Options for opposing Connecticut Avenue changes?

[Anonymous]

There is complete overlap on the Venn diagram of the defund/reimagine police, housing voucher, and bike lane proponents. Luckily neighbors are paying attention now and have time to stop the third. Wish we could have stopped the first two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Vision Zero" is such a perfect summation of Mayor Bowser and her administration.

This is just another push by the bike lobby to try to resuscitate something that no one but a small group of bike lobby bros wants. You can't have this and the mayor calling for the Federal Govt. to return to work. The two are diametrically opposed.

The reality is that the CT Ave bike lanes were always an uphill battle, but they died the moment a group of ANC commissioners took a photo of themselves giving the middle finger to a business that was opposed.

Yeah because most people in D.C. (a) are aware that ANCs exist, (b) know that these commissioners did this and (c) care?

That moment solidified business opposition to a proposal that always had a tenuous benefit due how low the projected utilization would be and caught the attention of key decision makers. I hate to break it to you, but there is not a single person who important decision making responsibility in this city that wants to be seen as deciding in favor of the middle finger brigade and against important figures in the business community.

Except for the Mayor, Councilmember and DDOT officials who have public safety and not the fragile sensibilities of a bunch of blue hairs, at stake.

Something else that may have hurt the bike lane cause is the shameless ageism of some of its proponents.

More than fragile sensibilities, maybe the "bunch of blue hairs" are more worried about what will happen to their fragile bones when they try to cross the bike lane after alighting from a bus and get thwacked by a fast-moving e-bike.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is complete overlap on the Venn diagram of the defund/reimagine police, housing voucher, and bike lane proponents. Luckily neighbors are paying attention now and have time to stop the third. Wish we could have stopped the first two.

There's certainly a complete Venn overlap among the finger brigade members of the Conn Ave ANC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is complete overlap on the Venn diagram of the defund/reimagine police, housing voucher, and bike lane proponents. Luckily neighbors are paying attention now and have time to stop the third. Wish we could have stopped the first two.

Its a very odd thing, and I suspect it won't be a durable relationship. How cars/parking have become a "conservative" issue is a rather weird thing. Its probably just that they are a new(old) thing and therefore are reflexively resisted.

If anything, car dependency should go hand in hand with opposition to the police and distributed homelessness just because you need to physically isolate yourself from the consequences of those policies.

[Anonymous]

Can someone in the Bowser administration please make a decision - whatever it may be - so that we can’t stop this nonsense? I really don’t care what is decided. I just want this debate to go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is complete overlap on the Venn diagram of the defund/reimagine police, housing voucher, and bike lane proponents. Luckily neighbors are paying attention now and have time to stop the third. Wish we could have stopped the first two.

No there is not. Only in your weird anti-bike obsessed mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Vision Zero" is such a perfect summation of Mayor Bowser and her administration.

This is just another push by the bike lobby to try to resuscitate something that no one but a small group of bike lobby bros wants. You can't have this and the mayor calling for the Federal Govt. to return to work. The two are diametrically opposed.

The reality is that the CT Ave bike lanes were always an uphill battle, but they died the moment a group of ANC commissioners took a photo of themselves giving the middle finger to a business that was opposed.

Yeah because most people in D.C. (a) are aware that ANCs exist, (b) know that these commissioners did this and (c) care?

That moment solidified business opposition to a proposal that always had a tenuous benefit due how low the projected utilization would be and caught the attention of key decision makers. I hate to break it to you, but there is not a single person who important decision making responsibility in this city that wants to be seen as deciding in favor of the middle finger brigade and against important figures in the business community.

Except for the Mayor, Councilmember and DDOT officials who have public safety and not the fragile sensibilities of a bunch of blue hairs, at stake.

Public safety requires a tax base. The business owners have spoken. And the mayor has listened.

Then why is DDOT still working on designs? It is rather ironic, the businesses would lose more money from customers by opposing these public safety measures. Their customers are telling them daily how they are getting to their stores and what the improvements will mean.

Guessing the business owners drive there to their businesses and (incorrectly) assume everyone else does too.

Maybe after being in business for multiple decades they have a pretty good handle on who their customers are? Maybe the last people they are going to trust are people who have exactly zero business experience? Maybe they are tired of being bullied? I don’t know.

Alternatively, maybe they don't. After all, who asks their customers about mode of transportation? Every study has found that good bike lanes are good for business, not bad.

A DC government study found that the number one challenge for Cleveland Park businesses along Connecticut Avenue is parking.

