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I certainly don't agree with any of this. You have really lived in those areas and had no use for a car? How did you go grocery shopping? You walked down the street with 10 shopping bags?
The only reason I had a car living in Ballston was because I commuted to American University. But that's because of the inaccessibility of the school that's technically inside DC. I'd walk to supermarkets, restaurants, stores, etc. Oh, I guess I'd drive to H Mart if I wanted specialty items, but that was more of a once-a-month trip. I think I only ever used the car about three times a week. Ballston wasn't that much less urban than Shaw to be honest (though I prefer it here).
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Originally Posted by MichiVegas
Can you explain where in America one can't do this?
My parents can do this in ultra-suburban Michigan. They can walk a few blocks to a Whole Foods. So do they live now in some ultra-urban paradise?
Of course there's no need to own a car, really in any American suburb. No one will die if they take public transit.
My parents' place in Delaware has no public transportation within close walking distance.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BajanYankee
Who takes Metro from Glenmont to Wheaton? Or from Greenbelt to College Park? Very few people I would imagine. A lot of Metro stations (e.g., Shady Grove, Franconia-Springfield, New Carrollton, Morgan Boulevard, Grosvenor, etc.) don't even have much of anything around them. And the little that's around suburban metro stations is not worth going to (though I do enjoy Chic-f-il-a waffle fries and a good Fuddrucker's burger just as much as the next guy).
All the good ethnic food is in the suburbs. You have to either take the metro or drive. I don't know anyone who only takes the metro one stop, though. The stations are fairly close together. I guess I might go Ballston to East Falls, though, because the lines start to become more parking-centered as you get farther out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MichiVegas
I can't think of a single Metro stop in the DC suburbs that doesn't have tons of parking. Not one. Obviously the Metro riders are getting to the station by car, so they need somewhere to park.
I'm sure my parents wished this were true about Ballston when I lived there. They'd always come on a Sunday because street parking was free, but they'd sometimes have to look a half hour to find a spot.
Btw, the Republican Party of Virginia calls Arlington County and its ilk the "Urban Districts."
No! Along the Blueline to Long Beach. It started out in a tunnel DT and then came outside. It was very suburban looking all the way to Long Beach. I walked around Watts and Compton. My boy had to tell me when we were actually in LA or the burbs because the landscape never changed.
DC is low density sprawl with office parks that you guys call "urban" LOL, atleast the suburban areas in LA you see people walking around, DC outside the city looked straight hick to us from LA.
Looking around at these DC "TOD's", many of them have the metro station tucked away at one end of the "core". They look like places in which residents would drive the vast majority of the time, with the exception being when they go to work in another node or in downtown DC, and even then it would be interesting to see just how full the park and ride lots get.
Also that poster you are "debating" with is the king of tailoring the argument to suit DC, and I think just about everyone on this board knows it.
Even though DC metro has stops, people drive everywhere. I've seen it myself living there for 20 years.
I'm confused! TOD places like Rosslyn, Bethesda, Ballston, Silver Spring, Clarendon, Pentagon City, Crystal City, etc., don't have any parking lots. The metro stations are the heart of the core. These places serve as a semi DT area with shops, restaurants, stores and more.
During work hours. Who goes to these places on the weekend, with the exception of a few.
LA is huge! That's the only thing it has going for it. The majority of the city is very suburbanish. It's a concrete jungle but it's not the same type of in your face urbanity as a Baltimore or a Philly. LA has no answers for The East Coast Rowhouse!
How do you think the people get to the Metro? They're walking five miles down freeway overpasses?
You have no idea what you're talking about. The parking in those areas is not METRO system parking. Parking in these areas is either time limited by meter, or used for office buildings on a lease basis. That is not an option for everyday commuters using Metro.
People get to these stations by walking or being dropped off. If you knew what you were talking about, you would have realized that all of those stations are within half a mile of the next station. Meaning, nobody would be walking 5 miles on freeway overpasses to get to them.
For the most part the metro stations that have lots of parking designated for Metro users are the ones that are at the end of a line, or were the end of the line when they were built, and the line was later extended.
The only reason I had a car living in Ballston was because I commuted to American University. But that's because of the inaccessibility of the school that's technically inside DC.
So that answers the question; you were a college student.
Obviously kids in college don't need a car. My sister at Michigan State doesn't have a car. That doesn't mean East Lansing is some urban hotbed; it just means that she doesn't have "adult" needs yet, so doesn't need a car. I didn't have a car either in college, and I was in a rural area.
And funny you mention that you needed a car because of AU; because AU is on the Tenleytown Metro stop, and is rather urban for DC standards, yet even then, you needed a car.
MDAllstar, none of these things are common in DC suburbs. They're actually extremely rare. Where in suburban DC is there no parking or consistent streetwall or no vegetation (not even sure if this is a good thing).
They're also not necessarily relevant for urbanity.
Quick, name some commercial walkable areas in Fairfax County. Or Prince Georges. Or Montgomery. Where are they? The majority of DC metro is far from walkable areas.
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