Quote:
Originally Posted by MarketsWork
Yes, and DC had a virtual carte blanche with federal funding to build its extensive Metro. As the nation's capital and a federal district, DC is a unique case, and its gravy train cannot be repeated to anywhere near the same degree in any other young city.
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Well, that's not exactly true, on both accounts. First, the District was supposed to have an extensive freeway network (I-95, I-270, and I-66 were all supposed to come together in downtown along with an inner ring freeway that would have wiped out areas including, I think, those just south of Adams Morgan). Citizen outcry blocked these, and the federal funds that were earmarked for the freeways
instead went to build the Metro. It was provided as an either-or type of thing. Even today, though, DC wants to tear down one of the few expressway stubs that actually
were built, the Whitehurst Freeway, and I doubt it would be able to rely much on federal funds, as Congress doesn't like to fund tear-downs.
Also, on the other point, Washington's not a unique case: I-95 was supposed to go straight through Boston, I-70 straight through Baltimore, and I-495 clear across 33rd Street in Manhattan, and all were blocked for similar reasons.
These days, Metro is also heavily supported by the District, Maryland, and Virginia (yes, and the federal government as well), unlike MARTA with Georgia, but Metro also has no dedicated funding on the order of MARTA.
Edit: And, to whoever was complaining about driving on expressways in Washington, what are you talking about? There are only three freeways in the District (the Whitehurst Freeway -- about a mile, a stub from I-395 -- maybe 2 miles, and DC/I-295), they're all very short, and none of the them are habitually backed up.
Also, unlike Atlanta where less than 10% of the region works downtown, in DC, 50% of the region works downtown. They've gotten by with virtually no freeways
through their downtown (they stop at the edges or beyond and turn into arterials), and, arguably, they should have far greater demand than Atlanta. The city of Atlanta itself would have been much better served had the Connector never been built, and the instead the Perimeter beefed up so that it could handle the through traffic. Today, city residents are being held hostage for the benefit of suburbanites.