POTD: Another Day In Paradise

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The sign on the back of this truck says it all. I love trucks that have sayings on them. No, I am not joking. I do.

White Flint Plan Subject Of New York Times Article

About a month ago, we reported that >the Montgomery County Council had approved a landmark “smart growth” plan for the area around White Flint, just south of the Rockville border (some actually consider it Rockville, so we figured we’d include it).

This plan is going to make some major changes to the area and is being watched by city planners around the nation. Council member Piotr Gajewski was kind enough to point out to me that, on Tuesday, the plan was featured in an in-depth piece in the New York Times.

The Times piece also has some interesting history of everyone’s favorite road, Rockville Pike:

The pike has long been a subject of citizen concerns. In 1895, county commissioners appropriated $2,000 for its improvement. The road was reported in bad shape again in 1911 when citizens clamored for more repairs at a cost of $25,000. That year, according to a report in The Washington Post of July 31, 1911, a driver received a ticket for going 30 miles an hour, a speed many motorists on the pike would be happy to reach today.

I wonder what that $2,000 from 1895 would be worth in 2010 money!

POTD: Waiting

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This just struck me as interesting, at least to me. A customer had left these pants for alteration before the business opened. It’s nice we live in a place where they are not guaranteed to be stolen.

What Are Your Ideas For A Rockville Town Hall?

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Some friends at Rockville Roundtable at RedGate Golf Course

As Brigitta Mullican mentioned in a comment about this week’s Rockville Roundtable, we had a nice turnout and discussed some very interesting subjects. Council members Piotr Gajewski and Mark Pierzchala were kind enough to attend, and our discussion turned to the planned September “town hall.” (See, there they are at the right of the photo.)

By way of background, Joe Jordan brought up an idea at Monday’s Mayor and Council meeting for the M&C to hold a sort of town hall-style meeting for the community, where citizens could interact with the Mayor and Council on a different footing than usual. The Mayor and Council voted to hold the meeting at a date and place yet to be determined, but sometime in September.

I think this is a great idea. Citizen’s Forum, with its 3-minute time limits and formal structure, is important but not enough to foster the sense of give and take and deliberation that so many citizens would like to have with the M&C.

On the other hand, we all saw how the health care “town halls” became shoutfests — which is the opposite of the kind of interactions we would like to see. So, Councilmember Gajewski asked us what ideas we had to make the September meeting useful and interesting. I thought it would be a great subject to ask Rockville Central readers, so please have at it in the comments!

At Tuesday’s lunch, I had a few ideas off the top of my head:

• The meeting should be moderated to ensure it stays on track
• There should be sections where the M&C interacts with each other, as well as sections where they M&C interacts with citizens
• The meeting would be best held somewhere other than City Hall chambers (to mark that it is different than a normal meeting)
• We should get the public involved in developing the agenda

There’s a lot of time to get this meeting right, and it comes at a good time (a non-election year) for some good, thoughtful dialogue. So let’s dig deep and try to come up with some good ideas!

(By the way, this month’s Roundtable was held at RedGate golf course, which was wonderful. It was just a perfect day, and the cafe food was tasty. Thanks RedGate!)

POTD: Tulips

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In my view, there is nothing prettier than tulips in the spring.

POTD: Parked?

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I couldn’t tell if this little guy was parked or was ready to hit the curb!

Cash For Appliances In Maryland

>Our good friend Rich Gottfried sent along this helpful information:

Are you marking the 40th anniversary of this celebration of our environment by buying a superenergy-efficient fridge or washing machine or an electric heat pump water heater? Maryland’s version of federal appliance rebate program known as “Cash for Appliances” kicked off on Earth Day last week.

From now until the $5.4 million in federal stimulus money runs out, state residents can purchase a qualifying refrigerator and get $50 back, $100 for an eligible clothes washer or $300 on an electric heat pump water heater.

Check out the Maryland Energy Administration website for more Cash for Appliances details as well as state rebate applications for customers of Maryland municipal utilities and electric cooperatives.

Here are some other things to keep in mind:

• Don’t forget to check whether your utility offers an *additional* rebate on the appliance you’re purchasing as part of its own energy-conservations programs. The criteria for which appliances qualify may be different, so verify before you buy.
• Two utilities (BGE and SMECO) will also pay customers $50 who sign up to have their refrigerators recycled through their programs; Allegheny requires consumers to recycle the fridges in order to qualify for the rebate, but also pays them $35.
• If you’re buying an electric heat pump water heater, you might also qualify for a federal tax credit of 30 percent of the cost, up to $1,500.

