Snow Emergency: Don't Walk

Having experienced many of my Christmases as a youth in Buffalo, I'm generally nonplussed by big snow storms. This one has confined me to my house, however, and I've been watching the madness unfold on News Channel 8, where they are warning us not to venture outside our houses if we don't have to do so.

Route 1 in Laurel, taken from the front of the Greene Turtle. Plenty of cars were out despite warnings, making pedestrian conditions hazardous. Photo by the author.

Generally, that's very good advice. However, they were showing footage of pedestrians crossing streets and dismissing it as wildly dangerous behavior because, hey, cars gotta use those streets! Certainly driving conditions merit warnings, but why are we chiding the pedestrians instead of the people driving non-emergency vehicles? How are pedestrians expected to stay out of the streets when public services are focusing efforts on clearing roadways while ignoring sidewalks?

Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson declared a state of emergency because so many county residents failed to heed warnings not to drive. I saw a few of those obstinate drivers on my walk to the Safeway in my neighborhood... which of course was closed. In fact, the only things open in Laurel Lakes Shopping Center were a nail salon (?) and a liquor store. Eventually I found an open 7-11, but suffice to say there was a lack of healthy diet staples. The proprietor, Pankaj, had walked to his store this morning to make sure Laurel Lakes could at least purchase Hot Pockets and yogurt smoothies if nothing else. This really made me wish my neighborhood had live-work units. Not to mention sidewalks.

Despite my lack of healthy food, open shops, and decent pedestrian facilities, at least I wasn't threatened with a gun during a snowball fight. A public gathering in the public realm at 14th and U NW was broken up because... wait for it... a car was hit by a couple of snowballs. The man brandishing the weapon was an off-duty policeman. The message: People don't matter in a snow emergency. Cars do.

Who Has the Day Off?

Considering the unprecedented transportation challenges that we'll experience on Tuesday, much of the region is taking the day off work. Much of the DoD at Fort Meade is not, however. My colleagues in Virginia are kind of screwed by this. I have taken the day off to guide visiting family around the event, but that's a vacation day for me.

So do you have the day off? Where do you live and work? How is your employer treating the day off? Is it for practical or patriotic reasons? Are you planning to attend the Inauguration? Share your thoughts.

How I'm Getting to the Inauguration

Hopefully I'll be over my cold by then, but I do plan on attending the Inauguration, which is now only a week away. But with massive transportation issues that day and estimates as high as 5 million people coming to town, getting there seems to be a scary proposition.

I'll have two out of town visitors that I'm putting up at my home in Laurel. My usual stations of choice are Greenbelt, College Park, Cheverly, and New Carrollton. But considering that the Green and Orange Lines are located on the Beltway, I think I'm going to try a different approach.

I'll be heading to Silver Spring Metro station. Here's why: first of all, the other stations on that end of the Red Line (Forest Glen, Wheaton, and Glenmont) will certainly see a great deal of volume, but I do not believe that the gobs of out-of-towners will be flooding them the way they will at Shady Grove, New Carrollton, and Greenbelt, considering the much more "ideal" locations of those stations being at major highway junctions. Forest Glen is right off the Beltway, but it is a tiny station, and it is not marked on the Beltway the way other stations are.

Second, Silver Spring has plenty of stuff to do. If for some reason I make it down there and there is good reason not to go into the city, there are dozens of places to go and watch history unfold on TV. I plan on catching dinner there after the festivities, and showing the area off to my cousin and his friend.

Third, ample parking. As a car-oriented person, I have to take this into account. Hopefully you won't have to do so. Silver Spring has ample garages, and there ought to be enough folks getting off work to make parking there a viable option. Also, I don't believe that tour buses will be flooding this station in the same manner that they will be flooding other outer stations.

My the first reason is my primary reason. I figure people coming from points south will flood the VA stations. From the northeast, they'll all head towards Greenbelt. From the northwest, Shady Grove, and from the east, New Carrollton. Perhaps Huntington and Branch Avenue might be decent options by that logic. Does anyone else have any good plan for getting down there? Are there major flaws in my logic? How are you getting down there?

New Years Resolutions

I'm making a few resolutions for 2009 to try and make it the year of the urbanist:

-I will write my congressman, senators, governor, mayor, county executive, and other government representatives more often to promote productive transportation and development projects.
-I will use Metro more when I go into the city.
-I will continue to make waves about the lack of mass transit service at my job on Fort Meade.
-I will write more, on both Imagine, DC and GreaterGreaterWashington.
-I will do everything within my power to move somewhere more transportation friendly
-I will participate in Car-Free day.
-I will shop more at locally owned businesses.
-I will show out of town friends and relatives around DC.
-I will learn my local bus system
-I will combine and reduce car trips and make sure that my car is running as clean as it possibly can.
-I will ride mass transit in other cities when I visit them.
-I will try and plan a trip using AMTRAK instead of flying or driving.
-I will write more about Virginia and other areas I don't know very well yet.
-I will seek alternative transportation modes for my neighborhood, including pedestrian and bike facilities.
-I will attend area events via Metro, including sports, concerts, and events on the Mall.
-I will take suggestions from comments on this post!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

I wanted to wish all my readers the happiest of holiday seasons, no matter what you are celebrating. I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank the folks who inspired me to become more active in urban planning and local politics.

I was always interested in human geography and city layouts. I started drawing towns on maps at age six, and I've been a religious Sim City player most of my life (Tradopolis in Sim City 4 got up to 9 million people!) I lacked good opportunity to study urban planning during my first crack at college, and my Army career pigeon-holed me into a completely different line of work (which I greatly enjoy, but I'd rather be doing this stuff).

So let me give a couple of unsolicited plugs here.

BeyondDC- the first site I ever staggered across that got me involved.
GreaterGreaterWashington- an excellent site that covers all things planning DC
Just Up the Pike, Silver Spring Singular, and Scenic Wheaton- who write about where I grew up
Laurel Connections- who focus on my current home
Track Twenty-Nine- has some amazing transit visualizations that inspired me to start writing
Trip Within the Beltway- Without whom there would be few discussions on this site

And I encourage readers to check out any other sites I link on Imagine, DC. They are all interesting, well written sites, some updated more often than others, some quirkier than others, but all informative and enjoyable.

So whether it be Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza, Yule, the Solstice, or just plain old New Years you are celebrating, I sincerely hope everyone out there has a happy one. Keep our troops overseas in mind and heart, and have a peaceful end to 2008.