882_8257
Originally uploaded by BRT_DELHI

Flickr image by BRT Delhi, who writes:

BRT Delhi, Chiragh Delhi Intersection, Cyclists wait for their signal in the designated cycle box during Morning Peak, June 2008

Midtown Manhattan

Midtown Manhattan
Originally uploaded by escapehelicopter

The next time the Federal City Council tries to sell you a project...

The Federal City Council is the power behind local politics, the organization that links business, political, and powerful nonprofit elites (such as all the city's universities) into the "governing coalition" that urban regime and Growth Machine theory posits as the local leadership united on a local growth agenda.

According to the Washington Business Journal, a project pushed by the FCC for many years, a "National Music Museum," has gone belly up, with a bunch of debts. See "Plans for national music museum come to a coda."

I always thought that a "National" Music Museum could have been tested in the confines of the Uline Arena, a coliseum located a few hundred steps from the New York Avenue Metro station, and where music really happened, ranging from the Beatles first public concert in the U.S., to performances ranging from Paul Robeson to Bob Dylan to the Supremes to Go Go. And being in close proximity to XM Satellite, it struck me as there was a natural partnership...

(3rd Street entrance to the Uline Arena/Washington Coliseum.)

My sentiments exactly

In "The Bad News About Green Architecture " Newsweek architecture critic Cathleen McGuigan criticizes green architecture for missing the point. From the article:

Achieving real sustainability is much more complicated than the publicity suggests. ...

When it comes to green, people don't want to hear that size matters. We keep building not just bigger entertainment complexes but bigger houses. "Green McMansion" is one of my favorite oxymorons. Currently the average new house is 2,500 square feet, up 1.5 percent in size from last year—though the shock of this winter's fuel bills may finally slow the trend. Building green houses—or at least advertising them as green—is on the rise, though there are no national standards about what constitutes a green home. People are attracted to sustainable houses partly as a cool novelty, when in fact green dwellings have been around for eons. Think of igloos, tepees or yurts—they took advantage of readily available local materials and were designed to suit their specific environments. Shelters around the world tend to be situated to benefit from the sun in the winter or to shield their inhabitants from chilling winds. But we forgot those basic principles when we plunked down every possible style of house into our sprawling American suburbs.

That pesky real estate financing market

In the past I have written about the real estate market in the Central Business District being one of national and international actors--financiers and developers both--rather than strictly a local market. This poses a problem for neighborhood business districts, because for the most part, the commercial property tax assessment methodology treats commercial properties in neighborhoods more like downtown buildings. Since assessments are high, local retailers and other businesses get crowded out, such as the Warehouse Theater, which closed down, across from the Convention Center.

Now that the national-international real estate market is having extreme financial distress, it is affecting some of the "local" players in the industry. Today's Washington Post reports, in "D.C. Deals Relied On Lehman Funding: Bank Was Monument's Main Financing Source ," about how Monument Realty, which has relied on the now bankrupt Lehman Brothers organization, for the bulk of its financing, and how Archstone-Smith, another company with some issues, is a key player in the redevelopment of the Old Convention Center site.

The New York Times also reported on Lehman Brothers' aggressive participation in real estate deals across the country, in "Risky Real Estate Deals Helped Doom Lehman."

Likely, the real estate market downtown is going to slow as well, even though DC has been one of the strongest commercial real estate markets in the world. (The height limit reduces overall inventory, making the market pretty stable, with high demand, high prices, and quality returns.)

Still, there is some resistance (unless you're the DC government, see "Heavy Traffic Cited As Concern in Move For Housing Agency" from the Post) to paying downtown rents in areas that aren't in downtown and lacking in amenities. See "Though Developers Built It, The Tenants Did Not Come" (and the announcement of the building here, "Next Up: the Baseball Stadium") and "NoMa Gets Gentrified, Now Waits For Tenants: Lean Times Make Area a Tougher Sell" from the Post.

Not every driver of a SmartCar is in fact smart

Not every driver of a SmartCar is in fact smart
Originally uploaded by rllayman

(Car owned by Ward 4 gadfly Paul Montague.)

Parking and its discontents

The Associated Press reports, in "Cities rethink wisdom of 50s-era parking standards," on proposals before the Zoning Commission to reduce "mandatory" parking requirements associated with new construction. Generally, the requirements are based on suburban-oriented needs. The basics of DC's zoning regulations were laid down in 1958.

