D.C. needs to get a lot more car friendly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given that a few thousand businesses have left downtown D.C. over the past two years, you would think that the city would be exploring ways to encourage more people to return and spend their money.

It may pain some District residents to hear this, but the city needs the suburbs. At this point, making the city less accessible by car will only hurt the District and strengthen the cycle of economic disinvestment and rising crime.

public transport must be improved, not private transport, which makes the city a terrible place. And as everybody knows: a lot of busniesses had to close in the last two years beacuse of the pandemic. Bikers and pedestrians are not the cause.

WMATA is broken. Systemic incompetence combined with a lack of meaningful political will to fix it means we’re years away from potentially having a well-managed public transportation network in the region. Downtown D.C. can’t wait years.

Of course the pandemic caused the mass closure of businesses downtown. But pedestrians and cyclists aren’t enough to re-invest in the area; the city desperately needs the suburbs as well.

Traffic will not return to the same levels post-pandemic because of WFH. That’s why all this grousing about being “car friendly” is so off key. There’s so little traffic that people are driving much more recklessly. DC is going to have to figure out how to replace the lost tax revenue, and making the city even more hostile to walkers is not it.

Traffic downtown now exceeds pre-pandemic levels.

https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2022/05/25/dc-pandemic-rush-hour-traffic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given that a few thousand businesses have left downtown D.C. over the past two years, you would think that the city would be exploring ways to encourage more people to return and spend their money.

It may pain some District residents to hear this, but the city needs the suburbs. At this point, making the city less accessible by car will only hurt the District and strengthen the cycle of economic disinvestment and rising crime.

public transport must be improved, not private transport, which makes the city a terrible place. And as everybody knows: a lot of busniesses had to close in the last two years beacuse of the pandemic. Bikers and pedestrians are not the cause.

WMATA is broken. Systemic incompetence combined with a lack of meaningful political will to fix it means we’re years away from potentially having a well-managed public transportation network in the region. Downtown D.C. can’t wait years.

Of course the pandemic caused the mass closure of businesses downtown. But pedestrians and cyclists aren’t enough to re-invest in the area; the city desperately needs the suburbs as well.

Traffic will not return to the same levels post-pandemic because of WFH. That’s why all this grousing about being “car friendly” is so off key. There’s so little traffic that people are driving much more recklessly. DC is going to have to figure out how to replace the lost tax revenue, and making the city even more hostile to walkers is not it.

Traffic downtown now exceeds pre-pandemic levels.

https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2022/05/25/dc-pandemic-rush-hour-traffic

But that’s spread out through the day. Still different. When Metro headways decrease, metro ridership will too. In the meantime I don’t really gaf about the driving experience of people refusing to take metro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given that a few thousand businesses have left downtown D.C. over the past two years, you would think that the city would be exploring ways to encourage more people to return and spend their money.

It may pain some District residents to hear this, but the city needs the suburbs. At this point, making the city less accessible by car will only hurt the District and strengthen the cycle of economic disinvestment and rising crime.

public transport must be improved, not private transport, which makes the city a terrible place. And as everybody knows: a lot of busniesses had to close in the last two years beacuse of the pandemic. Bikers and pedestrians are not the cause.

WMATA is broken. Systemic incompetence combined with a lack of meaningful political will to fix it means we’re years away from potentially having a well-managed public transportation network in the region. Downtown D.C. can’t wait years.

Of course the pandemic caused the mass closure of businesses downtown. But pedestrians and cyclists aren’t enough to re-invest in the area; the city desperately needs the suburbs as well.

Traffic will not return to the same levels post-pandemic because of WFH. That’s why all this grousing about being “car friendly” is so off key. There’s so little traffic that people are driving much more recklessly. DC is going to have to figure out how to replace the lost tax revenue, and making the city even more hostile to walkers is not it.

Traffic downtown now exceeds pre-pandemic levels.

https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2022/05/25/dc-pandemic-rush-hour-traffic

But that’s spread out through the day. Still different. When Metro headways decrease, metro ridership will too. In the meantime I don’t really gaf about the driving experience of people refusing to take metro.

