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INTERSECT Support Intersect, join WRN, visit: http://washingtonregion.net/html/contributionform.html. Summary: All articles by WRN board and staff unless otherwise mentioned. As our region grows, how will Metrorail and bus service accommodate
new riders, improve service to existing communities, and increase access
and convenience for people of all incomes? Please R.S.V.P. attendance only to Cassie Seiple at WRN, 202/667-5445, staff@washingtonregion.net. For directions, visit http://www.washingtonregion.net.
On January 8th, the D.C. City Council passed the Housing Act of 2001, twelve to one (Harold Brazil At-large, opposed) with important provisions for building, preserving and re-habilitating housing for low-income households. The legislation, a combination of bills introduced by Mayor Anthony Williams and Councilmember David Catania (At-large), has been deliberated for nine months, with extensive input from WRN and other housing advocates. "We believe it is the first time in a generation that the city has decided to spend its own revenues on affordable housing" says Janet W. Brown, a WRN board member. Among the significant victories for low-income families include a provision of the Mayor's bill funding the Housing Production Trust Fund from real estate taxes and fees (at about $12 million a year) and one from Catania's bill to reward Section 8 landlords who stay with the program after their contracts run out. A coalition of housing groups worked diligently to focus allocation of the Trust Fund to families designated as "extremely low-income" (40% of the fund for families of four with household income of under $25,000 a year), "very low-income" (40% for families with incomes between $25,000 and $43,000), and 20% for families living on $43,000 to $68,000 a year. (The median income in D.C. for a family of four is just under $50,000.) Housing advocates also insisted that 50% of the funds be spent on rental housing. Councilmember Adrian Fenty (Ward 4) championed the amendments. Only Councilmembers Brazil (At-large) and Catania voted against these policy directives for the Fund. Brown emphasized that "the legislation is a great first step in what needs to be done to assure affordable housing in D.C. - just as important is the growth and determination of the broad community coalition that is united in advocacy for the needs of low-income families." This coalition includes: D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, Georgetown Legal Clinic, Gray Panthers, League of Women Voters, Washington Inner-city Self Help (WISH), Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, and the Washington Regional Network for Livable Communities. "D.C. now has an undeniable affordable housing movement that must be acknowledged by the Mayor and Council in future planning for the city," asserts Linda Leaks of WISH.
Several bills giving greater attention to pedestrians and bicyclists were introduced into Virginia's 2002 General Assembly this month. Senator Mary Margaret Whipple (D), who introduced the pedestrian focused bills says, "We can best alleviate gridlock with transit." Since most people are "at least part time pedestrians, making our roads and streets safer for walkers is of critical importance. Pedestrian fatalities have been rising in the metro area, and providing well designed sidewalks and crosswalks will help." Delegate A. Victor Thomas (D) introduced HB 836 requiring that the interests of pedestrians and bicyclists be represented by the members of the Board of Transportation Safety. Another related bill, HB806, introduced by James F. Almand (D) would establish Regional Bicycle Advisory Committees within the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). Both of these bills were referred to the Committee on Transportation. Two bills introduced by Senator Whipple that would benefit pedestrians passed in the Senate this week: SB382, which would allow VDOT to undertake pedestrian projects apart from highway projects, and SB393, which calls for a Statewide Pedestrian Plan to promote pedestrian access to schools, places of employment and recreation, and major activity centers. Senator Whipple also introduced SB397, which requires that 25% of all federal transportation program safety funds be allocated to fund pedestrian safety improvements across the commonwealth, including the Safe Routes to School Program. This bill was defeated in the Committee on Transportation. "Even if none of these measures pass this session, they are a sign that Virginia citizens are asking their legislators for a greater commitment to transportation alternatives," said Allen Muchnick, President of the VA Bicycle Federation and WRN Board Member. To contact your Delegate or Senator, visit http://legis.state.va.us, call Senate Legislative Information and Constituent Services, toll free 888/892-6948, or House of Delegates Information and Public Relations, toll free 877/391-FACT.
