An oldie, but an important lesson: Arlington added 50,000 residents. Traffic fell.
Wilson Blvd (its main street): –23%.
Transit ridership: +34%.
When you build housing around transit, people drive less. @ggwash.org
ggwash.org/view/35122/a...
brass solidarity band performing “stand by me” in the streets of whittier next to alex pretti’s memorial. the crowd started chanting “the people united will never be defeated” so they incorporated it into the song. i love minneapolis
I wonder if it's because they originally didn't want people thinking the lines were lettered NYC-style. and now they're not concerned about that
I think a better set of projects to look at is the Montgomery County bus rapid transit plan. because that's a larger set of projects, we can look at how successful it's been so far and then adjust whether we think it's correct to continue that course in the future. personally, I don't think it is
every time I walk across the ped bridge to Metro, I dream that the bridge directly connected with the platform instead of making people walk down and then back up again. It's not a great design to say the least
and that question is one that there wasn't a lot of information to use to answer. the opportunity for advocates to get involved at that point was not very clear.
I'm not saying that it's priceless. I'm saying that there was no way for advocates to adjust their support of the project because it was already so far underway. It was not a question of whether to support the project at that point, but how to deal with the situation we found ourselves in.
Do you mean the stairs up to the pedestrian bridge?
Montgomery County residents want more leadership on housing, Banner poll suggests
decompressed from an awesome first time at @yimbytown.bsky.social by reprising last night's dinner, the life-changing flank steak pad see ew at Noa
I may not be a pizza person, but New Haven delivers on multiple fronts
Yes, lots of research! The best way to have fewer cars out and about is to not have anywhere for them to go. That's a super unpopular way to put it messaging-wise, but demonstrably true.
We’re seeking public feedback on proposed changes to Twinbrook Metrorail Station, and we want to hear from you! 🚇
➡️ Learn more here: wmata.com/about/news/M...
🥰
From Stuck: "If we require multiple dwellings to be fireproof, and thus increase the cost of construction; if we require stairs to be fireproofed, even when there are only three families; if we require fire-escapes and a host of other things," then, he continued, each of the rules could stand up in court, "and at the same time we have made it difficult to build apartment homes."
From Stuck: But although some champions of tenement reform were earnest in their efforts, no one who had paid the slightest attention to the movement could have any doubt as to the actual aims of many reformers. The influx of immigrants to New York City was the problem; eliminating affordable housing was the solution.
From Stuck: Veiller, instead, did everything in his power to make housing more expensive. Immigrants continued to pour into the city in the years immediately after the passage of the Tenement Act, but newly constructed tenements became increasingly unaffordable. The cost of making the improvements to old-law tenements mandated by the law, and increasing competition for the remaining affordable units, combined to drive up prices, setting off rent strikes in 1904 and 1907. "The fact is that the new-law tenements ... are beyond the reach of unskilled wage earners," one reformer complained in 1919.
Many of our land use / building codes are rooted in exclusion + prejudice, even if they are facially anodyne and widely accepted as common sense today
Case in point: early 1900 fire safety reforms were primarily designed to ⬆️ the cost of tenements / MF apts (old and new) to reduce immigration
HUGE NEWS!!!!! 🎉🎉🎉
When should neighborhoods have stopped changing? The 00s? The 80s? The 50s? The early 20th century when Montgomery County was mostly farmland?
The only alternative to evolving is to continually build further out. This is sprawl, which is unsustainable & inequitable for a multitude of reasons.
Join us at @montgomery4all.bsky.social as we keep fighting to expand housing choice!
Thanks to the 8 CMs who supported allowing small multiplex homes along major corridors in MoCo! Esp thx to CMs Friedson & Fani-González for their leadership.
I took a celebratory walk around my n'hood where there are 4-story multifam bldgs next to townhouses & single fam homes. It's beautiful!
Early observation from the Better Bus changes is that the M20 Silver Spring stop should be more centrally located at Wheaton station. It's a super popular transfer and people are always running for it, but it's at the far end of the row. @wmata.com
As rents continue to rise across the country, they're falling by ~12% to 16% in Jersey City. Why? The city spent 2019 to 2024 on an absolute building tear. Building more housing works. jerseydigs.com/jersey-city-...
Join us at our June meeting, with @montgomery4all.bsky.social!
Who: County Councilmember @natalifg.bsky.social
What: More & Better - The Future of Housing & Transit in Montgomery County MD
When: Tues, June 10, 7:30 pm
Where: Ellsworth East Room, Silver Spring Civic Building
Why: To learn stuff!
ICYMI, Ride On will be free in Montgomery County starting June 29! I haven't seen or heard much about it at all, but this will undoubtedly make MoCo one of the few and largest jurisdictions with free bus service. (Metrobus will still charge fares in MoCo, though.)
oh no! I hope she gets well soon
I'm gonna be sick
Very much related to today's pod: Sightline has just released a guide on persuasive rhetoric for parking reformers.
Do not discuss: density, driving, cars
Do discuss: more homes, more community, less waste
You wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me
While everyone was packing onto the Metro train at Gallery Place this morning, I heard someone say, "Still beats traffic."
Soooooo many fun conversations at Greenfest today w/ @montgomery4all.bsky.social about sustainable land use, transit + the environment!
Highlights included:
- @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social rocking a Ride On poncho during a freak downpour
- me getting to talk to people about birds + conservation
Led by WNN member @futurewise.bsky.social, Washington state has passed the most ambitious, impactful transit-oriented development law in the country!
WA has legalized apartments up to 4 stories on every lot near light rail & 3 stories near bus rapid transit.
Absolutely MASSIVE win!
this is such good news. i think it is also an opportunity for democrats to state forthrightly that when they win power again everyone responsible for this crime will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law and will face the american people to answer for their lawlessness
