I live inside the Washington D.C. beltway in Alexandria, VA. Traffic here in town is slightly better than what I had gotten used to in Philadelphia, but that's likely because A) I never have that far to go and B) I never drive during rush hour anymore. In the District, it's a fucking Boschian nightmare. DC typically ranks 2nd or 3rd worst traffic in the country, duking it out with LA and Miami.
And all around me, as I look out my windows, all I see are skycranes build condo projects.
On my walk to my local coffee shop, I see a political campaign poster touting the candidate will work to block some proposed parking garage project that I never understood why old people hated.
There is a new metro station going in less than half a mile from my place. Except it won't be done for another 5 years or something. And really, the other nearest station is only a mile away over flat road. I don't understand putting metro stations less than half a mile from each other. That just seems more likely to cause traffic than it is to alleviate it, as it increases the latency of trips.
There aren't any major road projects going on. There are one or two projects to fix up a few ramps that were crumbling. There is something about an express lane all the way to the Dulles airport. But nothing about the 95 expressway seems to be addressed.
Clearly, someone is planning to pack a LOT more people into this area, but has given no thought whatsoever where to put their cars, either while in use or not.
So I've just accepted that this is reality now. There is absolutely no reason to complain about traffic, because nobody is doing anything meaningful about it. I try to work my life to not be involved with it at all. I do most of my shopping online. I am a freelancer who works 100% from home. I live in walking distance of a bar and a coffee shop, and I'm even cutting back how often I go. Unless I can finally convince my wife to move out of this place, I'm not traveling anywhere during daylight hours.
And all around me, as I look out my windows, all I see are skycranes build condo projects.
On my walk to my local coffee shop, I see a political campaign poster touting the candidate will work to block some proposed parking garage project that I never understood why old people hated.
There is a new metro station going in less than half a mile from my place. Except it won't be done for another 5 years or something. And really, the other nearest station is only a mile away over flat road. I don't understand putting metro stations less than half a mile from each other. That just seems more likely to cause traffic than it is to alleviate it, as it increases the latency of trips.
There aren't any major road projects going on. There are one or two projects to fix up a few ramps that were crumbling. There is something about an express lane all the way to the Dulles airport. But nothing about the 95 expressway seems to be addressed.
Clearly, someone is planning to pack a LOT more people into this area, but has given no thought whatsoever where to put their cars, either while in use or not.
So I've just accepted that this is reality now. There is absolutely no reason to complain about traffic, because nobody is doing anything meaningful about it. I try to work my life to not be involved with it at all. I do most of my shopping online. I am a freelancer who works 100% from home. I live in walking distance of a bar and a coffee shop, and I'm even cutting back how often I go. Unless I can finally convince my wife to move out of this place, I'm not traveling anywhere during daylight hours.