Monday, December 18, 2006

a moratorium on "moratorium"

The past few weeks have seen a rash of "Dan bitches about moratorium" posts on other blogs, and while I can hear my father over my shoulder, saying "you'd better stand up for yourself," I can't help but admit: I can yell about Leggett and our scary new council members until I'm blue in the face, but I probably won't get much done that way.

I still can't buy the NIMBY argument, and I can't help but wonder if underneath all that talk about dropping property values and "overdevelopment" is a subtle prejudice towards newcomers. I know all people aren't like that, but some are, and those are the ones that worry me. But I am aware that our new County Council probably isn't so inclined.

So, in good faith that the County understands its past successes and missteps, I am proposing a moratorium of my own: on the word "moratorium." For the next year, Just Up The Pike is banning use of the word "moratorium" except in extreme circumstances. While Montgomery County reconsiders the path it chose ten years ago, I will be going easy on the rants. Why dwell? There are bigger fish to fry.

And, moratorium (sorry) or not, I will continue to press our leaders on improving public transit in this area. You had better watch out, Ike Leggett: you will hear from me again.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Washington Post said...

Supporters said it would help Montgomery compete for jobs and businesses with other area jurisdictions, particularly Fairfax County.

RE: I got this very strange feeling that some business fat cats/politicians in Northern Virginia bought out the current Montgomery County Council just to make sure that Maryland's largest county won't be able to compete with Northern Virginia's Employment, and Upscale Retail Growth.

Anonymous said...

Anyone who doesn't have second thoughts about continued high density growth in Montgomery County doesn't own a car or try to cross a road. I challenge anyone to find an intersection light change during rush hour where someone isn't running a yellow light out of frustration.

This isn't about being anti anything - it's about being for a place that is safe and livable.

I can't see how anyone in Northern VA is "winning" with this sort of thing going on http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/
content/article/2006/12/16/AR2006121600646.html

MoCoPolitics said...

It seems perhaps I've made you mad. That was not my intention. Rant away, use moratorium all you want, no problem. We may disagree about the issues surrounding development (I suspect our disagreement is not as great as it sometimes appears), but I respect your views -- you are by far the most articulate spokesman for the pro-development viewpoint (the main reason I single you out). Better than most politicians, quite frankly, many of whom pretend to be something other than who they are.

Anonymous said...

frogger said...
Anyone who doesn't have second thoughts about continued high density growth in Montgomery County doesn't own a car or try to cross a road. I challenge anyone to find an intersection light change during rush hour where someone isn't running a yellow light out of frustration.

This isn't about being anti anything - it's about being for a place that is safe and livable.

I can't see how anyone in Northern VA is "winning" with this sort of thing going on http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/
content/article/2006/12/16/AR2006121600646.html

12/19/2006 9:18 AM

RE: Northern Virginia continues to have higher job growth, better roads/highways, Major Upscale Retail Malls, and better planned mass transportation system but Maryland continues to lag behind.

If Montgomery County has soo much high density growth then Why doesn't Eastern Montgomery County(US 29 Corridor) resemble the VA 7/US 50 Corridors in Fairfax and Loudon County.

People run traffic lights all the time in Virginia and DC and you don't hear them talking about sabatoging Economic and Business Growth in Virginia and DC.

Anonymous said...

MoCoPolitics said...
It seems perhaps I've made you mad. That was not my intention. Rant away, use moratorium all you want, no problem. We may disagree about the issues surrounding development (I suspect our disagreement is not as great as it sometimes appears), but I respect your views -- you are by far the most articulate spokesman for the pro-development viewpoint (the main reason I single you out). Better than most politicians, quite frankly, many of whom pretend to be something other than who they are.

12/19/2006 12:01 PM

RE: How the heck is that being pro-development when he/she is against building new highays.

Maybe you were being sarcastic.