Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Just came from DC to see the MLK memorial and stopped by Union Station and man, what is up with that town? Various streets closed, or lanes in streets closed. Having to drive in between cones or on the wrong side of the street. Having to take detours.
In DC, you have these narrow streets downtown. In New York you have wider streets, or at least the streets go in one direction. Plus New York has the grid section, at least through large swaths of the town in DC you have a grid for like 5 or 6 blocks, then a street ends, or resumes somewhere else. Also found out the hard way that C, D, etc. there are two of. I am thinking I am close to the White House I am in some other part of town a street comes to a dead end I have to take another look at the map. In front of Union Station itself is a nightmare you can park in this "traffic circle" in front of Union Station, but only for an hour. Not even sure what is being built there in front of Union Station.
Every time I go to DC there is construction. Even inside of Union Station itself there was construction. Nothing telling you what is being constructed, for geeks like myself that want to know. Going down 395 I see construction there; some bridges being raised.
Will the construction of the highway/freeway/express system in DC/NoVa ever stop, or is this just the beginning. It doesn't seem as though there is anymore room to expand the highway.
Only thing I did like about it was that you could put a credit card in the meter. Well some meters. But you aren't parking for more than 2 hours, for good reason. Some places you could park for 2 hours but there was no meter. Not sure how they make their calculations without a meter, but I do not want to find out the hard way.
My experience is that if you are in downtown DC or in touristy areas that traffic and parking are really bad. While this is where most of us would go, if you are outside of that traffic isn't bad at all for the most part. But since that's not where we tourists tend to go its better to rely on the subway.
How did the credit card meters work? We have those and I usually have a hard time adjusting the time because the buttons are damaged.
My experience is that if you are in downtown DC or in touristy areas that traffic and parking are really bad. While this is where most of us would go, if you are outside of that traffic isn't bad at all for the most part. But since that's not where we tourists tend to go its better to rely on the subway.
How did the credit card meters work? We have those and I usually have a hard time adjusting the time because the buttons are damaged.
$4 for 2 hours. I was able to get a receipt; outside of that there is no real way to know if you are getting those 2 hours or not so it is a measure of good faith. You can also call this 877 number and enter in the number of the meter to pay for parking that way. I would have preferred texting, or even a smartphone app, in that instance. I would imagine you could then apply a payment method that was authenticated from the cell phone you were calling from, sort of how my bank allows me to text to get my balance (but I can only do it from that particular phone). One would probably have to sign up online to do this but I think it would be a great idea, if not one that is already in place.
Oh. It was one of those where you pay at a central spot and identify your space number? We have those as well but I haven't used one. Those are sneaky because you pay for a space that someone may have already paid for but didn't use.
Oh. It was one of those where you pay at a central spot and identify your space number? We have those as well but I haven't used one. Those are sneaky because you pay for a space that someone may have already paid for but didn't use.
there were individual meters, but it was one of those digital meters so it was difficult to tell if someone else had paid or not.
Regular coin meters (Usually broken and needs change)
Park mobile app - Use your smartphone to download the app and sign up once using your vehicle tag number and a credit/debit card. Type or call in the meter number and it will deduct the money out of your account. After you register it takes about three minutes to pay for parking and they send you a text confirmation. Really easy and fast!
Credit/Debit card meter - Just like coin meter but it only takes cards
Street Tower meter (These are usually located in the middle of the block and are sometimes broken). You pay using coins or a card and get a ticket to put on your dash with an expiration time.
DC streets can be confusing but I enjoyed driving there a lot. Traffic Cirlces IMO are a great thing, and the tunnels to avoid them when needed are fantastic. Its an old city not based completely on a grid with the avenues and some small streets so some do end. But also it depends whats going on in town. Sometimes the main avenues by the Capital are closed off with baracades which are in the ground. The white house area is a bit confusing where Penn and many H-E streets (maybe a few more) just stop and all. But for people who live there you get used to it.
One thing I do think is the GW parkway is not an easy place to drive at night. Very dark, lots of turns bad signs etc.. Another intresting road at night is the Rock Creek Parkway, same thing. And the small "country" road it turns into. Beach Road and a few others can be a challenge. But I have always enjoyed driving there. Beats a boring grid system. When I first went to DC I thought their NW/SW/SE/NE would be difficult, but after some time it became pretty easy. It is an easy city to get lost in though.
DC is very difficult to get around in at first. Just remember the that the thirteen original colonies (states) all radiate from downtown (Mass, Penn, Vermont, NY, R.I., Conn, VA, MD, etc). The streets running north to south are numbered (13th, 14th, 15th). The streets running east to west are alphabetical. (C, D, E, crittendon, decatur, emerson).
DC streets can be confusing but I enjoyed driving there a lot. Traffic Cirlces IMO are a great thing, and the tunnels to avoid them when needed are fantastic. Its an old city not based completely on a grid with the avenues and some small streets so some do end. But also it depends whats going on in town. Sometimes the main avenues by the Capital are closed off with baracades which are in the ground. The white house area is a bit confusing where Penn and many H-E streets (maybe a few more) just stop and all. But for people who live there you get used to it.
One thing I do think is the GW parkway is not an easy place to drive at night. Very dark, lots of turns bad signs etc.. Another intresting road at night is the Rock Creek Parkway, same thing. And the small "country" road it turns into. Beach Road and a few others can be a challenge. But I have always enjoyed driving there. Beats a boring grid system. When I first went to DC I thought their NW/SW/SE/NE would be difficult, but after some time it became pretty easy. It is an easy city to get lost in though.
The Federal government has oversight over all parkways in DC. Guidelines prohibit lighting on most of them, that's why they are so dark. Look at Suitland, B/W, GW and Clara Barton. Most of them are very dark at night.
DC is very difficult to get around in at first. Just remember the that the thirteen original colonies (states) all radiate from downtown (Mass, Penn, Vermont, NY, R.I., Conn, VA, MD, etc). The streets running north to south are numbered (13th, 14th, 15th). The streets running east to west are alphabetical. (C, D, E, crittendon, decatur, emerson).
The thirteen colonies are the streets that run ne/nw/se/sw?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