DC has a much higher percentage of residents using transit for its density, as a graph produced by "Guy" for Greater Greater Washington shows. (See "The outlier.")


It's hard, it seems, for some people, including Councilmember Brown (as discussed on Sunday), to grapple with the fact that the competitive advantage of DC is based upon transit, not automobility.

From the AP article:

Opponents say making parking more scarce will only make the city less hospitable. Commuters like Randy Michael of Catharpin, Va., complain they are already forced to circle for hours in some neighborhoods. "Today I had an 11:30 meeting and I had to plan an extra hour just to park" said Michael, 49. It ended up taking him 40 minutes to find a metered spot.

Then don't drive. Park somewhere outside of the city and take the subway. How hard is it to figure that out?

Note that traffic on DC streets, for the most part, except for the main arteries in and out of the city, is really not that bad at most hours of the day. (My anecdotal judge of this is my ability to bicycle through main street intersections against red lights during rush hour periods.)

From the article:

Parking requirements — known to planners as "parking minimums" — have been around since the 1950s. The theory is that if buildings don't provide their own parking, too many drivers will try to park on neighborhood streets. In practice, critics say, the requirements create an excess supply of parking, making it artificially cheap. That, the argument goes, encourages unnecessary driving and makes congestion worse. The standards also encourage people to build unsightly surface lots and garages instead of inviting storefronts and residential facades, they say. Walkers must dodge cars pulling in and out of driveways, and curb cuts eat up space that could otherwise be used for trees....

The D.C. proposal would eliminate minimum parking requirements with some exceptions. Caps on parking would also be established.

In old D.C. neighborhoods like Capitol Hill and Georgetown, where parking is scarce, opponents of the change fear that if new homes don't provide off-street spots, competition for on-street parking will worsen. Ken Jarboe, a neighborhood leader from Capitol Hill, said the way to reduce traffic is to continue improving the transit system and to create incentives for people not to drive. "Simply saying, 'Let's make it more painful to park — it doesn't get you where you want to be," Jarboe said.


Photo taken at 4th and A Streets SE, Capitol Hill.

Sure it does. The best incentive to not drive is to make parking difficult.

And in the meantime, ANC Commissioners could suggest much higher fees for residential parking permits. And much higher fees for each additional residential parking permit awarded to a household. And much higher fees for larger vehicles. Until then, ANC Commissioners are part of the problem.

I will say it is very difficult to park in places like Capitol Hill. A house is an average of 15 feet wide, and a car, when you figure the amount of space in front and back, is about that wide too. So you can see how having more than one car per household mucks things up.

Speaking of supersizing houses (this is on Rhode Island Avenue NE)

Speaking of supersizing houses (this is on Rhode Island Avenue NE)
Originally uploaded by rllayman

Selling housing

Selling housing
Originally uploaded by rllayman

Bene hat boutique

100_4160.JPG
Originally uploaded by rllayman

There is a hat store on 3rd Street NW, between Rittenhouse and North Dakota Avenue. I wonder how it survives, but Iove the storefront windows (which were lit up the other night).

(Not) Understanding that DC's competitive advantage rests in part on non-automobile transportation infrastructure

I frequently cite what I consider to be the city's five competitive advantages, which collectively support the city as a place to live, to work, and to visit.

They are:

1. historic residential building stock (that is attractive to people with decent incomes who have choices on where they decide to live)
2. an urban design (at least in the core of the city) that favors compact development, mixed use (locating amenities and civic uses close by), walking, and transit
3. history, identity and authenticity
4. a rich transit infrastructure that allows for efficient mobility without having to be automobile-dependent
5. the steady employment engine of the federal government.

So anything the city does that diminishes the value and quality of these competitive advantages is a bad thing. And ideally, the elected and appointed officials would always consider the impact on the city's competitive advantage before they make boneheaded announcements on policies.

DC claims to want to be a green city. And granted, I know I need to write a short paper (not that I would expect an elected official to read it) on (cities,) transportation and competitive advantage to provide some foundational understanding about why DC's competitive advantage rests upon strengthening and extending the transit infrastructure, rather than encouraging automobile use.

In short, this is a reaction to the report in the Northwest Current on page 3 of the current edition (dated 9/18/2008) that Councilmember Kwame Brown, who chairs the Economic Development Committee of the DC City Council and who is up for reelection, that he recommends that the old Hecht's Warehouse on New York Avenue could be remade into a mall for car dealerships--6 car dealerships to be exact.

