anyone else dislike Greater Greater Washington?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're all "gee whiz!!" about "transit" without being actually willing to address the issues that face people trying to drop off kids, get to work, and get home again at a decent hour.

I have kids who do tons of stuff and much of that stuff relies on the mechanics of a city & region that GGW discusses at length.

We live close in in a walkable neighborhood so my kids are able to walk to school and many of their activities and because we are close in we have short commutes. My biggest quality of life issues come from traffic and dangerous and aggressive driving from the folks who made different choices but expect the rest of us to accommodate them.

GGW often discusses how to make those lifestyle choices easier and available to more people so I have no idea how the blog doesn't address the issues that you claim it overlooks - as a DC resident it very much matters to our family what sort of transit and biking and walking options we have available to us in DC as we rely on those things every day.

If you want to start a blog about sitting in traffic and cul-de-sac architecture and suburban road design feel free to.

On DCUM urbanites and suburbanites (though why all the suburbanites are on here always eludes me) squabble endlessly about their lifestyle choices.

Well thanks for showing your cards. You made the "choice" to live in a walkable neighborhood where those nasty cars are your biggest problem; the people who have to drive to get to work from the suburbs have made "different choices."

Let them eat cake, in other words?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GGW thinks everyone should live in places like NoMA ah no thank you

GGW doesn't "think" anything.

It a blog about urban issues in DC with a wide range of different contributors, some of whom disagree with one another.

Many of the contributors do have expertise in the areas they write about though and almost all are personally involved in the issues they post about.

What do you care anyhow? Don't read it if you aren't interested.

nope they are the poster child for "smart growth" which is making mini manhattans at every metro stop in the region

I care because plenty of people in government actually take them seriously

You don't make sense nor do you know what you are talking about.

People in government (in DC at least) do read the blog but for good reason - many of the bloggers in fact work in the fields about which they blog and are also very familiar with the local issues.

And I love the mini-Manhattan hyperbole - what do you prefer - large scale Reston's instead?

[Anonymous]

Alpert fancies himself a kingmaker in DC politics but his little blog with its hectoring, lecturing commenters actually has a very negligible impact.

SOURCE: Multiple DC Council members -- including some whose views would seem to dovetail nicely with GGW -- have told me this. They consider Alpert and GGW a nuisance.

There's also the fact that GGW receives funding from sources that then get very favorable treatment from its writers should give a whole lot of people pause.

[Anonymous]

My favorite GGW post was when a cyclist killed a pedestrian on the Four Mile Run trail and -- instead of condemning the cyclist, as they do for automobile drivers -- they tried to frame it around whether "on your left!" really works. Some commenters blamed the pedestrian.

https://ggwash.org/view/28013/cyclist-kills-pedestrian-does-calling-on-your-left-not-work

Last year, when another cyclist killed a pedestrian in Downtown DC, there was more pedestrian-blaming and cries of "we can't assign blame until the investigation is complete!" If it had been a car driver who killed the pedestrian, GGW would have screamed that the driver should get the electric chair, no investigation needed:

https://ggwash.org/view/62794/a-tragic-reminder-keeping-our-streets-safe-is-on-all-of-us

They are just so remarkably tin-eared on many, many issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're all "gee whiz!!" about "transit" without being actually willing to address the issues that face people trying to drop off kids, get to work, and get home again at a decent hour.

I have kids who do tons of stuff and much of that stuff relies on the mechanics of a city & region that GGW discusses at length.

We live close in in a walkable neighborhood so my kids are able to walk to school and many of their activities and because we are close in we have short commutes. My biggest quality of life issues come from traffic and dangerous and aggressive driving from the folks who made different choices but expect the rest of us to accommodate them.

GGW often discusses how to make those lifestyle choices easier and available to more people so I have no idea how the blog doesn't address the issues that you claim it overlooks - as a DC resident it very much matters to our family what sort of transit and biking and walking options we have available to us in DC as we rely on those things every day.

If you want to start a blog about sitting in traffic and cul-de-sac architecture and suburban road design feel free to.

On DCUM urbanites and suburbanites (though why all the suburbanites are on here always eludes me) squabble endlessly about their lifestyle choices.

Well thanks for showing your cards. You made the "choice" to live in a walkable neighborhood where those nasty cars are your biggest problem; the people who have to drive to get to work from the suburbs have made "different choices."

Let them eat cake, in other words?

