The Purple Line’s impact on Wayne Avenue might be worth another look, transportation experts with the county’s planning department suggested Monday.
In a report to the planning board, the experts recommended studying the impact of a street-level Purple Line on Wayne Avenue, versus one worming beneath it. Total ridership along the Bethesda-to New Carrollton route could increase by 2,100 with that tunnel, and without blowing the mass-transit project’s shot at scoring federal funds, the experts estimated.
That finding flipped the script on a report from the state transit administration, which didn’t dig deeper into the Wayne Avenue tunnel idea, and didn’t make an “apples to apples” comparison between tunneling and running the ride at street level, the experts claimed.
The state’s report proposed two flavors of transportation — bus rapid transit and light rail, each with three levels of investment (low, medium and high). None of those rides rolled beneath Wayne Avenue.
Despite the transportation experts’ holler for a street-versus-tunnel study, they still think a street-level ride is the way to go. Rolling on Wayne could skirt issues of a tunnel portal west of Sligo Creek. It also would keep a station at the planned library on Fenton and Bonifant Streets in Fenton Village, which could use the economic boost, the experts wrote.
If future Purple Line studies make a mess of the street-level route or downtown Silver Spring traffic, results of the proposed tunnel study could be an ace up the transit administration’s sleeve, the experts said. So what if the tunnel adds $175 million to the project, they argued.
The experts also showed some love for street-level routes through the downtown Silver Spring area. That’s because tunneling beneath the central business district would rule out a station at the planned library. However, the experts felt the Purple Line’s impact on Bonifant Street parking, as well as access to the Whole Foods Market parking lot on Wayne near Fenton, should be re-evaluated.
All but one of the state’s proposed routes through the central business district roll at street level between Georgia Avenue and Fenton Street. Only high-investment light rail rolls beneath the library, and doesn’t offer a stop there.
Photo of Sacramento’s light-rail line by Flickr user PaulKimo9.
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Jennifer, what kind of tunnel, deep or “cut-and-cover”? C&C is essentially digging a giant ditch and then covering it up, as WMATA did with streets for the Metrorail Green Line through Mt. Pleasant.
It was scary to walk down the sidewalks while it was happening, and it went on and on for months and months. However, better to jackhammer a street than to bulldoze homes or trees. An earlier PL plan would have done just that — C&C literally through backyards, demolishing a few houses along the way.
Remember, rail-based rezoning/redevelopment carries potential for more destruction, regardless of deep tunnel, C&C tunnel or surface route.
The transportation experts don’t say whether they prefer cut and cover over deep tunneling. However, MTA project manager Mike Madden previously said that deep tunneling would be the way to go through East Silver Spring, if it’s done at all.
Can someone explain to me why a stop at the library seems so essential to this project?
Honestly, the new library site’s less than five blocks from the downtown Metro station. Most metro stops are miles apart – is it too much to expect people to actually walk somewhere??
Of course Laura…hence the fight for the parking at the library, even though there are ample parking garages nearby!
It is encouraging that Park and Planning staff at least want a tunnel considered. I was recently in Baltimore when a light rail train went by. The noise was awful. Living along the line would be intolerable. I now understand why the “no train on Wayne” folks are so concerned. The Courtyard hotel and the owners of the new condos on Wayne downtown ought to be really concerned about noise, too, unless they have really great soundproofing. And the library will need soundproofing, too. It also is encouraging that the staff is concerned about access to the Whole Foods parking lot. Actually the problems would extend to the Wayne Avenue Garage, too. A tunnel is the only way to go.
Admittedly the Baltimore light rail sucks, but do not make your final judgment based on that. The light rail I rode on in MN was quiet, clean and comfortable, with ample places for bikes and luggage (it went past the airport).
Speaking as someone who lives within spitting distance of Wayne, the traffic near downtown is already basically impossible at certain times. It boggles my mind to think of what it would be like with a train added. And I’ve never been to MN but I’ve lived in Boston and Toronto, and no way would I want to live a quarter of a block from the light rail tracks in those places. Maybe there are places where light rail is quiet and great, but do we trust them that that’s the kind we’re going to end up with?
