5 ms·

People hate change, no matter how good or bad. For instance, Arlington, VA has transformed massively since they ran the DC Metro through it. To someone who was

People hate change, no matter how good or bad. For instance, Arlington, VA has transformed massively since they ran the DC Metro through it. To someone who was alive in the 1960s the parts near the Metro lines would be almost unrecognizable. Here's a letter to the editor complaining of all the changes in Arlington written a few days ago: https://www.arlnow.com/2015/12/09/letter-to-the-editor-arlington-was-better-without-high-rises/ https://www.arlnow.com/2015/12/09/letter-to-the-editor-arlin... TL;DR old woman complains of change, wishes there were still cows in land immediately adjacent to the nation's capital city.

DanBC 11y ago
> wishes there were still cows in land immediately adjacent to the nation's capital city. Considering how important and influential the beef industry is that's not a terrible idea.
- Zach_the_Lizard 11y ago
  Considering how expensive housing and office space is in and around DC, I think this would be a terrible idea. We shouldn't make housing and office space more expensive so that we can allow one special industry to lobby slightly more effectively. This was even true in the 40s and 50s; DC had had explosive growth due to WWII and the population was over 800,000 people. There was a shortage of housing even then which Arlington and other areas took advantage of. If anything, rural interests are already over represented in the Federal government given the nature of the Senate and how we determine the number of members in the house and electoral college votes.
  - nitrogen 11y ago
    I say this a lot on HN: rural interests are urban interests. That's where our food and clean air are made.
    - Zach_the_Lizard 11y ago
      >I say this a lot on HN: rural interests are urban interests. No, they don't always align. There are different needs in rural areas and urban areas that compete with one another. Transportation needs, for instance, are vastly different in rural Illinois than in Chicago. Farmers might lobby for more and bigger roads and dislike public transit because it doesn't make sense in their regions. Meanwhile people in Chicago want more and better transit. These needs compete for the same infrastructure dollars. People in cities need to eat, but their interests are directly harmed by the various food price control mechanisms that the Feds put in place. Price floors, for instance, ensure that milk won't get too cheap. Who benefits? Farmers who couldn't compete at lower prices. Who loses? Every other person. Cities can pollute rivers that farmers depend on or even dam them for power needs. They can seize agricultural land for urban needs like high speed rail or airports or landfills. So no, urban and rural interests don't always align. There are quite a number of issues that can benefit one or the other but not both. I don't agree with stacking the deck so that they get more power per capita.
rm_-rf_slash 11y ago
Arlington is a Jane Jacobs nightmare. With the exception of places like Clarendon, it's all tall buildings with enormous lawns surrounding them at every angle. It makes walking almost worthless, even in a huge metropolitan area. Contrast with Manhattan: much taller, much denser, with a greater concentration of shops and services per area. It's not that change or densification is bad by any means, but there are ways to do it very, very wrong, and fixing those changes takes decades, if it is ever even done.
- Zach_the_Lizard 11y ago
  >With the exception of places like Clarendon, it's all tall buildings with enormous lawns surrounding them at every angle. It makes walking almost worthless, even in a huge metropolitan area. When were you last in Arlington? I live in Arlington and I walk everywhere and bike to work. Arlington is actually used as a model in urban planning textbooks to show a transformation from a car centric area into a walkable one. The states are clear; traffic has fallen and it is almost at the point where a majority of people don't drive alone to work. The Crystal City, Pentagon City, and Rosslyn (to a much lesser extent) areas have lots of work to be done, but N. Arlington along Wilson and Clarendon are very walkable from Rosslyn to Ballston. I can't think of too many 'tall buildings surrounded by lawns' along Wilson or Clarendon Blvds. Look at it from the air. I know of one in Rosslyn that meets the description near the Safeway; it has a lawn. Other than that, there's not too much green space other than a small handful of parks. Areas away from the Metro are mostly single family housing with a handful of places, like some spots on Columbia Pike, that have some slight walkability to them. >Contrast with Manhattan: much taller, much denser, with a greater concentration of shops and services per area. Of course, it's Manhattan. Anywhere in the greater DC metro area compares unfavorably given that nowhere in the area is nearly as dense, even in DC. Few, if any, places in the US could be compared favorably. EDIT: Here are some streetview links illustrating the built environment in Arlington for those outside of the area. View on Clarendon Blvd. facing away from DC on western end of Rosslyn: https://goo.gl/maps/X96A2w9spsJ2 https://goo.gl/maps/X96A2w9spsJ2 Wilson Blvd. near the Rosslyn Metro station: https://goo.gl/maps/owGGWu4ZyP32 https://goo.gl/maps/owGGWu4ZyP32 Near the actual Courthouse https://goo.gl/maps/8dRAzVzEHf92 https://goo.gl/maps/8dRAzVzEHf92 Another view near the Court House Metro station: https://goo.gl/maps/mz5Z7uE9JVs https://goo.gl/maps/mz5Z7uE9JVs One of the remnant suburban style buildings on the Court House / Claredon border: https://goo.gl/maps/L295anQZ46H2 https://goo.gl/maps/L295anQZ46H2 Clarendon: https://goo.gl/maps/9XfPUP76k4r https://goo.gl/maps/9XfPUP76k4r Another view of Clarendon: https://goo.gl/maps/gHSk93EBfcD2 https://goo.gl/maps/gHSk93EBfcD2 Ballston: https://goo.gl/maps/fo7hfint9qj https://goo.gl/maps/fo7hfint9qj Another view from Wilson: https://goo.gl/maps/m2Jtt42uMnM2 https://goo.gl/maps/m2Jtt42uMnM2 Virginia Square: https://goo.gl/maps/yCQHcv21CGm https://goo.gl/maps/yCQHcv21CGm
d_theorist 11y ago
I must admit that I found the letter rather charming. Particular highlights: >Why couldn’t the county have been left as it was in the “old days,” >Why, I can’t even find my way around most of the county any more! >When I was in the first grade at John Marshall Elementary, I remember riding the school bus by an old house on Military Road with a milk cow in the front yard!

