What will DC be like at peak population? (~800K+) (density, dining, COL, demographics etc)

[DCDweller30]

Originally Posted by shooter2219

Dc already has alot of buses. Im not sure if bike lanes or bike share put a significant dent in traffic to me it seems like it just becomes another option to travel around town.

free and cheap parking what DC do YOU Live in????????????? half of the city is zoned and permit parking. Not to mention the infamous parking nazis and the amount of parking tickets given out per year. And lets not forget the rule where if you dont register with DC plates within the first 2 months of residence how you get ticketed to death and then eventually booted and towed........so again i ask what DC do YOU live in????

I have lived in Wards 6 and 4. Where do YOU live? My point wasn't about zoned and permit parking but about the paid (metered) parking and, in many areas of the city, surface lots. Cities that need to be efficient with space put these spaces underground or in stacked garages, like in NYC. I don't disagree that enforcement is ridiculous, but fortunately more orderly lots would help with this, too. It doesn't make a lot of sense for DC to have so many rows of metered or permit street parking in busy downtown areas. Turning those into bike or bus lanes would be a big improvement. It takes a big investment but it's a more efficient use of space, so it really just depends on whether space becomes worth enough to do it.

[Chriz Brown]

Originally Posted by DCDweller30

According to my quick research, I don't see why 800k should be "peak population" or why that has to mean that DC is going to get much denser. I don't even see a need to raise the height limit to get there. The DC population was above 800k for most of the 1950s, and that was with fewer pockets of high density and fewer apartment buildings. The biggest difference now is that I see a lot of people being very narrow-minded about what is DC and also there haven't been a lot of families staying in DC previously (and family sizes have changed).

There are some lovely places in DC that are still largely "under the radar" and lower density because they are legitimately underutilized due to city- or investor- owned properties that are unoccupied. I'd like to see the city crack down on these because it does give the impression of blight and neglect, and some of them are neglected and become eyesores that drag down neighborhoods. I also hope that the city can deal with some of the issues that keep Ward 8 from being desirable. The Anacostia River has already improved so much recently and it seems crazy to me that there is urban waterfront property that is underutilized. I doubt it will be that way for long. Even with all the controversy over gentrification, I'd like to see some of the development spread. With apopulation growth slowing it seems like that could lead to more legitimately middle class areas, instead of the high contrast and inequality that exists in a lot of neighborhoods now.

Density will also increase if more families stay in DC. It's already happening to some extent, but there's potential for a huge shift with all the children and young families in Ward 4. Idk whether the city wants this to happen, but if they do they should use some of the budget surplus to deal with DCPS.

I am optimistic about the potential for DC with 800k+ residents. The biggest challenge I see isn't housing or space to live but transportation. I don't think it's very realistic or desireable to expand metro rail, but I'd like to see more buses, bike share, improved bike lanes, and perhaps some car-free zones in the densest parts of downtown and the Hill. DC also has a ton of free or cheap street/surface parking for a major metropolitan city. I don't think this can or should exist for much longer if the population grows.

I don't think more buses will improve transportation at all during rush hour. The traffic situation is already so bad that more buses will only make it worse and actually slow transportation down. The streetcar project is probably the best bet for improving transportation in the city itself (assuming the newer lines get their own right-of-way without needing to move with traffic).

Metro needs more lines and tunnels inside the city rather than expanding further and further out into the suburbs. If tunneling is too expensive.. Metro might want to consider more elevated lines similar to Chicago's L train. I think a line going down Georgia Avenue into downtown would be fantastic. But since most DC residents are obsessed with aesthetics to the point where they care more about how the city looks than making the city run efficiently (see height limit threads for examples).. it will probably never happen. Form over function (or style over substance) has been the rule in DC for a while now.