Washingtonian article about Alexandria

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is reprehensible that Silverburg and Wilson and everyone else went along with Metro on the changes to the Potomac Yard station. All of them should be thrown out for not being transparent. And is absolutely vile what they did to the association serving people who are blind.

This. Completely despicable.

+ 100,000. It's now clear that they BOTH knew a year ago that they were defrauding everybody.

I was especially appalled by Silverberg's formal statement that their hands were tied by the legal agreement they signed. Well, why did you sign it? It was an option. No one was holding a gun to their heads. If they want to be seen as "good" leaders then you do what good leaders do, and that is to stand up and be strong. That is why neither of them should be re-/elected. When push comes to shove they take the easy way out and cast blame on the other people, the old SODDIT approach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. I’ve lived in Alexandria city for 14 yrs. I don’t understand what Wilson is talking about when he says we are going to go the way of Detroit. The federal government isn’t going to disappear (presumably), yet he talks like it is and we need to prepare. How does that make sense?

If everything is an incredible emergency, then you have to vote for him, to fix it. Because, emergency. It’s like POTUS.

Unlike POTUS is well prepared (CM and Vice Mayor before running for Mayor) has excellent command of policy details (I mean really) and is not proposing limits on civil rights or demonizing minorities, just making the City more attractive to private sector employers, against the likelihood of a decline in federal employment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is reprehensible that Silverburg and Wilson and everyone else went along with Metro on the changes to the Potomac Yard station. All of them should be thrown out for not being transparent. And is absolutely vile what they did to the association serving people who are blind.

This. Completely despicable.

+ 100,000. It's now clear that they BOTH knew a year ago that they were defrauding everybody.

I was especially appalled by Silverberg's formal statement that their hands were tied by the legal agreement they signed. Well, why did you sign it? It was an option. No one was holding a gun to their heads. If they want to be seen as "good" leaders then you do what good leaders do, and that is to stand up and be strong. That is why neither of them should be re-/elected. When push comes to shove they take the easy way out and cast blame on the other people, the old SODDIT approach.

Because those are standard in design build procurements, IIUC.

Anyway, they will probably get a sidepath to metro east of the drainage pond, so the extra walk to the north entrance will not be that great. Also its quite possible the City will come up with a good financing mechanism for adding the southern mezzanine in not too long.

Calm down people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. I’ve lived in Alexandria city for 14 yrs. I don’t understand what Wilson is talking about when he says we are going to go the way of Detroit. The federal government isn’t going to disappear (presumably), yet he talks like it is and we need to prepare. How does that make sense?

If everything is an incredible emergency, then you have to vote for him, to fix it. Because, emergency. It’s like POTUS.

The funny thing is that he is the last person in the world you want to rely on in an emergency. He reacts so poorly to his own emergencies, those in his personal life, that it would be ludicrous to even think of relying on him for an emergency for thousands of people. He would be paralyzed with fear and crying in the closet.

I have no idea what you are talking about and don't want to know. You sound vile.

[Anonymous]

There is a nasty part of me that is pleased by this new Potomac Yards SNAFU only because it's nice to see the City of Alexandria screwing over/ignoring the needs of the east side folks for once.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a nasty part of me that is pleased by this new Potomac Yards SNAFU only because it's nice to see the City of Alexandria screwing over/ignoring the needs of the east side folks for once.

Yes! ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is reprehensible that Silverburg and Wilson and everyone else went along with Metro on the changes to the Potomac Yard station. All of them should be thrown out for not being transparent. And is absolutely vile what they did to the association serving people who are blind.

This. Completely despicable.

+ 100,000. It's now clear that they BOTH knew a year ago that they were defrauding everybody.

I was especially appalled by Silverberg's formal statement that their hands were tied by the legal agreement they signed. Well, why did you sign it? It was an option. No one was holding a gun to their heads. If they want to be seen as "good" leaders then you do what good leaders do, and that is to stand up and be strong. That is why neither of them should be re-/elected. When push comes to shove they take the easy way out and cast blame on the other people, the old SODDIT approach.

Because those are standard in design build procurements, IIUC.

Anyway, they will probably get a sidepath to metro east of the drainage pond, so the extra walk to the north entrance will not be that great. Also its quite possible the City will come up with a good financing mechanism for adding the southern mezzanine in not too long.

Calm down people.

