Although not as bad as Floreen and Leventhal, Berliner takes plenty of developer money in the form of contributions. Some of this is from developers directly, some for developer PACs and some from pro-development unions. Berliner even takes substantial contributions from developers doing business in Bethesda. So when Berliner says that he wants to "insert pause buttons" into Bethesda's downtown plan, it's nothing more than an attempt to placate voters (who want to set up Bethesda as a charter city to protect it from Berliner and the County Council)and make Berliner look more palatable in his run for County Executive. At best, Beliner's "pause" = Band-Aid.
Other neighborhoods' experiences are these 'pauses' are bait and switch to placate existing residents, who then melt away, not realizing the developers are in there constantly changing the deal. The 'Art of the Deal' applies to Montgomery County too. Don't be fooled.
The primary "problem" with development in MoCo is that the public school system is actually half-decent. As a result, surprise! People want to move here for a chance to make their kids' lives better. So by extension, it makes sense to try to fit more people in a given space, in a way that encourages public transit use over driving. The best way to do that is Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), which, unfortunately for some established NIMBY Bethesda residents, requires them to share their schools with others, something they don't want to do out of fear of overcrowding. The simple answer is to re-open Woodward HS at the current Tilden MS site, make the (upcoming) new Tilden MS the only middle school of Woodward HS, and move some of the current B-CC cluster into the freed-up WJHS cluster. That opens room for B-CC in a Bethesda TOD-related expansion.
Anyone who opposes housing development in MoCo, especially TOD, should focus on finding ways to make PG County and DC public schools better, so people will want to move there by choice, not by monetary necessity.
'Fear of overcrowding?' The schools are already overcrowded. At WJ, development was in moratorium for that very reason. So what did the current councilmembers do? They voted for 5 phantom classrooms at WJ. Not built, but hey, problem solved. Just keep building. As for TOD, how convenient; a man-made built system is used to make sure that the wealthiest among us, in Potomac and upcounty, are protected in their enclaves. Easy enough to extend the transportation to the west of the county yet, somehow the councilmembers refuse to do that. Protecting their donors.
Although not as bad as Floreen and Leventhal, Berliner takes plenty of developer money in the form of contributions. Some of this is from developers directly, some for developer PACs and some from pro-development unions. Berliner even takes substantial contributions from developers doing business in Bethesda. So when Berliner says that he wants to "insert pause buttons" into Bethesda's downtown plan, it's nothing more than an attempt to placate voters (who want to set up Bethesda as a charter city to protect it from Berliner and the County Council)and make Berliner look more palatable in his run for County Executive. At best, Beliner's "pause" = Band-Aid.
ReplyDeleteOther neighborhoods' experiences are these 'pauses' are bait and switch to placate existing residents, who then melt away, not realizing the developers are in there constantly changing the deal. The 'Art of the Deal' applies to Montgomery County too. Don't be fooled.
DeleteThe primary "problem" with development in MoCo is that the public school system is actually half-decent. As a result, surprise! People want to move here for a chance to make their kids' lives better. So by extension, it makes sense to try to fit more people in a given space, in a way that encourages public transit use over driving. The best way to do that is Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), which, unfortunately for some established NIMBY Bethesda residents, requires them to share their schools with others, something they don't want to do out of fear of overcrowding. The simple answer is to re-open Woodward HS at the current Tilden MS site, make the (upcoming) new Tilden MS the only middle school of Woodward HS, and move some of the current B-CC cluster into the freed-up WJHS cluster. That opens room for B-CC in a Bethesda TOD-related expansion.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who opposes housing development in MoCo, especially TOD, should focus on finding ways to make PG County and DC public schools better, so people will want to move there by choice, not by monetary necessity.
'Fear of overcrowding?' The schools are already overcrowded. At WJ, development was in moratorium for that very reason. So what did the current councilmembers do? They voted for 5 phantom classrooms at WJ. Not built, but hey, problem solved. Just keep building. As for TOD, how convenient; a man-made built system is used to make sure that the wealthiest among us, in Potomac and upcounty, are protected in their enclaves. Easy enough to extend the transportation to the west of the county yet, somehow the councilmembers refuse to do that. Protecting their donors.
Delete