Tag: smart growth
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Smart Growth Comes to the Military
by James A. Bacon My dad was a naval officer and, as consequence, I spent a good part of my youth in Norfolk. Although we lived off base, we regularly drove to the naval station to frequent the commissary, the doctor, the movie theater and the barber shop (25 cents bought you any kind of…
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The High Cost of Free Parking
by James A. Bacon As parking guru Donald Shoup has long argued, there is a very high cost to “free” parking. Typically, those costs are hidden, so people are unaware that they exist. While Shoup’s theory is gaining traction among urban planners, particularly the smart growth set, it hasn’t caught on with the general public,…
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The Metro Premium
How much is a location near a Metro station worth? In a fall 2013 study examining the economic impact of the Silver line on Tysons, researchers Cushman & Wakefield took a look at rents paid for commercial real estate and multifamily residences in Arlington County’s Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. The answer: Office tenants pay as much as…
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Time for Some Tactical Suburbanism
by James A. Bacon Tactical urbanism is the term used to describe small, inexpensive, often temporary, urban improvements that make life more colorful, fun or livable. They include such things as guerilla gardening, parklets, pavement to parks, pop-up retail, pavement-to-plaza, de-paving and chair bombing (the latter would be the creation of public seating, not the…
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No Easy Answers for NoVa’s I-95 Corridor
Traffic flow in the Interstate 95 corridor in Northern Virginia has improved since completion of the “Mixing Bowl” project (at the intersection with the Interstate 495 Capital Beltway) and travelers could see even more improvements when the I-95 express lane projects open for service. But several sections of I-95 still will operate at failing levels…
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New Questions about the Shockoe Stadium Proposal
by James A. Bacon I’m heartened to see someone on the Richmond City Council ask tough questions about big headline-grabbing deals. Councilman Jon Baliles (son of the former governor) has raised substantive issues about Mayor Dwight Jones’ proposal to build a new baseball stadium for the Flying Squirrels in Shockoe Bottom. In particular, the analysis…
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A Closer Look at Virginia Auto Ownership Patterns
Last week I published maps produced by the Vizual Statistix blog showing the breakdown of car ownership per household across the United States. Virginia appeared as the only East Coast hot spot on the map, with exceptionally high rates of automobile ownership compared to other states. Only limited conclusions could be drawn, I lamented, because…
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Tiny Homes, Meet Mobile Homes
by James A. Bacon I am tickled by the “tiny homes” movement, which the urbanist blogs treat with a certain reverence. To be sure, tiny homes (under 500 square feet) address a real problem: the unaffordability of real estate in some of the nation’s most desirable metropolitan areas. Tapping creativity and ingenuity to stretch the…
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Exposing the Black Friday Parking Myth
by James A. Bacon The Strong Towns blog has published a brilliant piece of crowd-sourced content on the topic of Black Friday parking. Here’s the issue: Smart Growth advocates are highly critical of local government regulations that mandate a minimum number of parking spaces around retail establishments. The resulting expanses of parking lots, they say,…
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Map of the Day: Cars Per Household
What is the most car-loving location east of the Mississippi? You guessed it — this is a Virginia blog, so I wouldn’t have brought it up if the answer weren’t the Old Dominion. The Vizual Statistix blog mapped the average number of vehicles per household for each county (and in Virginia, independent city) and, not…
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Tysons’ Parking Quandary
by James A. Bacon As the first phase of the Rail-to-Dulles Metro line nears opening day, potential riders are asking a basic question: How will they get to the Metro stations? Tysons, the location of four of the five new rail-transit stations, has not geared up to provide new parking. But the higher-density, mixed-use, pedestrian…
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The Zimmerman Telegram
Chris Zimmerman’s message upon leaving the Arlington County Board for Smart Growth America: Smart Growth is good for economic development, and other localities can benefit by Arlington’s example.
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Brace Yourself for the Internet of Things
by James A. Bacon The “Internet of Things” is one of the hottest buzz words in the global technology sector today. The phrase refers to a phenomenon, the mass proliferation of Internet-connected devices, that is as world-altering as the invention of the personal computer and the rise of the World Wide Web. Economy and society…
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Virginia Congestion-Rating Methodology in the Works
by James A. Bacon In 2012 the General Assembly passed a bill sponsored by Del. James L. LeMunyon, R-Chantilly, that called for rating significant transportation projects on their ability to reduce congestion. The idea promptly disappeared into the labyrinth of Virginia’s transportation bureaucracy. At the time, the issue seemed academic — the commonwealth was fast…
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Smart Cities around the World Are Saving Money Now. How about Your Home Town?
by James A. Bacon Suggested reading for every elected official, senior administrator and department head in Virginia government: “Smart Cities Readiness Guide” published by the Smart Cities Council. This easy-to-read document walks government practitioners (and interested citizens) through the process of using sensor, communications and analytic technologies to collect, communicate and crunch data. Proven smart…