Are you going to be the person standing out there personally escorting each and every person who is blind through the labyrinth? No? I didn't think so. When you are, then I'll calm down. Until then, what those two did was sneaky and underhanded as well as completely callous. No way do either deserve the job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is reprehensible that Silverburg and Wilson and everyone else went along with Metro on the changes to the Potomac Yard station. All of them should be thrown out for not being transparent. And is absolutely vile what they did to the association serving people who are blind.

This. Completely despicable.

+ 100,000. It's now clear that they BOTH knew a year ago that they were defrauding everybody.

I was especially appalled by Silverberg's formal statement that their hands were tied by the legal agreement they signed. Well, why did you sign it? It was an option. No one was holding a gun to their heads. If they want to be seen as "good" leaders then you do what good leaders do, and that is to stand up and be strong. That is why neither of them should be re-/elected. When push comes to shove they take the easy way out and cast blame on the other people, the old SODDIT approach.

Because those are standard in design build procurements, IIUC.

Anyway, they will probably get a sidepath to metro east of the drainage pond, so the extra walk to the north entrance will not be that great. Also its quite possible the City will come up with a good financing mechanism for adding the southern mezzanine in not too long.

Calm down people.

They should have walked away. If they had any morals or ethics or cared at all about the people whom they are supposed to serve, then they would have walked away. By not walking away they proved that they care more about their job title then they care about the people in Alexandria. There is no way to forgive or forget those actions.

[Anonymous]

When you actually read the NDA they signed, there’s nothing in there that says you can’t share design details. Confidential procurement stuff that would advantage one bidder over another, yes. But every bidder knew the design change by definition - since they needed to know it to bid. This is either Alexandria intentionally obscuring this change to prevent public backlash or getting very incompetent legal advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you actually read the NDA they signed, there’s nothing in there that says you can’t share design details. Confidential procurement stuff that would advantage one bidder over another, yes. But every bidder knew the design change by definition - since they needed to know it to bid. This is either Alexandria intentionally obscuring this change to prevent public backlash or getting very incompetent legal advice.

Wow, it really takes some balls to screw people like that. I'm not doubting you because I can see that they would totally do that but that really stinks.

TBH I never thought to pull the NDA or read it. Thanks for the heads up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Alexandria Chamber “outraged” at Potomac Yard Metro changes

https://alextimes.com/2018/05/potomacyardmetro/

Good. They should be outraged. The City seems to have known about this in advance and kept quiet due to some confidentiality agreement relating to the construction that isn’t happening. Well, if there’s an agreement to breach, that’s the one. This is a signal moment for Alexandria. Wilson and Silberberg look kinda the same today.

+1

OP here.
+2

+3. The way the city went about this completely behind closed doors FOR A YEAR is so messed up.

+4 and 5. It is the same old way of operating. I would not be surprised if there is cash changing hands. All of them need to be out: the Mayor, City Council and the whole City staff. We need to clean house. As if the sewage thing wasn't outrageous enough (and heading into summer we're about to be reminded about it on a daily basis with the stench) but now with the Potomac Yard Metro thing … no one could be that grossly incompetent. Could they? I think the Council members are so happy to have their Council jobs and their side businesses that feed off of their Council work that they have forgotten what they are supposed to do as Council members.

I could actually believe Wilson and Silberberg didn't know about too much in advance but I see the City dept that is dealing with it knowing. And I really have zero sympathy for those who might be upset. They have spent the last few months droning on and on on the affordable housing like they do every year. That's why it needs to go. Too much time and resources wasted on it. And it's annoying to hear people claim it's housing for "teachers, police officers, " - those people are all priced out of the affordable housing initiatives

The metro station isn't going to be that big of a deal as they anticipate anyway. It will be a pass through station - more people will pass through it on the train to their destination without ever getting off. the City's mistake here and at King St. is the failure to provide parking. Now if they built a huge parking structure, that would be a game changer. There are simply not enough residents who are ever going to live in walking distance to that station and there are not going to be enough bus riders or bike riders. Taking the bus and then the metro from Alexandria is silly because it can triple the time for your commute vs just driving in.

Precisely this. I live in the city and I don't ever take metro because I live to far away to easily and conveniently walk, and there is no place to park. If I want to take the metro, I drive to Huntington or Crystal City and park there. It is crazy! It makes me wonder under what rock some of these dunderheads live that they don't understand that some of us have obligations outside of the 20-block stretch of King Street.

There are metro stations elsewhere (Eisenhower and Van Dorn) an extensive network of Metrobus express buses to the Pentagon, and DASH buses to the Alexandria metro stations, and Metro Way buses between Braddock Rd and Crystal City.

