Tonight from 7:00 – 9:30 pm there will be a "Community Forum" at George Washington Middle School on the topic: "Winning a Metro Station for Potomac Yard: What Would It Take?"This meeting is billed as a "joint program" of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, Alexandrians Delivering Smart Growth at Metro Stations (ADAM), and the Del Ray Citizens Association, complete with speakers and an audience participation question and answer session.
Readers, spare yourself the meeting and repeat after the Growler:
"1. It will take high density development ALL OVER THE YARD to justify a $150 million Metro station, not just shifting it around between landbays to placate the NIMBYs of Del Ray.
"2. It's not smart growth to find excuses for the dumbing down of Potomac Yard, which this meeting may be all about. The Smarter Growth Coalition and ADAM need to take their own medicine (which they readily shoved down our throats with the Braddock Road Plan) and advocate density similar to what Arlington is already building all over its side of the Yard.
"3. Don't you dare try to tax residents of other Alexandria neighborhoods to pay for Del Ray's ongoing folly, which has cost and will continue to cost the City untold volumes of current and future tax revenue."
'Nuff said ...
13 comments:
It will be interesting to hear if they accept the argument now that they will need density to do this. If they think the puny moves they have made recently to push some density into landbays is the answer, they obviously dont understand what WMATA thinks.
It should be hilarious to listen to their rationale of why they deserve a station.
Simply saying "We are Delray; give us what we want" only gets you so far once you get outside of Alexandria's dysfunctional city government.
I wonder if Schwartz will aloow any question and answers on public/affordable housing in the Yard. They could get some density through some resiting of the overconcentration of public housing at Braddock Metro.
After all, Schwartz has proven his knowledge of the subject through his website, on how Resolution 830 "protects" affordable housing.
If DCA is part of this, then they deserve their fate.
Its amazing to watch the ongoing panic in Delray and at City Hall as the price of gas rises towards 4 bucks a gallon.
The City now seems entirely in reactive mode. They are losing control of events. This hope of a Metro station is another example of simply trying to demand a change in events long after losing the initiative.
"Simply saying "We are Delray; give us what we want" only gets you so far once you get outside of Alexandria's dysfunctional city government."
Perhaps I need to wait until the new bridge is completed to understand all of Del Ray's transportation wants but so far the Monroe Street Bridge is an inexplicable mess. When will it again link to Mount Vernon Avenue? If the Bridge and the Braddock BRT proposal are any indication of either the DCA or Mr. Baier's "vision" then we're in trouble. Damn right, no TIF or residential taxes to pay for the city's folly.
I'm all for a Metro station at Potomac Yard!! I could actually do my shopping there instead of in D.C.
"... so far the Monroe Street Bridge is an inexplicable mess"
The Growler hears anecdotally that the Giant and CVS on Monroe Avenue are suffering because there is no longer quick customer access from Route 1. There also seem to be much longer traffic jams on Mt. Vernon Avenue in the evening.
Has Del Ray shot itself in the foot by throwing up this "cordon sanitaire" around the community, making ingress and egress so much more difficult? You know, that may keep commuter traffic out but it may also kill business and make it harder for residents to get in and out.
""Winning a Metro Station for Potomac Yard: What Would It Take?""
BETTER LEADERSHIP.
"I'm all for a Metro station at Potomac Yard!! I could actually do my shopping there instead of in D.C."
Good...I will send you my tax bill. I would rather shop in DC or Arlington anyways.
It seems you would need to have a strategy in place before you try to win something. What would the strategy be to "win" a metro station?
And dont you need to know more about your competition before you try to compete with them for something?
It seems Arlington and DC have a message and a plan. I would love to hear what ours is.
Or is this just a chance for Wilson and Krupicka to feed their ego?
We already know what it would take, Schwartz. Just like we have already told Miller what it would take to fix the current public housing mess, and Eberwein what it would take to fix the current JH mess.
The problem isnt what it would take. The problem is getting better listening skills. Other than earwax removal, I am not sure what else works....
A few days ago I wrote a post for the Growl. I thought my concerns were well stated and that I raised the kinds of issues we should be thinking about. I continue to look for my comments and I have not seen them. I was wondering why my written concerns were not shared? Were they too provocative? Did the piece contain too much truth? i would love a response or to see my comments.
Send it again.
They can have the Metro at Braddock Road. I'm afraid to use it after dark anyway.
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