Or rather, that Cleveland Park business owners identified their number one challenge as parking. But why? And parking for whom? They don't know how their customers got there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Vision Zero" is such a perfect summation of Mayor Bowser and her administration.

This is just another push by the bike lobby to try to resuscitate something that no one but a small group of bike lobby bros wants. You can't have this and the mayor calling for the Federal Govt. to return to work. The two are diametrically opposed.

The reality is that the CT Ave bike lanes were always an uphill battle, but they died the moment a group of ANC commissioners took a photo of themselves giving the middle finger to a business that was opposed.

Yeah because most people in D.C. (a) are aware that ANCs exist, (b) know that these commissioners did this and (c) care?

That moment solidified business opposition to a proposal that always had a tenuous benefit due how low the projected utilization would be and caught the attention of key decision makers. I hate to break it to you, but there is not a single person who important decision making responsibility in this city that wants to be seen as deciding in favor of the middle finger brigade and against important figures in the business community.

Except for the Mayor, Councilmember and DDOT officials who have public safety and not the fragile sensibilities of a bunch of blue hairs, at stake.

Something else that may have hurt the bike lane cause is the shameless ageism of some of its proponents.

More than fragile sensibilities, maybe the "bunch of blue hairs" are more worried about what will happen to their fragile bones when they try to cross the bike lane after alighting from a bus and get thwacked by a fast-moving e-bike.

My nonagenarian parents and I are considerably more worried about what will happen to their fragile bones when they try to cross the road and get thwacked by a fast-moving car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is complete overlap on the Venn diagram of the defund/reimagine police, housing voucher, and bike lane proponents. Luckily neighbors are paying attention now and have time to stop the third. Wish we could have stopped the first two.

Its a very odd thing, and I suspect it won't be a durable relationship. How cars/parking have become a "conservative" issue is a rather weird thing. Its probably just that they are a new(old) thing and therefore are reflexively resisted.

If anything, car dependency should go hand in hand with opposition to the police and distributed homelessness just because you need to physically isolate yourself from the consequences of those policies.

LOL. So true.

My working theory is that these folks are not so concerned because they have an exit plan. Once the full consequences are too much to bear, these folks will slink away and leave their neighbors behind to pick up the pieces.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is complete overlap on the Venn diagram of the defund/reimagine police, housing voucher, and bike lane proponents. Luckily neighbors are paying attention now and have time to stop the third. Wish we could have stopped the first two.

Its a very odd thing, and I suspect it won't be a durable relationship. How cars/parking have become a "conservative" issue is a rather weird thing. Its probably just that they are a new(old) thing and therefore are reflexively resisted.

If anything, car dependency should go hand in hand with opposition to the police and distributed homelessness just because you need to physically isolate yourself from the consequences of those policies.

Cars and fossil fuels, because apparently the "conservatives" don't want to conserve anymore.

And parking mandates and zoning, which should represent big government taking away your property rights. And highway construction, which should be wasteful big-government spending. But the "conservatives" are now all in favor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Vision Zero" is such a perfect summation of Mayor Bowser and her administration.

This is just another push by the bike lobby to try to resuscitate something that no one but a small group of bike lobby bros wants. You can't have this and the mayor calling for the Federal Govt. to return to work. The two are diametrically opposed.

The reality is that the CT Ave bike lanes were always an uphill battle, but they died the moment a group of ANC commissioners took a photo of themselves giving the middle finger to a business that was opposed.

Yeah because most people in D.C. (a) are aware that ANCs exist, (b) know that these commissioners did this and (c) care?

That moment solidified business opposition to a proposal that always had a tenuous benefit due how low the projected utilization would be and caught the attention of key decision makers. I hate to break it to you, but there is not a single person who important decision making responsibility in this city that wants to be seen as deciding in favor of the middle finger brigade and against important figures in the business community.

Except for the Mayor, Councilmember and DDOT officials who have public safety and not the fragile sensibilities of a bunch of blue hairs, at stake.

Public safety requires a tax base. The business owners have spoken. And the mayor has listened.

Then why is DDOT still working on designs? It is rather ironic, the businesses would lose more money from customers by opposing these public safety measures. Their customers are telling them daily how they are getting to their stores and what the improvements will mean.

Guessing the business owners drive there to their businesses and (incorrectly) assume everyone else does too.

Maybe after being in business for multiple decades they have a pretty good handle on who their customers are? Maybe the last people they are going to trust are people who have exactly zero business experience? Maybe they are tired of being bullied? I don’t know.

