Toll increase proposed for the Dulles Toll Road

[jfields]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

1.) I didn't mean to target Macaroni Grill in particular. Yes, I was using as a scapegoat to take a stab at how any and all new development patterns in NoVA hover around chains. Reston Town Center is nearly perfect in my eyes EXCEPT for the fact that it is DOMINATED by chains. Why? The percentage of businesses in Reston Town Center, for example, that are "mom-and-pop" style operations are very slim because rent prices were likely intentionally jacked up so high by the developer in order to dissuade any independent merchant/restaurant sort of development. Once again---why? Are people here honestly afraid of sampling the unknown and the unexplored? The people of NoVA should demand more than just a Wal-Mart or Macaroni Grill on every other corner. Back "home" we had mom-and pop stores and restaurants out the wazoo in every community. Here there are plentiful ethnic eateries (I'll give you that), but independent merchants are much less prevalent.

2.) I'll stand by my McMansion/Hummer comments. Tell me how driving in a Hummer and living in a McMansion is good for our environment and does NOT increase our dependency upon foreign oil. Go ahead. Tell me. I'm all ears. Tell me why someone "needs" a Hummer in NoVA and can't make do with something a bit more ecologically-conscious other than saying "mind your own business." As gas prices are continuing to spike due to rising demand fueled, in part, by people driving gas guzzlers again, I'm really tiring of those types of people trying to absolve themselves of personal responsibility for the pain in my wallet. Telling me "it's the fault of China and India" is of little consolation. What if EVERYONE made an attempt to cut back on fuel consumption? We comprise 5% of the world's population and consume the vast majority of its fossil fuels. Why?

3.) This "me first" attitude so many in NoVA have really needs to stop! Just today I was trying to leave my office building and had to check in at the front security counter to return my temporary ID badge to get my driver's license back---a process that normally takes one minute. In front of me was yet another smart-arsed guy throwing a "don't you know how important I am?" tantrum (I hear a lot of that here) because he didn't have proper identification to permit him to access the building. Thanks to his immaturity I was stuck in the lobby an extra seven minutes. When my Verizon Fios technician was hooking me up to their services we chatted casually, and he told me the story of a customer whom he just had in Great Falls who actually had the audacity to tell him over the phone "Man, you have to remember which house is mine; it had the red Ferrari in the garage!" He replied "that could be one of MANY of my customers," and he said the guy was speechless, as I suppose he thought the Fios technician would have been "impressed" by his car. Nobody with an ounce of intellect gives a rat's derriere about your net worth (especially since a number of those who now have high levels of wealth arrived there through a great deal of luck). Stop trying to show off. One of my biggest complaints about living here continues to be the "worship me" types.

I'm impressed by chivalry, generosity, and compassion. I'm NOT "wowed" by someone with a fancy European sports car, a penchance for rare fine wines, and an ostentatious McMansion. Why should anyone be?

Hey Scran, you've got some pretty good ideas. Yeah Town Center looks like a really cool place, like the downtown of a small city, when you're driving by it on the toll road, but when you go there and see all of these chains it reminds you of a huge outdoor mall. One thing I like about Lake Anne is that all of the places are mom and pop stores; I wish they'd incorporate some of that vibe into Reston Town Center, although I've got to admit that I love the Rio Grande Cafe.

Yeah I've come across plenty of people who start talking about China when I start saying that we've got to go green. I usually say that we should cancel our Most Favored Nation status with China and threaten to put up tariffs if they don't make stonger environmental and labor laws. They usually accuse me of wanting to start a trade war. Well, at least that will help us get some of our manufacturing sector back.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by jfields

Hey Scran, you've got some pretty good ideas. Yeah Town Center looks like a really cool place, like the downtown of a small city, when you're driving by it on the toll road, but when you go there and see all of these chains it reminds you of a huge outdoor mall. One thing I like about Lake Anne is that all of the places are mom and pop stores; I wish they'd incorporate some of that vibe into Reston Town Center, although I've got to admit that I love the Rio Grande Cafe.

Yeah I've come across plenty of people who start talking about China when I start saying that we've got to go green. I usually say that we should cancel our Most Favored Nation status with China and threaten to put up tariffs if they don't make stonger environmental and labor laws. They usually accuse me of wanting to start a trade war. Well, at least that will help us get some of our manufacturing sector back.

