Alexandria Stinks (Springfield, Fairfax, Huntington: zoning, bus, airport)

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Tone509

I'll have some tea ready for you.

Moose Munch from Harry & David works well, too. So does Moose Tracks ice cream.

[FairfaxGuy73]

Originally Posted by RestonRunner86

A-HA! Now I'm going trick-or-treating at your front door next month! When you see Sarah Palin, you know it's me!

Watch out. If I see you dressed as SP, I might lose control and give you a hug. Hugs, hot legs, hot tea, and olfactory-friendly belching steam. Nice.

[FairfaxGuy73]

Originally Posted by Tone509

Without giving out my exact location, I will say that I see the Mirant plant on a regular basis. It can be noisy and occasionally belches steam - and the railroad cars carrying materials to and from there can tie up GW Parkway at times - but I have never smelled anything coming from there.

I don't recall if you ever shared when you moved from Alexandria, but apparently Mirant has cleaned up considerably in the last decade or so.

The only thing that annoys me is that the plant actually provides energy not for Virginia but Maryland.

Skipping another chance to poke fun at Ax, I will say that the people who have succeeded in temporarily shutting down the plant are the ultimate NIMBYs. The 500 people who live in the condos within 300 hundred feet of the plant should have noticed the 214-foot-tall smoke stacks when they moved in. (The plant has been there since 1949, way before the area was built out.) While people have made claims about respiratory problems, a lot of the complaints are about aesthetics, noise, and a dislike of coal burning plants in general.

From what I've read, we (Montgomery, PR Georges, and DC unfortunately) really need the power. It's been a few years, but I remember winters when there have been rolling blackouts in our region.

If people don't like coal power, they need to find a solution. Be smart and take my advice avoid Ax like the plague. In the meanwhile we need air conditioning, heat, washing machines, and about 100 other things that are dependent on electricity.

[FairfaxGuy73]

What I meant to say is that it sounds like the smoke isn't such a problem any more, and that I'm glad to hear it. If anyone has asthma problems or is especially sensitive to air problems, they may want to live somewhere farther away from the plant.

[robbobobbo]

Mirant doesn't smoke up any neighborhood. If anything, it's a question of particulates that you can't even see.

I'm of the opinion that the recent opposition has been driven by the city realizing the value of the Mirant land, now that gentrification has spread into areas where it used to be ok for poor folk to have a coal plant next door.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

braddock rd metro - slightly cheaper end of Old town, IIUC, a few sketchier blocks, but lots of yuppies. PBS HQ is right by the metro. On the north side of the tracks some nice uptown SFH nabes, but the houses are pricy, IIUC.

Is this also where the COAL PLANT is at...that is being discussed as well on this thread? Just curious..

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Is this also where the COAL PLANT is at...that is being discussed as well on this thread? Just curious..

The Mirant plant is on the waterfront. The closest Metro station to it is indeed Braddock Road but would be a healthy walk from there.

[Tiger Beer]

Anything interesting near the other Alexandria subway stations?

Thinking the King Street one, Eisenhower Avenue one, and the Van Dorn one?

[robbobobbo]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Anything interesting near the other Alexandria subway stations?

Thinking the King Street one, Eisenhower Avenue one, and the Van Dorn one?

The King Street station is at the western-most edge of Old Town, west of (or "above") Washington Street. The first thing you'd notice would probably be the George Washington Masonic Memorial, the tallest structure in Alexandria (plus it's on top a hill). They have tours and you can go to the top.

Immediately surrounding King St Metro are hotels, a few restaurants, and residential neighborhoods. The newer development of Carlyle is across Duke St. I see on Google maps that Carlyle has an inventors' hall of fame and museum - I didn't know that and haven't been. Carlyle is a newer development of modern high rises and offices.

King St (the street, not station) is the primary shopping/dining road, and as you walk down it from the station you'll start encountering businesses. The "classic" Old Town dining/shopping/tourist area is on King between Washington and the Potomac River, but King St above Washington has plenty to see, too (it didn't use to, and it used to be more barren and edgy, perhaps FairfaxGuy is thinking of those days).

Five Guys Burgers and Hard Times chili are two spots I think of off the top of my head that are above Washington. There are many, many more. And of course, you can keep walking all the way to the river, or take the free trolley. The walk isn't really that long and there is plenty to see to take your mind off the distance. I once dropped into a gallery where Yoko Ono had an exhibit of John's art work (she wasn't there, though).

Both the Eisenhower and Van Dorn stations are on Eisenhower Ave. This long road has long been an industrial area (not factories, but warehouses, the city's incinerator, the animal shelter, etc). A few residential communities (condos, town houses) have gone in. There is a water park and wave pool, also. Eisenhower station is near the Hoffmann building, the main draw there is the movie cinema. I can't think of any reason to go to the Van Dorn station area unless you live or work in its vicinity.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by robbobobbo

The King Street station is at the western-most edge of Old Town, west of (or "above") Washington Street. The first thing you'd notice would probably be the George Washington Masonic Memorial, the tallest structure in Alexandria (plus it's on top a hill). They have tours and you can go to the top.

Immediately surrounding King St Metro are hotels, a few restaurants, and residential neighborhoods. The newer development of Carlyle is across Duke St. I see on Google maps that Carlyle has an inventors' hall of fame and museum - I didn't know that and haven't been. Carlyle is a newer development of modern high rises and offices.

King St (the street, not station) is the primary shopping/dining road, and as you walk down it from the station you'll start encountering businesses. The "classic" Old Town dining/shopping/tourist area is on King between Washington and the Potomac River, but King St above Washington has plenty to see, too (it didn't use to, and it used to be more barren and edgy, perhaps FairfaxGuy is thinking of those days).

Five Guys Burgers and Hard Times chili are two spots I think of off the top of my head that are above Washington. There are many, many more. And of course, you can keep walking all the way to the river, or take the free trolley. The walk isn't really that long and there is plenty to see to take your mind off the distance. I once dropped into a gallery where Yoko Ono had an exhibit of John's art work (she wasn't there, though).

Both the Eisenhower and Van Dorn stations are on Eisenhower Ave. This long road has long been an industrial area (not factories, but warehouses, the city's incinerator, the animal shelter, etc). A few residential communities (condos, town houses) have gone in. There is a water park and wave pool, also. Eisenhower station is near the Hoffmann building, the main draw there is the movie cinema. I can't think of any reason to go to the Van Dorn station area unless you live or work in its vicinity.

Thanks for the great info on KING STREET. When people talk about high rents and housing in Old Town...is King Street reasonable? Or is it engulfed in the same 'high rents' region as Old Town? Sounds like a great place - near the station.

Wonder why they built the stations to Eisenhower and Van Dorn? Just strictly for commuters to drive and park...I guess. Do they have big plans to put a lot of development of condos, apartments, housing in there?