There are also the caveats. The rebates aren’t retroactive, so only purchases made on or after April 22 qualify. You have to buy it in a Maryland store (or pay state sales tax if you buy online) and install the appliance in a Maryland home. This is for residential customers only — not for property managers or landlords.

State officials estimate it will take several months to distribute the $5.4 million allocated for this program — but that depends on consumer demand.

POTD: Morning Dew

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I was just driving through the neighborhood the other morning and the angle of the sun on the dew made this neat scene.

Twinbrook Station's 'Alaire' Apartments Open

>This from the PR firm handling the development of the new “Twinbrook Station” development:

Metro officials on Thursday morning joined the City of Rockville and developers and builders of Twinbrook Station to celebrate the project’s official opening during an Earth Day ribbon-cutting-a nod to the environmental benefits of transit-oriented development (TOD).

Steve Goldin, director of real estate for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, told those assembled for the ceremony that TODs like Twinbrook Station, located next to the Twinbrook Metro station in Rockville, are essential for three reasons: They are “a way to take cars off the road,” a way to “increase ridership for Metro,” and they allow “municipalities to maintain open space” by allow developers to build at higher densities near transit.

Twinbrook Station is a public-private partnership between WMATA and The JBG Companies that will transform 26 acres adjacent to the Red Line into a 2.2-million-square-foot, mixed-use community. Thursday’s ribbon-cutting was for The Alaire, the first phase of the project featuring 279 smoke-free apartments and 15,000 square feet of retail space. At full build-out, the project will include 1,595 residential units, 220,000 square feet of retail and 325,000 square feet of commercial space, along with a new park—all within walking distance to Twinbrook Metro.

“People are up to five times more likely to ride transit when they live within walking distance to it,” said Andrew J. Scott of the Maryland Department of Transportation who attended the opening. Transit-oriented developments like Twinbrook Station are key to the state’s transportation health, he said, noting that traffic is growing faster than the population.

Households within a half-mile of a transit station generate 40 percent fewer automobile trips, Scott said.

Bringing The Alaire and Twinbrook Station, which was 12 years in the making, to fruition took persistence and perseverance, said Rod Lawrence, principal of The JBG Companies. The development has been designated a Smart Growth project by the Washington Smart Growth Alliance and was the first project in the Washington region to be awarded gold certification as a LEED-Neighborhood Development.

Rockville Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio touted the environmentally friendly aspects of the project, saying “Rockville wants to be a green city” and needs more projects like Twinbrook Station. Thursday’s official opening for phase one is just the beginning of a new future, she said.

POTD: Earth Day

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It was a little jarring to be driving the neighborhood yesterday (Earth Day) and run across these car seats discarded at this trailhead.

Contributor Opinion by Herb Winkler: A Strategy For Earth Day

>The 40th anniversary of Earth Day provides the opportunity to change some behaviors that can prolong our existence, individually and collectively. We’ve been made aware of climate change, but a less publicized danger is that CO2 forms carbonic acid in the ocean, which will further stress the coral reef, and dissolve the bottom of our food chain. Maybe when we can’t feed ourselves, behavior modification will be easier.

In the meantime, let’s plan a strategy. The Rockville Bicycle Advisory Committee wants to promote safe cycling. The issue is that many of our roads aren’t safe enough to ride on. The Millenium Trail is nice for recreation, but many destinations aren’t on there, so people resort to using their cars to traverse the Pike. Stores naturally want to be on high traffic areas, but that doesn’t make for a safe bike trip. Let’s develop a parallel path a block west of the Pike that links Town Center with the existing path behind Richard Montgomery HS, and continues south through Woodmont’s front lawn and links to the Bethesda Trolley Trail. The old Indian trail that once was is now clogged with hazards, which won’t go away unless we take action. The present plan is to route bikes to the east of 355 on Lewis Avenue, but that requires our cyclists to cross at very busy intersections.

These obstacle were previously tackled with fiscally and environmentally costly overpasses on 270 and 586 (Veirs Mill). Let’s instead keep people on ground level, and west of the pike, and continue up through the college and into King Farm. Then Gaithersburg can do the same, and we can finally get out of our cars and still get to where we need to go. This will finally be a nice gift to our descendants, as opposed to the debt and carbon we’ve been known to accumulate.

Another idea is to lobby for some climate friendly actions, like turning off the TC escalator at night, and dimming some lights. If you have to squander, make sure you use renewables. I don’t take kindly to killing polar bears just because you’re too lazy to turn off an appliance. I did notice the CFLs there in the stairwell, but the energy savings is negated by the fact that there are 28 of them. There is an elevator for those who can’t use the stairs. Must the escalator run 24/7? No wonder we can get a grocer to move in if the rent has to cover avoidable expenses like that. This is our town, and we have to make it livable. The sooner we get stated, the easier it will be. The present prediction is that the reefs and everything that depends on them won’t survive the century.