Why don’t we stop complaining about the noise associated with light rail – if they go with light rail demand that they go with tech that will provide the community with a more quiet system.
We live in a dense, growing urban community. If your within a couple hundred feet of Wayne noise comes with the territory, I don’t see if being a suprise.
The MTA’s Alternatives Analysis/Draft Environmental Impact Statement (AA/DEIS)notes that two longer tunnel options were considered but not retained for more detailed study. The first option would have been a tunnel from west of Georgia Avenue until Piney Branch Road. This option was rejected because it would be extremely expensive and not have provided meaningful travel time benefits. MTA also considered a second shorter tunnel with a portal on Wayne Avenue between Sligo Creek and Mansfield Street, however this option would have required street widening for the tunnel along with property acquisitions and from the front yards of nearby houses and retaining walls in these yards. In both cases, a tunnel would mean very expensive underground stations or forfeiting the opportunity to serve nearby residents with stations. (This information can be found on page 2-4 of the AA/DEIS).
Unless MTA’s analysis is way off the mark, I don’t think that we need a separate study that will probably end up confirming the information in the AA/DEIS while slowing down the planning process even further. I’m also guessing that a more detailed look is not going to change anyone’s hearts and minds regarding this alternative. Is there anyone out there who now opposes a BRT or Light Rail on Wayne Avenue who would consider supporting it so long as MTA and the County do a more thorough job studying on the matter?
As for weather a station stop at the future Silver Spring Library makes sense, I think it does. True, the library site is about a 10 minute walk from the Silver Sprng Metro Station, but people traveling on the Purple Line from points east would be able to get off right at the Library stop rather than having to travel to the Metro station and backtrack on foot. (Likewise, folks living near the library site traveling to UMD or other points to the east won’t have to walk to the Metro station and backtrack). Keep in mind also, that a stop at the library would offer passengers easy access to Fenton Village and Downtown Silver Spring, and there will likely be more residential density around the site if the Library project includes housing.
I know that increasing the number of station stops would increase the travel time for riders, so there is a trade off, but I think the library station makes sense, which is one of the reasons that I support the medium investment LRT alternative.
All I can say about the tunneling idea is this: go downtown and ask the people who lived along “U” Street NW and up in Petworth (etc.) about what the MetroRail tunnel construction did to their neighborhoods for years at a stretch.
It’s almost indescribable in terms of everything from “instant slums” and “you can’t get there from here”, not to mention the Giant Rat Infestation in which all of the rats dislodged or disturbed by the construction erupted from their lairs to plague the neighborhoods. Let’s also not discuss the plague of abandoned cars with junkies living in them, etc.
In the early 1980s, “U” Street NW between 14th and Georgia Avenue was a bustling city scene at almost the level we see today, and then the Metro construction came through and put nearly everyone out of business for the better part of a decade. Once it was all done, of course, everything sprang back to life, and some would say that it’s bigger and better, especially with all of the new luxury townhomes that were sold right in that area. But that was a result of both the housing boom and District Revitalization. My point is, expect the wreckage, don’t expect the renaissance afterwards.
I know that the hopeful young adults can’t possibly remember any of this, I’m just pointing out that there will be a downside to and tunneling, and that downside has few forces pushing for an upside after it’s done, at least not for the businesses dislodged.
U Street was, in fact, the epicenter for African Americans in DC until the late 1960s. While some of its problems can be attributed to the Metro construction, most people would attribute the decaying of the area to the MLK riots.
Regardless, I doubt it will take 10 years to tunnel and further doubt it will result in the rosy picture that you paint.
Ah, Bubba, you need some history lessons. What was largely destroyed in the rioting after the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr was “the Fourteenth Street Corridor” and that did indeed get well and truly trashed. But that has nothing to do with Petworth or the other neighborhoods trashed by the Yellow Line and later the Green Line.
By the beginning of the mid-1980s, U Street NW was much improved since the riots at the end of the 1960s. There was the new Reeves Municipal Building, and a lot of the businesses along that stretch of U Street such as Ben’s Chili Bowl managed to survive because they had dedicated customers that were willing to deal with street closures and the lack of parking. But a lot of businesses did go under.