So you were just lying when you said "there's so little traffic". Why do you lie about everything?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given that a few thousand businesses have left downtown D.C. over the past two years, you would think that the city would be exploring ways to encourage more people to return and spend their money.

It may pain some District residents to hear this, but the city needs the suburbs. At this point, making the city less accessible by car will only hurt the District and strengthen the cycle of economic disinvestment and rising crime.

public transport must be improved, not private transport, which makes the city a terrible place. And as everybody knows: a lot of busniesses had to close in the last two years beacuse of the pandemic. Bikers and pedestrians are not the cause.

WMATA is broken. Systemic incompetence combined with a lack of meaningful political will to fix it means we’re years away from potentially having a well-managed public transportation network in the region. Downtown D.C. can’t wait years.

Of course the pandemic caused the mass closure of businesses downtown. But pedestrians and cyclists aren’t enough to re-invest in the area; the city desperately needs the suburbs as well.

Traffic will not return to the same levels post-pandemic because of WFH. That’s why all this grousing about being “car friendly” is so off key. There’s so little traffic that people are driving much more recklessly. DC is going to have to figure out how to replace the lost tax revenue, and making the city even more hostile to walkers is not it.

Traffic downtown now exceeds pre-pandemic levels.

https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2022/05/25/dc-pandemic-rush-hour-traffic

But that’s spread out through the day. Still different. When Metro headways decrease, metro ridership will too. In the meantime I don’t really gaf about the driving experience of people refusing to take metro.

So you were just lying when you said "there's so little traffic". Why do you lie about everything?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given that a few thousand businesses have left downtown D.C. over the past two years, you would think that the city would be exploring ways to encourage more people to return and spend their money.

It may pain some District residents to hear this, but the city needs the suburbs. At this point, making the city less accessible by car will only hurt the District and strengthen the cycle of economic disinvestment and rising crime.

public transport must be improved, not private transport, which makes the city a terrible place. And as everybody knows: a lot of busniesses had to close in the last two years beacuse of the pandemic. Bikers and pedestrians are not the cause.

WMATA is broken. Systemic incompetence combined with a lack of meaningful political will to fix it means we’re years away from potentially having a well-managed public transportation network in the region. Downtown D.C. can’t wait years.

Of course the pandemic caused the mass closure of businesses downtown. But pedestrians and cyclists aren’t enough to re-invest in the area; the city desperately needs the suburbs as well.

Traffic will not return to the same levels post-pandemic because of WFH. That’s why all this grousing about being “car friendly” is so off key. There’s so little traffic that people are driving much more recklessly. DC is going to have to figure out how to replace the lost tax revenue, and making the city even more hostile to walkers is not it.

Traffic downtown now exceeds pre-pandemic levels.

https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2022/05/25/dc-pandemic-rush-hour-traffic

But that’s spread out through the day. Still different. When Metro headways decrease, metro ridership will too. In the meantime I don’t really gaf about the driving experience of people refusing to take metro.

So you were just lying when you said "there's so little traffic". Why do you lie about everything?

I know. The non-stop lying is really odd. It's almost as if you know these policies are bad for the city, bad for residents, and will cause an outrage if people knew what was happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given that a few thousand businesses have left downtown D.C. over the past two years, you would think that the city would be exploring ways to encourage more people to return and spend their money.

It may pain some District residents to hear this, but the city needs the suburbs. At this point, making the city less accessible by car will only hurt the District and strengthen the cycle of economic disinvestment and rising crime.

public transport must be improved, not private transport, which makes the city a terrible place. And as everybody knows: a lot of busniesses had to close in the last two years beacuse of the pandemic. Bikers and pedestrians are not the cause.

WMATA is broken. Systemic incompetence combined with a lack of meaningful political will to fix it means we’re years away from potentially having a well-managed public transportation network in the region. Downtown D.C. can’t wait years.

Of course the pandemic caused the mass closure of businesses downtown. But pedestrians and cyclists aren’t enough to re-invest in the area; the city desperately needs the suburbs as well.