Patriot Equities marks the 70th anniversary of historic landmark Hecht's Distribution Center in Washington, D.C., announcing plans for the first ever Mixed-Use redevelopment of the 775,000 square foot warehouse at 1401 New York Ave. Heralded by the Smithsonian as one of the most significant industrial Deco buildings in the world, and further acknowledged by the late Sen. Millard Tydings of Maryland as a monument to the business genius which has made America the country it is, the 15.5 acre site will be transformed into Patriot Yards, a mixed-use development consisting of industrial distribution, flex, and retail space.

(For more, see "Old Hecht's to be bought, redeveloped by Pa. firm" and "Store's warehouse well-stocked with art deco treats" from the Washington Business Journal.)

While I can understand why it might be okay to encourage people to buy Smart Cars if they are going to buy a car, because they take up much less space, instead of car ownership (and DC tags people with high registration fees whether or not the car is bought in DC proper), _urban economic development policy for DC_ should promote alternatives to the automobile, including carsharing, transit, and bicycling.

I wish that more people, especially elected officials, understood the difference between "building a local economy" and "economic development."

The Discovering Urbanism blog reminds us that we all need to read the book Sprawl Costs: Economic Impacts of Unchecked Development.

But we have to remember that the only kind of unchecked development isn't really sprawl, but automobile-centric sprawl. You can have intra-city sprawl, and many of the economic development priorities of both the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch show this. Sadly, DC proves that the suburbs do not have an exclusive on poorly thought out prioritization of various types of land use.

No drama with Obama graffiti (Naylor Court alley)

No drama with Obama graffiti (Naylor Court alley)
Originally uploaded by rllayman

An image from the last financial crisis, 1991

An image from the last financial crisis, 1991
Originally uploaded by rllayman

Future transit information sign, Silver Spring

Future transit information sign, Silver Spring
Originally uploaded by rllayman

Don't know any of the details. It appears to be obscured because it is not yet officially "open to the public."

Pro-Purple Line yard sign at Philadelphia Ave. & Fenton Street

Pro-Purple Line yard sign at Philadelphia Ave. & Fenton Street
Originally uploaded by rllayman

There are still far more "No Train on Wayne" signs out there. And I must admit, I do have some sympathy for people. The subway trains are loud. I don't know about the current generation of light rail vehicles.



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Today I got an Eye-Fi wireless photo card. There are some hiccups, but it does work pretty well. It will simplify the photo upload chore immeasurably!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is this what Greater Greater Washington has in mind?

From an entry today:

"Right to enjoy her property": Upset about a pending teardown and building of a new "McMansion" near her Chevy Chase (MD) home, one woman is threatening to sue. Chevy Chase had a moratorium on teardowns from 2005 to 2006. According to the Gazette article, "she will defend her right to enjoy her property, as well as the tree canopy and green space in the neighborhood." I'm all for enjoying property, trees and green space, but the right not to have a big house next door is not a legal right courts ought to invent. (In fairness to the potential plantiff, reporters get legal issues wrong all the time, so this might not be her actual grounds for a suit.) If Chevy Chase does't want McMansions, they can pass zoning laws against them.

From the Washington Post, by Michael Williamson. 9/13/05 -- Residents of Chevy Chase (Maryland) grapple with smaller homes being torn down to make way for very large homes. The Town of Chevy Chase has imposed a moratorium in hopes of getting the issue under control. Pictured: This very large newer home in the 6800 block of East Ave. dwarfs the older home at left. It's this type of size extremes that has some residents wanting curbs on the building of over-size houses.

This is the crux of the matter for why the creation of a historic district in Chevy Chase DC is worthy of consideration. And why there should be urban design and neighborhood character guidelines in place whether or not a neighborhood is designated as a "historic district."

It happens that two doors over from me, a former 1.5 story bungalow, albeit not in great condition, is in the process of being supersized into the equivalent of a cheap suburban tract house. The impact on us and our house isn't that great because it's a couple doors over, but I must say it is butt ugly and emphasizes the point that most small builders don't have much knowledge or interest in architectural styles, neighborhood character, craftsmanship, and design.


Postcard, Chevy Chase, Maryland.


Chevy Chase (Maryland) history book (published by the Maryland Historical Trust).

Tonight: DC Preservation League Annual Meeting

DCPL Annual Member Meeting
Thursday, September 18th
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
"Federal-American National Bank" building (The Future Home of the Armenian Genocide Museum of America) at 14th and G Streets NW in Downtown Washington

Click to view the invitation.

