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Old 01-20-2011, 02:32 PM
 
8 posts, read 20,033 times
Reputation: 12

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Slow drivers in the left lane on major highways!
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Old 01-20-2011, 04:06 PM
 
Location: Metro Washington DC
15,402 posts, read 25,678,059 times
Reputation: 10404
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yiuppy View Post
The worst part of Metro is the red line. Blue, yellow, and orange lines from VA don't seem to be very crowded in the morning, so more NOVA commuters should take advantage of that...
You've never heard of the "Orange Crush"?
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Old 01-20-2011, 04:42 PM
 
999 posts, read 2,004,766 times
Reputation: 1200
Too many damn people here.

The transportation systems in The District and the surrounding suburbs are at a breaking point. I can thank globalization and the poor management of the US economy for so many people migrating to DC where the EASY money can be found. It's a sad state of affairs when young people with college degrees can't find jobs in their home states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey, Florida, New York (upstate) and more. They have to take the ol' U-Haul truck to Washington, DC as the only salvation for a languishing post-collegiate career.

Economists and politicians talk about blue-collar manufacturing jobs disappearing in this country almost to extinction. Granted, this is an awful trend for the American middle-class. But I am reading about alarming rates of white-collar professional jobs vanishing in places like Pittsburgh, Columbus, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Cleveland, Providence, and on and on. Hell, even New York City is losing professional finance jobs to Washington, DC. College graduate professionals who faced layoffs in their home states have a bleak future in front of them. It's like the old saying, "You are all dressed up but no place to go"; talent, smarts and drive don't go you far in Pittsburgh but it sure pays off in Washington, DC.

Private industry is hallowed out in our Rust Belt states, the Deep South, New England (outside of Boston) and increasingly in West Coast states like California and Oregon. If businesses cannot absorb enough labor because they are struggling against cut-throat prices from China or some other fast-rising developing world nation, where are freshly graduated job seekers and those who faced layoffs are supposed to find work?

Answer: the only place in America that is immune to market forces...Washington, DC with its limitless federal government spending.

Free trade, poor macro-management policy by the Federal Reserve, and misplaced spending priorities by our government have caused this imbalance of human migration. Smart, ambitious people should do great things to help their communities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan or California. Unfortunately, there is not enough money and job opportunities for them. They find salvation here because the government agencies, The Beltway Bandit contractors, the legal firms/lobby shops, and many private-sector businesses in DC are always hiring.

I would love to see the transplants pack their bags and head for home. But what do they have to go home to?
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Old 01-20-2011, 05:09 PM
 
2,414 posts, read 5,385,778 times
Reputation: 654
This is why commuting suburb to suburb is the way to go.
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Old 01-20-2011, 06:28 PM
 
165 posts, read 528,387 times
Reputation: 116
"Wow, that's surprising. I doubt it's true though".

Yiuppy, you must not have lived here long. FYI, the Amer Auto Assoc has ranked our area, consistently for the last several years, as having the second-worst traffic congestion in the nation. This fact is widely reported every year when the rankings are announced, in local newspaper and television news. I have mentioned it dozens of times in my posts here on this forum.

One major problem is, there have no been no new Potomac bridge crossings added, since 1965 (other than Metrorail), while in the meantime, area traffic volume has tripled or quadrupled. There desperately needs to be an additional bridge crossing between Leesburg VA (which recently was THE fastest-growing county in the entire USA) and Poolesville MD, however such a bridge will never be built, because it would interfere with upper Mont County's mandated "green space" and also it would encourage Marylanders to use IAD rather than BWI (which Maryland does not want to encourage). There also needs to be a bridge between Prince William Co VA (Woodbridge) and Charles Co MD (Indian Head), but local residents oppose it. There should also be a ferry service between Pentagon and Bolling AFB.

Another problem is the outrageous area cost of living, which forces people (especially those with children) to commute from 2 or 3 counties away in order
to find affordable and safe communities. And with our area having the highest percentage of working wives of any metro area in the nation, many couples have jobs in different jurisdictions, so it's hard to settle on a neighborhood that's close to BOTH partners' jobs.

Still another reason, is the legal prohibition on taxicabs picking up passengers outside of the state they're licensed in. So that all DC and MD taxis picking up, or dropping off passengers at National or Dulles Airports, are required to return back to DC empty without fares. Likewise, VA-licensed taxis bringing arriving airline pasengers into DC or MD, have to return to VA empty without return fares. This stupid law wastes millions of gallons of gasoline, and adds millions of vehicle trips to area roads, needlessly.

Just wait until the several thousand more BRAC employees report for duty at Fort Belvoir VA, as they're scheduled to do, soon. Massive gridlock on top of already existing gridlock !!

Last edited by slowlane2; 01-20-2011 at 06:46 PM..
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Old 01-20-2011, 06:51 PM
 
165 posts, read 528,387 times
Reputation: 116
If it is true, I attribute it to all of the darn Virginia and Maryland transients who refuse to take the Metro.[/quote]

Yes - and it doesn't help that Congressional employees (if I understand right) are provided free parking -- even though THREE Metro lines serve Capitol Hill. Make them pay like everyone else ! ! !

