Connecting to Opportunity: Access to Jobs via Transit in the Washington, D.C. Region, Brookings Institution, November 2012

The following is Brookings' press release for the just-released study.  Of great importance in Reston is the need to prevent its station areas from becoming over-priced for middle- and lower-income workers.  Its a great study of where urban development is around our public transit system.  The link at the bottom takes you to the complete study. 

Improving transportation connections to employment enhances the efficiency of labor markets for both workers and employers. Years of study, research and practice have tried to address the vexing logistical problems stemming from lack of access to transportation in major metropolitan areas. Today, transportation analysts increasingly consider accessibility to be a better measure of system performance than traditional mobility. It is at least as important for metropolitan residents to be able to access a range of activities, such as jobs, via the transportation system, as it is for systems to simply move vehicles faster and reduce travel times.

Metropolitan transportation networks are critical for a region's economic competitiveness. Public transit is a key component of the economic and social fabric of metropolitan areas. While commuting to work is only one reason residents may use a transit system, it is a dominant use: Commutes make up the largest share of transit trips nationwide.

An analysis of the public transit systems serving the Washington, D.C. region finds that:

• Nearly 90 percent of residents in the Washington, D.C. region live in neighborhoods with access to transit coverage of some kind, whether bus, Metrorail, or commuter rail.
• Due to broad transit coverage and proximity to job centers, job access via transit is strongest in the District, Arlington, and Alexandria, with access rates dropping based on distance from the core.
• Transit does a better job providing high-skill residents access to high-skill jobs that it does mid-skill residents to mid skill jobs and low-skill residents to low-skill jobs.
• In many cases, housing costs are out of reach for low- and mid-skill workers in areas identified in this report as offering strong transit access to employment.

Download » (PDF)

RCA Letter re Draft TOD Development Plan "Scenario G" with Background

Below is a Reston Citizens Association (RCA) Board of Directors-approved letter President Colin Mills today sent to Patty Nicoson, Chairman of the Reston Master Plan Special Study Task Force, supporting the County's latest draft Reston TOD area planning scenario--"Scenario G.".  The letter responds to two letters sent to Ms. Nicoson by attorney Andrew A. Painter of Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley, Emrich, & Walsh PC criticizing Scenario G as restricting the development opportunities of two of his clients with properties in the Wiehle Avenue TOD area.  

RCA has endorsed urban mixed-use transit-oriented development in the coming Metro station areas since the task force was established, noting that we favor development in the right densities of the right mix in the the right places.  The County's Department of Transportation demonstrated through a detailed engineering analysis that development in 2030 under the previous baseline planning scenario--"Scenario E"--would bring key area intersections to a virtual standstill--three and four minute traffic light delays at peak use being the norm--even in the unlikely event that the County upgraded all the critical intersections to the maximum extent possible, e.g.--new turn lanes, adjusting traffic light timing, etc.  Scenario G rolled back some of the permitted densities and adjusted the mix of uses to a slightly more residential orientation.

As the letter states, "No development project, no matter how innovative or attractive, can be 'great' if it comes at the cost of Restonians' quality of life."  RCA, supported by its Reston 2020 community planning committee, will continue to advocate for sustaining, if not improving, the quality of life in Reston through "win-win" development planning and implementation, including meeting vital infrastructure and amenities needs, throughout the Reston master planning process.

What are the chances this will EVER happen in Virginia?

The American Planning Association's (APA's) Daily Planning New reports the following:

Michigan to vote on clean energy mandate

McClatchy/Tribune, 2012-11-05

When Michigan residents go to the polls on Tuesday they'll have a chance to do something that no other U.S. voter has ever done: enshrine a clean energy mandate in the state Constitution so politicians won't be able to weaken or abolish it at a whim.

If the ballot initiative called Proposal 3 passes it would be the first time that a renewable energy standard -- which 30 states have adopted -- would be mandated by a constitution. The standard would require utilities to generate at least 25 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025.

Proposition 3 could be "a template for a model that can be duplicated," said Richard Caperton, director of clean energy investment at the Center for American Progress, a liberal research group. "It's a state issue with national implications."

The push for Proposition 3 is coming from an umbrella group of 900 environmental organizations, labor and faith groups and individuals called Michigan Energy, Michigan Jobs (MEMJ). The group launched in January and has attracted cash from more than a dozen national organizations as well as high-profile endorsements. . . .

Click here for the rest of the story.  

To answer the topic question:  Slim and none, and Slim has just left town. 

Agenda: Reston P&Z Committee Meeting, November 19, 2012, 7:30PM, NCGC

THE RESTON PLANNING AND ZONING COMMITTEE
MEETING AGENDA
Monday, November 19, 2012 – 7:30 pm
North County Government Center
Community Room
12000 Bowman Towne Drive, Reston, VA

1. Terraset Elementary School PRC Plan (PRC-C-203). Upgrades to the building and site are proposed to meet education and enrollment requirements. This will be the third meeting at which the committee will be reviewing the Terraset PRC Plan. The PRC Plan was previously reviewed by the committee at the July 17th and September 20th meetings. A Planning Commission Public Hearing is scheduled for November 29th and a Board of Supervisors Public Hearing is scheduled for December 4th.

