Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

De-Gas Stationification

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by

James A. Bacon
in , ,

Endangered species? A gas station on Wilson Boulevard in Arlington.

You’ve no doubt seen the phrase, “degasification,” which refers to the removal of dissolved gases from liquids. Now modern American society is experiencing de-gas stationification, or the removal of gas stations from expensive urban settings.

The Washington Post highlights a trend in the Washington metropolitan area in which gas stations are disappearing from the inner suburbs.  “In Arlington County,” writes Katherine Shaver, ” four gas stations have given way to taller buildings in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor over the past decade, and last year, a Shell station closed on Columbia Pike, where the county is planning a streetcar line.” Gas stations are shutting down in Bethesda, Md., as well. In one stretch of Wisconsin Ave., four stations have shut down and the remaining two are being eyed for redevelopment.

Gas stations have been vanishing in cities like New York and downtown Washington for 20 years, Shaver notes, but the phenomenon seems to be spreading geographically, and accelerating due to a decline in gasoline consumption driven by more fuel-efficient cars, a lagging economy and demographic trends in which Millennials and Baby Boomers are driving less. The phenomenon is national in scope:

Nationwide, the number of gas stations has dropped from about 170,000 in 2002 to 156,065 in 2012, according to National Petroleum News. The District had 87 last year, compared with 119 a decade earlier, and Virginia lost about 1,000 stations — a drop from 4,981 to 3,939 — in that time. Last year, Maryland had 1,990 stations, almost 400 fewer than a decade earlier.

But an unappreciated factor could be rising land prices and property taxes. Gas stations take up a lot of space, and the land they sit on often can be more profitably used for offices or high-rises.

The trend raises a big issue for people who rely upon their automobiles for mobility and access. Sometimes they have to drive out of the way to reach a gas station. Surviving gas stations have more market power to price more aggressively. If de-gas stationification continus, the cost of automobile ownership will increase while the convenience of driving will decline. In dense urban areas with high land prices, all other things being equal, the trend could accelerate the shift to alternate modes of transport.

— JAB

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39 responses to “De-Gas Stationification”

  1. reed fawell III Avatar
    reed fawell III

    Excellent Article – War has been declared on the auto. Smart Growth is leading the charge. Every means and subterfuge, including the manipulation of government power, is being used by the growing Smart Growth Lobby to drive the automobile out of our cities. A bright spotlight needs to be directed on these coercive tactics that will end up doing a lot of harm to a lot of people.

  2. James A. Bacon Avatar
    James A. Bacon

    Reed, the WaPo article implies that market forces are responsible for the demise of the urban gas station. I’ve never heard of Smart Growth people targeting gas stations — not in Virginia, at least.

  3. reed fawell III Avatar
    reed fawell III

    It’s here. Likely it will be coming your way soon.

    Gas stations and parking spaces are Smart Growth targets to undermine peoples right to own and drive cars in cities. It’s wrong, mindless, and coercive. Redevelopment need not, and should not, destroy folks ability to park their car close by, or put gas in them in city. Redevelopment can easily accommodate both. Without both, far more harm will be done than good.

  4. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    Reed… off the trolley again… geeze guy….

    I read the WaPo article and found it …not surprising… to be honest.

    not a new thing… just a progression from the urban cores outward as they expand their footprints.

    down our way – in sprawl-commutia …. there is no shortage of stations although most of them are now convenience stores like WaWa, Sheetz, 7-11 and Fas Marts with Walmart, Cosco and Giant also in the game.

    Of course down our way, you can also find a plethora of three year old cars for sale with 100K on them.

  5. Richard Avatar
    Richard

    I suspect that Reed might be pulling our smart-growth legs. If the true cost of automobiles were reflected in the cost of ownership (roads, gasoline, pollution ) and not subsidized by the government, there would be fewer miles driven, and public transportation and “smart growth” would be more attractive.

  6. reed fawell III Avatar
    reed fawell III

    For your future See http://kensington.patch.com/articles/planning-board-costco-gas-station-does-not-fit-with-wheaton-master-plan –

    A big push going on now is to strip parking out of DC. This includes multifamily project recently approved with zero parking. This kind of coersive Smart Growth agenda has been around Md for nearly two decades. And in DC for at least a decade where politics kept it mostly underground until very recently. Now its surfaced. Stayed tuned for a whole lot more. Give these folks a few more years and DC will be Portland Oregon.

