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

[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.

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.

In your view, so you agree that it’s important for Macy’s to continue to have a store downtown? What would you think are the economic conditions that allow Macy’s presence in DC to continue to be viable?

It’s always been hard to go there and park. Metro Center is right there, but people are not taking the Metro either in large numbers. No one from the suburbs needs to go there anyways because they are going to have a Macy’s closure to home that’s more convenient. Commercial office space is at less than 40% capacity. Not a lot of people live nearby. What would happen to downtown DC if Macys closed?

So what’s your plan for Macy’s? How do they stay in business and thrive given these conditions? Does it matter to you to make it easier for a DC resident to shop there versus choosing instead to go to a Macys in the suburbs?

What I see from you is a lot short sighted and frankly selfish advocacy that doesn’t look at the big picture and impacts of highly ideological desires actually affect your community.

The worst part about it is that I’m sure that once the city is destroyed, you’ll be off somewhere else leaving the wreckage behind and blaming your decision in a vaguely racist way on crime and public safety.

Say perhaps a resident of Brightwood that has a choice between Wheaton and Downtown DC. Do they take 16th out of the city or into downtown?

Your answer is that they'll take a bus downtown rather than drive to Wheaton. Decades of history tell us the opposite.

Actually, I think you’ve mistaken me. I absolutely agree that it encourages city residents to leave. I’m point out that this person who says that you shouldn’t be allowed to drive to Macys downtown doesn’t understand the alternative options and choices. The bad thing old days are coming back and these preening idiots are facilitating that decline and be sure they will jump ship when that happens. Suddenly they will be following their new fad, raising llamas on a farm in Vermont or something. They were dedicated “urbanists” except for the crime you see and they will not take any responsibility for the blight created by their desire to turn their neighborhood into a safe enclave for use as an adult playground.

How terrible to want to cross the street safely! What utter recklesness in urban planning. What blight brought on by the new condos and plazas! And the dedicated bud lanes! Oh, the horror!

Dedicated bud lanes are what used to exist in Capitol Hill. People that live on 16th Street know the pros and cons of living on a major artery. They know how to cross the street. The last thing they want is increased congestion. Rush hour is already a pain. Nobody there wants to make it worse.

It’s incredible right? No consideration for the thousands of parents who are forced to send their kids to out of boundary or charter schools and provided zero transportation. Almost all of them have to drive their kids and the city, following these childless ideological lunatics, is seeking to make these peoples lives even more miserable because there’s a handful of people who are working through weird childhood psychological issues that they’ve determined are some how the fault of cars. As you say, the outcome will be to drive more families out of the city, unless you’re rich.

The more I think about it the messed up it is. Affluent, young white people with no long term commitment to the city exploting their class privilege to punish working families to work out their own childhood psycho-social issues. Just get a therapist. Jesus.

Are you ok dude? Seriously. Are buses making you that mad?

[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.

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.

In your view, so you agree that it’s important for Macy’s to continue to have a store downtown? What would you think are the economic conditions that allow Macy’s presence in DC to continue to be viable?

It’s always been hard to go there and park. Metro Center is right there, but people are not taking the Metro either in large numbers. No one from the suburbs needs to go there anyways because they are going to have a Macy’s closure to home that’s more convenient. Commercial office space is at less than 40% capacity. Not a lot of people live nearby. What would happen to downtown DC if Macys closed?

So what’s your plan for Macy’s? How do they stay in business and thrive given these conditions? Does it matter to you to make it easier for a DC resident to shop there versus choosing instead to go to a Macys in the suburbs?

What I see from you is a lot short sighted and frankly selfish advocacy that doesn’t look at the big picture and impacts of highly ideological desires actually affect your community.

The worst part about it is that I’m sure that once the city is destroyed, you’ll be off somewhere else leaving the wreckage behind and blaming your decision in a vaguely racist way on crime and public safety.

Say perhaps a resident of Brightwood that has a choice between Wheaton and Downtown DC. Do they take 16th out of the city or into downtown?

