anyone else dislike Greater Greater Washington?

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

What do you mean by Greater, Greater Washington? I live close to the District line and don’t struggle with my commute. But, I don’t have a McMansion or a huge yard either. I made trade offs. I imagine if I was trying to get Home to Gaithersburg every night, I would hate my commute. That’s a different trade off.

[Anonymous]

She means: https://ggwash.org/

[Anonymous]

Never heard of it

[Anonymous]

GGW pretends to be a volunteer blog, but it's an "astroturf" organization (faux grass roots), that is funded by big development companies, law firms dependent on a zoning practice, etc. One of GGW's more absurd moments came when they threw a developer-funded happy hour down the street from Judiciary Square the night of the marathon hearing on the mayor's proposed sweeping changes to the Comp Plan, which are sought by big development interests. GGW tried to use free drinks to attract Millennials to go over and testify in favor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GGW pretends to be a volunteer blog, but it's an "astroturf" organization (faux grass roots), that is funded by big development companies, law firms dependent on a zoning practice, etc. One of GGW's more absurd moments came when they threw a developer-funded happy hour down the street from Judiciary Square the night of the marathon hearing on the mayor's proposed sweeping changes to the Comp Plan, which are sought by big development interests. GGW tried to use free drinks to attract Millennials to go over and testify in favor.

Wow, that's nuts!! No wonder it's so skewed towards "urbanism" that really just makes pretty amenities for people who can afford to live in Dupont ....

Are there any transportation/growth/development websites that are actually geared towards helping the region as a whole?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GGW pretends to be a volunteer blog, but it's an "astroturf" organization (faux grass roots), that is funded by big development companies, law firms dependent on a zoning practice, etc. One of GGW's more absurd moments came when they threw a developer-funded happy hour down the street from Judiciary Square the night of the marathon hearing on the mayor's proposed sweeping changes to the Comp Plan, which are sought by big development interests. GGW tried to use free drinks to attract Millennials to go over and testify in favor.

Thanks for that insight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GGW pretends to be a volunteer blog, but it's an "astroturf" organization (faux grass roots), that is funded by big development companies, law firms dependent on a zoning practice, etc. One of GGW's more absurd moments came when they threw a developer-funded happy hour down the street from Judiciary Square the night of the marathon hearing on the mayor's proposed sweeping changes to the Comp Plan, which are sought by big development interests. GGW tried to use free drinks to attract Millennials to go over and testify in favor.

This is not true - it is mostly volunteer funded and run.

But it's a nice talking point for the paranoid of change crowd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GGW pretends to be a volunteer blog, but it's an "astroturf" organization (faux grass roots), that is funded by big development companies, law firms dependent on a zoning practice, etc. One of GGW's more absurd moments came when they threw a developer-funded happy hour down the street from Judiciary Square the night of the marathon hearing on the mayor's proposed sweeping changes to the Comp Plan, which are sought by big development interests. GGW tried to use free drinks to attract Millennials to go over and testify in favor.

Wow, that's nuts!! No wonder it's so skewed towards "urbanism" that really just makes pretty amenities for people who can afford to live in Dupont ....

Are there any transportation/growth/development websites that are actually geared towards helping the region as a whole?

GGW is geared toward the issues you identify region wide - please go read the blog since apparently you have not.

And "urbanism" is something available to, and utilized by, people throughout our region, not just those in Dupont. And Dupont is a dumb reference point to drop as very little development has happened there in the last 50 years but I get that it is threatening to you for some odd reason.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

^^ this reads like it was written from a list of billet points. Nice try though

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GGW pretends to be a volunteer blog, but it's an "astroturf" organization (faux grass roots), that is funded by big development companies, law firms dependent on a zoning practice, etc. One of GGW's more absurd moments came when they threw a developer-funded happy hour down the street from Judiciary Square the night of the marathon hearing on the mayor's proposed sweeping changes to the Comp Plan, which are sought by big development interests. GGW tried to use free drinks to attract Millennials to go over and testify in favor.

Wow, that's nuts!! No wonder it's so skewed towards "urbanism" that really just makes pretty amenities for people who can afford to live in Dupont ....

Are there any transportation/growth/development websites that are actually geared towards helping the region as a whole?

GGW is geared toward the issues you identify region wide - please go read the blog since apparently you have not.

And "urbanism" is something available to, and utilized by, people throughout our region, not just those in Dupont. And Dupont is a dumb reference point to drop as very little development has happened there in the last 50 years but I get that it is threatening to you for some odd reason.

I'd like to see more writers of color, women, working people, represented on the blog. If you live in Dupont and work from home while your wife takes care of your kid, you have VERY little perspective on what kind of transit and development would be helpful to everyone else in the region. Hint: it's not bike lanes.