If you MUST drive to King Street metro you can park in one of the private garages a few blocks away.

The notion of putting in a parking garage next to a metro station in an urban place like that makes no sense - better to put in office or residential buildings.

Except to get to those metro stations, I would have to travel 30 minutes in the morning in the opposite direction of where I am going and use neighborhood road cut through just to make it to the station in 30 minutes from my location in Alexandria City. But the King St and Braddock Rd stations are only a 10 minute drive. With the bus, why should I spend 40 minutes on the bus just to spend another 30 on the metro?

Now if they put in parking at Potomac Yards, I would see more incentive to use metro. But then again, the cost of metro is high enough at this point for round trip during rush hour that I could just pay to drive downtown and park and the difference between costs is pretty small.

We aren't an urban area. We are a suburb. That's how the City was set up with the exception of Old Town.

The only hope for the West End at this point is to just let a developer come in and redevelop and let go of the low income housing push. What could be a nice addition would be "workforce housing" which would actually allow teachers, policemen/women, firefighters to rent or buy in the City. Right now, all those professions are priced out of "affordable housing" because they always make just a smidge too much to meet the guidelines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Except to get to those metro stations, I would have to travel 30 minutes in the morning in the opposite direction of where I am going and use neighborhood road cut through just to make it to the station in 30 minutes from my location in Alexandria City. But the King St and Braddock Rd stations are only a 10 minute drive. With the bus, why should I spend 40 minutes on the bus just to spend another 30 on the metro?

Now if they put in parking at Potomac Yards, I would see more incentive to use metro. But then again, the cost of metro is high enough at this point for round trip during rush hour that I could just pay to drive downtown and park and the difference between costs is pretty small.

So if there was a parking garage at PY, you wouldn't use it anyway. That might be one hint why they won't build it. Note also, if you did use it, it would draw you to drive in to a dense area, which makes no sense. Plus putting a big parking garage right next to the station would both preclude putting offices/apts at that site, and also make it less pleasant for people from slightly further to walk there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
We aren't an urban area. We are a suburb. That's how the City was set up with the exception of Old Town.

Aside from Old Town, Del Ray, although less dense, is urban in form. Carlisle was built as an urban area, and PY will be as well. Arlandria is semi-urban. Much of the West End, though not urban in layout, is very dense, and to be liveable at all needs to become more urban in form, and will.
That still leaves a bunch of suburban enclaves, which will remain suburban, but we can't run the whole city as a suburb.

BTW, I checked the traffic on google maps this AM, while riding the bus (you know, the one you can't ride). Green everywhere, except for for the highways leading to DC, and Quaker leading to the King intersection. Despite the density, traffic flows fine. Fact is we are a City with many people using transit, some walking and biking, and many or most drivers having uncongested routes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is reprehensible that Silverburg and Wilson and everyone else went along with Metro on the changes to the Potomac Yard station. All of them should be thrown out for not being transparent. And is absolutely vile what they did to the association serving people who are blind.

This. Completely despicable.

+ 100,000. It's now clear that they BOTH knew a year ago that they were defrauding everybody.

I was especially appalled by Silverberg's formal statement that their hands were tied by the legal agreement they signed. Well, why did you sign it? It was an option. No one was holding a gun to their heads. If they want to be seen as "good" leaders then you do what good leaders do, and that is to stand up and be strong. That is why neither of them should be re-/elected. When push comes to shove they take the easy way out and cast blame on the other people, the old SODDIT approach.

Because those are standard in design build procurements, IIUC.

Anyway, they will probably get a sidepath to metro east of the drainage pond, so the extra walk to the north entrance will not be that great. Also its quite possible the City will come up with a good financing mechanism for adding the southern mezzanine in not too long.

Calm down people.

They should have walked away. If they had any morals or ethics or cared at all about the people whom they are supposed to serve, then they would have walked away. By not walking away they proved that they care more about their job title then they care about the people in Alexandria. There is no way to forgive or forget those actions.

And delay the metro station many more years? That's a terrible idea.

[Anonymous]

If the walk to the entrance from where the other entrance was supposed to be is truly NBD than why aren't they building the southern entrance and saying people will just have to walk down from the north?

I'm really asking, I'm not being snarky. Because right now it just seems like they're sticking it to the people that have already built in the south for the purposes of still enticing developers for the to be built area in the north.