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Old 10-23-2009, 06:32 PM
 
Location: Falls Church, VA
722 posts, read 1,980,757 times
Reputation: 316

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Quote:
Originally Posted by dlumpen View Post
Something that Fairfax and Montgomery counties are doing is to focus business developlment in concentrated areas and then trying to locate housing around them. Theoretically, people will live close to work this way. Although I don't see it making much of a difference in the short term, I do think it's a great idea. As the area gets more congested, we're probably going to become more local. You just won't be able to commute to Tyson's from Ashburn, etc. so you'll have to live closer to work. That's also what I'm saying about quality of life. If you want to own a single family home and also work in DC, it will be difficult. The Silver Line Metro will also help, but again, you'll have to live close enough to the line and still be willing to take a long commute.
I don't think that is a bad idea, except people generally change jobs more often than they would like to move. And that's not even counting for getting transferred to different locations in the same company.
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Old 10-23-2009, 06:35 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,616 posts, read 77,579,178 times
Reputation: 19101
Quote:
Originally Posted by athousandlogins View Post
I don't think that is a bad idea, except people generally change jobs more often than they would like to move. And that's not even counting for getting transferred to different locations in the same company.
(Raises hand!) The primary reason I moved to Reston instead of a place where I'd be happier was because I wanted a convenient commute to my office building in Herndon. Two weeks into the job I was transferred to Tyson's Corner. Now it sounds like that in about a month I'll be working out of a third building near Dulles Airport a few times per week. I've been with the agency less than five months and will be in three different locations in three different parts of the area. It's so difficult to figure out where to live here where you can enjoy where you live AND not have a horrid commute.
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Old 10-23-2009, 08:02 PM
 
139 posts, read 292,919 times
Reputation: 58
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScranBarre View Post
(Raises hand!) The primary reason I moved to Reston instead of a place where I'd be happier was because I wanted a convenient commute to my office building in Herndon. Two weeks into the job I was transferred to Tyson's Corner. Now it sounds like that in about a month I'll be working out of a third building near Dulles Airport a few times per week. I've been with the agency less than five months and will be in three different locations in three different parts of the area. It's so difficult to figure out where to live here where you can enjoy where you live AND not have a horrid commute.
I don't know how you'd do it, but there ought to be some kind of tax incentive or something to encourage employers to hire/keep employees within a certain distance from work.
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Old 10-23-2009, 08:38 PM
 
Location: alive in the superunknown
542 posts, read 991,178 times
Reputation: 237
It would be nice if companies could build employee and family housing on the job campus so that you could just literally walk to work in minutes. But if you're always being transferred from one office to another that wouldn't work either. Another thing, even though you don't have to go into DC every time you use the metro, DC is still the hub for all metro lines. Perhaps we could copy New York and New Jersey and have seperate rail lines that primarily serve the suburban areas, in addition to the metro. But these would not have to go into DC but they could link up at metro stations. BTW I know that metro north and NJ transit both go into NYC, but they still are mainly NJ and NY state commuter lines and not NYC. Or we could take a video of the horrible urban sprawl and traffic, build a time machine, go back in time and show past county planners how terrible their ideas would turn out to be and force them to build more efficiently. or even better, individual personal jetpacks! Ahhh...we can daydream anyway.
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Old 10-23-2009, 08:58 PM
 
1,261 posts, read 2,022,641 times
Reputation: 373
The Dulles Silver Line is a good start as is the Columbia Pike Project and Anacostia Streetcar and the Marlyand Purple Line.

Those themselves are praiseworthy.

Long term, it's more fuzzy. When it comes down to it, people will take traffic over long term toll/traffic increases. It's just a fact of American life.
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Old 10-24-2009, 06:11 AM
 
Location: Springfield VA
4,036 posts, read 9,240,040 times
Reputation: 1522
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caladium View Post
People who move here from other countries tend to use mass transit options more than the rest of us. The people in my neighborhood who take the bus are from India. You can't accuse them of adding to traffic, they didn't bring their car with them. Kind of hard to pack a car so it will fit in the overhead baggage compartment.
So true so true! To say that immigrants are the cause of VA's traffic woes is silly at best and racist/xenophobic at worst.
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Old 10-24-2009, 06:54 AM
 
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
26,700 posts, read 41,718,665 times
Reputation: 41376
Quote:
Originally Posted by terrence81 View Post
So true so true! To say that immigrants are the cause of VA's traffic woes is silly at best and racist/xenophobic at worst.
I'll blame poor planning and unchecked growth before I blame immigrants even illegal ones.
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Old 10-24-2009, 08:17 AM
 
Location: Metro Washington DC
15,427 posts, read 25,795,620 times
Reputation: 10450
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScranBarre View Post
Ideally they should also consider linking the Inter-County Connector that is currently under construction in Maryland over the Potomac into Virginia, perhaps in the Ashburn area (I'm sure the people in Great Falls would freak out if it were to go there).
OMG! I can't believe you're for road building!

Of course, your idea has been tried and rejected multiple times. Maryland refuses to put a new bridge in because they think it helps Virginia more than Maryland. I keep hoping Maryland will relent, but it probably will not happen while I'm living in this area.
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Old 10-24-2009, 08:21 AM
 
Location: Metro Washington DC
15,427 posts, read 25,795,620 times
Reputation: 10450
Quote:
Originally Posted by dlumpen View Post
I wonder if they'd ever consider having more express trains. That is, Metros that run from a certain station to another without stopping in between. Going down to Metro Center and transferring is a killer. Yes, from VA to MD is just a slow commute that is never worth it unless you have no choice.
It can't be done because Metro does not have a third track to bypass trains in front of it. I wonder if they will be proactive and put in a third track along the new Silver Line so it will be ready for the future. I know, I know, I'm dreaming.
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Old 10-24-2009, 08:24 AM
 
Location: Metro Washington DC
15,427 posts, read 25,795,620 times
Reputation: 10450
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScranBarre View Post
Do you all honestly expect me to forfeit nearly 10 hours of my life per week just to prove the point that our elected officials have NO CLUE about urban planning?
Yes. If you want things to change. Lead the way. I do it. You can too!
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