It should be obvious that BeyondDC doesn’t follow any sort of posting schedule. We write when something comes up that we think merits writing about. Sometimes that means posts every day; sometimes (particularly in colder times of year when there is less development activity) it means posts can come as rarely as once a month.

So naturally it would happen that three things we want to talk about all come up on exactly the same day.

1. Score one for Fairfax County
   Not too long ago Fairfax County approved some 3, 000 housing units in Reston, which for all the attention it gets is ultimately just an unincorporated enclave of the county. That spurred a NIMBY backlash which has resulted in a movement to incorporate Reston as a town in order to wrest land use control away from the county and push growth outside Reston’s boundaries, making that growth somebody else’s problem.

   Fairfax County Executive Anthony Griffin responded to the proposal on Monday, saying “The Board of Supervisors does not appear disposed toward Balkanizing the County.”

   Mr. Griffin is absolutely correct. NIMBY-based local government is bad for the region. It exacerbates sprawl, congestion, the affordable housing problem… It makes just about all the regional problems we’ve got that much worse. Good on you, Fairfax County, for doing the right thing and making a stand likely to be unpopular with the voters.

2. Score one for Maryland transit
   The latest ridership projections for the Purple Line are out. They project the line will draw 47, 000 daily riders, more than any other light rail line with which it’s competing for funding, and more than about half of the nation’s approximately 20 light rail systems. For comparison, Baltimore’s existing light rail carries about 27, 000 riders per day.
   

3. Score one of regional planning
   The Brooking Institute recently put out a report listing walkable urban nodes in the 30 largest metro areas in the country. The report notes that per capita,
   the Washington region has the most such nodes in the nation. That is to say, per our population we have more Ballstons, Bethesdas and Reston Town Centers than anywhere else in America.

   The report ranks every qualifying node equally, so Clarendon counts the same as Midtown Manhattan. Admittedly that’s a clear validity problem.

   But still. Proof that we’re doing some things right in these parts.