Herb Winkler

This is a Contributor Opinion. Rockville Central encourages readers to submit such pieces for consideration — the more voices the better. Simply send them to [email protected]. We ask that all such contributions be civil and we reserve the right to edit (in consultation with the author) or reject. Contributor opinions should not be seen as reflecting opinions held by Rockville Central editors, as they are just as frequently at odds with our own views. That’s the whole point!

POTD: Entry

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There’s something about the entry to a nice park that soothes me. Nothing fancy . . . just nice.

Join Me For ShelterWalk 'n Roll In Town Square

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As many readers might know, I work to coordinate the special events for the Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless. On Sunday, May 2, 2010 MCCH will have a very special event to celebrate the organization’s 20th anniversary and it’s in our Rockville Town Square.

Spend Saturday at Austin Grill’s Cinco de Mayo, then come back on Sunday to walk for the homeless. During ShelterWalk ‘n Roll 2010, you’ll be able to learn about the organization, help to raise awareness about homelessness and support MCCH’s programs.

We’ll have live acoustic rock music by the JDN Band featuring Jack Worthington, Denise D’Amico and Neal Herron. They play crowd-pleasing rock from the past few decades all around Montgomery County and we’re pleased they volunteer to headline our Walk each year! You can hear them at their MySpace page.

We’ll have face painting, crafts and games for the kids during this fun, energy-filled afternoon. Last year’s ShelterWalk ‘n Roll was a downpour all day! I am really hoping for a beautiful sunny time in our Square this year.

Event Schedule
1:00 p.m. – Registration, music and festivities begin
2:00 p.m. – 1 mile walkathon around Town Center commences, rain or shine
Music and festivities will continue after the walk.

Registration Fees
You can register at the event online, by mail or on the day of the event:
$25 for Adults (includes a T-shirt)
$15 for Children under 18 and students with college I.D. (includes a T-shirt)
Free for children under 5

Register online by clicking on the “Donate” tab and completing the donation form. Indicate “ShelterWalk” in the “Gift Designation” section and list the names and ages of the walkers you are registering.

Register by mail by sending a completed registration form and check to:
Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless
Attn: Cindy Cotte Griffiths
600-B East Gude Drive
Rockville, MD 20850

If you need any additional Information, you can contact me by email [email protected] or phone 301.217.0314 x118.

This year the t-shirts are going to be green because for the 20th anniversary, MCCH has adopted the symbol of a tree. From 1990 – 2010 MCCH has been:

Branching Out. Cultivating Change. Growing Community.

I hope you’ll be able to come by the Square and participate.

Contributor Opinion by Temperance Blalock: Why Are Pedestrians Penalized More Than Motorists?

>I’m a real coward when it comes to crossing the street in downtown Rockville. I’ll stand there patiently, waiting for the light to turn, and I’ll wait there interminably, looking incredibly silly when most people would sprint across against the light, mostly because I know how fast cars will suddenly appear and barrel through an intersection at ten or fifteen miles above the speed limit. I’d rather be safely silly than sorry.

And so it was that I was heartened to receive an e-mail from the City entitled “Rockville City Police Department Issues Pedestrian Safety Reminders“. Hey, maybe I could take a respite and relax, knowing that the police department is at least temporarily going to monitor the safety of pedestrian crossings.

But then I saw the following:

Fines for pedestrians who do not cross in a properly marked crosswalk or who cross against the signal could face a fine up to $500. Motorists who do not yield to pedestrians who are in a marked crosswalk could face a fine up to $40 and one point on his/her driver’s license.

This is outrageous. Why are pedestrians penalized at a rate more than ten times that of motorists? How could this possibly be justified? If a pedestrian and a motorist “meet” in an intersection, there is no way that the pedestrian could inflict ten times the rate of damage on the automobile.

Given the fact that I have almost never seen a motorist (other than myself) yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk in the seven years that I’ve worked in downtown Rockville, this is a joke. Yes, I’ve seen plenty of jaywalkers and reckless pedestrians in that time, but none of them just barely clipped me with thousands of pounds of steel.

So, for the time being I’m going to continue to cower in the crosswalks, as long as pedestrians continue to be fair game in the traffic wars.

Temperance Blalock

This is a Contributor Opinion. Rockville Central encourages readers to submit such pieces for consideration — the more voices the better. We ask that all such contributions be civil and we reserve the right to edit (in consultation with the author) or reject. Contributor opinions should not be seen as reflecting opinions held by Rockville Central editors, as they are just as frequently at odds with our own views. That’s the whole point!

POTD: Beds

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I just love these new garden beds being put in.