When did we see that? It looks to me that places like Haymarket and Gainesville got built up despite not having new roads to "spur" development. And then you get messes like we have now, where a concert during the week at Nissan backs traffic up to Bethesda. And it's basically all because the PWC planning commission keeps approving developments without the goddamn roads to support them - it's the sort of "planning" you get when you arm a gang of chimps with a dartboard and a map. These are not "new" roads, these are roads that should have been built fifteen years ago. Sheesh.
As a result, Jake is now going to quit using his car and travel everywhere by mass transit.
allright, let's go through here and parse out the nonsense, shall we?
So you say in the first comment that the problem with public opinion polls is that they aren't correct when they overwhelmingly disagree with your point of view. In reality all you have to do is look at the demand, you free market advocates don't ignore demand do you? First we have the DC metrorail and bus system, both of which are nearly at capacity and seeing record demand right now or how about the VRE system, which is at capacity on both the Manassas and Fredericksburg lines. The demand is there because people don't feel like sitting in abysmal rush hour for half their waking lives.
Actually, it's the county board that approves all the rezonings. And you are absolutely right, Prince William County is selling itself out like a cheap prostitute, letting builders do what they will without holding out and demanding for more. Of course the demand for houses isn't going to go anywhere, so we really could be making developers give us plans that fit our vision for the community, but the Board of County Supervisors passes everything without looking at how it is impact our communities. As for the comment that building roads doesn't expand development which then clogs the roads all over again, have you ever seen a situation where they added a road in this county that didn't just become more clogged than the road it was trying to alleviate trips from. All you have to do is look at the Route 234 bypass, Prince William Parkway, expansion of Minneville, the list goes on. These are developer roads that are paid for, not by proffers from builders, but out of our tax dollars. Just look at 'progress prince william' they want to ask us, as Prince William Citizens, for $1.6 billion dollars above and beyond what we already pay in state taxes to VDOT, for roads that benefit developers. A real conservative would be throwing a fit about that kind of tax burden.
which brings me to general_re, I like what you have to say, actually. Prince William is in demand, we should be dictating the rules to developers, not the other way around. We can make them put the growth where we want it so that it fits existing infrastructure and can allow more people to take public transit, or drive their car if they want.
Okay, so it may be the county's fault for approving the projects, but who do you think is putting the big money in their campaign funds? Let's look at Connaughton, who recieved 113,000 dollars out of total contributions of $400k from developers the last time he ran for chairman, more than a quarter of contributions. Hilda Barg was even higher with $31k out of $96k. And at the end of the day who is proposing these garbage developments that are wrecking our communities? Could it be the developers? The people who are actually developing the land?
And finally, as for the car. As a matter of fact I don't drive to work. When I worked in DC I took VRE, Bus and/or Metrorail. Now I work at home so I don't have to commute at all. If I could bike to anywhere besides the grocery store without getting run over I'd do that too, it's good for my heart, my wallet and I get some fresh air. Some people act like it's strange to to want to get out of the car once and a while. We all know that no one's going to give up their car completely tomorrow, but all we have to do is give people the opportunity to cut down on a couple of trips a day and things will start getting a lot better.