DC metro named worst in the nation for traffic (Arlington: real estate, how much)

[FCNova]

Originally Posted by lee_in_beechtree

“You see the jobs sort of chasing the workers out into the suburbs,” he said, citing the development of Tysons Corner in Northern Virginia. “The people who developed Tysons thought, ‘Oh, well, let’s move out to where the houses are.’ Now you see people commuting really long distances into Tysons Corner. The houses just went farther out” into suburbia.[/i]

I think no matter where the jobs are there will always be people who want to live as far out as they can possibly tolerate to afford a bigger/nicer house. But it is key for more job centers to develop closer to the burbs. I can't imagine if we have the projected population growth over the next 30 years and those new residents are all trying to get to Arlington or DC from Loudoun county. Tysons is going to see massive office space growth in the next 10 years. The 267 corridor already has a decent amount of office space and hopefully will add more. It would be wonderful if Loudoun County could pitch in but all they seem to care about right now is throwing up houses as fast as humanly possible.

[CapnTrips]

Originally Posted by Reynard32

If all these commuters try to go to work at the very same time each day, then traffic to wherever work is will be terrible each day. The solution is that many more workers either work from home or work non-standard hours. It isn't just "the night shift" that offers traffic-free rides to work.

The Federal govt, being the largest employer in the area, could do a lot more to promote working from home, or at least from centers set up in the burbs so people don't have to drive in. In my agency, there is a lot of lip service paid to flex time and working from home, but only a small percentage get to do it. Flex time is only for the support staff, and working from home is a privilege given regularly only to people with small children (and sometimes as a perk to a favored few). I think part of the problem is that many managers don't feel like they're the boss if they don't have people around them constantly to boss around.

[RiotAct41]

In other news, Democrats and Republicans argued today about several hot-button topics.

[Finallystoppedlurking]

Originally Posted by Reynard32

If all these commuters try to go to work at the very same time each day, then traffic to wherever work is will be terrible each day. The solution is that many more workers either work from home or work non-standard hours. It isn't just "the night shift" that offers traffic-free rides to work.

But but but... we have specialized jobs that don't allow us to work from home. National security depends on it!!

well it sounds like those of us that are 30 mins out may have good income property?!?!

[CapnTrips]

Originally Posted by Finallystoppedlurking

But but but... we have specialized jobs that don't allow us to work from home. National security depends on it!!

Ironically, my agency has a whole emergency plan written up in which we are permitted to work from home in the case of various disasters, like earthquakes, blizzards, terrorist attacks, sharknados, etc. We just can't do it the rest of the time. I think the answer may be to let traffic get bad enough to the point where it qualifies as a disaster, and maybe then attitudes will change.

[Finallystoppedlurking]

Originally Posted by CapnTrips

Ironically, my agency has a whole emergency plan written up in which we are permitted to work from home in the case of various disasters, like earthquakes, blizzards, terrorist attacks, sharknados, etc. We just can't do it the rest of the time. I think the answer may be to let traffic get bad enough to the point where it qualifies as a disaster, and maybe then attitudes will change.

snowmageddon the return?!?!?.. funny story.. i made it a habit of taking my work laptop with me all the time. During snowmageddon i had email access... and was able to do "work". I was able to charge my 80 hours while everyone else on my team who forgot their laptops ate PTO until they were negative...

lots of green eyes.. i recall.

speaking of green eyes... does your agency have exceptions to the rule.. (you don't really have to anwer that ).. There are some people with enough pull for....
https://news.clearancejobs.com/2013/...your-own-scif/

is real life....

[tysonsengineer]

Bogus study for clickbait

A "transportation study" that focuses on 1 form of transportation. This is just a phony study they do every year to boost spending on highway widenings. Any transportation study coming from the states of Texas or California are pretty much worthless

Driving in Washington Is Bad. So Is That Study That Says How Bad It Is. | Washingtonian

[gomason]

Originally Posted by tysonsengineer

Bogus study for clickbait

A "transportation study" that focuses on 1 form of transportation. This is just a phony study they do every year to boost spending on highway widenings. Any transportation study coming from the states of Texas or California are pretty much worthless

Driving in Washington Is Bad. So Is That Study That Says How Bad It Is. | Washingtonian

lol I love how bent out of shape smart growth people get about this study. They are measuring car congestion. Should you include Metro ridership in a study about car congestion? It's not like TTI said "Everyone in DC is stuck in their cars forever. No one uses public transit." GGW suggested hours spent commuting, but that doesn't measure car congestion.

I whole heartedly support smart growth but sometimes these people seem paranoid or something. Godforbid a study about car congestion says that people who drive in DC are delayed in their cars a lot. Such a controversial statement, I know.

Yes I know it will be used to argue for more road spending. But, smart growthers can just as easily use this study to show why we need to fix land-use policies and invest in transit. Is that too obvious?

[FCNova]

So I guess the takeaway is that our car congestion is slightly worse than L.A., but since their public transportation is dreadful and ours is not they probably have the worse overall commutes?

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by gomason

lBut, smart growthers can just as easily use this study to show why we need to fix land-use policies and invest in transit. Is that too obvious?

You do realize there aren't many Smart Growth proponents in Northern Virginia (NoVA), correct? Do you remember the incessant arguments I'd have with people on here 3-6 years ago about how NoVA needs to build smarter, denser, and with more transit-oriented design (TOD) while just about everyone else wanted their own selfish acre of tract housing land in Ashburn or Gainesville with a three-car garage? I ended up so frustrated that I moved to Pittsburgh, a city that "gets" it.

The only way Greater DC will be able to accommodate all of the anticipated growth coming at it will be to build denser/smarter so that transit lines can be more efficiently created and routed. Anyone who wants NoVA to be nothing but a jumbled mess of single-family detached dwellings and strip malls can feel free to move out of the way of progress.