But the point you fail to see is the disruption to various residential communities. Take the example of Trinidad neighborhood downtown, not that it was a victim of MetroRail tunnel construction. Still it is characterized by being a sort of cul-de-sac community with very limited access, and in such a situation, crime tends to fester and property values often are lower than in less-accessible communities. The same thing happened to parts of Petworth NW and surrounding neighborhoods that were “cul-de-sacked” by streets ripped up for tunnels.
Though it might not take ten years to tunnel under Wayne, it only takes a few months for a business to fail when the customers can’t get to it, or the business can’t safely be open to do trade.
Personally, I don’t live in DTSS and don’t do business in DTSS, so frankly I don’t give a rodent’s behind. I’m just pointing out what has happened in the past, if that’s what you want in your future, go for it, brother. Much good may it do you. In the modern day, the “U Street Corridor” is as close to flooded with cash and business as is possible. Just keep in mind that it’s not very likely that what you started out with, in terms of businesses and residents, is what you’ll finish with once it’s all done. “U Street” used to be “the Harlem of Washington DC” and now it’s basically a strip mall of strip clubs sandwiched between block after block of yuppie-riddled brand new (and potentially very foreclosable) townhomes and a slightly-gentrified old-school neighborhood that really went down to the low rent level during all of that Metro construction and never really recovered from the MLK rioting and the Welfare Housing era even before the Metro construction began.
Then again, look at what 11th and “W” NW looked like before they finished the tunnels and the yuppification, and look at it now. No comparison is possible and mostly it’s all good what happened there.
Show me a link, any link, that backs up your conclusion. Most people support the notion that the riots lead to the decline of the U street area. Much like, say, the H Street area.
The tunneling, perhaps, delayed the rejuvenation of the area. But, to blame the tunneling for the area’s demise is rewrting history that most would disagree with. And your story of rats invading the area seems like an urban legend. Yes, I’ve heard it before, but I have a hard time believing it.
If you want to believe the U Street tunneling was bad for the area, go ahead. I think most people from that area would disagree.
Let’s agree to disagree on the U Street thread, and stick with the issue of a tunnel beneath downtown Silver Spring and Wayne Avenue. Thanks!
My point remains: Tunnel construction as a rule isn’t a pleasant experience for the people at the surface. Even back in the day when they were tunneling up to Wheaton — I grew up here through all of this period — it wasn’t too much of a picnic for people up at the surface, and that’s one of the deepest hard-rock tunnels ever bored for civilian use. Part of the reason that the Yellow Line/Green Line construction was so destructive was that it was so close to the surface. The very deep Wheaton tunnel might potentially have caused some damage to foundations but that would have been minimal at best. The tunnel was located below the foundations in deep rock. The downtown tunnels around Columbia Heights/Petworth were close enough to the surface in some places as to directly impact foundations.
So, the question is, how deep should the tunnel be, beneath Wayne? That decision having been made (it hasn’t), you have to ask how much surface disruption and foundation disruption are you willing to tolerate.
A surface light-rail or BRT route would in fact tend to be a permanent surface disruption _to the way things are_ and nothing will be quite the same, but it’s not a _destructive_ or _damaging_ disruption as might very easily result from tunneling.
Editor’s note: This comment has been edited for content. — JD (Dec 25, 2008)
Tunnel-ability is the whole point of a train. If the transit is on the surface, why shouldn’t it be a bus?
The awful sludge spill at the TVA power plant is a reminder: the Purple Line would be powered by electricity, presumably from coal. However, if the TSM (transportation system management) option were chosen, we would have more buses. WMATA’s newer diesel-electric hybrid buses are cleaner and more efficent than the old ones, and offer a much better boarding/riding experience.
