Woodmont Triangle, Bethesda, MD
This is how to grow an old urban area in a Smart Growth TOD
(Transit Oriented Development) manner without destroying it at the same time.
In the age of virtual adjacency, the experience of place is the top priority.
Unless we make “being there” worth the effort of “getting there”, it will die.
Think of the web-page below as a 53+ tab three-ring binder. Tabs 1 through 13 relate primarily to Fairmont Avenue in the Woodmont Triangle in Bethesda, MD as a specific example applying my creative thinking to solve this critically important problem (please start with the Front Cover and then Tab 9 then Tab 8.)
Tabs 14 through 48 are the intellectual foundation supporting the vision, insights and governmental repair enabled by the new Maryland State Law proposed in Tab 48a-2 (then Tab 51a; then Tab 53c.)
Tab 28a sets out the big ideas on just one page — it took seven years of thinking to write. Tab 48a-1a is a two page bullet point summary of the public benefits that the proposed new State Law — SRSOD Maryland State Rail Station Overlay Districts — will produce. The proposed SRSOD will make developing TOD Buildings on land within walking distance of rail stations so attractive, rational and efficient that green, smart growth will thrive, the public will become healthier, both enabling government itself to become sustainable — deficits are deadly.
How the money moves is a very important part of the “magic” of the SRSOD.
Please look at Tabs 10b and 10c and then 10a.
Tabs 49a through 49k are substantive letters of support from smart, experienced people — please start by reading Tab 49e3.
Tabs 50a through 50m and 52e and 52e2 are letters of support from the “politically correct” people — please start by reading Tabs 50d and 52e.
There are four big ideas:
1) The ‘project’ is the neighborhood. Individual buildings are pieces of the larger jigsaw puzzle. Once the “skeleton” (the public realm) is properly developed by local government (with state assistance as provided by the SRSOD) approving buildings (the “muscles”) becomes one-public-hearing easy. How the money moves is so logical and fair it will seem like magic (Tabs 10b and 10c.)
2) Metro-rail is a horizontal elevator. Land within walking distance of every station (Tab 28a) is “another floor in the same building.” An elevator is a vertical metro-rail — neither makes sense without the other (i.e. land-use and transportation MUST be addressed together — N.B. subject to the SRSOD’s Design Review Guidelines and sale of increased density at 50% of actual value (NOT TDR’s! see Tab 48a-3a,) height limits and FAR limits as absolute fixed numbers are not legal);
3) Land surrounding rail stations in the suburbs today has an automobile-fabric public realm. Buildings sit in the middle of parking lots. TOD buildings sit on sidewalks. It makes no sense to construct a building on a sidewalk if everything surrounding it is parking lots and roads. This problem CANNOT be solved one project at a time yet that is exactly what we have been trying to do for 3 decades! The public realm is the context within which the private sector exists. It is government’s job to address this in the most efficient (cost and time) manner possible (please see Tabs 41a-1 through 42b-2.) The SRSOD enables this to happen powerfully and efficiently; and
4) Almost every number in zoning is arbitrary — DO NOT give them divine significance. The land-use regulatory goal should be to maximize sources and destinations of pedestrians within walking distance (Tab 28a) of rail stations. This is a design issue requiring flexibility — NOT rigid linear mathematical formulas that presume every site is identical. Context matters.