Your answer is that they'll take a bus downtown rather than drive to Wheaton. Decades of history tell us the opposite.

I’m talking about commuting for work or school … I think downtowns as primarily retail centers was over a while ago, nothing to do with bike lanes. But yes, I expect residents of 16th st will take the bus to school, work, and entertainment.

They won't. They'll drive to Silver Speing which now takes less time and is more convenient. They'll move altogether once the kids hit middle/high school because the options are better.

If you want to keep the families in DC then the secondary school options have to be equal. If you want businesses to survive then the time and hassle variables have to be equal.

That’s the whole point - it is not equal for single-driver cars to dominate a disproportionate share of the streets. Bus lanes are not going to kill DC, truly.

Honest question, when you turn 30 where do you plan to move to next? New England? Out West? Wherever you get into grad school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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.

In your view, so you agree that it’s important for Macy’s to continue to have a store downtown? What would you think are the economic conditions that allow Macy’s presence in DC to continue to be viable?

It’s always been hard to go there and park. Metro Center is right there, but people are not taking the Metro either in large numbers. No one from the suburbs needs to go there anyways because they are going to have a Macy’s closure to home that’s more convenient. Commercial office space is at less than 40% capacity. Not a lot of people live nearby. What would happen to downtown DC if Macys closed?

So what’s your plan for Macy’s? How do they stay in business and thrive given these conditions? Does it matter to you to make it easier for a DC resident to shop there versus choosing instead to go to a Macys in the suburbs?

What I see from you is a lot short sighted and frankly selfish advocacy that doesn’t look at the big picture and impacts of highly ideological desires actually affect your community.

The worst part about it is that I’m sure that once the city is destroyed, you’ll be off somewhere else leaving the wreckage behind and blaming your decision in a vaguely racist way on crime and public safety.

Say perhaps a resident of Brightwood that has a choice between Wheaton and Downtown DC. Do they take 16th out of the city or into downtown?

Your answer is that they'll take a bus downtown rather than drive to Wheaton. Decades of history tell us the opposite.

Actually, I think you’ve mistaken me. I absolutely agree that it encourages city residents to leave. I’m point out that this person who says that you shouldn’t be allowed to drive to Macys downtown doesn’t understand the alternative options and choices. The bad thing old days are coming back and these preening idiots are facilitating that decline and be sure they will jump ship when that happens. Suddenly they will be following their new fad, raising llamas on a farm in Vermont or something. They were dedicated “urbanists” except for the crime you see and they will not take any responsibility for the blight created by their desire to turn their neighborhood into a safe enclave for use as an adult playground.

How terrible to want to cross the street safely! What utter recklesness in urban planning. What blight brought on by the new condos and plazas! And the dedicated bud lanes! Oh, the horror!

Dedicated bud lanes are what used to exist in Capitol Hill. People that live on 16th Street know the pros and cons of living on a major artery. They know how to cross the street. The last thing they want is increased congestion. Rush hour is already a pain. Nobody there wants to make it worse.

It’s incredible right? No consideration for the thousands of parents who are forced to send their kids to out of boundary or charter schools and provided zero transportation. Almost all of them have to drive their kids and the city, following these childless ideological lunatics, is seeking to make these peoples lives even more miserable because there’s a handful of people who are working through weird childhood psychological issues that they’ve determined are some how the fault of cars. As you say, the outcome will be to drive more families out of the city, unless you’re rich.

The more I think about it the messed up it is. Affluent, young white people with no long term commitment to the city exploting their class privilege to punish working families to work out their own childhood psycho-social issues. Just get a therapist. Jesus.

Are you ok dude? Seriously. Are buses making you that mad?

Aren’t you the person ranting about “2000 pound death machines” and you think someone else on here has lost perspective? LOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
And here I was thinking we needed to make cities more pedestrian-friendly: as in, no shootings or muggings, low-cost efficient public transport, etc...

But sure, go with the pollution option. History will not be on your side.

+1000

[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: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.