Traffic will not return to the same levels post-pandemic because of WFH. That’s why all this grousing about being “car friendly” is so off key. There’s so little traffic that people are driving much more recklessly. DC is going to have to figure out how to replace the lost tax revenue, and making the city even more hostile to walkers is not it.

Traffic downtown now exceeds pre-pandemic levels.

https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2022/05/25/dc-pandemic-rush-hour-traffic

But that’s spread out through the day. Still different. When Metro headways decrease, metro ridership will too. In the meantime I don’t really gaf about the driving experience of people refusing to take metro.

So you were just lying when you said "there's so little traffic". Why do you lie about everything?

I know. The non-stop lying is really odd. It's almost as if you know these policies are bad for the city, bad for residents, and will cause an outrage if people knew what was happening.

It’s actually the hysterical paranoia from you that’s odd. One the one hand, you have people making transparent arguments to improve traffic safety and mobility in DC. There’s no question that this side can have its excesses. But on the other hand, we have the “car friendly” people making bizarre and paranoid arguments, ranging from traffic calming creating driver mental illness to 9-11. I’ve been a part of a lot of policy debates in my day, and I can say that the NIMBYs (traffic or housing) are singularly unhinged. That’s not to say there is not a legitimate difference of opinion. Sometimes there is, like the impact of automated traffic enforcement. But whooo boy, the NIMBYs can get absolutely nuts. My theory is that it’s a mixture of life disappointment and clinical rigidity that makes them react so extremely and lose touch with reality when something in their environment changes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given that a few thousand businesses have left downtown D.C. over the past two years, you would think that the city would be exploring ways to encourage more people to return and spend their money.

It may pain some District residents to hear this, but the city needs the suburbs. At this point, making the city less accessible by car will only hurt the District and strengthen the cycle of economic disinvestment and rising crime.

public transport must be improved, not private transport, which makes the city a terrible place. And as everybody knows: a lot of busniesses had to close in the last two years beacuse of the pandemic. Bikers and pedestrians are not the cause.

WMATA is broken. Systemic incompetence combined with a lack of meaningful political will to fix it means we’re years away from potentially having a well-managed public transportation network in the region. Downtown D.C. can’t wait years.

Of course the pandemic caused the mass closure of businesses downtown. But pedestrians and cyclists aren’t enough to re-invest in the area; the city desperately needs the suburbs as well.

Traffic will not return to the same levels post-pandemic because of WFH. That’s why all this grousing about being “car friendly” is so off key. There’s so little traffic that people are driving much more recklessly. DC is going to have to figure out how to replace the lost tax revenue, and making the city even more hostile to walkers is not it.

Traffic downtown now exceeds pre-pandemic levels.

https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2022/05/25/dc-pandemic-rush-hour-traffic

But that’s spread out through the day. Still different. When Metro headways decrease, metro ridership will too. In the meantime I don’t really gaf about the driving experience of people refusing to take metro.

So you were just lying when you said "there's so little traffic". Why do you lie about everything?

I know. The non-stop lying is really odd. It's almost as if you know these policies are bad for the city, bad for residents, and will cause an outrage if people knew what was happening.

It’s actually the hysterical paranoia from you that’s odd. One the one hand, you have people making transparent arguments to improve traffic safety and mobility in DC. There’s no question that this side can have its excesses. But on the other hand, we have the “car friendly” people making bizarre and paranoid arguments, ranging from traffic calming creating driver mental illness to 9-11. I’ve been a part of a lot of policy debates in my day, and I can say that the NIMBYs (traffic or housing) are singularly unhinged. That’s not to say there is not a legitimate difference of opinion. Sometimes there is, like the impact of automated traffic enforcement. But whooo boy, the NIMBYs can get absolutely nuts. My theory is that it’s a mixture of life disappointment and clinical rigidity that makes them react so extremely and lose touch with reality when something in their environment changes.

