For a (very) brief moment, I considered going to Cornell to study Urban Planning. I'm still a bit of geek about development and how cities and towns can be built in better ways. The environmental strains and logistical difficulties of building and maintaining a successful city are particularly obvious in Washington, DC. There are limits on building heights, historical preservation concerns, and a generally stable economy that lends itself to ongoing development, and all contribute to the difficulties. Oh, and all the people, too. DC is unique in the number of people who converge on the city on daily basis for work and then hightail it back to their suburban sprawl - and they all apparently MUST drive. Ugh. I have a car that I use to visit my family (my brother's family is nearby, as is my mother, but neither is convenient by public transportation). My car is, no lie, 17 years old, and I keep it safe and running, but prefer to walk or use public transportation whenever possible.
I wasn't always into the bus or Metro - I was one of the suburban idiots who turned my nose up at the bus, and found the train inconvenient. Once I moved into the city, it was really dumb to continue to be that stupid, so I changed my ways.
DC is one of the most walkable cities in the country - in college, I would come out to visit my brother, and would spend the day exploring the city on foot, occasionally hopping the train when it was convenient and made sense. $20 would get me anywhere I wanted all day, cover any fees for getting into special exhibits, and still leave me some dough for a half-smoke and coke. I'm pondering getting a new(er) car, and I'm struggling. I think I'll do it, but part of me feels like it is kind of dumb. We'll see.
Anyway, one of the best sites to read about issues w/r/t development, traffic, sprawl, and "people movement" is Greater Greater Washington. It's smart, very current, topical, and on the nose about the importance of changing our mindsets on how we get around and make the city better overall.
I wasn't always into the bus or Metro - I was one of the suburban idiots who turned my nose up at the bus, and found the train inconvenient. Once I moved into the city, it was really dumb to continue to be that stupid, so I changed my ways.
DC is one of the most walkable cities in the country - in college, I would come out to visit my brother, and would spend the day exploring the city on foot, occasionally hopping the train when it was convenient and made sense. $20 would get me anywhere I wanted all day, cover any fees for getting into special exhibits, and still leave me some dough for a half-smoke and coke. I'm pondering getting a new(er) car, and I'm struggling. I think I'll do it, but part of me feels like it is kind of dumb. We'll see.
Anyway, one of the best sites to read about issues w/r/t development, traffic, sprawl, and "people movement" is Greater Greater Washington. It's smart, very current, topical, and on the nose about the importance of changing our mindsets on how we get around and make the city better overall.
1 comment:
I was not aware you were blogging!!!! I'll add you to my "blog roll" Thanks for the shout out in your blog!
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