I'm actually considering going to get my hair cut at Lake Anne tomorrow morning followed by a quick lunch at the little cafe at the end of the northeasterly side of Washington Plaza (forget the name---Lakeside Cafe perhaps?), a stroll through the art gallery at the opposite end of the plaza (if it's still open?), and a persual through the used book store. Then again I might do this next week between getting home from work and going to a community meeting about the proposed conversion of Fairway Apartments (my neighbor) into a dense mixed-use project. Lake Anne is prehistoric in nature and in need of a cosmetic overhaul, but it is THAT sort of concept that I like---independent merchants, small restaurants, people mingling and getting to know one another, etc. It's really weird now how ALL of the attention has shifted to Reston Town Center---"Meet me at Chipotle after shopping at the Apple store and browsing Williams-Sonoma!"

China and India combined have roughly HALF the world's population. We have 5% of it. We use much more fossil fuels than those two nations combined do. When people who drive Hummers blame my pain at the pump on China and India, I feel like telling them this.

[worldtravelermsk]

In regards to the toll increase, I have no problem with it. I recently moved to Reston and I've accepted that tolls are basically a fact of life here and I'll still be using the toll road if it were to increase by $ .25. It just doesn't make any sense to go through the hell of taking VA 7 or going down lawyers road to VA 123 in Vienna just to access the beltway. E-ZPASS has also helped relieve some of the inconveniences with tolls in general.

I don't mind that my toll is funding the silver line, but I'm hoping that MWATA revises the plan, specifically station locations. I just couldn't fathom going through 15-20 stops from DC to Dulles (plus the inevitable delays from track switching/line juggling in DC) whilst in a hurry to catch a flight.

[car54]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

....China and India combined have roughly HALF the world's population. We have 5% of it. We use much more fossil fuels than those two nations combined do. When people who drive Hummers blame my pain at the pump on China and India, I feel like telling them this.

That's changing fast, ole buddy. Folks in China and India are throwing their bicycles away as fast as they can.

Incidentally, the Chinese LOVE Hummers.....that's why they bought the Hummer division from General Motors. And more big Buicks are sold in China than in the US.

[fdeitz]

Originally Posted by car54

That's changing fast, ole buddy. Folks in China and India are throwing their bicycles away as fast as they can.

Incidentally, the Chinese LOVE Hummers.....that's why they bought the Hummer division from General Motors. And more big Buicks are sold in China than in the US.

Try going to Beijing sometime - traffic there is just like NYC or maybe even worse, and the pollution is like Los Angeles. They tried to clean up the pollution a bit for the Olympics by eliminating most traffic and most factories were not able to run during that time.

[jfields]

Originally Posted by car54

That's changing fast, ole buddy. Folks in China and India are throwing their bicycles away as fast as they can.

Incidentally, the Chinese LOVE Hummers.....that's why they bought the Hummer division from General Motors. And more big Buicks are sold in China than in the US.

Yes, this is definitely true; it's another reason why we need to agressively cut down our fossil fuel consumption. As the Chinese and Indians consume more oil global warming increases, causing polar ice to melt, and the demand for oil becomes greater, reducing the supply which means higher prices. America already spends $700 billion on foreign oil every year and as China and India consume more, we will be stuck paying even more for gas. If the polar ice melts enough, Nova will have beaches and you won't have to drive 3 hours to get to the beach in the summer; that's the good news. Now for the bad news; major coastal areas will be wiped out, causing their industries to collapse, which will cause another economic crisis as well as a refugee crisis to go along with it.

The excuse that because China and India aren't reducing their consumption of fossil fuels so neither should we will drastically speed up global warming and force us to send even more of our money abroad to support our oil addiction. I say that not only should we agressively cut down on our fossil fuel use; if China and India won't do it too, we threaten them with tariffs in order to get them to do it. We will likely get our way because their economies are dependent on US markets (by the way, I've got nothing against the Indians and the Chinese; I've got alot against unsustainable policies that serve short term interests at the expense of long term interests)

[WebDude]

Originally Posted by fdeitz

... I also don't think there's hoardes of people driving in from WV - ...

I beg to differ on that. I'm one of those that drive in from WV.

[cpterp]

So what, just drive to Dulles on the Access Road and turn around .