Comments for Region Forward

Comment on Funneling housing growth to areas served by transit by Ben Ross

Ben Ross — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 06:23:43 +0000

It is misleading to use existing zoning in making forecasts of this type because the regulatory processes for sprawl and transit-oriented development are fundamentally different.

Sprawl is often built of right. Existing zoning usually requires sprawl, even in areas where the actual intention of the local authorities is transit oriented development. Sprawl zoning is often put in place in advance of market demand.

For transit-oriented infill, master plans and rezonings almost invariably come only after market demand. The ultimate zoning is the outcome of political bargaining between pro- and anti-development forces. Sprawl zoning and sprawl master plans stay in place until the pro-development forces come to the table.

An example of this process at work is the Woodmont Triangle Sector Plan amendment in Bethesda a few years ago. Even though everyone involved recognized that the zoning of the apartments along Battery Lane is obsolete and incorrect for this transit-oriented area, the planning board staff refused to include this area in the rezoning on the grounds that the area is not yet ripe for development.

Comment on Is personal rapid transit (PRT) realistic? by Chris

Chris — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 20:00:22 +0000

You should focus on getting this set up in cities where their will be the World Cup, Olympics, or other big international sporting event. For those events, lots of people will need to be moving around. After the event is over the stadiums and airports and such will still have high traffic volumes. The funding will be readily available because of the big event. Additionally, many people from around the world will get to see the transit system in action.

I personally think that Chicago should install one of these around the loop, out to Navy Pier, and up and down the lake connecting the beaches and museums. Currently there is no good public transportation system serving all those systems. A tourist couldn’t possibly get around the way things are. There is no simple way to get from Navy Pier to the Museum of Science and Industry. By car it is 11 minutes, by public transportation it is at least 45 minutes. Even from Navy Pier to Museum Campus is a grueling 35 minute public transportation affair on two different buses for what would otherwise be a 4 minute drive to go 2.5 miles.

Comment on Greenspace launches as a central hub for green development in metro Washington by Leah Boggs

Leah Boggs — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 12:54:23 +0000

The event was excellent…and so is Patty! Patty has been a stalwart supporter of COG’s green building committee since its inception in 2006. I was happy to see the fruits of her labor coming to realization…and I am very excited about what the future holds for green building in the region.

Comment on Bananas: $1.00/pound. Dry cleaning: $2.00/shirt. Clean Air: ? by Karin Foster

Karin Foster — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 15:52:49 +0000

FYI, you may have seen, this week’s Economist has a good article on “carbon-pricing” and the future of “carbon labels” to compare the environmental footprint of products.

Comment on Is personal rapid transit (PRT) realistic? by PRT now

PRT now — Mon, 09 May 2011 06:05:30 +0000

Hello,

Thanks for the article promoting the wonderful news about the FIRST functioning PRT system, ever created on this great Planet of ours, I hope your realise that whatever you say on the net may come back to haunt you in a couple of years time, especially when it come to new technology.
PRT is definitely Feasible, especially when you take Global warming ( aka the hot house (green house) effect, from the 90’s) and peak oil into account.

There thinking about building PRT in India (Ultra is working with governments there), so you couldn’t get a more densly populated area there.

Anyway, there really is no reason not to build PRT now.

You don’t have to travel with other people, only if you want to. PRT is cheaper to build than any other form of instructure (other than bike and pedestrian lanes), whether it be car, bus, light rail, heavy rail etc etc

The reason it isn’t getting built around the world, is the oil price is too low, and governments run by OLD men, don’t want to take a risk.

Comment on Is personal rapid transit (PRT) realistic? by Peter Muller

Peter Muller — Fri, 06 May 2011 18:54:27 +0000

While it is certainly easier to justify PRT where you have lots of people needing to move relatively short distances, this does not necessarily make it infeasible elsewhere. Outside of airports and universities, initial PRT systems will make great collector/distributor systems for other existing modes. PRT could really help high speed rail be successful in this regard. Learn more about PRT at http://www.prtconsulting.com

Going a step further, we have looked at ways of reducing guideway and station costs so that PRT could feasibly even serve suburbia. More info at http://www.sustainablecityconsulting.com

Comment on The Morning Measure: What CenterCityDC could mean for the District, region by Lewis @ Region Forward

Lewis @ Region Forward — Wed, 04 May 2011 10:52:35 +0000

Blergh! Thanks, Steve. Must’ve had Philly on the brain when I was putting this together

Comment on The Morning Measure: What CenterCityDC could mean for the District, region by Steve D

Steve D — Wed, 04 May 2011 10:49:48 +0000

Er, it’s called CityCenter, as you can see by clicking on the first link in the post. Got it backwards there.

Comment on The foreclosure crisis and its impact on the region’s prosperity by Rich Cederberg

Rich Cederberg — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 23:16:19 +0000

Glad to hear there are programs available to help homeowners sort through this tangled mess. Great article. Thanks you for posting.

Comment on The Morning Measure: The role of nuclear energy in building a sustainable future by Region Forward

Region Forward — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 14:15:36 +0000

Hi Charles. Thank you very much for reading and following Region Forward. Your comments specifically regarding the Calvert Cliff plant help clarify what some of the experts in the piece were saying. The article does indicate that the plant is designed to shut down if seismic activity of a certain level is reached.