RideOn has some diesel-electric buses as well. One that I encountered had windows that only opened in emergency. Not good, I like to have the window open just a tiny bit. Wonder if “light” rail cars have windows that open…
This article and the comments really have gotten me to thinking… Silver Spring claims that it’s such a pedestrian-friendly community, but the reality is actually quite different. With the exception of the Ellsworth mini-mall, downtown SS is actually a horrible place to walk around. Colesville is a highway, and drivers making turns routinely refuse to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk, particularly at big intersections like Colesville & Georgia. Drivers coming out of the parking garage across from the old turf are the same way, particularly at night. Georgia Ave. is a disaster – it’s far too wide for pedestrians to cross safely, the median is too narrow, and traffic moves too quickly. Of course the traffic signals are all timed to facilitate traffic flow, not pedestrian movement. How the hell are you supposed to cross Georgia in 2 seconds, which is the amount of time you get on the walk signal before it starts flashing orange?
Also there are parking garages EVERYWHERE in downtown SS, which only encourages people to drive rather than walk or take public transit.
Furthermore, there’s virtually no enforcement of traffic laws in downtown. I’ve seen, on many occasions, 4-5 vehicles make illegal left turns from Colesville to Georgia, while a cop sitting in his car munching his Panera bagel refused to do anything about it. I’ve also seen cops ignore pedestrians crossing Colesville in the middle of the block in front of traffic, which is just as bad. I’ve complained to the county police several times about the lack of enforcement, and they say there’s nothing they can do because they don’t have the resources. They claim they’re writing tickets all the time, yet I’ve only seen one person get pulled over by a cop for a traffic violation in the year and a half I’ve lived here.
I live right by Georgia and Spring, and I literally don’t feel safe anymore walking to and from the Metro, because I never know when a driver is going to try to push me out of his way with his vehicle rather than yield.
I’m seriously considering breaking my lease and moving elsewhere because I don’t feel safe walking the streets of my own neighborhood. And that’s a shame, because the downtown area has so many amenities to offer. But if I don’t feel safe, I’m not going to stay.
Luv – not understanding your arguement – diesel-electric would still draw from the power grid as normal light rail would AND also be spewing cancer-causing diesel fuel exhaust as well. The Natural Gas buses are a bit better – though some worry on safety, at least they are much quiter – except for those darn squaeling brakes.
The one good thing about being fully electric is that the electric grid source can change – if we fight hard enough to get MD/DC off coal-burning plants and over to wind, solar, hydro, etc. We could have an entirely clean energy and transit system.
I’m not a big fan of window-openers near me on the bus – hard to read the paper with a stiff breeze blowing it. Many times I’m chilled to the bone and realize it is usually coming from someone oblivious to the effect they have on the freezing portion of the bus. For those who like a cooling draft, I suggest sitting near the exit doors.
Regarding Jason’s comment on the walkability of Downtown Silver Spring–it’s true. The main roads through DTSS, Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road, are enormous and were designed to move a high volume of traffic at fast speeds into and out of Washington DC, at the expense of fostering a pesdestrian-friendly atmosphere along side the roadways. The size of these roads are one reason I fear that DTSS will never acheive the pedestrian-friendly qualities of the Connecticut Avenue Corridor (around Cleveland Park or Woodley Park, for example) or the Wisconsin Avenue Corridor around Friendship heights. These neighborhoods have a thriving street-level retail in part because the main arterial roads are narrower.
Regarding the feasibility of tunneling under Wayne Avenue–keep in mind that the tunnel would need to go down under the surface level a very far distance because Wayne Avenue slopes down a steep grade towards Sligo Creek. Metro had to do something similar with the Red Line under Connecticut avenue to allow it to go under Rock Creek Park. The result is a tunnel and stations far underground with those long escalators to get to the surface. In today’s fiscally constrained environment, it’s not realistic to expect MTA to seek funding for the additional expense of this type of deep tunnel.
Regarding LuvMyHood and the TSM alterntive, bear in mind that the AA/DEIS notes that the TSM alternative would reduce travel times from Bethesda to Silver Spring from 35 minutes (under the no build scenario) to 33 minutes. wheras the Purple Line could shorten the travel time Between Bethesda and Silver Spring by up to 9 minutes. Similarly travel from New Carrollton to Silver Spring would be reduced from 81 minutes under the no build alternative to 73 minutes under TSM wheras the Purple Line could shorten travel time to up to 42 minutes between these segments. Whatever the advantages of TSM, it doesn’t do much for transit-dependent riders, especially those who work multiple jobs with long hours and have limited child care resources, who could really benefit from a shorter commute time.
