Thank you. My name is Stewart Schwartz, and I am the Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. We are a 17-year-old non-profit and the leading voice for smart growth in the DC region, with expertise in transportation, land use and affordable housing. As a professional, and as a full-time resident of Alexandria for over 20 years and part-time for a few more, I have participated extensively in Alexandria planning including Potomac Yard, the Wilson Bridge, Beauregard, Braddock Metro, and more. I am very familiar with the stretch of King Street in question.
Category: Resources
Testimony to the Alexandria City Council
Thank you. My name is Stewart Schwartz, and I am the Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. We are a 17-year-old non-profit and the leading voice for smart growth in the DC region, with expertise in transportation, land use and affordable housing. As a professional, and as a full-time resident of Alexandria for over 20 years and part-time for a few more, I have participated extensively in Alexandria planning including Potomac Yard, the Wilson Bridge, Beauregard, Braddock Metro and more. I am very familiar with the stretch of King Street in question.
The Disposition of District Land for Affordable Housing Amendment Act of 2013
This bill was introduced by Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie. It aims to use public land dispositions, which offer a significant source of new housing production, to better leverage & expand affordable housing opportunities.
Testimony for Seven Corners Task Force on Draft Plan for Seven Corners
We believe that Conceptual Design #4 offers the most effective, community-friendly, and favorable economic development approach. We do not recommend variants of Concept #2 or #5. Concept #4 knits together Seven Corners across Route 50 with pedestrian and bicycle friendly bridges, it reduces interchange impacts through the use of diamonds, it disperses and reduces the traffic load at the main intersection of Route 50 and Route 7, and it maximizes the land available for productive economic activity.
Testimony for Seven Corners Task Force
Members of the Seven Corners Task Force:
Thank you for the opportunity to provide input and for your hard work on a draft new plan for Seven Corners. We appreciate your commitment to revitalization through creation of a walkable, bikeable, mixed-use and transit-oriented community. Our comments focus on just three issues: the street grid, transit, and affordable housing.
Testimony before the Hon. Phil Mendelson Chairman, Committee of the Whole Regarding: Performance Oversight Hearing for the Office of Planning
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I am speaking on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, a regional nonprofit based in D.C. I have worked with the Office of Planning on a variety of issues important to our city for many years including: community plans, development review, and Inclusionary Zoning. I have also been involved in the Comprehensive Plan revision in 2006 which led to the process to update our 1958 zoning code starting in 2007.
ANCs Push for 16th Street Bus Lanes
An effort is underway to have local Advisory Neigbhorhood Commissions (ANCs) pass nearly identical resolutions urging more progress on proposed dedicated bus lanes on 16th Street NW.
ANC 2B/Dupont Circle passed the resolution (available here) at its last meeting on February 17th, by a vote of 6-0 with one abstention. On February 20th, the Transportation Committee of ANC1B/U Street voted to recommend the full ANC approve a similar resolution. The recommendation was passed by a voice vote with no audible objections. ANC1B will probably vote on the resolution at its next meeting, scheduled for Thursday, March 6, at the Reeves Center (14th and U Streets).
ANC2B Commissioner Kishan Putta (district 04) and Cheryl Cort, Policy Director of theCoalition for Smarter Growth, appeared before the ANC1B Transportation Committee to urge they endorse the resolution. Cort said the purpose of the resolution was to urge the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) to move forward on the long series of public consultations and studies (e.g., air quality approval, environmental assessment) necessary before the lanes can become a reality.
“We’d like them to go through the whole process,” Cort said.
The committee discussed the exact definition of a dedicated bus lane. Such a lane, in this case, would also allow bicycles and right-turning cars and taxis. If not turning right, taxis would be forbidden from the bus lanes.
ANC1B Chair James Turner (district 09), although not a member of the Transportation Committee, was present at the meeting. He said he wouldn’t support the resolution, because it does nothing to address the congestion problems of buses that pass through his district, for example, buses that travel on 14th Street, 11th Street, and Georgia Avenue. Cort replied improved 16th Street service would draw off riders currently taking 14th Street buses, relieving congestion.
The ANC1B version of the resolution will have some additional language in it pointing out that bus demand has exceeded capacity on both 14th Street and Georgia Avenue buses as well.
Putta has been campaigning vigorously to get the bus lanes moving forward, most recently testifying at a D.C. Council hearing on February 20.
He has also been working hard to inject the issue into the April 1 D.C. primary elections, often asking candidates for their views at public events.
Putta says D.C. Councilmember Muriel Bowser (Ward Four) has declared herself in favor of the bus lanes, after initially expressing skepticism about the proposal. Other candidates from the city council — Jack Evans (Ward Two) and Tommy Wells (Ward Six) — have also expressed their support. In addition, both candidates in the Ward One City Council primary — Jim Graham and Brianne Nadeau — have told Putta they support the proposal.
“DDOT itself did a study last year recommending a rush-hour bus lane. Now they need to make it formal and implement it,” Putta said.
The 2013 DDOT study found that bus lanes could reduce commute time by 30%, Putta said. They could also increase total bus capacity by 10% because buses could be reused faster.
Testimony to the Committee on Economic Development and Housing on DHCD and DMPED Performance Oversight
Please accept these comments on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth (CSG). The Coalition for Smarter Growth is the leading organization working locally in the Washington, DC metropolitan region dedicated to making the case for smart growth. Our mission is to promote walkable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities, and the land use and transportation policies and investments needed to make those communities flourish.
Testimony to Montgomery Co Council on FY15-20 Capital Improvements Program Transportation Budget
Thank you for this opportunity to comment on the FY15-20 Capital Improvements Program. My name is Kelly Blynn and I am speaking on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, the leading non-profit group advocating for transit and walkable communities in the DC region, which counts thousands of supporters in Montgomery County.
State Transportation Priorities Letter – Establishing a new transportation projects priority list to meet Prince George’s and Maryland’s goals
Dear Executive Baker:
We the undersigned smart growth, environmental, transportation and civic organizations working in Prince George’s County urge you to make the most of the new opportunity offered by the Transportation Infrastructure Investment Act of 2013 to invest in a County that is truly smart, green and growing.