In your view, so you agree that it’s important for Macy’s to continue to have a store downtown? What would you think are the economic conditions that allow Macy’s presence in DC to continue to be viable?

It’s always been hard to go there and park. Metro Center is right there, but people are not taking the Metro either in large numbers. No one from the suburbs needs to go there anyways because they are going to have a Macy’s closure to home that’s more convenient. Commercial office space is at less than 40% capacity. Not a lot of people live nearby. What would happen to downtown DC if Macys closed?

So what’s your plan for Macy’s? How do they stay in business and thrive given these conditions? Does it matter to you to make it easier for a DC resident to shop there versus choosing instead to go to a Macys in the suburbs?

What I see from you is a lot short sighted and frankly selfish advocacy that doesn’t look at the big picture and impacts of highly ideological desires actually affect your community.

The worst part about it is that I’m sure that once the city is destroyed, you’ll be off somewhere else leaving the wreckage behind and blaming your decision in a vaguely racist way on crime and public safety.

Say perhaps a resident of Brightwood that has a choice between Wheaton and Downtown DC. Do they take 16th out of the city or into downtown?

Your answer is that they'll take a bus downtown rather than drive to Wheaton. Decades of history tell us the opposite.

Actually, I think you’ve mistaken me. I absolutely agree that it encourages city residents to leave. I’m point out that this person who says that you shouldn’t be allowed to drive to Macys downtown doesn’t understand the alternative options and choices. The bad thing old days are coming back and these preening idiots are facilitating that decline and be sure they will jump ship when that happens. Suddenly they will be following their new fad, raising llamas on a farm in Vermont or something. They were dedicated “urbanists” except for the crime you see and they will not take any responsibility for the blight created by their desire to turn their neighborhood into a safe enclave for use as an adult playground.

How terrible to want to cross the street safely! What utter recklesness in urban planning. What blight brought on by the new condos and plazas! And the dedicated bud lanes! Oh, the horror!

Dedicated bud lanes are what used to exist in Capitol Hill. People that live on 16th Street know the pros and cons of living on a major artery. They know how to cross the street. The last thing they want is increased congestion. Rush hour is already a pain. Nobody there wants to make it worse.

It’s incredible right? No consideration for the thousands of parents who are forced to send their kids to out of boundary or charter schools and provided zero transportation. Almost all of them have to drive their kids and the city, following these childless ideological lunatics, is seeking to make these peoples lives even more miserable because there’s a handful of people who are working through weird childhood psychological issues that they’ve determined are some how the fault of cars. As you say, the outcome will be to drive more families out of the city, unless you’re rich.

The more I think about it the messed up it is. Affluent, young white people with no long term commitment to the city exploting their class privilege to punish working families to work out their own childhood psycho-social issues. Just get a therapist. Jesus.

Are you ok dude? Seriously. Are buses making you that mad?

Aren’t you the person ranting about “2000 pound death machines” and you think someone else on here has lost perspective? LOL.

so far we have:
traffic calming will create claustrophobia and harm driver mental health
traffic calming will destroy the economy
traffic calming will cause widespread destruction during nuclear war because evacuation routes will be blocked
bus lanes are racist
bus lanes are unfair to parents who have no public transport to get their kids to charters and are forced to drive (?)
bus lanes will make people go to Wheaton instead of Macy’s
only childless white affluent 30 year olds ride buses

and I know there’s more …

[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

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.

You are still exaggerating - in the current FY the budget for Pedestrian and bike lanes in DC is 2 million. Out of a 670 million dollar DDOT budget almost all of which is going to street re-paving.

And what a stupid and ignorant thing to say that biking is not transportation - it is in DC and every other country in the world.

[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.

LOL - I've been to the Olney theater as I have the misfortune to have family there and well my kids HS musical this year was of similar quality to what I saw there. I will grant that Strathmore is very nice and on the Metro so we've been a few times.

[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

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.

You are still exaggerating - in the current FY the budget for Pedestrian and bike lanes in DC is 2 million. Out of a 670 million dollar DDOT budget almost all of which is going to street re-paving.