    1. DJRippert Avatar
      DJRippert

      Reed –

      The renaissance of Washington, DC was largely occasioned by the election of two excellent mayors – Anthony Washington and Adrian Fenty. Sandwiched between the reliably horrible mayors (Marion Barry, Vincent Gray, etc), the Washington – Fenty years (1999 – 2010) represented almost a miracle of competent governance. Sadly, it was not to last. Now, the District is back to the usual endless corrupt and incompetent politicians of the past.

      Get out while you can – before your property loses all value.

      Washington / Fenty were a once in a lifetime ray of hope. Such a run of vision and competence will not happen again in our lifetimes.

      1. DJRippert Avatar
        DJRippert

        Ha! I have Washington on the brain. Make that Anthony Williams.

        1. reed fawell III Avatar
          reed fawell III

          Yes, but there was also Walter Washington, our first major after dissolution of the commission system of governance that worked well.

          And your right. Absent W. Washington, A. Williams, and A. Fenty, all three of them fine mayors, Washington DC is our nations most under performing city if you measure its performance against its potential.

          As I recall, it’s twice now that the US Congress has been force to suspend Home Rule in our Nations Capital and impose martial law in its stead. Otherwise DC’s lawless financial misbehavior, graft, and irresponsibility threatened irreparable harm to our Nations Capital.

          Most recently, and best I can tell, Mayor Fenty was voted out of office for the high crimes of competence and honesty. The waste in this town is unimaginable by any normal standards. Where else can you find a way to spend $90,000,000 to rehab a school for 500 students? Where else but in the District is a Mayor and his School Director fired because student test scores soar after they reform to an otherwise abysmal school system. Now, in their absence, test scores sink.

          1. DJRippert Avatar
            DJRippert

            I am afraid that Washington, DC is a harbinger of things to come in America’s metro areas. The incredibly liberal District has the worst income and wealth inequality of any city in America. DC spends the most per student in the US and has some of the worst schools and worst student outcomes in the US.

            The top income tax rate (starting at $40,000) is 8.5%. Sales tax is 6%. Real estate taxes are $0.85 per $100 for occupied residential. Commercial real estate taxes are $1.65 per $100 of the first $3 million of assessed value and $1.85 per $100 of assessed value more than $3 million.

            In 2009, 21.6% of DC’s population was below the poverty line. Across the river, in Arlington County (once part of DC), 7.8% of the population was living below the poverty line.

            The great city of Chicago is well on its way to repeat the DC experiment in failed liberal governance.

          2. reed fawell III Avatar
            reed fawell III

            Once, looking out my office window, I watched THREE full grown men, contractors of the DC park system, prune a single shrub. Chest high, with its girth a few feet across, that single shrub consumed all eight hours of their work day – that’s 28 hours work – imagine the bill.

          3. reed fawell III Avatar
            reed fawell III

            Actually its 24 hours of work, although quite likely they billed 28.

  7. James A. Bacon Avatar
    James A. Bacon

    Using government to coerce the elimination of parking is just as bad as using government to mandate minimum parking requirements. Let the free market work. The supply of parking will achieve its own equilibrium.

    1. reed fawell III Avatar
      reed fawell III

      Well said – the unintended consequences here are huge. And I believe will be very harmful to all concerned, including intelligent and effective smart growth.

    2. larryg Avatar
      larryg

      yeah.. I noticed the use of the word “coercive” myself.

      if they REALLY want to shake things up – they should not provide free parking for government employees.

      Make them pay the going rate for parking and don’t give them subsidies to pay for it.

      then you might see something change.

      would doing that be “coercive”?

      Mr. Reed seems to have a wild side…. eh?

  8. Darrell Avatar
    Darrell

    The reduction and restriction of downtown parking was a pre-condition for federal funding of Norfolk’s Tide. City workers have free rides on the Tide.

    1. reed fawell III Avatar
      reed fawell III

      That should put an angry mob out front City Hall. Wake up America!!

