September 2009
20 posts
8 tags
“In Stockholm, San Francisco, and Milan, as in Washington, builders of rapid...”
– Zachary Schrag, The Great Society Subway (2006), p. 93, describing how only in Washington does beauty trump cost under government bureaucracy. Weird.
TMI? Wapo Rolls It Out on the Front Page →
I was too busy to see this last week, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late for you.
(I always buy generic and/or cheapest when recycled is unavailable.)
Reflections on World Car Free Day →
Wapo metro columnist Robert McCartney noted that last week’s car-free day didn’t really have much impact. That’s true; for most, living without a car is unrealistic and doing so for a day is a symbolic - and self-inconveniencing - gesture at most. Maybe it should be marketed more honestly as Alternatives to Car-Centric Lifestyle Awareness Day.
McCartney mentions gas taxes, which...
6 tags
“[Commisioner Robert McLaughlin] pointed out that the District would lose land to...”
– Zackary Schrag, in The Great Society Subway (2006), p. 40, detailing the backdrop to the creation of the capital area’s rapid transit network in the late 1950s.
4 tags
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– The Infrastructuralist kinda goes to town on this solar roadway idea. Kinda in a funny way. So much of it screams of awesome/terrible idea that I’m confused. I’m reminded of a bike trail made out of recycled glass in Massachusetts. It looks soooo pretty but it also drives plenty of...
“The westerners felt they were required to pay excessively-high taxes for...”
– Charles A. Grymes, describing a 19th-century situation eerily similar to what’s going on now between Northern Virginia and the rest of Virginny.
“An absolute ban on wires will force D.C. to either build an extremely expensive...”
– David Alpert, opining on the situation of streetcars in D.C. Washington is one of those weird cities that has a lot of rules for the sake of public prettiness, so webs of overhead wires in the old L’Enfant city are prohibited. The old law could be overturned by locals, but it’s possible...
Texting for the Next Bus →
Metro’s over-the-phone RideGuide is kinda horrible. I don’t blame them, but voice recognition is just terrible when it comes to street addresses and directions. RideGuide is just a last resort for someone who has a dumb phone and doesn’t have a bus route map.
NextBus (real-time bus arrival/departure info) via Metro’s hotline is similarly annoying. BUT I just found out that...
Coalition Says Soda Tax Would Burden Low-Income...
In a September 16 release from Americans Against Food Taxes, American Beverage Association President Susan Neely said a tax on soda to fund healthcare would be a burden for low- and middle-income consumers.
They’re the ones who most need the healthcare, no? And low-income bracketeers really shouldn’t be drinking that much soda pop anyway. They’re already kinda burdened with...
ArtSpace (D.C.) →
Why am I just finding out of this place?!
D.C.'s Inter-Office Twentieth-Century Equivalent... →
is knocking up against an electronic, post-9/11, twenty-first century world. Bicycle couriers may be skidding into something more final than a recession.
Slate: Architect of 9/11 →
Turns out a 9/11 hijacker was really into good urban policy.
After securing an interview with Atta’s thesis adviser, professor Dittmar Machule, the reporter concluded it was “ludicrous that Atta’s ideas on how to preserve an old quarter of Aleppo are regarded as a window into his terrorist’s mind.” Machule bolstered this impression, telling the Associated Press that...
Recycled Housing →
So amazingly beautiful.
Wikipedia reveals the purpose of the flashing... →
And I think I get it, but I’m still a bit confused.