And what a stupid and ignorant thing to say that biking is not transportation - it is in DC and every other country in the world.

yeah bike lanes are basically paint and flexiposts. a few concrete curbs if more protected. bus lanes are paint and a few bump-outs. the most expensive traffic calming seems to be those sidewalk extension bump-outs. but it’s absolutely absurd to claim the DDOT budget caters to bikes …

[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.

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.

In your view, so you agree that it’s important for Macy’s to continue to have a store downtown? What would you think are the economic conditions that allow Macy’s presence in DC to continue to be viable?

It’s always been hard to go there and park. Metro Center is right there, but people are not taking the Metro either in large numbers. No one from the suburbs needs to go there anyways because they are going to have a Macy’s closure to home that’s more convenient. Commercial office space is at less than 40% capacity. Not a lot of people live nearby. What would happen to downtown DC if Macys closed?

So what’s your plan for Macy’s? How do they stay in business and thrive given these conditions? Does it matter to you to make it easier for a DC resident to shop there versus choosing instead to go to a Macys in the suburbs?

What I see from you is a lot short sighted and frankly selfish advocacy that doesn’t look at the big picture and impacts of highly ideological desires actually affect your community.

The worst part about it is that I’m sure that once the city is destroyed, you’ll be off somewhere else leaving the wreckage behind and blaming your decision in a vaguely racist way on crime and public safety.

Separately, no one's asking to park for free. People are asking to restore the metered parking that has been taken away. That's all.

[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.

Or that a family of four will take their kids to separate schools via bike and then head on in to work on their bicycle. Not realistic.

[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: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.

In your view, so you agree that it’s important for Macy’s to continue to have a store downtown? What would you think are the economic conditions that allow Macy’s presence in DC to continue to be viable?

It’s always been hard to go there and park. Metro Center is right there, but people are not taking the Metro either in large numbers. No one from the suburbs needs to go there anyways because they are going to have a Macy’s closure to home that’s more convenient. Commercial office space is at less than 40% capacity. Not a lot of people live nearby. What would happen to downtown DC if Macys closed?

So what’s your plan for Macy’s? How do they stay in business and thrive given these conditions? Does it matter to you to make it easier for a DC resident to shop there versus choosing instead to go to a Macys in the suburbs?

What I see from you is a lot short sighted and frankly selfish advocacy that doesn’t look at the big picture and impacts of highly ideological desires actually affect your community.

The worst part about it is that I’m sure that once the city is destroyed, you’ll be off somewhere else leaving the wreckage behind and blaming your decision in a vaguely racist way on crime and public safety.

Say perhaps a resident of Brightwood that has a choice between Wheaton and Downtown DC. Do they take 16th out of the city or into downtown?

Your answer is that they'll take a bus downtown rather than drive to Wheaton. Decades of history tell us the opposite.

Actually, I think you’ve mistaken me. I absolutely agree that it encourages city residents to leave. I’m point out that this person who says that you shouldn’t be allowed to drive to Macys downtown doesn’t understand the alternative options and choices. The bad thing old days are coming back and these preening idiots are facilitating that decline and be sure they will jump ship when that happens. Suddenly they will be following their new fad, raising llamas on a farm in Vermont or something. They were dedicated “urbanists” except for the crime you see and they will not take any responsibility for the blight created by their desire to turn their neighborhood into a safe enclave for use as an adult playground.

How terrible to want to cross the street safely! What utter recklesness in urban planning. What blight brought on by the new condos and plazas! And the dedicated bud lanes! Oh, the horror!

Dedicated bud lanes are what used to exist in Capitol Hill. People that live on 16th Street know the pros and cons of living on a major artery. They know how to cross the street. The last thing they want is increased congestion. Rush hour is already a pain. Nobody there wants to make it worse.

It’s incredible right? No consideration for the thousands of parents who are forced to send their kids to out of boundary or charter schools and provided zero transportation. Almost all of them have to drive their kids and the city, following these childless ideological lunatics, is seeking to make these peoples lives even more miserable because there’s a handful of people who are working through weird childhood psychological issues that they’ve determined are some how the fault of cars. As you say, the outcome will be to drive more families out of the city, unless you’re rich.

