State Senate Approves additional $300 million for Phase Two of Silver Line (Richmond: sale, cheap house)

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by SPHokie

A large chunk of the population in Loudoun doesn't want the new infrastructure (Metro).

That's what this whole thing is about.

So f-ing what, a lot of people in Loudoun do want it. I have had to pay taxes for a lot of crap that I didnt want. The fact is that 150 million is hardly anything to freak out about from loudoun counties contribution. I dont hear any of this when there is a road widening that costs 75 million and barely does anything to increase road capacity... not to mention those projects never reveal the long term cost of road widenings which include the increase in maintenance costs which can reach well over the cost of the initial project over a 25 year lifespan.

I'm just saying. I dont want 95% of the road projects that happen in the state, I still paying my taxes, and I don't call them "boondoggles"... which frankly most road projects are far closer to than a metro project that WILL bring money to the county if the county takes advantage of it being there.

[sonnymarkjiz]

Originally Posted by SPHokie

A large chunk of the population in Loudoun doesn't want the new infrastructure (Metro).

That's what this whole thing is about.

Funny. I live in loudoun and everyone and their mom want the metro to come up ASAP.

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by sonnymarkjiz

Funny. I live in loudoun and everyone and their mom want the metro to come up ASAP.

Want to know what this is really about?

Political ideology. Anti-union, anti-sustainable land use, anti-mass transit. Whats the GOPs excuse? Well the democrats support that... we have to pick the opposite side because if we agree on anything then the tea party nutjobs that only constitute 5% of our constituents will yell at us for not rattling our sabers.

RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!!!

150 million gets blown on far less helpful things, and none of those things have the opportunity to bring tax money back. People always say, Ashburn wont be Arlington. It doesnt have to be to make this deal make sense.

1) By removing drivers from the road you are making cost savings. Road maintenance isnt just a free thing, and it isnt just based on doing it every year at the same times. The damage incurred on roads is dependent on the number of people driving on those roads. If you decrease that substantially, which metro to ashburn could take away 15,000 trips off of waxpool every day alone, then you could end up saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in road maintenance every year.

2) You dont need 20 story buildings to make tax revenue. In the same space as the wegmans shopping center on waxpool, you could take all that parking, put it underground, and provide really nice high end townhouses and mid-rise 5-6 story condos that could generate upwards of a million in tax revenue EVERY YEAR. Thats just that one property, and thats just with regular old townhomes and mid-rise. Why hasn't someone done this already? Well because building a underground parking garage of that size costs 4-6 million dollars... in order to do that you need to have comparable density to make up that cost. If you allow 120 nice 2br bedroom condos units, now the developer can make back that money and then some. Not to mention the townhouses that could also be done. Each condo unit would easily profit 100k for the developer, thats 12 million in the condos alone just for taking a wasteful parking lot and converting it into a garage with condos above it.

The market for people who want condos doesn't exist in Ashburn because people who live in condos want to save money on gas and travel and live along mass transit arreas. But these same people dont have enough to buy a condo in Tysons or Arlington or Fairfax. Ashburn could address this market in a sustainable way, drawing these new residents who would have less burden on roads by locating new development near metro stations.

You have to avoid the pitfalls that FFX did with Springfield. Metro isnt just a commuter tool, its a way of creating new types of development that economically wouldnt have happened before, and that would replace asphalt wastelands which dont help anyones property values.

[sonnymarkjiz]

Yes!!! ^^

[Smoke_Jaguar4]

Originally Posted by tysonsengineer

Want to know what this is really about?

Political ideology. Anti-union, anti-sustainable land use, anti-mass transit. Whats the GOPs excuse? Well the democrats support that... we have to pick the opposite side because if we agree on anything then the tea party nutjobs that only constitute 5% of our constituents will yell at us for not rattling our sabers.

RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!!!

Yes, but all that stops at the Golden Rule (as applied to politics):
The Man with the Gold makes the Rules

And in this case, Richmond knows that centrist/liberal NoVA is a net contributor to state revenues, while the mostly conservative central and southern parts of the state are net drains. Expanding the Metro will generate more tax returns than expenditures over the long term, so the $300M is just an investment. So, the free-market proponents need us socialists to pay for their beliefs

VA unemployment by county:
Unemployment by County in Virginia

VA average wages by county (scroll to bottom for map):
County Employment and Wages in Virginia

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by Smoke_Jaguar4

Yes, but all that stops at the Golden Rule (as applied to politics):
The Man with the Gold makes the Rules

And in this case, Richmond knows that centrist/liberal NoVA is a net contributor to state revenues, while the mostly conservative central and southern parts of the state are net drains. Expanding the Metro will generate more tax returns than expenditures over the long term, so the $300M is just an investment. So, the free-market proponents need us socialists to pay for their beliefs

VA unemployment by county:
Unemployment by County in Virginia

VA average wages by county (scroll to bottom for map):
County Employment and Wages in Virginia

Smoke Jaguar, you and I are now friends

[Novadhd5150]

So the metro is funded by the state? I thought thats what the tolls were for.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by Novadhd5150

So the metro is funded by the state? I thought thats what the tolls were for.

300 million is far less than the total cost of phase 2.

[tysonsengineer]

Right...cause 300 million for capital improvements is "full funding" for an operation that carries 2.5 billion in operation cost and currently has 2 billion in capital improvements.

Metro rail is fairly self sustaining... it needs about a 15 cent fare rise to make it fully sustaining, or simply have more interconnection riders by another 5% increase. The bus service, something that has become politicized for "access" is the one thats draining the system for operations. Its because the price of the fares have not kept up with the price of gas to operate the system.

The capital costs should be partially funded by states and jurisdictions that directly see benefits from these improvements. Its as if someone came through and built a highway for the state... wouldnt you say that helps the state save money? The only difference is this is a way better highway that increases the volumetric people moving efficiency 60 fold. 60 people per 1 car is the ration between metro/miles and car/miles.

[brooklynborndad]

ruh roh

McDonnell offered millions for Metro, but offer disappeared, senator says - Virginia Politics - The Washington Post