Sunday, July 13, 2008

Anacostia Streetcar Meeting

If you are interested in the Anacostia Streetcar Demonstration line and the future of streetcars in the District, this is an important meeting to attend.

When:
Monday, July 14, 2008 at 11:00 A.M.
Where:
Council Room 412, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
What:
Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham is hosting a meeting to discuss questions related to the importance and funding for streetcars from the Anacostia Metro station to Bolling Air Force Base. The meeting will also have implications for streetcar lines on MLK and throughout the city.
Hope to see you there!

*Update*
My personal opinion? While I am completely all for streetcars in every section of this city, and am glad that the plans include tracks over here (part of the reason I moved here), I am not convinced that the Metro to Bolling AFB line is the best first streetcar line. I know that the line will get used, but think that building almost any of the other lines (MLK, for example ...or H Street NE) would be a more guaranteed success that would better show the city the true necessity and success potential of the streetcar investment.

That said, I think that this demonstration line will be among the easiest to build, since some of the tracks already exist and it will mostly follow a path that is very open and available to be built on.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

What's the DG-Rad opinion on streetcars?

David Garber said...

(see updated post)

Anonymous said...

Just no appeasing some people.

David Garber said...

if they build this, I will be very happy. I am all for a more connected city, especially one more connected with anacostia.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update! I hope the street cars come through.

One difference I saw when I visited Anacostia was how much more car-oriented parts of it seemed to be , rather than the more pedestrian focus of the DC areas I'm used to (I'm thinking about the area around the Giant store). It felt like it would take forever to get where I wanted if I didn't have a car. Hopefully a street car line will improve mobility and solve that issue.

Anonymous said...

That last comment was me, but I misclicked before posting.

MATTHEW said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Streetcars are not really necessary for Historic Anacosita. But as the anon poster said, the other parts of southeast, like Alabama Ave or Minnesota Ave are virtually impossible to get to without waiting for a bus or a car. Really, I don't consider the part by the Giant Store "historic Anacostia".