If they planted trees down Georgia Avenue south of Colesville like so many master plans have proposed, they would create two spaces that would break down the width of Georgia avenue, and thus make the pedestrian experience much better. It’s no Georgetown, but it does have kick-butt wide sidewalks and a lot of potential if they keep building those apartments.
On an aside, traffic problems are relative. Some merchants would love to have a traffic problem in the sense that more people would be around to see their store-fronts.
Thayer – do you mean plant trees down the median strip on Georgia Ave or plant then down both sides on the sidewalks?
I prefer the former solution along with a widening of the median islands. Then use the wide sidewalks to plant long, raised beds of in ribbons of colorful seasonal plants.
I do know that many of the small bizs along Ga Ave south of Colesville have hated the trees planted directly in front of their businesses because they totally block their window frontage and signs from passing vehicles. What is the point of a great location, when no one can see you? They also block their natural light and are not in the best health/shape due to continual foot traffic on their root zones and branches being snapped off by delivery trucks and others coming onto the sidewalks.
I was calling for planting them down a the median, which could be made to accomodate a trolley stop once they rebuild the Georgia Avenue line.
As for trees in front of stores, a suburban retailer might want a clear view of their store front from cars passing at 35-45 miles an hour. They would also like to have ample parking in front of the stores to not disuade potential customers.
Silver Spring is not a suburban model, infact, it has always been an urban model as much maligned as it might have gotten during the dark days of urbanism (1960’s-1980’s). A street with evenly spaced trees which provide a nice canopy will attract shoppers if they live in large enough numbers in the near vicinity.
Also, an incredible asset of Georgia Avenue below Colesville is it’s old town main street character. The zoning should be written to allow for extra density behind some of the key buildings so as to disuade developers from tearing them down. The store fronts of the old part of main street along with the extra wide sidewalks are things that most towns would love to have.
Hopefully we’ll be able to keep what’s best of Old Silver Spring before the next building boom levels it all.
I don’t know what the answer is, but it seems to me like one of the things that would help Georgia below Colesville would just be if it was better lit up at night. The area seems to be ridiculously dark and the older buildings mixed with the darkness give it this “run-down” feelings. On that same topic, many of the “run-down”, “sketchy” businesses that people have told me they see in that part of town are really not even in business anymore. If someone could clean up the boarded up windows and old store front signs on some of the buildings, it would go a long way to helping the visual image of Georgia.
It’s a shame that it has this feeling too, because there are alot of great below Colesville businesses outside of the Elsworth cooridor. Thankfully, the successes of Olazzo and Nicaro, combined with the continued success of the local coffee shops, Jackie’s, and Quarry House have really helped out this part of town. I think that the Hook and Ladder Brewery, whenever it opens, could be what really puts this part of the town over the hump.
And just to stay on topic, one of the other things that people have been clamoring for is a bridge to better connect South Silver Spring to the Metro area. A Purple Line Stop could do just that!
Maybe if along GA below Colesville there was a greater variety of stores there would be more foot traffic and less need for “no trees to block the view”. How many wig and hair salons do we really need in such a short stretch?
w – I think the trees must be blocking your view. ;-) Plaza Art and Bell Flowers, two of our oldest and most successful downtown SS businesses are located on that stretch — Bell gave the blocking trees as one of the many reasons for closing down their retail operation part. Sherwin Williiams, Radio Shack, Jackies, etc. all tangle with those site-line issues.
Crorona said: “And just to stay on topic, one of the other things that people have been clamoring for is a bridge to better connect South Silver Spring to the Metro area. A Purple Line Stop could do just that!”
Here is what a Purple Line stop would do: put everything within a half-mile at risk of being rezoned and demolished, including small businesses and small houses.
Rail = rezoning. Regular buses perserve communities, and get people where they need and want to go.
