The Gray Pages

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

My first crazy email as a Maryland voter!

In response to this guy's press release. For what it's worth, he seemed like a nice guy when I talked to him. I'll let you know if/when he writes back.


Jeff --

We met briefly this morning when you were handing out your press release announcing your opposition to the proposed development at Forest Glen Metro. I left off having disagreed with you, wishing you luck, and saying that you wouldn't get my vote. (If it helps, I was wearing a purple polo shirt and we talked around 8:00.)

On further reflection, I have to concede that any single issue rarely determines for whom I vote, and this one is no exception. I'd like to discuss it a little further with you, and hear your thoughts. Thanks in advance for your time.

I support more transit-oriented development and I am sharply opposed to further sprawl -- not merely in Montgomery County but the entire DC Metro region. Your website touts an endorsement from the Sierra Club, who said that you are interesting in curbing sprawl as well, so I find myself a little confused by your position. Homes not built on a particular site will surely be built elsewhere. People have to live somewhere.

The growth of a metropolitan region is based on factors beyond any policymakers' grasp -- weather, job conditions, and so forth. More people are moving to this region and it is better for our air, our roads, our health, and so forth if those people live closer to their jobs and drive less. It is worse for everyone if people who might have bought a townhouse in Silver Spring instead buy a detached McMansion in West Virginia and drive two hours to work each day.

Transit-oriented development -- like this project seems to be -- is the solution, not the problem. Mixed-use land regulations are the solution, not the problem. I suggest you read Andres Duany's "Suburban Nation," if you have not done so already.

Regardless, I would like answers to the following questions:

(1) What types of transit-oriented development would you support?

(2) If you are elected to the State Assembly, what concrete steps would you take to stop (or change) this project?

In answering question 2, I'd like an honest assesment of how a freshman legislator who will not sit on the Metro Board of Directors might influence this project. I hope your answer will speak to the realities of the State Assembly and not the easy promises of a press release.

Thanks in advance,
[Me]

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