2. RBP & M, LLC, Section 913, LP, and Bozzuto Development Company (collectively, the "Applicant") Rezoning/Final Development Plan (RZ/FDP 2010-HM-008). The Applicant proposes to rezone the parcels identified as Fairfax County Tax Map 17-4 ((19) Parcels 1, 2, 3, 4, 5A, and 6A (the “RBP & M Property”) and Fairfax County Tax Map 17-4 ((24)) Parcel 4B (the “Section 913 Property”) to the PRM zoning district to permit a pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use development with a substantial residential component within walking distance of the Wiehle Avenue Metro Station. The Applicant proposes to develop the RBP & M Property with a mid-rise multi-family residential building with a maximum of 421 dwelling units and up to 10,000 square feet of support retail uses. The Applicant proposes to maintain the existing 30,608 square foot office building on the Section 913 Property. A preliminary version of this rezoning application was previously presented to the committee on July 12, 2010. A Planning Commission Public Hearing is scheduled for February 7, 2013.

3. Comstock Reston Station Building Plans Information Item. Comstock will provide a presentation of the building plans for the first above grade building at Reston Station. It will be a high rise residential building.

4. Approve next meeting date (December 17th) and adjourn.

Agenda is subject to change without notice by order of the Chairman, David Vanell, (703) 904-0299, or Michael Romeo, Vice Chairman, (703) 579-7525.

November 5, 2012

RBP/Bozzuto Property Area View Larger Map

VDOT Announcement: Public Information Meeting on Rt. 7 Widening, November 28, 2012

Proposed

Route 7 Widening -- Reston to Dulles Toll Road

From Four to Six Lanes in Fairfax County

Note: A public information meeting for this project will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012 at Colvin Run Elementary School, 1400 Trap Road in Vienna. Stop by between 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. VDOT and Fairfax County staff will be available to answer your questions. We hope to see you there!

About the Project

This project would widen a 6.9-mile stretch of Route 7 from four to six lanes between Reston Avenue and just west of the bridge over the Dulles Toll Road, to increase capacity, decrease congestion and improve safety in conformity with the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan.
Estimated cost is about $300 million and includes a 10-foot shared use path on either side of the roadway and intersection improvements.

For more information visit the Fairfax County Department of Transportation project website at http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/fcdot/rt7/.

National Intelligence close to deal for Reston lease, Washington Business Journal, by Dan Sernovitz, November 2, 2012

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is close to a deal to lease nearly 183,000 square feet at Patriots Park in Reston, taking down the last of three buildings the military shed under its 2005 base realignment and closure plan.

On DNI’s behalf, the General Services Administration is putting the finishing touches on a full-building lease at 12290 Sunrise Valley with landlord Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE: BXP) Boston Properties previously signed the Defense Intelligence Agency to 523,482 square feet at 12310 and 1300 Sunrise Valley Drive, the other two buildings of the office complex. . . .

 Click here to read the rest of this article.  

Notes on the Meeting of the RTF Report Drafting Committee, October 31, 2012

                                                                                                  R. Rogers

                                                                                    31 Oct 12

RMPTF “Drafting Committee” Meeting: 31 Oct 2012

Summary:  The “Committee” discussed the pros and cons of doing a Report.  The consensus was to do one although the developers were clearly anxious that the DPZ staff report for the comprehensive plan will not be acceptable to them.   A decision was made to defer all further work till 14 Nov.; the day after the DPZ staff at the next RMPTF meeting is expected to further refine Scenario G.

The “Committee”: Although the charge from chair Patty Nicoson implied that the old “Steering Committee” would be the basis for a new “drafting committee” only a few SC members were present (Otteni, Penniman, and Riegel).  Andy Sigle replaced Paul Thomas. Others present included Van Foster, Bill Keefe, Terry Maynard, Richard Kennedy, Joe Stowers and Judy Pew. Notably absent were two attorneys, Mark Looney and Robert Goudie, as well as the co-chairs of the Vision Committee, John Carter and Kohan Williams.

Do a Report? Discussion entered around whether to do a task force report and what it might accomplish. The audience for a study was variously defined as:

--the Reston public

--the county DPZ staff

             --county planning and political leadership.

Most in attendance favored a report. Various reasons given were:

 --to document the more than  2 ½ years  work of the TF.

--to inform a detached Reston community.

--to develop further consensus on the TF or to define better define differences.

There was strong support for making the TF “planning principles” and Vision Com report a basic building block for the report and having the other sub-coms distill their work for inclusion.

There was some concern about how much new work would be involved, but the consensus seemed to be to work from the existing materials. 

The members of the development community present seemed particularly reluctant to press head with a TF Report when the DPZ staff text for the comprehensive plan is not yet available.  Furthermore, developers seemed very anxious that Scenario G would be adopted for the comprehensive plan and then become part of the TF report.  Some voiced particular concern that the transportation analysis was driving Scenario G and that the judgments on transportation were not being soundly made.

The alternative proposed by the developers was to make the task force report only a comment on the draft plan language prepared by the County planning staff.  While there was some traction for including a comment on the staff-drafted plan language, many seemed to think it ought to be part of a free-standing task force report, not the report itself.

The possibility that the TF report might criticize or take issue with DPZ work was mentioned.  No decisions were made on drafting responsibility, nor was their discussion of the outline prepared by Van Foster.

 

Next: After an hour long discussion the chair decided to defer further work on a TF report till after the DPZ staff presents refinements on Scenario G to the TF on 13 November.  Tentatively, the drafting committee will then meet the next day.

            All were urged to review the various sub-com reports, particularly that of the Vision Com.  The 2001 report of a previous planning exercise will be put on the DPZ website.