BeyondDC

Dan Malouff.
Urbanism & transportation, WashDC.
Planner, professor, longtime @GGWash.
Trying for joy rather than doom & dunks; not always succeeding.

[BeyondDC @beyonddc]

Especially common in suburbs where everyone complains of traffic but nobody believes in the solution, taming cars.

We can't bear the core dilemma, so we invent vibes-based processes to spin the wheels.

[BeyondDC @beyonddc]

Spending decades studying is a feature, not a bug, to leaders who want to look like they're "doing something" without actually changing anything.

[Victor D’Emidio @VictorDEmidio]

@beyonddc Much less studies. For example, Madrid metro didn’t do a full environmental study for their metro expansion because public transit is already a environmental good.

[BeyondDC @beyonddc]

@sumergocognito Yeah. Light rail's an awkward mode for that. It'd be interesting to see cost & ridership comparisons for DMU using the Beltway ROW to extend from VRE in Alexandria and go all the way into Union.

[BeyondDC @beyonddc]

This is another of those projects that's already decades into never-ending studies.

We have to break out of this do-nothing loop and figure out how to go from idea to construction inside of one governor's term.

[TODNewsHub @TODNewsHub]

Southern Maryland could finally get the rail connection it has needed for decades.

The proposed SMRT light rail line would connect Waldorf to Metro’s Green Line at Branch Avenue with:

• 18.7 miles of rail
• 13 stations
• Stops at Joint Base Andrews and Southern Maryland Hospital
• Service through Prince George’s and Charles counties

The corridor was projected to reach nearly 550,000 residents by 2040, while Charles County commuters already spend hundreds of hours every year traveling to and from work.

This region is growing. Its transit system should grow with it.

[BeyondDC @beyonddc]

@PLKDC All that west Gaithersburg New Urbanism needs something. Crazy that the CCT was once ahead of the Silver Line in planning.

At least (east) Gaithersburg has the 355 BRT making progress.

[BeyondDC @beyonddc]

@jmctighelee

[BeyondDC @beyonddc]

We need leaders who would love this for our city, rather than leaders who see it and think "but how will I drive through?"

[Anthony LaMesa @ajlamesa]

Another angle toward the Friendship Archway. Gallery Place-Chinatown could be a lively, safe part of DC — with historic Asian businesses protected from displacement — if District leaders were willing to dream big. The status quo is asphalt, traffic, degradation, and insecurity.

[BeyondDC @beyonddc]

@EvanMGlass Pretty sure that person meant the streets are too wide and need road diets, not that the development is too dense.

[BeyondDC @beyonddc]

@humantransit Aurora over the Mars Trilogy? Jarrett, no.

It is his best prose, I will grant that.

[High Speed Rail Alliance @HSRail]

The S-Line, a higher-speed passenger rail project to connect Raleigh, NC and Richmond, VA, has been obligated $550 million from the Federal Railroad Administration. The money will go toward upgrading ~75 miles of abandoned, formerly CSX right of way.
https://t.co/fZvbrODTJo

[BeyondDC @beyonddc]

@SafeSidewalksDC @EvanMGlass Stages of TOD-building every community goes thru:

1 Car-oriented garden apartments
⏬️
2 Car-oriented highrises
⏬️
3 Pedestrian-oriented highrises with all the car stuff just slightly out of the way. ⬅️ MoCo is here
⏬️
4 Actual urban buildings on actual urban streets

[Polymarket @Polymarket]

BREAKING: Gasoline-only cars fall below 50% of global new vehicle sales for the first time in history.

[BeyondDC @beyonddc]

@busenjoyer01 @TODNewsHub TBH I fear Fairfax will think curbside bus lanes are good enough (no), and Falls Church will want mixed traffic. Hope I'm proven wrong.

[BeyondDC @beyonddc]

North Bethesda (Rockville Pike) is Maryland's version of Tysons.

[TODNewsHub @TODNewsHub]

BIG PLANS FOR NORTH BETHESDA.

Metro is moving toward a deal with Hines to transform 13.9 acres beside the Red Line into “The Nexus,” a massive transit-oriented district featuring:

• A new north Metro entrance
• 2+ million square feet
• 809 homes
• 930,000 square feet of life-science space
• 100,000 square feet of retail and commercial space
• The @UofMaryland Institute for Health Computing

Nearly $119 million in public funding has been identified for infrastructure, the station entrance and the institute.

This is how you turn a Metro station into an economic engine.

[BeyondDC @beyonddc]

All this sprawl & traffic in order to avoid having denser infill buildings near the beach is genuinely bonkers.

Vastly worse for both the environment and for humans.

Rehoboth, DE

[BeyondDC @beyonddc]

In LotR when Aragon runs 45 leagues, that's around 135 miles.

In 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, it refers to how far the sub traveled while underwater, not depth.

[BeyondDC @beyonddc]

The preindustrial unit of measurement "league" is ~3 miles, based on the distance a person could walk in an hour.

[clara the urbanist @SlopHq]

the sun belt's entire pitch is "we let you build a house." that's the amenity. it's 104 degrees, there's no sidewalk, and people are moving there by the hundred thousand because california wouldn't legalize a fourplex.

[BeyondDC @beyonddc]

Adorable footbridges in major east coast urban parks. What others ya got?

[BeyondDC @beyonddc]

@CMRobertWhiteDC Maybe people should stop parking illegally so often then