Nope - let them deal with the consequences of their choices and follow the rules along the way. Lot of the folks cutting through my neighborhood can afford to live in it they just choose not to. Which is fine but I shouldn't have have a stream of cars speeding down my street because they need to make up time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My favorite GGW post was when a cyclist killed a pedestrian on the Four Mile Run trail and -- instead of condemning the cyclist, as they do for automobile drivers -- they tried to frame it around whether "on your left!" really works. Some commenters blamed the pedestrian.

https://ggwash.org/view/28013/cyclist-kills-pedestrian-does-calling-on-your-left-not-work

Last year, when another cyclist killed a pedestrian in Downtown DC, there was more pedestrian-blaming and cries of "we can't assign blame until the investigation is complete!" If it had been a car driver who killed the pedestrian, GGW would have screamed that the driver should get the electric chair, no investigation needed:

https://ggwash.org/view/62794/a-tragic-reminder-keeping-our-streets-safe-is-on-all-of-us

They are just so remarkably tin-eared on many, many issues.

That is your take away? We all get it - you like to drive. And it's ok for some vehicular deaths as collateral damage for your driving.

But we can't discuss how to mitigate collateral deaths in other contexts? Which is what both pieces do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My favorite GGW post was when a cyclist killed a pedestrian on the Four Mile Run trail and -- instead of condemning the cyclist, as they do for automobile drivers -- they tried to frame it around whether "on your left!" really works. Some commenters blamed the pedestrian.

https://ggwash.org/view/28013/cyclist-kills-pedestrian-does-calling-on-your-left-not-work

Last year, when another cyclist killed a pedestrian in Downtown DC, there was more pedestrian-blaming and cries of "we can't assign blame until the investigation is complete!" If it had been a car driver who killed the pedestrian, GGW would have screamed that the driver should get the electric chair, no investigation needed:

https://ggwash.org/view/62794/a-tragic-reminder-keeping-our-streets-safe-is-on-all-of-us

They are just so remarkably tin-eared on many, many issues.

That is your take away? We all get it - you like to drive. And it's ok for some vehicular deaths as collateral damage for your driving.

But we can't discuss how to mitigate collateral deaths in other contexts? Which is what both pieces do?

No, my takeaway is that blaming the pedestrian is an awful, awful look for a group of people who present themselves as saints.

I don't drive, sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alpert fancies himself a kingmaker in DC politics but his little blog with its hectoring, lecturing commenters actually has a very negligible impact.

SOURCE: Multiple DC Council members -- including some whose views would seem to dovetail nicely with GGW -- have told me this. They consider Alpert and GGW a nuisance.

There's also the fact that GGW receives funding from sources that then get very favorable treatment from its writers should give a whole lot of people pause.

Is that you Cassandra?

I doubt Alpert considers himself a kingmaker but a DC Council candidate stopped me on the way to work the other morning and told me he'd been endorsed by GGW so some people do care.

And an awful lot of DC Councilmembers show up at virtually every GGW event so I doubt the veracity of your charge since I personally know two councilmembers myself. And I also doubt someone sitting around on their Mac in the middle of the day commenting on GGW is so connected to have any such insight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My favorite GGW post was when a cyclist killed a pedestrian on the Four Mile Run trail and -- instead of condemning the cyclist, as they do for automobile drivers -- they tried to frame it around whether "on your left!" really works. Some commenters blamed the pedestrian.

https://ggwash.org/view/28013/cyclist-kills-pedestrian-does-calling-on-your-left-not-work

Last year, when another cyclist killed a pedestrian in Downtown DC, there was more pedestrian-blaming and cries of "we can't assign blame until the investigation is complete!" If it had been a car driver who killed the pedestrian, GGW would have screamed that the driver should get the electric chair, no investigation needed:

https://ggwash.org/view/62794/a-tragic-reminder-keeping-our-streets-safe-is-on-all-of-us

They are just so remarkably tin-eared on many, many issues.

That is your take away? We all get it - you like to drive. And it's ok for some vehicular deaths as collateral damage for your driving.

But we can't discuss how to mitigate collateral deaths in other contexts? Which is what both pieces do?

No, my takeaway is that blaming the pedestrian is an awful, awful look for a group of people who present themselves as saints.

I don't drive, sorry.

Neither article blames the pedestrian - both talk about how can we more safely manage shared spaces.

And Cassandra I'm sure I've seen you driving your Mini around the hood? Or did I imagine that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My favorite GGW post was when a cyclist killed a pedestrian on the Four Mile Run trail and -- instead of condemning the cyclist, as they do for automobile drivers -- they tried to frame it around whether "on your left!" really works. Some commenters blamed the pedestrian.

https://ggwash.org/view/28013/cyclist-kills-pedestrian-does-calling-on-your-left-not-work

Last year, when another cyclist killed a pedestrian in Downtown DC, there was more pedestrian-blaming and cries of "we can't assign blame until the investigation is complete!" If it had been a car driver who killed the pedestrian, GGW would have screamed that the driver should get the electric chair, no investigation needed:

https://ggwash.org/view/62794/a-tragic-reminder-keeping-our-streets-safe-is-on-all-of-us

They are just so remarkably tin-eared on many, many issues.

omg

[Anonymous]

My main problem with GGW is that they have decided that NIMBY no longer means "Not in My Back Yard" but rather "anyone who dares disagree with the exalted thinkers of Greater Greater Washington." They wield it as an insult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're all "gee whiz!!" about "transit" without being actually willing to address the issues that face people trying to drop off kids, get to work, and get home again at a decent hour.