    2. reed fawell III Avatar
      reed fawell III

      Hey, Darrell –

      Are the same folks who want to hit up US service men and women for tolls crossing through the tunnel for work defending our country, the one’s who want to give their government employees the free ride on the light rail?

  9. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    hard to “read” ‘Reed’ here. I thought in prior posts he was in favor of govt “coercion” !

    perhaps I do not understand and Reed can clear it up.

    but I can guarantee you that if govt workers had to pay regular parking rates, things would change overnight.

    and the irony is – when you visit many places, the parking is not free. they charge but you get a “pass”, in part, because they know, you likely will not come there in the future if parking is a hassle or expensive.

    I saw this in Arlington of all places at Crystal City… a few years back.

  10. reed fawell III Avatar
    reed fawell III

    I thought in prior posts (Reed) was in favor of govt “coercion” !

    Quite the reverse, Larry. Point out the spot and I’ll wipe out the stain.

  11. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    The reduction and restriction of downtown parking was a pre-condition for federal funding of Norfolk’s Tide. City workers have free rides on the Tide.

    reed fawell III | April 29, 2013 at 5:04 pm | Reply
    That should put an angry mob out front City Hall. Wake up America!!

  12. reed fawell III Avatar
    reed fawell III

    I believe it is wrong for the federal government to subsidize light rail on condition that local government impose penalties on other people’s local and lawful conduct, namely parking their cars.

    I also believe this injustice is compounded when government gives its employees free public transportation by shifting burden of lost revenues onto the shoulders of other citizens who don’t work for government.

    I believe government conduct of this sort should be strongly resisted. Otherwise it will it will stop, but will interfere ever more deeper into our daily lives. Thus its cure will become ever more difficult and dangerous.

    1. DJRippert Avatar
      DJRippert

      Reed –

      Hence the need to demolish the strong adherence to Dillon’s Rule.

      When localities have autonomy people have the choice of living in areas where the local government suits their needs. The “smart growth” localities are destined to be big government, highly regulated, high tax enclaves. If people like that – so be it.

      Other localities will be small government, lightly regulated, low tax enclaves. If people like that – so be it.

      The last thing we need is federal and state control.

      Is Talbot County anything like Montgomery County? Thank God no. For all its peculiarities Maryland has this far more right than Virginia does. Let the localities do their own thing.

      1. reed fawell III Avatar
        reed fawell III

        “The “smart growth” localities are destined to be big government, highly regulated, high tax enclaves. If people like that – so be it.”

        This is a very significant comment. The greatest threat to smart growth is that it can too easily be abused as a vehicle by ideologues and power trippers to intrude deeply into the everyday lives of citizens using the heavy handed tactics and mandates of abusive regulatory government.

        We can plainly see this happening right now as the Smart Growth lobby hops aboard the Federal Government gravy train like so many other narrowly focused self serving interest groups. Because smart growth is so focused on local issues, it’s the perfect tool by which local ideologues can team up with Big Federal Government to extend the reach of both down to the most local level, and so gain control the smallest details of our daily lives.

        Go onto and read many smart growth websites. See how the movement is now very aggressively trying to team up with big Federal government before your very eyes. This is all quite frightening.

        1. DJRippert Avatar
          DJRippert

          I have no problem with localities practicing smart growth. I think they will ultimately fail but they should be free to do what they want (so long as it reflects the will of the local populace).

          My concern comes with the possibility of entire states forcing policies onto localities. Most states inhibit this by having an evolved home rule doctrine that gives localities some autonomy. Virginia is not one of those states. The oligopoly (Star Scientific, Orion Air, Dominion, etc) that runs the state through the puppets in Richmond want to maintain complete control.

          Historically, Virginia has been a conservative, relatively small government state. However, that is changing rapidly. Not only are the liberal enclaves in the state gaining population they are also becoming more liberal.

          What happens when the Smart Growthers take over a Dillon’s Rule state?

          There will be nowhere to hide.

          The RPV needs a “Plan B”. Their Plan A is to run candidates who are more radical than the candidates from the past. Witness Cuccinelli. They actually believe that America rejected McCain and Romney because they were not conservative enough. So, their Plan A is to find uber-conservatives. But – what happens if Plan A fails? Well, if they had any brains their Plan B would be to implement home rule so that they are not held hostage in their own localities to a strong Democratic majority in Richmond with Dillon’s Rule power.