Roads dominated by bicycles

Roads dominated by bicycles
Originally uploaded by rllayman

Walking Town DC: This Saturday and Sunday

In September and April, CulturalTourismDC sponsors WalkingTownDC, an open house of sorts featuring tours around the city. This month, it's on Saturday September 20th and Sunday September 21st.

I am doing two tours, on the Florida Market and H Street Alleys. Note that the tours I do are as much about planning policy and urban sociology as they are about strict "history."

Greater Greater Washington produces a very usable "visible schedule." See the entry: Fall WalkingTown DC visual schedule.

Ex-Bogota Mayor presents his concept of a developed city

From the International News in Pakistan:

What makes a difference between a developed city and a backward city is not the quality of expressways, highways or flyovers but that of pedestrian streets, bicycle tracks, public parks, water fronts and bus ways for mass transit, says Enrique Penalosa, a world renowned urban strategist and former mayor of Bogota, Colombia.

Penalosa said this during his presentation in a seminar on organised “Sustainable Urban Development & Mobility” which was organised by the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) in collaboration with the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), a programme of the Clinton Foundation, and SHEHRI-CBE at a local hotel on Tuesday.

The objective of this seminar is to provide key stakeholders an opportunity to hear about a different and more socially inclusive and efficient urban vision, which would improve the quality of life and make our cities more competitive.

Penalosa who was the main speaker at the seminar discussed in detail the vision of a developed city and gave several practical examples from the west and parts of Asia on how that vision can be materialised.

Public parks, pedestrian streets, bicycle tracks and water fronts are crucial for a city to be developed, he said. These are the things that please people that make them happier and improve the quality of their lives, he added. ...

A developed city is one where rich uses public transport. A good city is a city for the poor, elderly and children,” said Penalosa. He adds, “20th century would be remembered as a disaster in urban history since giving the cities to cars is the biggest mistake we ever made.” He further said that the developed cities in Europe realised that building roads for cars was a big mistake. It was not what they wanted therefore, they built pedestrian streets stretching up to hundreds of kilometres.

This is the bus they intend to use for the Baltimore Circulator

Bus NK05RWU Haymarket Bus Station
Originally uploaded by HairyHippy

Flickr photo by HairyHippy, who writes:

Bus NK05RWU, Haymarket Bus Station. Stagecoach Designline Olymbus hybrid electric bus branded Quay Link en route for St. Peter's Basin via Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne.

The real reason US DOT Secretary Peters doesn't favor bicycling, walking, and public transit

Afternoon traffic along I-880 freeway through Oakland, California btween Davis St. and Marina. Reason Foundation photo.

(Interpretation lifted from e-mail, not mine...)

The elitist democrats would waste valuable taxpayer money on bike trails and trolleys instead of weapons we could use to secure Eurasian oil.

GE Streetcar ad, 1940.

The text at the bottom of the ad says:

When we think of the traffic problem as one of moving people, not vehicles, it's easy to see the importance of public transit in solving a city's parking and traffic problems. One trolley coach can carry as many people as six typical streets filled with private autos--one street-car line as many as nine streets.

National Parking Day: This Friday

From the Trust for Public Lands:

Each September, volunteers in cities across America celebrate TPL-sponsored National Park(ing) Day by converting public parking spaces into temporary parks. On September 19, an estimated 400 temporary parks will sprout in 70 cities nationwide. Visit a Park(ing) Day Park near you to celebrate the need for parks in cities. Everyone is welcome!

-- Full list of cities, maps, and descriptions
-- More information on National Park(ing) Day
-- Creating a Park(ing) Day Park - FAQ
-- Video and Photos from Past National Park(ing) Day Events

Park(ing) Day was created by Rebar in San Francisco. I keep meaning to do some, in DC but maybe next year. The DC group is organized via Facebook, of which I am not a member. Last year, the Trust for Public Lands joined National Park(ing) Day as the lead sponsor.

See these articles by John King of the San Francisco Chronicle, for more on Rebar and the first Park(ing) Day:

-- Civic adventures with Rebar design collective
-- Drop a coin in the meter and enjoy the park

In this election, Canada's Green Party has a transit expansion agenda

See "Greens to call for twinning of many of Canada's rail lines" from the Toronto Globe & Mail. Canada has an election going on too.

