🚀 go-pugleaf

M.E. Proctor <mproctor@access2.digex.net> said something like:
:>that they work in the burb they happen to live in.  Arlington and
:>Reston are DC burbs.  I wonder how many clerical workers can afford to
:>live in either of them.

: Lots, actually.  Before I began my modest climb up the ladder, I chose to
: live in Arlington precisely because it was close in, and I didn't want to
: be stuck without transportation if my old Vega (that dates me!) died. 

Indeed it does, but it also displays how things have changed since then.
Yes, the close-in burbs in 1976 were affordable for the lower middle
class, and a starting-out family could well expect to purchase a SF home
in a safe neighborhood less than five miles from DC (I'm talking Virginia
side here). Not any more. Even though the housing market took some hits a
few years ago, most Arlington, Alexandira, Falls Chuch and McLean
neighborhoods are out of reach for the GS-5 to GS-9 worker.

: It is a matter of trade-offs.  If you want a nice, new, big house, live
: far out and pay the price of time and vehicle wear and tear.

A generalization. I wanted a nice, big, old house, and found one in Mt
Vernon. My commute is about 35 feet, btw :) But will admit that most folks
in my income bracket and age group chose instead to find something newer,
bigger and further out. Frankly I like the fact that this area is already
developed -- no surprises can pop up (like a WalMart behind your house!)

: Those I feel for are the people who bought their homes near their place of
: work, only to have their company move out to a different suburb. 

That's why I went mobile. Sold my house in Bowie (at great loss) when I
took a job with a company in Falls Church. Office is closing in July, and
moving most of the workers to (sigh) Montgomery County.

: I have
: no sympathy, however, to those who choose to live in the outer 'burbs but
: commute many miles into the city (or different suburb) area, all the time
: complaining about highway, traffic, etc etc etc.

No sympathy, ever? Howzabout two-income families? Is it reasonable for
both Mom and Dad to find jobs that are within a bike ride to work? How
about families that want to bring up their children outside of DC and its
stellar educational system?

Fact is, our highways have been neglected for 30 years while we built
Metro. Metro's done. Time to balance the mix a little.

: However, it seems
: that most people won't even bother to look inside the beltway for housing
: anymore, but they expect those of us who do to have our neighborhoods
: paved into city highways so that they can save a few minutes on their
: commutes that they wouldn't have had if they had put more thought and a
: dose of reality into their housing choices.

This strikes me as somewhat simplistic reasoning. You are saying the
suburbanites should move in closer, right? Those in PW County, for
example, should instead have moved to Alexandria and Arlington. Check the
current populations of both. How we gonna fit a couple million extra
residents into little 38 squar mile Arlington? High rises? And, pray tell,
what do you think will happen to housing prices in those areas if,
suddenly, a majority of workers in the far-flung suburbs decide to abandon
their homes and head inside the beltway? Do you think they'll a) stay the
same b) go down c) take off like a Saturn V rocket? 

Finally, exactly who is proposing to "pave over" Arlington? I know of no
new highway projects planned for Arlington, nor did I see any mentioned in
today's Dr. Gridlock.

It's easy to judge another's choices. What's difficult is to look at the
big picture, realize that we probably won't have any time machines at our
disposal any time soon, and then figure out the best way to solve
problems. Telling people "deal with the traffic" is not a solution.

 > B E N T L E Y <     bentley AT digex DOT net
A long frisbee throw from the pungent and lovely Potomac River
www.access.digex.net/~bentley/remove-this-bot-blocking-part