          Of course, that would presume that the RPV was something more than a pack of dime store cowboys hanging out in the woods eating hickory shad and drinking beer.

    2. larryg Avatar
      larryg

      okay. I see your point now. So you are opposed to govt-subsidized free parking also?

      how about free parking as a Federal employee/contractor benefit?

      how about METRO? do you oppose METRO because it is gov subsidized or as you say: ” shifting burden of lost revenues on other citizens”?

      If the Federal govt required each employee to pay for parking in DC/NoVa, would people still commute SOV to those jobs?

      I’m basically trying to calibrate where you are on these issues – and if your position(s) are self-consistent and not varying by situation.

      in other words, do you have one philosophy for how parking and public transit should function – independent of whether it is in NoVa or Norfolk and who should pay (or not) whether it be METRO or the TIDE?

      1. reed fawell III Avatar
        reed fawell III

        I am opposed to Government limiting the rights and choices of private citizens by penalizing them for engaging in lawful and purely local activity. I am opposed to government burdening its private citizens with extra costs for public services by giving them away free to government employees.

        1. larryg Avatar
          larryg

          Reed – if people are using publicly-funded infrastructure are those rights and choices subject to rules ?

          2. – do you support taxing people to pay for things like METRO rather than have it paid for by fares?

          3. – do you support taxing people to provide for free parking for people who work for the government?

          4. – If a company has a contract with the govt, do you believe the contractor employees should receive free parking as a benefit?

          thanks.

          1. reed fawell III Avatar
            reed fawell III

            Those questions do not touch my opinions in the least.

            And your questions never succeed in expressing your own opinions.

            Beyond that, Larry, I am not your research arm.

  13. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    re: the Dillion Rule and transportation infrastructure

    in 46 other states, there is no Dillion Rule with respect to local and regional roads.

    they are the sole province (Home Rule) of the locality and they have to have a separate funding source because the gas tax belongs to the state for statewide transportation needs.

    surely you’d want the FULL home rule deal, right? More autonomy AND more local responsibility, eh?

    not even Home Rule jurisdictions get to shirk their duty to pay state taxes for state services.

  14. TMT Avatar
    TMT

    With the exception of John Cook (Braddock District), Fairfax County supervisors do not want control of any local roads. Nada. Zip. Similarly, I have never heard one of them request home rule powers. Requests for additional specific authority – yes! But a home rule charter — no! I think they would like to tell VDOT what to do, but not in every instance. The lack of home rule gives supervisors an out that they would not have with home rule authority.

    I’ve heard Gerry Connolly (when on the Fairfax Board) say “Gee, I’d like to deny this [huge] rezoning application, but the darn Dillon Rule won’t let me.” A totally false, but politically expedient, statement.

    While I wish the County had some additional authority in specific areas, having a check on its ability to move beyond its already expansive operations makes me sleep better at night. I don’t think I am alone.

    1. DJRippert Avatar
      DJRippert

      Fairfax County is largely irrelevant. The strong turn toward liberalism across the state will result in Fairfax residents getting just want they want – dictatorial big government policies out of Richmond. By then, conservatives such as yourself and Jim Bacon will squeal about how unfair it is for the liberal state government to force its liberal policies on areas of the state that are conservative.

      If you want to see a harbinger of things to come – look at the gas tax in North Carolina.

      I realize that the conservatives in Virginia honestly think that the solution to their electoral losses is to become more conservative. Fine. Give that a try. But, when that fails – then what?

      I would strongly suggest that conservatives in Virginia start considering a Plan B in the event that the “become yet more radical” approach fails. I would further suggest that a home rule option is the best Plan B available at this time.

      It wasn’t that long ago that Maryland was a balanced state. Throughout the 1970s both Maryland’s US Seantors were Republican. Then, they switched to Democratic and stayed that way. Sound familiar? In the 107th Congress Maryland sent 4 Republicans and 4 Democrats to the US House of Representatives (2001 – 2003). Today, only one of Maryland’s US Representatives is a Republican. Maryland’s switch from purple to blue happened very fast leaving Maryland’s Republicans slack jawed and glassy eyed. However, at least Maryland has home rule.