000) Front Cover Peanuts Place 7725 OGR Einstein & Twain
Rear Cover — map, Metro-rail and the Woodmont Triangle: 000 Project plan – aerial photo3
0-tbl-cont_25tab-wsga-7725.pdf *** please DOWNLOAD this Table of Contents for more detailed PDF descriptions***
0 WSGA award application-7725 (detailed data)
Government MUST fix these 6 items: 0-wsga-award-applic-7725-action-items.pdf
1b urgent-plea-to-improve-the-transfer-of-density-regulations.pdf
2 Marlene Michaelson + Positano cluster TDR_web
4a Building Height Pros + Cons: narrative
4a-2 Bethesda’s tall buildings offer up rooms with views Gazette 13sep06
4b Building Height Pros + Cons: numbers
6a Public Cost of on-site Amenity is 4x private cost
6b Veterans Park should be the Town Square
6c Landow building and Veterans Park aerial
6d_Manayunk, Pa – model architecture for Veterans Park
7a w_Lionsgate Landow bldgs VE_6-13_5-23-L9
7b Plat image of Woodmont Triangle from M-NCPPC-7725
9 Photos & concept dwgs: Fairmont Avenue – Before and After “Petri dish”
10b Economic Overview of SRSOD MoCo
10c Economic Overview of SRSOD Pr Geo Co
11 Green Roof Facts – David Honza, Honza Group Incorporated
12a Architectural drawings: First floor without Garage entry
12b Architectural drawings: First floor with Garage entry
13 WDG 7725 OGR Woodmont Triangle Concept Study 18sep09 pg 3
14 Riding that train, Feeling much pain. Jen Chaney, Gazette
15 Party’s over in Montgomery Washington DC Examiner
16 County’s dirty little secret. Nancy Floreen, Gazette
17 Design is an Externality {Pickles ‘toon}
17a A Public Arbiter of Good Design. R. Lewis, WPst, Shaping the City column 5jan08
17b R. Lewis Chicago Gets Design Gold Medal WPst 17oct09
17c R.Lewis Glass rules our cities WPst 14nov09
17d R.Lewis Good Design and the Comm Fine Arts WPst 5jun10
22 Trend Summary+Hellman Transform CatholicUniv Mar08r
24 ULI Urban Land Institute article Telecommunities (May 2005)
26a Metro-rail is Regional NOT Local
26a-2 Another floor in the same bldg slide 19 Part 2 – Streetcar Villages Vancouver Story r
26b-2 Ezra Klein City as Growth Engine WPst 13mar12 RSOD jh
27a Scarcest Resource in MoCo Land Use Policy
27b PrGeorge Delays METRO Green Blue Orange Lines WashBsnsJnl 26mar10
27c Scarcest Resource in Pr Geo Co Land Use Policy
28a Walking Distance from rail is NOT a ‘number’
28a-2 Extend the fabric slide 11 Part 3 – Vancouver Style r
28a-3 Cities in a Sea of Green slide 11 Part 1 – Context and Growth Vancouver Story r
28b-1 R.Lewis Encourage Walking by design of public realm and buildings WashPst 8may10
28b-2 R.Lewis Break love-affair with Parking WashPst 16July11
28c Inauguration Bound? Just walk, Metro Says (2 Miles!)
29a Fat in the USA BsnsWk Jul09
29b Obesity facts {Rails to Trails Gotschi}
29c-1 Sprawl and Public Health CDC Frumkin #117
29c-2 CDC Frumkin Healthy Communities, Green Communities pg 118-125 NBM book
29d PARADE Mag 10 Minutes to Better Health
30 ULI R.Rosan Land Use and Green
31a Dru Schmidt-Perkins 1000 Friends coop re-zone MD
31b JJH to Dru Schmidt-Perkins 1kFriends MD zoning
31c Dru Schmidt-Perkins 1000 Friends coop re-zone MD Nov09
32 R.Lewis Green House won’t solve Bad Regulation WashPost 2May09
33a Crashes vs Congestion AAA report Mart08 CvrPg-3
33b-1 Crashes vs Congestion AAA report Mart08 Exec Sum
33b-2 Crashes vs Congestion AAA report Mar08 Full
33c Auto Fatalities 8 cities Frumkin CDC slide 54
34a RealityCheckPlus-VisionMD-cover
34b RealityCheckPlus-VisionMD-pg 6,7
34c RealityCheckPlus-VisionMD-map LEGO chip stacks
34d Realty Check Plus-VisionMD Oct06
35a Where do we Grow from Here MD TF Report CvrPg
35b Where do we Grow from Here MD TF Report Members ltr fr Chairman
35c Where do we Grow from Here MD TF Report TblCont ExecSum
35d Where do we Grow from Here MD TFReport
35d-1 Where do we Grow from Here MD TFReport pg 24-31
36a Doug Duncan talks Development WBJ
36b Doug DuncanOpEd Govt Failure WashPst 15feb09 jjh
37 R.Lewis Gov’t Job Plan+Public Realm WashPost 28feb09