Several proposals to increase the northern Virginia sales tax from one-half to one cent in order to generate approximately $2.3 billion to $3.7 billion dollars for transportation projects are currently before the Senate Finance Committee and House Appropriations Committee. Bills by Delegate Rollison (HB1296, HB1295), Delegate Hull (HB1163), Delegate Dillard (HB451) and Senator Colgan (SB170) include both transit and road projects, although road projects could potentially receive from 60-70% of the funding. Competing for priority under new sales tax revenue is a strong push for school repair and construction both regionally and statewide. Business groups argue that severe traffic congestion, potential loss of economic activity and shortfalls in transportation funding demand more funding for transportation. They argue that the state is not providing enough funding for northern Virginia and have sought to have the region raise its own funds. All of the bills include transportation project lists that would target funding for the "234 Bypass/Route 659 Relocated" which would serve as a segment of the Western Transportation Corridor, some bills also include the Northern Potomac Crossing or 'Techway,' and widening of I-66 inside the Beltway. "Neither the I-66 widening inside the Beltway nor the Techway are in either the Northern Virginia 2020 Plan or the regional Constrained Long Range Plan (CLRP) - the proposed bypass projects were deemed to be post-2020 or low priority. They do not help to relieve traffic on the Beltway or other key commuter routes," said Stewart Schwartz, Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. The Coalition for Smarter Growth believes that in the absence of smarter growth, increasing transportation spending will not reduce congestion. The Coalition advocates implementation of transit-oriented development at Metro and VRE stations, pedestrian and bike friendly community designs, land conservation, and other measures to reduce sprawl and the growth in driving. Montgomery County Chooses a Future for Growth In early February, the Montgomery County Council will hold public hearings on the recommendations submitted to them by the Transportation Policy Task Force (TPR) to help them make future decisions on how to manage growth and traffic congestion in the County. The Montgomery County Planning Board and County Council appointed the 35- member Task Force last year to reach a consensus on long-term transportation needs for the county. Last fall the Task Force presented two visions for the future at numerous well-attended public workshops. One vision had an emphasis on expanded transit and balanced land use, and the other focused on new and widened roads. The information presented included transportation modeling results that predicted shorter travel times with expanded transit compared to auto travel times on new roads. When asked which the participants preferred, most favored the transit scenario in the areas of environmental protection, proposed land use changes, congestion relief, an inner Purple Line, and the approach to regional connectivity. Rodolfo Perez, a Silver Spring resident on the Task Force noted, "This scenario was preferred by two-thirds of the citizens engaged in the public outreach workshops conducted by the Task Force." A group of civic and environmental groups representing thousands of residents in Montgomery County responded to the workshops by endorsing a balanced land use and transit approach to growth. These groups describe balanced land use as focusing development around transit to reduce the number of cars on the roads and restore traditional walkable communities. The majority of the Task Force however, discounted the citizen input as unscientific. The Planning Board chose not to support the transit and balanced land use and transit scenario in its recommendations to the Montgomery County Council. Contrary to the majority of citizen responses, the recommendations include the following road expansions: building most of the Inter-County Connector, building the Montrose Parkway, and widening I-270 to the Fredrick County line. The Planning Board did however include building the southern stretch of the Corridor Cities Transit Way and part of the Purple Line, although an inner or outer alignment was not specified - if chosen, the inner line and Transit Way would be in accordance with the balanced land use and transit scenario. For the TPR's full recommendations, visit http://www.mc-mncppc.org or call 301/495-4525. Public hearings on the TPR's recommendations are scheduled for February 12 and 13th - call Delphine Harriston at 240/ 777-7931 to testify.
