Metrorail has transformed large swaths of Arlington, Alexandria and Montgomery County into urban districts more walkable and sophisticated than many a central city downtown. It has revitalized Washington. It is hoped that one day it will turn unsightly Tysons Corner into a place worthy of all its visitors. Now, it would seem, Fairfax County can be added to the list. Trains in Tysons Corner may still be years away, but at the end of the Orange Line in a sliver of county land between the Town of Vienna and City of Fairfax, the Fairlee MetroWest transit-oriented development has finally, decisively, been approved by the Board of Supervisors.

That MetroWest will become a reality is testimony to good leadership on the part of Fairfax County. It would have been easy to buckle under the combined pressure from rabid NIMBYs, sprawl and car interests, hostile town boards, threats from the state senate and, of course, meddling Congressman, but the planners and elected officials of Fairfax County held to their convictions. They know that density does not cause traffic congestion. They know that growth doesn’t disappear if it’s not accommodated. They know what it will take to make a better Washington region, and they are not afraid to make it happen.

Good work, Fairfax.

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 201 user reviews.

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March 28th, 2006 | Permalink
Tags: development

One Sunday in January BeyondDC metroed to Capitol Hill with the intention of photographing the interior of the Library of Congress and its 160-foot-high domed main reading room, which has the reputation of being Washington’s most beautiful interior space. Sadly, it was not to be. There are privacy issues related to what people in the library are reading, so photography inside the main reading room is prohibited. There are of course other beautiful parts of the library worth photographing, but without the main reading room an interior exploration just wouldn’t be complete. It will have to wait for some phone calls and special arrangements to be made. It was a lovely day, however, so we took the opportunity to wander up and down First Street, N/SE instead.

A thumbnail gallery of the resulting pictures is available here. Mostly we photographed the library and supreme court, though there are some other subjects as well. This gallery also marks the debut of some new photographic equipment we have at BeyondDC, which increases the color quality of outdoor photos.

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 267 user reviews.

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March 23rd, 2006 | Permalink
Tags: galleries

Planners have a lot of jargon. TODs, TNDs, NIMBYs, BANANAs, LULUs, and those are just to start. Never mind all the zoning classifications that are different in every city. Planners in Virginia have long struggled with another acronym: TDRs, or Transfer of Development Rights. The concept, which makes it possible to buy the development rights of a piece of property and use them on a different property in exchange for preserving the first as is, has long been used to great success in some parts of the country, including Maryland. Smart Growthers love the idea because it funnels growth into key areas. Preservationists love it because it provides a way to keep rural areas rural. Economists love it because it is a market-based solution that doesn’t take power out of the hands of land owners, who love it in rural areas because they don’t lose land value for down-zoning, and love it in urban areas because it allows them to build more on their land. TDRs are as close to a win-win as exists in the planning world. The only parties that don’t love the idea are those which favor unending and choice-less sprawl, plus NIMBYs on the receiving end of the transfer deal who still don’t buy in to the idea that spread-out development patterns are what causes traffic congestion.

The practice, however, has always been banned in Virginia as a consequence of the Commonwealth’s strict Dillon Laws. Although some Virginia localities have tried to initiate the practice on their own, they have done so illegally and at risk of court action. But to the surprise of many, it now appears Virginia will join the ranks of states allowing TDR. Senate Bill 373 was passed by Virginia’s House and Senate on March 15 by a near-unanimous vote. Assuming the bill is signed by Governor Kaine, it will take effect on July 1 of this year, at which time a river of TDR programs are expected to be initiated across the Commonwealth.

Says one pleasantly surprised planner on a listserve BeyondDC subscribes to, “I never thought this would happen in Virginia in my lifetime.” Good work, Richmond.

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 161 user reviews.

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March 21st, 2006 | Permalink
Tags: government

The same day BeyondDC was out photographing railyards, we took several pictures of the NoMa Triangle as a favor to fellow blogger Richard Layman of Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space, for use illustrating redevelopment patterns there. The photo set – a quick one – is available here.

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 185 user reviews.

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March 16th, 2006 | Permalink
Tags: galleries

The design for new Nationals ballpark on South Capitol Street was released this morning at 11:00. Click the images at right to enlarge, or visit the Post for an article and detailed descriptions.