Also there are many worksites in DC not accessible by Metro -- for instance, the complex of three or four large hospitals clustered together on North Capitol Street. Employees, and patients, pretty much can get there only by driving. The same way with school teachers.
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Old 01-20-2011, 07:04 PM
 
Location: Macao
16,265 posts, read 43,022,745 times
Reputation: 10231
Quote:
Originally Posted by coldbliss View Post
Too many damn people here.

The transportation systems in The District and the surrounding suburbs are at a breaking point. I can thank globalization and the poor management of the US economy for so many people migrating to DC where the EASY money can be found. It's a sad state of affairs when young people with college degrees can't find jobs in their home states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey, Florida, New York (upstate) and more. They have to take the ol' U-Haul truck to Washington, DC as the only salvation for a languishing post-collegiate career.

Economists and politicians talk about blue-collar manufacturing jobs disappearing in this country almost to extinction. Granted, this is an awful trend for the American middle-class. But I am reading about alarming rates of white-collar professional jobs vanishing in places like Pittsburgh, Columbus, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Cleveland, Providence, and on and on. Hell, even New York City is losing professional finance jobs to Washington, DC. College graduate professionals who faced layoffs in their home states have a bleak future in front of them. It's like the old saying, "You are all dressed up but no place to go"; talent, smarts and drive don't go you far in Pittsburgh but it sure pays off in Washington, DC.

Private industry is hallowed out in our Rust Belt states, the Deep South, New England (outside of Boston) and increasingly in West Coast states like California and Oregon. If businesses cannot absorb enough labor because they are struggling against cut-throat prices from China or some other fast-rising developing world nation, where are freshly graduated job seekers and those who faced layoffs are supposed to find work?

Answer: the only place in America that is immune to market forces...Washington, DC with its limitless federal government spending.

Free trade, poor macro-management policy by the Federal Reserve, and misplaced spending priorities by our government have caused this imbalance of human migration. Smart, ambitious people should do great things to help their communities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan or California. Unfortunately, there is not enough money and job opportunities for them. They find salvation here because the government agencies, The Beltway Bandit contractors, the legal firms/lobby shops, and many private-sector businesses in DC are always hiring.

I would love to see the transplants pack their bags and head for home. But what do they have to go home to?
That sums it up very well! That's also the way I see it. I'm living abroad, and if I were to back to the U.S., I only see ONE city that makes financial sense to 'migrate' to, and that is Washington DC.

You summed it up perfectly as to why. JOBS, and not just 'any job' but INTERESTING JOBS. Plus, the only economy that you can count on.

I entertain the idea of other metros, and have gone to live in other cities, but they are depressing and getting worse with their job markets.

No doubt more and more people will continue to pour into the Metro Washington DC area.
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Old 01-20-2011, 07:16 PM
 
2,414 posts, read 5,385,778 times
Reputation: 654
^ The only solution is to remove height restriction in DC and build massive towers to house the new workers.
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Old 01-20-2011, 08:12 PM
 
Location: Fort Worth, TX
9,394 posts, read 15,655,704 times
Reputation: 6262
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gottasay View Post
the fact that you have through traffic traveling on the Beltway from NY to Fla
I've always wondered what traffic would be like if they had built I-95 all the way from Springfield to College Park through DC like they intended. That's what I-395 was supposed to be.
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Old 01-20-2011, 08:48 PM
 
Location: Springfield VA
4,036 posts, read 9,214,552 times
Reputation: 1522
Quote:
Originally Posted by stars99 View Post
This is why commuting suburb to suburb is the way to go.
Are you kidding?! That's part of our traffic woes if you ask me.

There are several suburban job centers that cause traffic throughout this area. Tysons Corner being the biggest. Over 100,000 people work there but hardly any live there. I can't say I blame them I can't stand Tysons aesthetically. The beltway is a mess in the morning. The beltway does not touch the city limits, yet anytime one turns on the morning news the backups are the talk of the town. Where are those people going if they're going to the District? Oh that's right suburban job centers like Tysons, Bethesda, Arlington, Chantilly, Reston, and as mentioned soon Ft. Belvoir (I already know someone that works at Ft Belvoir and I had an interview scheduled out there until they started slashing the defense budget back in August). Silver Spring seems to have a few major employers too. I've had a few phone interviews out there.

My point is that part of the reason for the bad traffic is the suburb to suburb commuters like myself. Take a trip towards the city via 66 from Fairfax county during rush hour like I do and one can see what impact suburb to suburb commuting has on traffic congestion.

Also sometimes one doesn't have a say in where they worked. I wanted to move to the city but with a job in Fairfax that'd be a challenge. I tried to get a job in the city but when the current one I have popped up, I couldn't turn it down because of the location when I wasn't sure how I'd pay the next month's rent.
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