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Well, you can't deny that you have an agenda here, seeing as you instantly leaped off the deep end with hyperbole.
This is not Central Park -- an existing park that offers a counterpoint to an incredibly dense neighborhood in the densest big city in the country, and indeed was the amenity that led to all those "park view" skyscrapers in the first place. As you yourself said in another thread:
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Originally Posted by BajanYankee
The thing I like most about Central Park is that you don't feel like you're in a city. But all it takes is a couple of steps until you're right back in Manhattan's hustle and bustle.
This is an abandoned industrial site within a neighborhood of single-family houses with yards. DC is not Brooklyn or NYC, and we don't need every square inch of open space that we can get. We have plenty of parks already, and plenty of spaces where "you don't feel like you're in a city." What DC needs is more people and tax base within the urban core so that our city can support the kind of shops, services, transit, and other "hustle and bustle" urban amenities that you can take for granted up in Brooklyn. Remember, the big industry here is government, and the feds don't pay local taxes -- that's very unlike NYC, where the financial industry props up the entire state.
Developing it as a park, or indeed as anything, will cost a lot of money, since the filtration structures themselves are of questionable structural stability. It's dangerous to even walk on the "ground" there, since it's liable to collapse. You can't just roll out some turf and play soccer there. You'd be silly to build a library there, since the brand-new Shaw library is less than a mile away (and there are something like 3-5 more libraries within two miles) -- and there isn't enough money to keep the existing libraries open on Sundays, much less to build and staff a giant, three-block-large new library just uphill (at a time when they're talking about shrinking even the MLK library). Development of some sort on at least some of the site will create an economic basis to stabilize the site and get it into a safe, publicly accessible form, while also supporting public uses either there or elsewhere in the city. I guess one thing I haven't seen the developer capitalize on to any extent so far is its proximity to Howard, although I suppose Howard rightly wants to focus its growth westward towards sprucing up Georgia Avenue.
This is not Central Park -- an existing park that offers a counterpoint to an incredibly dense neighborhood in the densest big city in the country, and indeed was the amenity that led to all those "park view" skyscrapers in the first place.
Technically, the site was intended to be a park and actually did serve as parkland until WWII. And yes, Central Park is an amenity now, but it was mostly swamp marsh when the city first contemplated the idea of putting a park there. I don't see any reason why the McMillan site can't similarly be an amenity that brings people and development to the area (not in a Cental Park way, obviously, but more like Ft. Tryon or Ft. Greene Parks).
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Originally Posted by paytonc
This is an abandoned industrial site within a neighborhood of single-family houses with yards. DC is not Brooklyn or NYC, and we don't need every square inch of open space that we can get. We have plenty of parks already, and plenty of spaces where "you don't feel like you're in a city." What DC needs is more people and tax base within the urban core so that our city can support the kind of shops, services, transit, and other "hustle and bustle" urban amenities that you can take for granted up in Brooklyn. Remember, the big industry here is government, and the feds don't pay local taxes -- that's very unlike NYC, where the financial industry props up the entire state.
You're acting as if this site is the abandoned railyard on top of which NoMA was built. It's not. It's a historically-designated landmark and it has been given this desgination for a reason. There are plenty of places to build condos in Washington, DC and the site of a historical landmark is not one of them.
Furthermore, the Bloomingdale/Ledroit Park Area does not need any more housing units. Parking and traffic are bad enough as it is. If people want more retail, then there's a strip that's already been designated for commercial use along North Capitol Street. A number of smaller businesses are also starting to sprout up along Florida Avenue, which makes sense as it's really just an extension of the U Street corridor anyway.
And you failed to mention the one big advantage DC has that no other city enjoys: it's supported by the federal government.