Oooh, now you're cosplaying as a psychiatrist while still lying. Is your lycra too tight?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given that a few thousand businesses have left downtown D.C. over the past two years, you would think that the city would be exploring ways to encourage more people to return and spend their money.

It may pain some District residents to hear this, but the city needs the suburbs. At this point, making the city less accessible by car will only hurt the District and strengthen the cycle of economic disinvestment and rising crime.

public transport must be improved, not private transport, which makes the city a terrible place. And as everybody knows: a lot of busniesses had to close in the last two years beacuse of the pandemic. Bikers and pedestrians are not the cause.

WMATA is broken. Systemic incompetence combined with a lack of meaningful political will to fix it means we’re years away from potentially having a well-managed public transportation network in the region. Downtown D.C. can’t wait years.

Of course the pandemic caused the mass closure of businesses downtown. But pedestrians and cyclists aren’t enough to re-invest in the area; the city desperately needs the suburbs as well.

Traffic will not return to the same levels post-pandemic because of WFH. That’s why all this grousing about being “car friendly” is so off key. There’s so little traffic that people are driving much more recklessly. DC is going to have to figure out how to replace the lost tax revenue, and making the city even more hostile to walkers is not it.

Traffic downtown now exceeds pre-pandemic levels.

https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2022/05/25/dc-pandemic-rush-hour-traffic

Not to point out the obvious but the city has spend billions of dollars on bike lanes that barely anyone even uses. There are bike lanes that I have *never* seen anyone use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given that a few thousand businesses have left downtown D.C. over the past two years, you would think that the city would be exploring ways to encourage more people to return and spend their money.

It may pain some District residents to hear this, but the city needs the suburbs. At this point, making the city less accessible by car will only hurt the District and strengthen the cycle of economic disinvestment and rising crime.

public transport must be improved, not private transport, which makes the city a terrible place. And as everybody knows: a lot of busniesses had to close in the last two years beacuse of the pandemic. Bikers and pedestrians are not the cause.

WMATA is broken. Systemic incompetence combined with a lack of meaningful political will to fix it means we’re years away from potentially having a well-managed public transportation network in the region. Downtown D.C. can’t wait years.

Of course the pandemic caused the mass closure of businesses downtown. But pedestrians and cyclists aren’t enough to re-invest in the area; the city desperately needs the suburbs as well.

Traffic will not return to the same levels post-pandemic because of WFH. That’s why all this grousing about being “car friendly” is so off key. There’s so little traffic that people are driving much more recklessly. DC is going to have to figure out how to replace the lost tax revenue, and making the city even more hostile to walkers is not it.

Traffic downtown now exceeds pre-pandemic levels.

https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2022/05/25/dc-pandemic-rush-hour-traffic

Not to point out the obvious but the city has spend billions of dollars on bike lanes that barely anyone even uses. There are bike lanes that I have *never* seen anyone use.

billions? ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given that a few thousand businesses have left downtown D.C. over the past two years, you would think that the city would be exploring ways to encourage more people to return and spend their money.

It may pain some District residents to hear this, but the city needs the suburbs. At this point, making the city less accessible by car will only hurt the District and strengthen the cycle of economic disinvestment and rising crime.

public transport must be improved, not private transport, which makes the city a terrible place. And as everybody knows: a lot of busniesses had to close in the last two years beacuse of the pandemic. Bikers and pedestrians are not the cause.

It’s fascinating that you believe the city is so enthralling that people in the suburbs will willingly and in large numbers take public transit into the city for recreation and entertainment purposes over other options, if only public transit was better? This is seriously deluded thinking that is contradicted by the fact that people in the suburbs refuse to take transit today to go to the city for work. But sure, on a Saturday they’ll hop on the metro for shopping or a performance at the Shakespeare Theatre when the same stores or high quality theatre experiences are available more conveniently and closer to home.

The reality is that another sectoral shift has occurred (starting back in 2015) away from cities and these policies just accelerate the inevitable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given that a few thousand businesses have left downtown D.C. over the past two years, you would think that the city would be exploring ways to encourage more people to return and spend their money.

