Thursday, November 9, 2006

ike's first act: placating the NIMBYs

County Executive-elect Ike Leggett may be on a high over the wave of Democratic elected officials flooding an already-blue Montgomery County, but he's still down in my book for giving into the NIMBYs and calling for a moratorium on growth in Montgomery County, perhaps in our very own East County.

Now, Ike lives in East County. He knows how expensive homes here have gotten. He knows how bad traffic is in the mornings when everyone drives out to work and in the evenings when they come back. He's probably frustrated over having to go to Columbia, Wheaton or North Bethesda for shopping. Maybe he's even ridden a crowded Z6 bus up The Pike once or twice.

So why's he so interested in a moratorium? Do we need any more McMansions like his eating up the Maryland countryside? Why isn't he calling for more mixed-use development? Why isn't he calling for more transit? Why haven't we heard anything about the Purple Line yet? O'Malley says it's at the top of his agenda. I guess we're seeing a reversal of the current situation, where the County Exec. is pushing for it and the Governor's indifferent.

The "I've got mine, screw you" mentality is better suited for the selfish NIMBYs than for the man who's supposed to be leading our County. You came from poverty, Ike. Shouldn't you care about people who can't afford to live in Montgomery County? Obviously not. You've got yours.

9 comments:

Silver Springer said...

I really wish Montgomery would focus on job growth instead of residential growth.

Route 29 is like all houses and downtown is turning into all residential.

Where are these people suppose to work?

FuturePurpleRider said...

The annual growth policy adopted by the county council last year was roundly condemned by the slow-growth forces because it had a higher rate of job growth than housing growth.

It's market forces that are driving the housing/jobs balance toward housing at the moment, not county policies.

Rfustero said...

I would like to see Ike take public transportation to work everyday.

In the early70's I used to ride the bus to Montgomery College- one of the riders was James Gleason- who was (i think) the first and only Republican County Executive we have had.

Anonymous said...

They can all work digging the Purple Line.

Quoting the article: "Beyond that, specific transportation proposals are not likely to surface for several months. O'Malley has promised to convene a panel of experts and legislators to reevaluate the state's transportation priorities for the coming decade."

Good. We don't need the ICK or the Purple Line, both old solutions that will solve neither present nor future problems.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
They can all work digging the Purple Line.

Quoting the article: "Beyond that, specific transportation proposals are not likely to surface for several months. O'Malley has promised to convene a panel of experts and legislators to reevaluate the state's transportation priorities for the coming decade."

Good. We don't need the ICK or the Purple Line, both old solutions that will solve neither present nor future problems.

11/11/2006 1:43 AM

I really hate when non-Maryland Virginians try to dictate economic growth and trying to place road blocks on improving transportation issues in Maryland.

Anonymous said...

Anon 5:54,

I haven't seen one Virginian mentioned in this thread. What were you trying to say?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Anon 5:54,

I haven't seen one Virginian mentioned in this thread. What were you trying to say?

11/12/2006 3:20 AM

RE: I know you wouldn't be weak minded enough to believe that any of the people that bad mouth Montgomery County and other parts of Maryland would openly admit to being from Virginia or any other place outside of Maryland.

Anonymous said...

Anon 3:52,

Your lack of clarity continues, now even increased somewhat.

Can you try shorter sentences? And maybe one concept at a time? A simple, direct response might help, too.

C. P. Zilliacus said...

Rfustero said...

> I would like to see Ike take
> public transportation to
> work everyday.

Why? Unless he's going to a job
in downtown Silver Spring, or
in downtown D.C., that's not
easy to do.

> In the early70's I used
> to ride the bus to Montgomery
> College- one of the riders
> was James Gleason- who was
> (i think) the first and
> only Republican County
> Executive we have had.

Perhaps you saw Jim Gleason
take the bus to Rockville,
though I rather doubt he did
that on a recurring basis,
since county taxpayers provided
him with a black Mercury
four-door sedan because he
was the County Executive - and
this vehicle was parked outside
of his home every night.