The more I think about it the messed up it is. Affluent, young white people with no long term commitment to the city exploting their class privilege to punish working families to work out their own childhood psycho-social issues. Just get a therapist. Jesus.

Are you ok dude? Seriously. Are buses making you that mad?

Aren’t you the person ranting about “2000 pound death machines” and you think someone else on here has lost perspective? LOL.

so far we have:
traffic calming will create claustrophobia and harm driver mental health
traffic calming will destroy the economy
traffic calming will cause widespread destruction during nuclear war because evacuation routes will be blocked
bus lanes are racist
bus lanes are unfair to parents who have no public transport to get their kids to charters and are forced to drive (?)
bus lanes will make people go to Wheaton instead of Macy’s
only childless white affluent 30 year olds ride buses

and I know there’s more …

Traffic calming will impede emergency vehicles. Oh wait...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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.

In your view, so you agree that it’s important for Macy’s to continue to have a store downtown? What would you think are the economic conditions that allow Macy’s presence in DC to continue to be viable?

It’s always been hard to go there and park. Metro Center is right there, but people are not taking the Metro either in large numbers. No one from the suburbs needs to go there anyways because they are going to have a Macy’s closure to home that’s more convenient. Commercial office space is at less than 40% capacity. Not a lot of people live nearby. What would happen to downtown DC if Macys closed?

So what’s your plan for Macy’s? How do they stay in business and thrive given these conditions? Does it matter to you to make it easier for a DC resident to shop there versus choosing instead to go to a Macys in the suburbs?

What I see from you is a lot short sighted and frankly selfish advocacy that doesn’t look at the big picture and impacts of highly ideological desires actually affect your community.

The worst part about it is that I’m sure that once the city is destroyed, you’ll be off somewhere else leaving the wreckage behind and blaming your decision in a vaguely racist way on crime and public safety.

Say perhaps a resident of Brightwood that has a choice between Wheaton and Downtown DC. Do they take 16th out of the city or into downtown?

Your answer is that they'll take a bus downtown rather than drive to Wheaton. Decades of history tell us the opposite.

Actually, I think you’ve mistaken me. I absolutely agree that it encourages city residents to leave. I’m point out that this person who says that you shouldn’t be allowed to drive to Macys downtown doesn’t understand the alternative options and choices. The bad thing old days are coming back and these preening idiots are facilitating that decline and be sure they will jump ship when that happens. Suddenly they will be following their new fad, raising llamas on a farm in Vermont or something. They were dedicated “urbanists” except for the crime you see and they will not take any responsibility for the blight created by their desire to turn their neighborhood into a safe enclave for use as an adult playground.

How terrible to want to cross the street safely! What utter recklesness in urban planning. What blight brought on by the new condos and plazas! And the dedicated bud lanes! Oh, the horror!

Dedicated bud lanes are what used to exist in Capitol Hill. People that live on 16th Street know the pros and cons of living on a major artery. They know how to cross the street. The last thing they want is increased congestion. Rush hour is already a pain. Nobody there wants to make it worse.

It’s incredible right? No consideration for the thousands of parents who are forced to send their kids to out of boundary or charter schools and provided zero transportation. Almost all of them have to drive their kids and the city, following these childless ideological lunatics, is seeking to make these peoples lives even more miserable because there’s a handful of people who are working through weird childhood psychological issues that they’ve determined are some how the fault of cars. As you say, the outcome will be to drive more families out of the city, unless you’re rich.

The more I think about it the messed up it is. Affluent, young white people with no long term commitment to the city exploting their class privilege to punish working families to work out their own childhood psycho-social issues. Just get a therapist. Jesus.

Are you ok dude? Seriously. Are buses making you that mad?

Hit a nerve?

[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.