It may pain some District residents to hear this, but the city needs the suburbs. At this point, making the city less accessible by car will only hurt the District and strengthen the cycle of economic disinvestment and rising crime.

public transport must be improved, not private transport, which makes the city a terrible place. And as everybody knows: a lot of busniesses had to close in the last two years beacuse of the pandemic. Bikers and pedestrians are not the cause.

WMATA is broken. Systemic incompetence combined with a lack of meaningful political will to fix it means we’re years away from potentially having a well-managed public transportation network in the region. Downtown D.C. can’t wait years.

Of course the pandemic caused the mass closure of businesses downtown. But pedestrians and cyclists aren’t enough to re-invest in the area; the city desperately needs the suburbs as well.

Traffic will not return to the same levels post-pandemic because of WFH. That’s why all this grousing about being “car friendly” is so off key. There’s so little traffic that people are driving much more recklessly. DC is going to have to figure out how to replace the lost tax revenue, and making the city even more hostile to walkers is not it.

Traffic downtown now exceeds pre-pandemic levels.

https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2022/05/25/dc-pandemic-rush-hour-traffic

Not to point out the obvious but the city has spend billions of dollars on bike lanes that barely anyone even uses. There are bike lanes that I have *never* seen anyone use.

billions? ok.

You're right. We shouldn't exaggerate. Especially when there's no need to. Hundreds of millions is still absurd. What makes it worse is that the money is all taken from transportation funding because of maybe one hundred commuter cyclists. Biking is a great recreational activity but it is not transportation. Biking enhancements should be funded through DPR not DDOT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given that a few thousand businesses have left downtown D.C. over the past two years, you would think that the city would be exploring ways to encourage more people to return and spend their money.

It may pain some District residents to hear this, but the city needs the suburbs. At this point, making the city less accessible by car will only hurt the District and strengthen the cycle of economic disinvestment and rising crime.

public transport must be improved, not private transport, which makes the city a terrible place. And as everybody knows: a lot of busniesses had to close in the last two years beacuse of the pandemic. Bikers and pedestrians are not the cause.

It’s fascinating that you believe the city is so enthralling that people in the suburbs will willingly and in large numbers take public transit into the city for recreation and entertainment purposes over other options, if only public transit was better? This is seriously deluded thinking that is contradicted by the fact that people in the suburbs refuse to take transit today to go to the city for work. But sure, on a Saturday they’ll hop on the metro for shopping or a performance at the Shakespeare Theatre when the same stores or high quality theatre experiences are available more conveniently and closer to home.

The reality is that another sectoral shift has occurred (starting back in 2015) away from cities and these policies just accelerate the inevitable.

I don't think you're right about the timing but I do think you are right about the secular trend and the impact these car hostile measures will have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given that a few thousand businesses have left downtown D.C. over the past two years, you would think that the city would be exploring ways to encourage more people to return and spend their money.

It may pain some District residents to hear this, but the city needs the suburbs. At this point, making the city less accessible by car will only hurt the District and strengthen the cycle of economic disinvestment and rising crime.

public transport must be improved, not private transport, which makes the city a terrible place. And as everybody knows: a lot of busniesses had to close in the last two years beacuse of the pandemic. Bikers and pedestrians are not the cause.

It’s fascinating that you believe the city is so enthralling that people in the suburbs will willingly and in large numbers take public transit into the city for recreation and entertainment purposes over other options, if only public transit was better? This is seriously deluded thinking that is contradicted by the fact that people in the suburbs refuse to take transit today to go to the city for work. But sure, on a Saturday they’ll hop on the metro for shopping or a performance at the Shakespeare Theatre when the same stores or high quality theatre experiences are available more conveniently and closer to home.

The reality is that another sectoral shift has occurred (starting back in 2015) away from cities and these policies just accelerate the inevitable.

I don't think you're right about the timing but I do think you are right about the secular trend and the impact these car hostile measures will have.