Quote:
Originally Posted by paytonc
Developing it as a park, or indeed as anything, will cost a lot of money, since the filtration structures themselves are of questionable structural stability. It's dangerous to even walk on the "ground" there, since it's liable to collapse. You can't just roll out some turf and play soccer there. You'd be silly to build a library there, since the brand-new Shaw library is less than a mile away (and there are something like 3-5 more libraries within two miles) -- and there isn't enough money to keep the existing libraries open on Sundays, much less to build and staff a giant, three-block-large new library just uphill (at a time when they're talking about shrinking even the MLK library). Development of some sort on at least some of the site will create an economic basis to stabilize the site and get it into a safe, publicly accessible form, while also supporting public uses either there or elsewhere in the city. I guess one thing I haven't seen the developer capitalize on to any extent so far is its proximity to Howard, although I suppose Howard rightly wants to focus its growth westward towards sprucing up Georgia Avenue.
Do you live in the neighborhood? Have you ever been up there? People understand that you can't "roll out some turf and play soccer there." The focus for most preservationists is long-term. If the city is not in a position to develop the land now, then it's better to let the site sit there for another 25 years until it can. The alternative solution is not to sell it away to developers so we can have NoMA II in a quaint residential neighborhood.
Last edited by BajanYankee; 12-12-2011 at 01:07 PM..
Guys, this guy has dragged DC's name through the mud so many times. I'm still trying to figure out why he is still living here. Why haven't you moved yet, this is not Philly and this is not Boston. What are you waiting for? Man, the things he has said about DC!
Central Park was also an eyesore when New York City neglected it and allowed it to be overrun by weeds, druggies and vagabonds. If they had done things the DC way, Central Park would have been filled in with "mixed-use" development. I'm sure generic-looking condos with an Alero, Subway and Drycleaner's underneath would have been a much better use of those acres.
If they razed just half of Central Park and filled it in with public assistance highrises, they could solve the housing crisis.
Furthermore, the Bloomingdale/Ledroit Park Area does not need any more housing units. Parking and traffic are bad enough as it is. .
This is the crux of it, eh? Not the sand filtration stuff.
As someone who has started window shoppping for housing in Bloomingdale, I would suggest that the market prices DO indicate a need for more housing in that area
And certainly DC needs more tax revenues.
Of course remediating traffic issues should be addressed.
Central Park was also an eyesore when New York City neglected it and allowed it to be overrun by weeds, druggies and vagabonds. If they had done things the DC way, Central Park would have been filled in with "mixed-use" development. I'm sure generic-looking condos with an Alero, Subway and Drycleaner's underneath would have been a much better use of those acres.
Get a grip. We aren't talking about developing Rock Creek Park. McMillan Reservoir is an useless eyesore in need to repurposing. The debate should be whether it become private property or public park, but leaving it as an abandoned industrial site is stupid.
This is the crux of it, eh? Not the sand filtration stuff.
Huh?
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Originally Posted by brooklynborndad
As someone who has started window shoppping for housing in Bloomingdale, I would suggest that the market prices DO indicate a need for more housing in that area
That's the thing about DC. I find it funny that people who don't even live in a neighborhood feel they have some say in how a neighborhood should be.
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Originally Posted by brooklynborndad
And certainly DC needs more tax revenues.
Fine. There is plenty of land in DC already being developed and plenty more that will be developed in the future. No need to tear up a historical site to boost revenues.
Quote:
Originally Posted by brooklynborndad
Of course remediating traffic issues should be addressed.
You say this so cavalierly. I can tell you have never lived in that area. "Remediating traffic issues" is not going to happen. First Street is already an absolute disaster in the morning. Traffic on Florida Ave is awful and the circle near the Wendy's has only exacerbated the problem. That new development will just screw up the entire neighborhood. And that's why there's been so much community opposition.
Get a grip. We aren't talking about developing Rock Creek Park. McMillan Reservoir is an useless eyesore in need to repurposing. The debate should be whether it become private property or public park, but leaving it as an abandoned industrial site is stupid.
Who said we should leave it as an abandoned industrial site indefinitely? I said that it's better to come up with a better use for the land instead of rushing to hand it over to developers. If it takes 25 years to come up with a well-thought out plan for the land, then so be it. There's no need to rush anything. Nobody's going to die if a grocery store doesn't get built in Bloomingdale in the next ten years. Development of the site is not urgent.
Of course, guys like MDAllStar are cheerleading the development because they stand to profit from it.
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