38 R.Lewis Economic Downturn help Smart Growth
39a R.Lewis Affordable Hsng WashPost 16feb08
39b R.Lewis High Price Hsng Sprawl WashPost 14mayo5
39c R.Lewis Affordable Hsng Needs Gov $
39d S.Fuller Wash Region Housing Problem WPst
40a Carbon Neutral bike_walk Gotschi Nov09
40b CO2-emission-f(Ave-Speed) ULI bk
41a-1 Hopkins RschCtr Sprawl WPst
41a-2 slides 13,14 Shady Grove NCI HB 948 SRSOD 3mar11 present_web
41a-3 slides 21, 22 White Flint JBG tower HB 948 SRSOD 3mar11 present_web
41b Howard Univ BioTech Space campus in Pr George’s Cnty WPst
41c-1 Reduce VMT Sustainably SRSOZ Howard U PG example
41c-2 slides 17,18,19 W.Hyattsville Howard Univ made possible by HB 948 SRSOD 3mar11 present_web
42a Garage Empty at Columbia Heights WPst
42a-2 slides 15,16 Columbia Heights TARGET need far LESS parking HB 948 SRSOD 3mar11 present_web
42b VMT-vs-Density-58cities ULI bk
42b-2 Vancouver Progress- It aint all bad news 10-15 yr changes slide-1
42c MIT Prof Forrester- Counterintuitive Behavior of Social Systems TechRvw Jan 1971
43 Will That Road Make You Sick? WashPst 28sep09
44 Smart Growth Hurdles in Montgomery Co. WashPst 22oct09
45 Study says Smart Growth in MD is a Flop WashPost 2nov09
46a Digital Nomads Choose Tribe WashPost 26jul09
46b-1 PG KHolman few Federal leases in PG WashPost 2aug10
46b-2 Why Pr Geo needs SRSOD – GSA Rejects 2nd time Pr Geo bids for HHS WPst 25aug11
47a ULI Virtual Office (Hellman) article May96
47b Longest Ride in US WashPost 3feb09
48 Del Holmes to colleagues HB 948 is valuable solution
48a-1a SRSOD benefits EVERYONE 2pg bullet-point summary
48a-1b slides 3, 4 CONTEXT & Roger Lewis ‘toon HB 948 SRSOD 3mar11 present_web
48a-1b1 Human Muscle System SRSOD drawing
48a-1c slides 5,6,7 DC L’Enfant 19 orig landowners HB 948 SRSOD 3mar11 present_web
48a-1d SRSOD ToolKit Preparation and Testing Progress Report, 7-25-11
48a-1d2 SRSOD ToolKit Proposal v25r clean, 10-21-13
48a-1d3 <being updated >
48a-1d3h < being updated >
48a-1d4 Dick Krueger to Rushern Baker support RSD ToolKit Create & Test Project
48a-1e J Rodin Rockefeller ltr from Wendt, 6-6-11
48a-2 SRSOD hb0948f 11feb11 State Rail Sta Overlay District w_jjh line#’s needing revision
48a-2c SRSOD HB 0948 corrections
48a-3a TDR’s are Gov’t MALPRACTICE 601NJ example
48a-3b TDR testimony PG CB-80-2008 rev_pr
48b Brookings Katz Overhaul State and Local Gov’t WallStJnl 16apr10
48c MD State PlanMaryland and SRSOZ Gazette 28apr10
49a SRSOZ Support to Del. Holmes fr Earl De Maris
49b TCR Bay to Holmes support SRSOZ
49c Leinberger to Holmes support SRSOZ
49d Wendt, RA, AICP to Holmes support SRSOD
49e1 Roger Lewis, FAIA to Holmes support SRSOD jh
49e2 HB 948 Roger Lewis 3-3-11 testimony
49e3 HB 948 SRSOD Bill Roger Lewis Wash Post 12mar11
49f HB 948 Dove to Holmes support SRSOD
49g HB 948 Bill Kominers testimony SRSOD_ltr_Mar_01_2011
49h HB 948 R Thomas AICP to Holmes SRSOD support ltr
49i HB 948 Nagy SRSOD testimony
49j HB 948 Todd Spanier to Del. Holmes support SRSOD
49k NJ Slabbert Balt Sun OpEd HB 948 SRSOD Very Important to Maryland
50a Roger Lewis support for HB 1195 RSOD 23feb12
50b MDP support for RSOD HB1195 23feb12
50c Prince George’s County Testimony-Supp-ENV HB 1195 RSOD 23feb12
50d Mayor Tabori support HB 1195 RSOD — Supplement to Oral Testimony 23feb12
50e Sierra Club support for HB 1195 – SRSOD – Holmes – ENV 23feb12
50f 1000 Friends support for HB 1195 – transit overlay district 23feb12
50h) CNU Congress for New Urbanism support HB 1195 RSOD
50m MSBA support SRSOD HB 1195 23feb12
51a HB1195f first reading 10feb12 jjh notes
51b Amend Co-Sponsor HB 1195 SRSOD 22feb12
51c HB1195-283523-03 amend text 23feb12
51d Fiscal Note Document HB 1195 22Feb12 jjh notes
52e Dan Smith to Del MHolmes support SRSOD 2013 highlight
52e2 Dan Smith e-mail _SRSOD will fund transportation! – Today’s briefing” 15feb13
53c SRSOD draft bill for 2013_14 rev 9Jan2013 JRT
53e CNU ltr Supporting SRSOD ToolKit, J Norquist signed, 5-28-13 highlighted