The rate of population growth in DC has declined every year since 2011, eventually turning negative the last couple years. Up until 2015, the trend was increasing domestic out-migration which was offset by international in-migration. After 2015, declining domestic out-migration persisted but then international in-migration also started declining.
https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/demographic-shifts-dc-following-covid-pandemic/
https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/districts-population-grows-14th-year-row-weaker-rate/
https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/census-shows-pandemic-exodus-has-broken-dc-population-growth/

The data don’t lie and it should worry anyone that cares about this city. Instead there seems to be a deep, deep denial while the Dulles corridor is clearly the short-to-medium term economic center of this area and judging by license plates, a big chunk of DC residents are driving out to the suburbs on weekends to spend their disposable income instead of the other way around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given that a few thousand businesses have left downtown D.C. over the past two years, you would think that the city would be exploring ways to encourage more people to return and spend their money.

It may pain some District residents to hear this, but the city needs the suburbs. At this point, making the city less accessible by car will only hurt the District and strengthen the cycle of economic disinvestment and rising crime.

public transport must be improved, not private transport, which makes the city a terrible place. And as everybody knows: a lot of busniesses had to close in the last two years beacuse of the pandemic. Bikers and pedestrians are not the cause.

It’s fascinating that you believe the city is so enthralling that people in the suburbs will willingly and in large numbers take public transit into the city for recreation and entertainment purposes over other options, if only public transit was better? This is seriously deluded thinking that is contradicted by the fact that people in the suburbs refuse to take transit today to go to the city for work. But sure, on a Saturday they’ll hop on the metro for shopping or a performance at the Shakespeare Theatre when the same stores or high quality theatre experiences are available more conveniently and closer to home.

The reality is that another sectoral shift has occurred (starting back in 2015) away from cities and these policies just accelerate the inevitable.

it’s fascinating that you think the economic welfare of the city rests on people being able to drive into downtown and park for free in front of Macy’s to go shopping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given that a few thousand businesses have left downtown D.C. over the past two years, you would think that the city would be exploring ways to encourage more people to return and spend their money.

It may pain some District residents to hear this, but the city needs the suburbs. At this point, making the city less accessible by car will only hurt the District and strengthen the cycle of economic disinvestment and rising crime.

public transport must be improved, not private transport, which makes the city a terrible place. And as everybody knows: a lot of busniesses had to close in the last two years beacuse of the pandemic. Bikers and pedestrians are not the cause.

It’s fascinating that you believe the city is so enthralling that people in the suburbs will willingly and in large numbers take public transit into the city for recreation and entertainment purposes over other options, if only public transit was better? This is seriously deluded thinking that is contradicted by the fact that people in the suburbs refuse to take transit today to go to the city for work. But sure, on a Saturday they’ll hop on the metro for shopping or a performance at the Shakespeare Theatre when the same stores or high quality theatre experiences are available more conveniently and closer to home.

The reality is that another sectoral shift has occurred (starting back in 2015) away from cities and these policies just accelerate the inevitable.

I don't think you're right about the timing but I do think you are right about the secular trend and the impact these car hostile measures will have.

The rate of population growth in DC has declined every year since 2011, eventually turning negative the last couple years. Up until 2015, the trend was increasing domestic out-migration which was offset by international in-migration. After 2015, declining domestic out-migration persisted but then international in-migration also started declining.
https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/demographic-shifts-dc-following-covid-pandemic/
https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/districts-population-grows-14th-year-row-weaker-rate/
https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/census-shows-pandemic-exodus-has-broken-dc-population-growth/

The data don’t lie and it should worry anyone that cares about this city. Instead there seems to be a deep, deep denial while the Dulles corridor is clearly the short-to-medium term economic center of this area and judging by license plates, a big chunk of DC residents are driving out to the suburbs on weekends to spend their disposable income instead of the other way around.

so turning DC into a parking lot/highway is going to fix this? because it seems to me that what is actually attracting people to the city is increased residential density and entertainment districts purposefully designed to be car free/car optional. U st, Navy Yard, Wharf … Why is allowing cars to dominate, say, 16th st as they drive from MD going to make living on the 16th st corridor more inviting? What will make 16th street more inviting is a functioning, rapid bus line.