(I had an e-argument with a DC Statehood-Green Party member last week, which really disgusted me, because he advocated, perhaps without realizing it, a pro-car agenda. A Maryland Green Party member at the Takoma Park Folk Festival made a good point, that the Greens have a double agenda, one on social justice, the other on green-environment issues, and it is a constant struggle to get all members to recognize and reconcile both strains of the movement. So I guess I have to give the guy a pass. DC's Statehood Party is more about social justice than it is about what I call "built environmental justice.")

From the article:

Specifically, Green Leader Elizabeth May is expected to call for the twinning of many of the country's rail lines to get people and freight off the roads and onto the rails.

The platform argues there is significant potential for reducing Canada's greenhouse-gas emissions by having separate rail lines for freight and passengers. It is estimated that building high-speed passenger rail lines between key cities such as Toronto and Montreal would cut travel times in half and make a train trip faster on some routes than taking a plane.

Also see this piece, "Get Your Class War On" from the Wall Street Journal, about the U.S. election.

Smart Bike (bicycle sharing) on the 600 block of 6th Street SE, Washington, DC

Smart Bike (bicycle sharing) on the 600 block of 6th Street SE, Washington, DC
Originally uploaded by rllayman

(Photo by Steve Pinkus.)

Baltimore to introduce free shuttle (circulator) bus funded by parking taxes

See "City OKs parking tax raise: Extra revenue to fund free hybrid shuttle buses" from the Baltimore Sun. From the article:

Transportation officials proposed three routes: a Red Line that goes from the B&O Railroad Museum through downtown to the east side, a Yellow Line that runs from the Maryland Science Center up Charles Street to Penn Station, and a Green Line that connects City Hall to Johns Hopkins Hospital via Fells Point. The idea is to link the Inner Harbor to outlying parking garages, and Metro and light rail stops, Robinson said. The exact routes and number of stops have not been determined.

Issues of course concern how the system will be marketed.

Tysons

BeyondDC makes the point, in "Taming the 1,000 lbs gorilla," that

Tysons Corner is the most important activity center in the Washington region after downtown DC itself. Tysons has more office space than all but about a dozen of the country’s largest downtowns, and is one of the nation’s biggest retail meccas. It is the thousand-pound gorilla in our midst, and cannot be ignored just because it’s in Fairfax County.

Because Tysons in such a behemoth, transforming it from a wasteland of parking lots into legitimate urbanism (that can accommodate more density and therefore reduce sprawl) is one the highest Smart Growth priorities in the region.

He's right, but because I focus on repopulating and revitalizing the center city, it's not a priority for me, except to make the point that DC can never stand still. DC's competitors within the region, at least the best and most successful competitors, are always innovating, and taking the best practices from urbanism and including-improving them.

So everything that DC does that reduces the quality of life or extends sameness rather than uniqueness, makes the city less competitive.

BeyondDC makes this point:

If Tysons is to truly become Downtown Virginia, it will need more than just office towers, condos and department stores. The plan correctly identifies that one of the things currently lacking in Tysons is anything related to civic life. That includes parks and squares of course, but also libraries, post offices, etceteras. Fairfax County should commit to a government presence in Tysons. The next time a new courthouse or supervisor’s chambers are necessary, put them Downtown.

which is one I make in many dimensions.

DC needs to focus its public assets and civic functions in a complementary manner to for profit development, as well as to focus government agency planning objectives accordingly.

One of the things the city does, I believe, is what I call "intra-city" sprawl. There is a program to move government agencies around the city, often to places with limited transit connections, and without the opportunity to leverage development adequately, all in the name of "neighborhood economic development."

The problem with this is that (1) automobile use is encouraged rather than minimized; (2) agglomeration benefits are lost; (3) office workers don't spend that much, in the great scheme of things, supporting 2 s.f. of retail and 5 s.f. of food retail per worker; (4) and it's of limited range (convenience goods, carry out food); and (5) government workers spend less money than is realized. (Concentration and centralization within DC makes economic and transportation sense.)

Or, public libraries are being redeveloped in the city, with inadequate attention being paid to mixed use opportunities as well as other civic function aspects. (The DC Public Library Master Plan made an anti-urban statement that new libraries should be large one story buildings.)

At the same time, redevelopment and intensification opportunities need to be leveraged, particularly around transit.

And after Greater Greater Washington wrote "Transforming Tysons with four unique districts," I was going to make the point about intra-Tysons mobility and transit, including streetcars and circulator buses, but BeyondDC mentions that as well.