Since stepping down as chair of the D.C. Control Board, former White House Office of Management and Budget Chief and Brookings Institution economist Alice Rivlin has not stopped thinking about the future of the Capital City. Rivlin, speaking before a full house at WRN's November forum at the Sumner School, addressed the question, "What kind of city do we want Washington to be?" This discussion followed up on the 2001 Brookings report, Envisioning a Future Washington, co-authored by Rivlin and Carol O'Cleireacain (see http://www.brookings.edu/es/urban/gwrp/DCfuture.htm) and was a part of WRN's series of regular forums addressing issues of regional significance. Rivlin led her remarks by observing that the D.C. fiscal crisis is behind us, the attitude of Congress about the city has slightly improved, and the population is increasing. A Recession, terrorism, and fear of change create anxiety all over the city, but Rivlin proffered that D.C. is better off than most cities. On the other hand, she said we have a badly deteriorating infrastructure and a badly divided city. What we all want, according to Rivlin, is diversity, safe streets, affordable housing, stores, services, good transportation, and schools - a city with more community and less poverty, and less concentration of poverty. To compensate for population loss since the 1970s, Rivlin said we need to grow the population that will support businesses and create jobs. Adding adults, old and young, is the easiest and least expensive way to grow the population. This is happening already, but these newcomers won't necessarily commit to the city for the long run, and they could further divide the city between rich and poor. Attracting and keeping families with children is a more difficult and more expensive proposition (primarily because of the cost of education), but clearly is the healthier way to go. Since revitalization of a neighborhood requires a comprehensive strategy, Rivlin suggests that it is important to choose neighborhoods that are near Metro stations and have a combination of elements: hope, active community organizations, an anchor institution that's a major employer with whom to partner (for D.C., that is mostly universities and hospitals), some good housing stock, schools that are ready to be improved, a health center, and recreational facilities. Rivlin warned that care must be taken not to push people out of their communities, so some of the easiest places to build new housing and add to the tax base will be parts of the city where there is an abundance of vacant land, e.g., the waterfront, north of Massachusetts Avenue, downtown, and St. Elizabeth's. Partnerships must be sought with major government and non-government institutions. Rivlin suggested that there are things the city can do that have been done elsewhere and not yet tried here, like requiring a mix of incomes in all new developments, or capturing the rising values in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood and returning it to the particularly affected neighborhood to protect long-time residents. And, Rivlin emphasized, we have to get federal money on a regular basis to compensate for our restricted tax base, restricted by the nature of the nation's capital and by Congress. Rivlin concluded that she hoped the on-going Greater Washington Research
Program at the Brookings Institution would stimulate serious dialogue
about the choices and strategies before the city. That dialogue started
immediately with more than twenty questions from the audience, including
representatives of the press. Among suggestions coming from the audience
were proposals to alter the tax structure (specifically by taxing higher
incomes more and taxing land values rather than property); by restructuring
mortgages (among other things, by offering location-efficient mortgages);
Stay tuned: The Director of the D.C. Office of Planning, Andy Altman will discuss the Mayor's Task Force on transit-oriented development in the District at WRN's next forum in March/April. This forum will feature the first public presentation of WRN's Metro In Your Neighborhood.
Effective January 2002, Metrochek/SmartBenefits monthly commuting benefits increases from $65 to $100. In June 1998, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21) was signed into law. Under this program, employers receive a tax deduction for the cost of passing on the $100 tax free benefit to their workers to pay for public transportation or vanpool commutes. See the Metrochek page of www.wmata.com for details.
Thursday, February 7, 12 - 2pm. Low Impact Development: Green Ideas from Toolshed to Watershed, a DC Environmental Network Brown Bag Luncheon with Dawn Gifford, Program Coordinator, Community Resources; John Tippett, Executive Director, Friends of the Rappahannock; Neil Weinstein, Executive Director, Low Impact Development Center. Location: Friends of the Earth, 1025 Vermont Avenue, NW 3rd Floor (McPherson Square Metro) Call Chris Weiss, 202-783-7400 x120, email: cweiss@foe.org. Public Forums on Priority Environmental Legislation for the 2002 Maryland