LuvMyHood – I’ll agree that there is a possibility of rezoning of items within a half-mile of a propozed Purple Line stop.
I’ll also say that:
-The Purple Line has more than one stop in ESS. It has several stops in other commmuties West and East of SS. Some of those areas could benefit from said rezoning.
-The scenario of everything within .5 miles of the Silver Spring Metro station being demolished is a bit of a worst case scenario. If I’ve learned anything from living in the East Silver Spring area the past two years, its the the residents will band together to strongly and successfully oppose redevelopment that the community does not support. I doubt that an effort to demolish houses and Fenton Village would get very far.
-There is a large segment of daily commuters who would strongly dispute the claim that Regular buses “get people where they need and want to go,” at least at a quick pace. Regular buses get stuck in traffic, miss their stops, fall behind schedule, fall victim to construction inconvenience (see the SS Transit Center mess), are cramped, are subject to breakdowns, are subject to the air conditioners breaking in DC summers, clog the already clogged roads, etc. I know that you prefer buses to rail, but I think its fair to say that buses have their fair share of negatives as well.
Corona, buses have their problems. However, the Purple Line would largely run on the surface, so it would have some of the same problems as buses — slippery leaves, sleet, broiling sun…
Buses would have fewer problems if more resources were directed at them. Buses and bus riders are the Rodney Dangerfields of transportation. In the realm of transportation, transit generally has ranked below cars. But in the transit world, buses have ranked below trains. I am sick and tired of this class crap. Purple Line proponents have said that that Langley Park residents deserve “first-class transit.” So, how long would it take for real estate developers to start clamoring to replace their housing with “first-class” hi-rise condos, complete with granite countertops? All it would take is for PG and MoCo officials to jump at the chance to milk the land under those apts. for maximum tax revenue, and, bingo — the pressure to move out begins.
The irony is, the “transit-dependent population” that MTA is counting on to make the numbers for federal funding would be packed up into U-Hauls and sent somewhere else.
Why doesn’t the “trains equals redevelopment” mantra work for all the metro stops in PG and Anacostia now? BTW, one of the benefits of trains is the hope of redevelopment, because that’s less development of the country side.
Honestly, I don’t think the market (now or ever) is strong enough to turn Langley park into an upscale neighborhood, and it’s ridiculous to assume the purple line will make LP do a 180 like that. I wasn’t alive yet, but when the metro came to Silver Spring, a bunch of office space soon followed, but Silver Spring was still shitty and “affordable” for decades. Langley Park might gentrify a little, but it’s not going to turn into Bethesda just because of some rezoning and light rail.
Redevelopment IS happening in Anacostia, raising concerns about displacement. PG cannot even put up coherent street signs. Its bus system is just called “The Bus,” and is far less robust than Ride-On. A friend lived within waking distance of West Hyattsville Metro station, but couldn’t walk to it because of a dangerous street crossing.
The Gazette had a story about College Park, several developers were proposing projects — that would be served by shuttle buses.
PG utterly lacks coherence on transportation. However, that won’t stop efforts at rezoning. How many times have you seen a building sold and the residents/businesses kicked out, only to see the place boarded up or demolished later, with either a vacant building or a vacant lot in its place? I fear that for Langley Park. Coherent street signs, crosswalks and bus systems should have been the starting point — not a justification for building a railroad.
So many of your comments make my head spin LuvMyHood I really don’t think anything will make you budge from your position. And that’s an issue when folks developing the Purple Line face when they try to reach compromise. No matter the alternatives you move to “bus or bust!” and I really take issue on some of the arguments.
“So, how long would it take for real estate developers to start clamoring to replace their housing with “first-class” hi-rise condos, complete with granite countertops?”
I think the economy really put a halt to this argument and the excess supply of the condo market in the D.c. region would really make this improbably in the near future. In any case what is wrong with this scenario. There SHOULD be dense housing near mass transit.
“However, the Purple Line would largely run on the surface, so it would have some of the same problems as buses — slippery leaves, sleet, broiling sun…”
Wow – I was speachless at this one…
“A friend lived within waking distance of West Hyattsville Metro station, but couldn’t walk to it because of a dangerous street crossing.”