LOL - I've been to the Olney theater as I have the misfortune to have family there and well my kids HS musical this year was of similar quality to what I saw there. I will grant that Strathmore is very nice and on the Metro so we've been a few times.

It’s funny how you behavior just reinforces the point that you are a selfish, arrogant ideologue that actually and actively disparages the people in your community.

This area will be a much better place when you decide to return to Grosse Pointe, MI or wherever you came.

[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: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.

In your view, so you agree that it’s important for Macy’s to continue to have a store downtown? What would you think are the economic conditions that allow Macy’s presence in DC to continue to be viable?

It’s always been hard to go there and park. Metro Center is right there, but people are not taking the Metro either in large numbers. No one from the suburbs needs to go there anyways because they are going to have a Macy’s closure to home that’s more convenient. Commercial office space is at less than 40% capacity. Not a lot of people live nearby. What would happen to downtown DC if Macys closed?

So what’s your plan for Macy’s? How do they stay in business and thrive given these conditions? Does it matter to you to make it easier for a DC resident to shop there versus choosing instead to go to a Macys in the suburbs?

What I see from you is a lot short sighted and frankly selfish advocacy that doesn’t look at the big picture and impacts of highly ideological desires actually affect your community.

The worst part about it is that I’m sure that once the city is destroyed, you’ll be off somewhere else leaving the wreckage behind and blaming your decision in a vaguely racist way on crime and public safety.

Say perhaps a resident of Brightwood that has a choice between Wheaton and Downtown DC. Do they take 16th out of the city or into downtown?

Your answer is that they'll take a bus downtown rather than drive to Wheaton. Decades of history tell us the opposite.

Actually, I think you’ve mistaken me. I absolutely agree that it encourages city residents to leave. I’m point out that this person who says that you shouldn’t be allowed to drive to Macys downtown doesn’t understand the alternative options and choices. The bad thing old days are coming back and these preening idiots are facilitating that decline and be sure they will jump ship when that happens. Suddenly they will be following their new fad, raising llamas on a farm in Vermont or something. They were dedicated “urbanists” except for the crime you see and they will not take any responsibility for the blight created by their desire to turn their neighborhood into a safe enclave for use as an adult playground.

How terrible to want to cross the street safely! What utter recklesness in urban planning. What blight brought on by the new condos and plazas! And the dedicated bud lanes! Oh, the horror!

Dedicated bud lanes are what used to exist in Capitol Hill. People that live on 16th Street know the pros and cons of living on a major artery. They know how to cross the street. The last thing they want is increased congestion. Rush hour is already a pain. Nobody there wants to make it worse.

It’s incredible right? No consideration for the thousands of parents who are forced to send their kids to out of boundary or charter schools and provided zero transportation. Almost all of them have to drive their kids and the city, following these childless ideological lunatics, is seeking to make these peoples lives even more miserable because there’s a handful of people who are working through weird childhood psychological issues that they’ve determined are some how the fault of cars. As you say, the outcome will be to drive more families out of the city, unless you’re rich.

The more I think about it the messed up it is. Affluent, young white people with no long term commitment to the city exploting their class privilege to punish working families to work out their own childhood psycho-social issues. Just get a therapist. Jesus.

Are you ok dude? Seriously. Are buses making you that mad?

Aren’t you the person ranting about “2000 pound death machines” and you think someone else on here has lost perspective? LOL.

so far we have:
traffic calming will create claustrophobia and harm driver mental health
traffic calming will destroy the economy
traffic calming will cause widespread destruction during nuclear war because evacuation routes will be blocked
bus lanes are racist
bus lanes are unfair to parents who have no public transport to get their kids to charters and are forced to drive (?)
bus lanes will make people go to Wheaton instead of Macy’s
only childless white affluent 30 year olds ride buses

and I know there’s more …

My god you’re a smug a-hole.

[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.

Or that a family of four will take their kids to separate schools via bike and then head on in to work on their bicycle. Not realistic.

Actually, we do this everyday. Not saying everyone needs to do this, but plenty of people in my neighborhood do exactly this. It’s one of the reasons we chose to live here.