Nation's Cities - September 19, 2011

2 NATION’S CITIES WEEKLY
September 19, 2011

COLUMNIST
A ‘Greener’ Washington That’s Not About Money

by Neal Peirce
Mention “green” in connec-
tion with the nation’s capital
and most people think of the
Bureau of Engraving — or our
multitrillion-dollar national
budgets.

But the Washington region has another green goal and
agenda. It wants to be the most environmentally advanced,
climate-responsive, livable region of America.

bility and walkability, attend-
ees at the “Greening Greater
Washington” meeting agreed,
is one key reason that talented
young people have been flow-
ing into the region in droves.
(A companion reason, notes
D.C. Planning Director Harriet
Tregoning: “You can live here
without a car and pay off those
student loans faster.”)
But Metro has also enabled
some remarkable real estate
development. Top example:
Arlington County, Va., a mish-
mash of second-rate commercial
roads a generation ago, decided
early to put its Metro line, with
seven stations, underground.
This allowed major, well-
planned and planted boulevards,
dramatic office concentrations,
and such a strong appetite for
public transportation that bus
rapid transit and light rail are
now in the works for Columbia
Pike, a major artery.
Also straining to get a Metro
connection now: Tysons Corner,
Va., a totally unplanned country
crossroads that’s burgeoned into
America’s 12th-largest employ-
ment center, the world’s single
largest retail concentration —
and a continuous traffic night-
mare. Now Tysons wants to be
like Arlington. A coalition of
landowners and Fairfax County
officials worked to double
allowable density, create more
walkability and capitalize on
a connection to Metro’s new
Silver Line.
Recognizing that public tran-
sit never pays its cost directly,
LOCUS, a group of developers,
wants to expand and add walk-
able centers by raising local sales
taxes, by gaining limited federal
tax credit enhancements, and
by increasing the group’s own
contributions.

None of this is perfect. It’s
true that 21 local jurisdictions
have signed a “Region Forward”
agreement to nurture regional
“activity centers” with mixed-
use development, compact
neighborhoods, walking and
biking opportunities, and ranges
of transit choices. But District-
led innovations like bike shar-
ing stations and the plastic bag
charge have been slow to expand
outside the city’s borders.
Across the region, there are
still lots of inefficient “peanut
butter spread” development.
The green advocates of smarter
growth despair that local resi-
dents, worried about traffic or
lack of parking spaces, often rise
up to oppose attractive, con-
servation-focused new develop-
ments.
And then there’s fear of new
right-wing politics that’s hos-
tile to “smart growth” rules of
inducements — the specter of
tea party-like hostility to all
government regulation, making
green innovations (including
the very idea of public trans-
portation) tough to approve
or finance. Or that adminis-
trations like that of Virginia’s
Gov. Robert McDonnell (R)
will push (as it’s doing) $3 bil-
lion in overwhelmingly exurban
roads and bypasses, ignoring rich
opportunities for expanded tran-
sit and new, green alternatives.

Neal Peirce’s e-mail address is
nrp@citistates.com.
© 2011, The Washington
Post Writers Group
The opinions expressed in this
column are not necessarily those of
the National League of Cities or
Nation’s Cities Weekly.
The National League of Cities
keeps you connected to the
information you need now!
Facebook.com/NationalLeagueofCities (Friend Us)
Twitter.com/leagueofcities (Follow Us)
Citiesspeak.org (Blog with Us)
NLC.org| NLCTV.org
Nation’s Cities Weekly
Volume 34, Number 35 | ISSN 0164-5935 | September 19, 2011