What BeyondDC likes:

The pedestrian promenade reminiscent of Eutaw Street

The light color palette, including the use of glass

The break in the stands and steps leading to the Anacostia River

The architectural homage to the East Wing of the National Gallery

The building wall on South Capitol Street

Views of both the Capitol dome and the Anacostia River

Architects say they are looking for a way to make the bleachers bounce, as they do at RFK

What BeyondDC doesn’t like:

The base is far too bare – it will be hostile to pedestrians

The mistaken impression that most visitors will arrive from the south, using the expansive plaza – most will arrive from the transit and parking facilities to the north

The insular feeling – rather than designing a quirky stadium genuinely connected to its surroundings, we’ve been given a typical bowl stadium with some tacked-on additions intended to give the impression of connectivity (viewing platforms do not a seemless character make)

The circular restaurant is a neat idea, but it contributes to the insular feeling – it would be better to have an unobstructed view of that pedestrian promenade

The use of precast concrete instead of limestone or granite – though we understand the economic constraints that led to the decision

The homogenous character of the South Capitol Street building wall – not including the air-rights development, there are three distinct components; they should look distinct

What BeyondDC would have done differently:
(In addition to fixing what we don’t like)

The stadium needs more vertical façade elements throughout

The “knife edge” building at South Capitol Street and Potomac Avenue is OK, but BeyondDC would have included a vertical element at the very edge – a landmark tower that would be visible from miles away

The pedestrian promenade should be an actual street, like Eutaw – making it so would have the added benefit of pushing the rest of the stadium south, which would force it to change shape to fit the block, rather than being a simple bowl; it would also add space between the field and air-rights development, improving views northward towards the city

As a whole, BeyondDC finds the ballpark to be fairly ordinary. We’re pleased the color palette will be unique to the major leagues, but the overall site planning and layout are very average. Attractive? Yes. Revolutionary? No. Iconic? Passably, we suppose. What do you think?

Update: More renderings are available at the DC Sports & Entertainment Commission and Just A Nats Fan.

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 180 user reviews.

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March 14th, 2006 | Permalink
Tags: architecture, development

WMATA’s Brentwood railyards

Over the past few months we’ve assembled a number of photo galleries that haven’t been made public. Why? Good question. But no more. We’ll be releasing one every few days for the next week or two, culminating in a substantial new feature about the many grand houses of religious worship in the Washington area.

First off is Northeast Railyads, a set from November when BeyondDC went trainspotting north of Union Station.

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 248 user reviews.

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March 13th, 2006 | Permalink
Tags: galleries

Cable stayed option:

Stayed bascule option:

Arched bascule option:

Retractile option:

Stadiums aren’t the only big public projects slated for South Capitol Street. The city is planning a monumental new bridge over the Anacostia River as well. Four alternate designs have been released by engineers. Each would cost somewhere in the vicinity of $250 million, be movable to allow ships sailing in and out of Washington Navy Yard to get through, and realign with surface streets, eliminating the raised viaduct leading up to the bridge in favor of a more urban, pedestrian-friendly layout that would interact with the new Nationals ballpark.

Though all four alternatives are attractive, the cable-stayed option alone has the potential to dramatically enhance Washington’s skyline and highlight the Anacostia waterfront. All other things being equal, if the goal here is to draw attention to a new sector of the city, that is the choice to make.

Click the images at right for illustrative movies showing each option in detail.

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 255 user reviews.

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March 9th, 2006 | Permalink
Tags: transportation

Welcome to the new version of BeyondDC! It looks pretty much the same, we know, but actually it functions totally differently than it used to. There have been four changes:

This main “Updates” section is now driven by blog software WordPress. Readers may find it hard to believe, but up until now the home page has always been hard-coded manually using nothing but Notepad. Making the home page a blog means users will be able to leave comments directly under topic entries, each post will get its own unique web page, posts can be categorized in a searchable database, plus any number of other helpful things. It also should translate into more frequent updates, since they’ll be easier for us to make.
The “Headlines” section has been replaced with a full-on Newsfeed. Not only does this solve the copyright issue, but it’s much more functional and prettier than the old script. Anyone and everyone can now submit or comment on news items, and the entire feed can now be syndicated using RSS. The Newsfeed is now a bit like a miniature, DC-only Planetizen.
The Forum has been retooled a bit. Gone are all the individual sub-forums, replaced with a single page for all topics. Since users can now leave comments under posts on both the home page and Newsfeed, the Forum is a little redundant and doesn’t need to be as complex. (The Forum is currently offline while we make these changes. It will be back ASAP.)
Lastly, our RSS feed has been upgraded and is now customizable for users. It’s now possibe to display additional content beyond just entry headlines. It’s a completely new feed, though, so users will need to update their readers with the new URL.

We think these changes will make your BeyondDC experience a whole lot better and allow the page to keep up with the ever-changing online world. Please do feel free to leave a comment telling us what you think or reporting any bugs.

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 175 user reviews.

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March 7th, 2006 | Permalink
Tags: site