Alternatively, maybe they don't. After all, who asks their customers about mode of transportation? Every study has found that good bike lanes are good for business, not bad.

A DC government study found that the number one challenge for Cleveland Park businesses along Connecticut Avenue is parking.

Or rather, that Cleveland Park business owners identified their number one challenge as parking. But why? And parking for whom? They don't know how their customers got there.

It’s really amazing that all these bumbling business owners have managed to stay open, some for decades. And don’t even ask me how any of them could have built restaurant empires, which is regarded as one of the toughest business lines. How many successful companies have you built with your advanced level of business acumen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Vision Zero" is such a perfect summation of Mayor Bowser and her administration.

This is just another push by the bike lobby to try to resuscitate something that no one but a small group of bike lobby bros wants. You can't have this and the mayor calling for the Federal Govt. to return to work. The two are diametrically opposed.

The reality is that the CT Ave bike lanes were always an uphill battle, but they died the moment a group of ANC commissioners took a photo of themselves giving the middle finger to a business that was opposed.

Yeah because most people in D.C. (a) are aware that ANCs exist, (b) know that these commissioners did this and (c) care?

That moment solidified business opposition to a proposal that always had a tenuous benefit due how low the projected utilization would be and caught the attention of key decision makers. I hate to break it to you, but there is not a single person who important decision making responsibility in this city that wants to be seen as deciding in favor of the middle finger brigade and against important figures in the business community.

Except for the Mayor, Councilmember and DDOT officials who have public safety and not the fragile sensibilities of a bunch of blue hairs, at stake.

Something else that may have hurt the bike lane cause is the shameless ageism of some of its proponents.

More than fragile sensibilities, maybe the "bunch of blue hairs" are more worried about what will happen to their fragile bones when they try to cross the bike lane after alighting from a bus and get thwacked by a fast-moving e-bike.

My nonagenarian parents and I are considerably more worried about what will happen to their fragile bones when they try to cross the road and get thwacked by a fast-moving car.

Even with bike lanes, Connecticut will still have lots of car and truck traffic -- unless the plan is to turn it into a miles-long bike and pedestrian zone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Vision Zero" is such a perfect summation of Mayor Bowser and her administration.

This is just another push by the bike lobby to try to resuscitate something that no one but a small group of bike lobby bros wants. You can't have this and the mayor calling for the Federal Govt. to return to work. The two are diametrically opposed.

The reality is that the CT Ave bike lanes were always an uphill battle, but they died the moment a group of ANC commissioners took a photo of themselves giving the middle finger to a business that was opposed.

Yeah because most people in D.C. (a) are aware that ANCs exist, (b) know that these commissioners did this and (c) care?

That moment solidified business opposition to a proposal that always had a tenuous benefit due how low the projected utilization would be and caught the attention of key decision makers. I hate to break it to you, but there is not a single person who important decision making responsibility in this city that wants to be seen as deciding in favor of the middle finger brigade and against important figures in the business community.

Except for the Mayor, Councilmember and DDOT officials who have public safety and not the fragile sensibilities of a bunch of blue hairs, at stake.

Public safety requires a tax base. The business owners have spoken. And the mayor has listened.

Then why is DDOT still working on designs? It is rather ironic, the businesses would lose more money from customers by opposing these public safety measures. Their customers are telling them daily how they are getting to their stores and what the improvements will mean.

Guessing the business owners drive there to their businesses and (incorrectly) assume everyone else does too.

Maybe after being in business for multiple decades they have a pretty good handle on who their customers are? Maybe the last people they are going to trust are people who have exactly zero business experience? Maybe they are tired of being bullied? I don’t know.

Alternatively, maybe they don't. After all, who asks their customers about mode of transportation? Every study has found that good bike lanes are good for business, not bad.

A DC government study found that the number one challenge for Cleveland Park businesses along Connecticut Avenue is parking.

Or rather, that Cleveland Park business owners identified their number one challenge as parking. But why? And parking for whom? They don't know how their customers got there.

It’s really amazing that all these bumbling business owners have managed to stay open, some for decades. And don’t even ask me how any of them could have built restaurant empires, which is regarded as one of the toughest business lines. How many successful companies have you built with your advanced level of business acumen?

That's silly, PP. Just because you're good at running a restaurant or a dry cleaner or whatever, doesn't mean you know anything about transportation or how your customers get there. When you go into a business, does the owner ask you how you got there? Do you announce to the owner that you drove there, or walked, or whatever you did?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Vision Zero" is such a perfect summation of Mayor Bowser and her administration.