DanBC 11y ago

> wishes there were still cows in land immediately adjacent to the nation's capital city. Considering how important and influential the beef industry is that's not a terrible idea.

Zach_the_Lizard 11y ago
Considering how expensive housing and office space is in and around DC, I think this would be a terrible idea. We shouldn't make housing and office space more expensive so that we can allow one special industry to lobby slightly more effectively. This was even true in the 40s and 50s; DC had had explosive growth due to WWII and the population was over 800,000 people. There was a shortage of housing even then which Arlington and other areas took advantage of. If anything, rural interests are already over represented in the Federal government given the nature of the Senate and how we determine the number of members in the house and electoral college votes.
- nitrogen 11y ago
  I say this a lot on HN: rural interests are urban interests. That's where our food and clean air are made.
  - Zach_the_Lizard 11y ago
    >I say this a lot on HN: rural interests are urban interests. No, they don't always align. There are different needs in rural areas and urban areas that compete with one another. Transportation needs, for instance, are vastly different in rural Illinois than in Chicago. Farmers might lobby for more and bigger roads and dislike public transit because it doesn't make sense in their regions. Meanwhile people in Chicago want more and better transit. These needs compete for the same infrastructure dollars. People in cities need to eat, but their interests are directly harmed by the various food price control mechanisms that the Feds put in place. Price floors, for instance, ensure that milk won't get too cheap. Who benefits? Farmers who couldn't compete at lower prices. Who loses? Every other person. Cities can pollute rivers that farmers depend on or even dam them for power needs. They can seize agricultural land for urban needs like high speed rail or airports or landfills. So no, urban and rural interests don't always align. There are quite a number of issues that can benefit one or the other but not both. I don't agree with stacking the deck so that they get more power per capita.

rm_-rf_slash 11y ago

Arlington is a Jane Jacobs nightmare. With the exception of places like Clarendon, it's all tall buildings with enormous lawns surrounding them at every angle. It makes walking almost worthless, even in a huge metropolitan area. Contrast with Manhattan: much taller, much denser, with a greater concentration of shops and services per area. It's not that change or densification is bad by any means, but there are ways to do it very, very wrong, and fixing those changes takes decades, if it is ever even done.

Zach_the_Lizard 11y ago
>With the exception of places like Clarendon, it's all tall buildings with enormous lawns surrounding them at every angle. It makes walking almost worthless, even in a huge metropolitan area. When were you last in Arlington? I live in Arlington and I walk everywhere and bike to work. Arlington is actually used as a model in urban planning textbooks to show a transformation from a car centric area into a walkable one. The states are clear; traffic has fallen and it is almost at the point where a majority of people don't drive alone to work. The Crystal City, Pentagon City, and Rosslyn (to a much lesser extent) areas have lots of work to be done, but N. Arlington along Wilson and Clarendon are very walkable from Rosslyn to Ballston. I can't think of too many 'tall buildings surrounded by lawns' along Wilson or Clarendon Blvds. Look at it from the air. I know of one in Rosslyn that meets the description near the Safeway; it has a lawn. Other than that, there's not too much green space other than a small handful of parks. Areas away from the Metro are mostly single family housing with a handful of places, like some spots on Columbia Pike, that have some slight walkability to them. >Contrast with Manhattan: much taller, much denser, with a greater concentration of shops and services per area. Of course, it's Manhattan. Anywhere in the greater DC metro area compares unfavorably given that nowhere in the area is nearly as dense, even in DC. Few, if any, places in the US could be compared favorably. EDIT: Here are some streetview links illustrating the built environment in Arlington for those outside of the area. View on Clarendon Blvd. facing away from DC on western end of Rosslyn: https://goo.gl/maps/X96A2w9spsJ2 https://goo.gl/maps/X96A2w9spsJ2 Wilson Blvd. near the Rosslyn Metro station: https://goo.gl/maps/owGGWu4ZyP32 https://goo.gl/maps/owGGWu4ZyP32 Near the actual Courthouse https://goo.gl/maps/8dRAzVzEHf92 https://goo.gl/maps/8dRAzVzEHf92 Another view near the Court House Metro station: https://goo.gl/maps/mz5Z7uE9JVs https://goo.gl/maps/mz5Z7uE9JVs One of the remnant suburban style buildings on the Court House / Claredon border: https://goo.gl/maps/L295anQZ46H2 https://goo.gl/maps/L295anQZ46H2 Clarendon: https://goo.gl/maps/9XfPUP76k4r https://goo.gl/maps/9XfPUP76k4r Another view of Clarendon: https://goo.gl/maps/gHSk93EBfcD2 https://goo.gl/maps/gHSk93EBfcD2 Ballston: https://goo.gl/maps/fo7hfint9qj https://goo.gl/maps/fo7hfint9qj Another view from Wilson: https://goo.gl/maps/m2Jtt42uMnM2 https://goo.gl/maps/m2Jtt42uMnM2 Virginia Square: https://goo.gl/maps/yCQHcv21CGm https://goo.gl/maps/yCQHcv21CGm

d_theorist 11y ago

I must admit that I found the letter rather charming. Particular highlights: >Why couldn’t the county have been left as it was in the “old days,” >Why, I can’t even find my way around most of the county any more! >When I was in the first grade at John Marshall Elementary, I remember riding the school bus by an old house on Military Road with a milk cow in the front yard!