I have kids who do tons of stuff and much of that stuff relies on the mechanics of a city & region that GGW discusses at length.

We live close in in a walkable neighborhood so my kids are able to walk to school and many of their activities and because we are close in we have short commutes. My biggest quality of life issues come from traffic and dangerous and aggressive driving from the folks who made different choices but expect the rest of us to accommodate them.

GGW often discusses how to make those lifestyle choices easier and available to more people so I have no idea how the blog doesn't address the issues that you claim it overlooks - as a DC resident it very much matters to our family what sort of transit and biking and walking options we have available to us in DC as we rely on those things every day.

If you want to start a blog about sitting in traffic and cul-de-sac architecture and suburban road design feel free to.

On DCUM urbanites and suburbanites (though why all the suburbanites are on here always eludes me) squabble endlessly about their lifestyle choices.

Well thanks for showing your cards. You made the "choice" to live in a walkable neighborhood where those nasty cars are your biggest problem; the people who have to drive to get to work from the suburbs have made "different choices."

Let them eat cake, in other words?

Nope - let them deal with the consequences of their choices and follow the rules along the way. Lot of the folks cutting through my neighborhood can afford to live in it they just choose not to. Which is fine but I shouldn't have have a stream of cars speeding down my street because they need to make up time.

So you know the incomes and family situations of everyone who commutes through your neighborhood? I don't think so. I mean, I live on the Hill and dislike the cut-through traffic too, but I'm hardly so dense as to think that the people driving in from Landover could have just bought a $900,000 rowhouse instead. One could equally say you're living with the consequences of choosing to live in an urban neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My favorite GGW post was when a cyclist killed a pedestrian on the Four Mile Run trail and -- instead of condemning the cyclist, as they do for automobile drivers -- they tried to frame it around whether "on your left!" really works. Some commenters blamed the pedestrian.

https://ggwash.org/view/28013/cyclist-kills-pedestrian-does-calling-on-your-left-not-work

Last year, when another cyclist killed a pedestrian in Downtown DC, there was more pedestrian-blaming and cries of "we can't assign blame until the investigation is complete!" If it had been a car driver who killed the pedestrian, GGW would have screamed that the driver should get the electric chair, no investigation needed:

https://ggwash.org/view/62794/a-tragic-reminder-keeping-our-streets-safe-is-on-all-of-us

They are just so remarkably tin-eared on many, many issues.

That is your take away? We all get it - you like to drive. And it's ok for some vehicular deaths as collateral damage for your driving.

But we can't discuss how to mitigate collateral deaths in other contexts? Which is what both pieces do?

^^ typical GGW urbanist fanboy. Guess what: I don't drive at all; and I also think many bike riders in DC are jerks. In recent memory my child was almost hit twice by bikers/scooters on the sidewalk, whereas I can't remember a single close call that close with a car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My favorite GGW post was when a cyclist killed a pedestrian on the Four Mile Run trail and -- instead of condemning the cyclist, as they do for automobile drivers -- they tried to frame it around whether "on your left!" really works. Some commenters blamed the pedestrian.

https://ggwash.org/view/28013/cyclist-kills-pedestrian-does-calling-on-your-left-not-work

Last year, when another cyclist killed a pedestrian in Downtown DC, there was more pedestrian-blaming and cries of "we can't assign blame until the investigation is complete!" If it had been a car driver who killed the pedestrian, GGW would have screamed that the driver should get the electric chair, no investigation needed:

https://ggwash.org/view/62794/a-tragic-reminder-keeping-our-streets-safe-is-on-all-of-us

They are just so remarkably tin-eared on many, many issues.

That is your take away? We all get it - you like to drive. And it's ok for some vehicular deaths as collateral damage for your driving.

But we can't discuss how to mitigate collateral deaths in other contexts? Which is what both pieces do?

No, my takeaway is that blaming the pedestrian is an awful, awful look for a group of people who present themselves as saints.

I don't drive, sorry.

Neither article blames the pedestrian - both talk about how can we more safely manage shared spaces.

And Cassandra I'm sure I've seen you driving your Mini around the hood? Or did I imagine that?

Who is Cassandra? Protip: if you think all of your online critics are the same person, you look pretty silly.

[Anonymous]

GGW is all about the affordable housing gravy train going for the handful of developers that have the lawyers and political connections to really gorge on those projects.