      The conservative people in Maryland are damn glad that Maryland has home rule. For example, Maryland divides its income tax between state and county taxes. The state income tax is comparable to Virginia’s (at the top level). However, the county income tax rates vary between 1.25% and 3.2%. People who live in counties that value smaller government and fewer government services have the authority to hold down the cost of government. People who live in counties where big government is considered a plus can raise their county income taxes.

      Bottom line – Once Virginia turns completely blue it will be the state’s conservatives who are crying like little girls over the innate unfairness of Dillon’s Rule.

      Wake up, contards – the time to act is now, while you still can act.

  15. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    here is something on local home rule authority that might be worth reading:

    Local Government Authority

    The Constitution of the United States does not mention local governments. Instead, the Tenth Amendment reserved authority-giving powers to the states. It is not surprising, then, that there is a great diversity in state-local relations between, as well as within, states. This means that to speak of local government in the United States is to speak of more than fifty different legal and political situations. The state municipal leagues can provide information about the charters that each state constitution has adopted.

    Types of Authority Given

    Political power in a state can be divided into three spheres: the local government, the state government and the functions that the two governments share. Within the local sphere, there are four categories in which the state allows discretionary authority:

    Structural — power to choose the form of government, charter and enact charter revisions
    Functional — power to exercise local self government in a broad or limited manner

    Fiscal — authority to determine revenue sources, set tax rates, borrow funds and other related financial activities
    Personnel — authority to set employment rules, remuneration rates, employment conditions and collective bargaining

    http://www.nlc.org/build-skills-and-networks/resources/cities-101/city-powers/local-government-authority

    interestingly enough, it identifies Maryland as a Dillon Rule state.

  16. reed fawell III Avatar
    reed fawell III

    Imagine the state of Maryland operating under the Dillon Rule. It’d be operating somewhere between France, Former East Germany, and Rumania.

  17. Peter Galuszka Avatar
    Peter Galuszka

    Interesting but not sure all that unusual. I have lived in densely-packed urban areas of Washington, Chicago, New York and Moscow. It was hard to find a gas station there.

    It’s no surprise that Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda is running short of gas stations. The place became urbanized years ago and there’s ample public transit nearby.

    What would make news if Prince William County or Loudoun started having fewer gas stations.

  18. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    no shortage of fuel stations in exurbia/commuteria.

    all those folks driving 100 miles a day to/from work need their gasoline – so they can get to their “free” parking at work.

  19. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    Since the US Constitution allocated to state the rights it did not reserve to itself, it left it up to the states decide if they wanted to follow similar practice in further allocating some powers to localities.

    In that regard, one could consider the U.S. to be essentially a Dillion Rule Nation – and perhaps that’s where Judge Dillon himself got his ideas.

    Those that advocate not sending taxes to the State are not advocating Home Rule, they’re advocating succession and forming their own state.

    I give credit for creativeness of thought but demerits for representing Home Rule as just trying to get away form Dillon.

    There’s a lot of practical issues.

    do we have one State Police or just local police and no state police?

    do we have local DMVs and no state level DMV?

    does each locality promulgate it’s own environmental regulations?

    uniform building and fire codes?

    public school curricula?

    road design standards?

    etc, etc, etc.

    DJ believes that Fairfax can do a better job than Richmond. TMT, OTOH is thankful that Richmond is in charge.

    1. DJRippert Avatar
      DJRippert

      “DJ believes that Fairfax can do a better job than Richmond. TMT, OTOH is thankful that Richmond is in charge.”.

      All conservative living in NoVa pray at the alter of Dillon’s rule. They hope Nanny Richmond can exert enough control over NoVa to thwart the generally liberal leaning of a majority of its residents.

      Of course, if Richmond becomes liberal – they have no plan.

  20. reed fawell III Avatar
    reed fawell III

    Governor’s office is quite powerful in Md. Even when a Republican Governor is serving concurrently with Md’s typically overwhelmingly Democratic legislature, it’s a powerful office. But, since Spiro A in 1970s, only one Republican Governor has won an election. He was defeated after only one term So Democrats have controlled governorship for 38 of last roughly 42 years. And, only God knows what last Md. legislature was controlled by Republicans. So a Democratic Governor has even greater power. Beyond that and how power is divided between state and local, I am clueless.

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