This is just another push by the bike lobby to try to resuscitate something that no one but a small group of bike lobby bros wants. You can't have this and the mayor calling for the Federal Govt. to return to work. The two are diametrically opposed.

The reality is that the CT Ave bike lanes were always an uphill battle, but they died the moment a group of ANC commissioners took a photo of themselves giving the middle finger to a business that was opposed.

Yeah because most people in D.C. (a) are aware that ANCs exist, (b) know that these commissioners did this and (c) care?

That moment solidified business opposition to a proposal that always had a tenuous benefit due how low the projected utilization would be and caught the attention of key decision makers. I hate to break it to you, but there is not a single person who important decision making responsibility in this city that wants to be seen as deciding in favor of the middle finger brigade and against important figures in the business community.

Except for the Mayor, Councilmember and DDOT officials who have public safety and not the fragile sensibilities of a bunch of blue hairs, at stake.

Something else that may have hurt the bike lane cause is the shameless ageism of some of its proponents.

More than fragile sensibilities, maybe the "bunch of blue hairs" are more worried about what will happen to their fragile bones when they try to cross the bike lane after alighting from a bus and get thwacked by a fast-moving e-bike.

My nonagenarian parents and I are considerably more worried about what will happen to their fragile bones when they try to cross the road and get thwacked by a fast-moving car.

Even with bike lanes, Connecticut will still have lots of car and truck traffic -- unless the plan is to turn it into a miles-long bike and pedestrian zone.

When there are bike lanes, people will have fewer car/truck lanes to cross, and that is good for people. In fact, we've already seen the effect of turning the former service lane back into sidewalk: the small group of bike lane haters was able to stage their anti bike lane demonstration on it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Vision Zero" is such a perfect summation of Mayor Bowser and her administration.

This is just another push by the bike lobby to try to resuscitate something that no one but a small group of bike lobby bros wants. You can't have this and the mayor calling for the Federal Govt. to return to work. The two are diametrically opposed.

The reality is that the CT Ave bike lanes were always an uphill battle, but they died the moment a group of ANC commissioners took a photo of themselves giving the middle finger to a business that was opposed.

Yeah because most people in D.C. (a) are aware that ANCs exist, (b) know that these commissioners did this and (c) care?

That moment solidified business opposition to a proposal that always had a tenuous benefit due how low the projected utilization would be and caught the attention of key decision makers. I hate to break it to you, but there is not a single person who important decision making responsibility in this city that wants to be seen as deciding in favor of the middle finger brigade and against important figures in the business community.

Except for the Mayor, Councilmember and DDOT officials who have public safety and not the fragile sensibilities of a bunch of blue hairs, at stake.

Public safety requires a tax base. The business owners have spoken. And the mayor has listened.

Then why is DDOT still working on designs? It is rather ironic, the businesses would lose more money from customers by opposing these public safety measures. Their customers are telling them daily how they are getting to their stores and what the improvements will mean.

Guessing the business owners drive there to their businesses and (incorrectly) assume everyone else does too.

Maybe after being in business for multiple decades they have a pretty good handle on who their customers are? Maybe the last people they are going to trust are people who have exactly zero business experience? Maybe they are tired of being bullied? I don’t know.

Alternatively, maybe they don't. After all, who asks their customers about mode of transportation? Every study has found that good bike lanes are good for business, not bad.

A DC government study found that the number one challenge for Cleveland Park businesses along Connecticut Avenue is parking.

Or rather, that Cleveland Park business owners identified their number one challenge as parking. But why? And parking for whom? They don't know how their customers got there.

It’s really amazing that all these bumbling business owners have managed to stay open, some for decades. And don’t even ask me how any of them could have built restaurant empires, which is regarded as one of the toughest business lines. How many successful companies have you built with your advanced level of business acumen?

That's silly, PP. Just because you're good at running a restaurant or a dry cleaner or whatever, doesn't mean you know anything about transportation or how your customers get there. When you go into a business, does the owner ask you how you got there? Do you announce to the owner that you drove there, or walked, or whatever you did?

Local business people probably hear from customers who complain that they can't find nearby parking and next time will take their business elsewhere. I'm all for more cyclists and walkers. I have less patience for those who boast of their car-free lifestyle while spending a small fortune for on-demand ride services that cruise around. (There's little "sharing" or carbon-lite about them.). But the reality is that many people -- busy parents, workers who live some distance away, local customers who are less mobile -- need to drive and park.