General Assembly: Saturday, February 9, 11am. March to Save Our Health, join residents of River Terrace and environmental activists from across the District as they march to the gates of the PEPCO plant and demand that they shut it down & provide cleaner air for D.C. Meet in front of Varick Memorial AME Church, 225 Anacostia Ave NE, just 3 blocks South of Benning Road. Take Metro to Minnesota Ave Station (orange line) and transfer to the X2 bus to the corner of Benning Rd. and Anacostia Ave. For more information, call 202-610-3360. Monday, February 11, 8:30am - 10:30am. Elinor Bacon, National Capital Revitalization Corporation & Andy Altman, D.C. Office of Planning The Washington Chapter/AIA brings the president of the new NCRC, successor to the District's Redevelopment Land Agency, to discuss their mission, and D.C.'s Planning Director, to give an update on planning issues facing the city. Location: National AIA Headquarters, 1735 New York Avenue, NW. Reservations required. Call 202/667-1798, email reservations@aiadc.com. Wednesday, Feb. 13, 6:30 - 8:00 pm. Sierra Club's Restore the Core Monthly Meeting Location: Sierra Club Legislative Offices 408 C St., NE (brief walk east along Mass Ave. from Union Station). Contact: Wanda Bubriski 202-232-6113, wbubriski@yahoo.com. Tuesday, February 19, 12:30 - 1:30pm. Smart Growth, Dumb Growth, and Not-Quite-So-Dumb Growth W. Paul Farmer, AICP, Executive Director of the American Planning Association, will consider whether smart growth can be achieved by making modest changes to the current planning system or if it will require a fundamental paradigm shift in public policy. National Building Museum, 401 F Street. NW (Judiciary Square Metro) Free. Wednesday, February 20, Noon. Transportation Planning Board Meeting. Location: Metropolitan Council of Governments 777 North Capital Street, N.E., Suite 300, Washington, D.C/ 20002 Contact: John Swanson 202-962-3295. Sunday, February 24 - 26. Americans for National Parks 2002 Conference Location: Wyndham City Center Hotel, Washington D.C. Contact: Register online: www.americansfornationalparks.org or call 202-223-6722. Saturday, March 2, 9am - 1pm. Potomac Suburban Area community Meeting: Public Imput on Implementation of New Loudoun Comprehensive Plan The Potomac Suburban Area includes the communities of Broad Run Farms, Cascades, Countryside, Lowes Island and Sugarland Run. Location: Potomac Falls High School, 46400 Algonkian Parkway. Contact the Public Information Office at 703-777-0113.
Green Spaces for D.C., a new 501(c)3 foundation that raises money for parks and open spaces in the District of Columbia, seeks an Executive Director to launch its operations. Fundraising and management experience desired, as well as excellent communication skills. Parks/recreation experience not necessary. Send resume and cover letter to Sarah Boasberg, President, Green Spaces for D.C., 3136 Newark Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20008, or fax 202-364-8778. The Environmental Protection Agency's Development, Community and Environment Division (DCED) is currently seeking interns for Summer 2002. These 10 week internships will allow two qualified graduate students to work on smart growth issues at the Environmental Protection Agency. Candidates should submit a cover letter, resume and a one to two page writing sample by February 28, 2002 to: Amber Levofsky. US Environmental Protection Agency Development, Community and Environment Division 1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW MC 1808 Washington, DC 20460, or email levofsky.amber@epa.gov. For more information, visit http://www.planetizen.com/jobs/item.php?id=1429. Chesapeake Bay Foundation seeks Anacostia River Initiative interns for 2002. The Anacostia River Initiative Intern will assist Director of Anacostia River Initiative in research, strategy development, writing, design and implementation of demonstration projects, office administration and other activities needed to make the Anacostia River Initiative succeed. Successful candidate should be working on a bachelor's degree and have a basic knowledge of, and strong interest in, ecosystem management, stormwater management, or other urban river issues. The internship is a 3-month position. Summer positions include a small stipend. Other semesters are non-paid. To apply, send resume, cover letter and salary history to: Intern 2002Human Resources/ARII, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 6 Herndon Avenue, Annapolis, MD 21403
This newsletter is a free service. Please help WRN continue to report on these issues important to livable communities; join WRN and support Intersect. WRN welcomes all donations but a basic membership is $35 for individuals and $200 for organizations. Contribution forms are available on our website: http://www.washingtonregion.net/html/contributionform.html. WRN thanks the following individual and organizational donors for their continued support of WRN's programs advocating for livable communities in the National Capital Region: Peter Kent, Dale Tibbitts, Fred Taylor, Ann Powel, Linda Katz, Peter Kent, Clement Dinsmore, Kevin Mills, Jerome Paige, Jim Sebastian, Bruce Adams, Jim Clarke, Philip Wagner, Julie Cuniberti, Geneva Perry, Donna Ari, Janet Brown, Howard Gillette, Rob Inerfeld, and Marilyn Hoskins. ________________________________________________________________________ WRN advocates transportation investments, land use policies, and community designs that enhance existing communities and the environment of the National Capital Region. Cassie Seiple, Intersect Managing Editor. Comments and articles welcome. Views expressed are not necessarily those of WRN. Washington Regional Network For Livable Communities 1777 Church Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036 Phone:
(202) 667-5445
Fax: (202) 667-4491 Email:
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