Guess she didn’t want to get there bad enough.
And what’s wrong with rezoning and potential development again???
Editor’s note: Play nice. — JD (Jan 13, 2009)
Tdiddy, Detroit and other cities with manufacturing bases have been losing population. They have vacant housing and land. In MoCo, we don’t have either. Silver Spring might be able to swing an office building or two, but when it comes to housing, we’re full.
PG has some run-down strip malls that might be candidates for replacement with something larger. However, water, sewer, parkland,schools, jobs for the young once they graduate from school, retraining for those who graduated a while ago and were downsized…I have noticed that more people do not necessarily lead to more jobs. Technology seems to destroy jobs faster than it creates them.
Those bricks and mortar would be better used in Detroit, Flint, MI, Akron, OH, Middletown, OH, and other cities and towns that have been losing their manufacturing base — that is, if something could be made there. Solar panels, piping to replace our crumbling water and sewer pipes come to mind.
Comparing Montgomery Co. to PG County is apples to oranges. Look at their school system for one. Given the option people don’t go there to settle down and start families if they can they head to Fairfax or Montgomery Co.
Uh, Tdiddy, I thought one of the ever-shifting purposes of the Purple Line was to connect PG and MoCo.
I remember Councilmember George Leventhal telling a local group,”Now, now, we have to make room for all the people who want to move here!”
Why? Why don’t we work toward more equality in society?
There are several reasons for the Purple line, on of the most important is to attract development, that’s why they call it TOD – Transit Oriented Development. The theory being if there is going to be development, it should be build around public transit to minimize the amount of cars we put on the road and farm land we have to pave over. If people stopped obsessing over developers and thought of the people who actually build these developments, they would see they are not all evil.
On the subject of DTSS being full, not by a long shot. There are so many surface parking lots and underused lots that you could probably add another 10,000 people and hardly notice it.
As for affordable housing, the more they build the more affordable housing, supply and demand. Harlem was the result of overbuilding.
The developers who built the beautiful small houses of East Silver Spring were certainly not evil. They left many magnificent trees intact. So, just how many places that look like ESS have been built lately? I see buildings and more buildings and fewer trees all the time.
Underused lots, huh? Where would the electricity for 10,000 more residents come from? Where would the sewage go?
“Where would the electricity for 10,000 more residents come from? Where would the sewage go?” I would recomment asking Pepco and Wasa cause by all predictions, Montgomery County is expected to recieve another million people in the next twenty years. It’s not a question of will they fit, but how they fit.
Thayer-D is correct. Whether were talking about electricity use or our water and sewar systems, it is much more efficient to attract people to live in compact housing in downtown Silver Spring than it would be to accomodate the same number of people in a low-density auto-oriented development (aka sprawl)somewhere else in Montgomery County. As an extreme case, imagine the cost on our infrastructure if the population of Manhattan were to move from their apartments to cul-de-sac neighborhoods. And encouraging development on our existing parking lots and urban spaces allows us to forgo developing on forests or farmland elsewhere (speaking of preserving trees). The challenge is to make compact housing downtown attractive to a range of households. There’s only so much demand to be had from empty nesters and single people.
LuvMyHood said: The developers who built the beautiful small houses of East Silver Spring were certainly not evil. They left many magnificent trees intact. So, just how many places that look like ESS have been built lately? I see buildings and more buildings and fewer trees all the time.
RE: Surely you don’t believe that developers/builders of those cottages in East Sivler Spring actually saved those trees you see, right? In the 30’s & 40’s when those cottages were built, the builders took the cheapest way out–clearing the land to make it easiest to build and drain the site. There was no protection for those trees lucky enough not to be in the path of construction and many subsequently died from soil disturbance and root compaction. Many/most of the mature trees you see in front yards today were planted by the builders and subsequent owners. They only seem like “old growth forest” because they are now 60-70 years old. Those charming East SS neighborhoods most certainly didn’t look so charming when they were built…there was a whole lot of sun and not much shade.