Yikes to pedegars. Wonder where you stayed? But you should blame false advertising by the hotel, not the overall design of Arlington. It depends on what is meant by "pedestrian friendly." If you mean, be careful when you're crossing the street or you will be run over, you would have a point. The whole DC metropolitan area is guilty of that. In fact, by that definition, I live in one of the most pedestrian un-friendly, traffic congested areas; I take my life into my hands every time I cross a street. I have to warn newbies who aren't used to not needing a car to get from point A to point B while at the same time watching out for drivers who don't think pedestrians have a right to exist. It's actually much safer to cross in the middle of a road here than at the intersections where you're constantly dodging drivers making left and right turns without looking and sometimes on their cell phones. On the other hand, if you're talking about just actual walking, the whole area is extremely pedestrian friendly. A lack of sidewalks is rare (they're missing in some residential neighborhoods) and the sidewalks are, for the most part, relatively wide. Also, the subway stops are relatively close together, especially when compared with those of other relatively new systems. For example, you can't tell me that there's not a lot of space between the Universal Studios and Hollywood stops in LA. Here, in most cases, they're probably a mile apart, sometimes a lot less. Also, unlike LA, there are always people out on the street walking (more like New York). Last Sunday, I had to leave my place at 6:30 in the morning to catch a bus to New York, and even though it was dark, there was traffic and even another pedestrian or two and I felt perfectly safe. That wouldn't have been the case in most other metropolitan areas. Melissa P.
________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of David Bruggeman Sent: Saturday, January 10, 2009 12:31 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [TV orNotTV] Re: Way OT: California Question Yes, the DC area is not designed for pedestrians. Longest freaking blocks of any major city, sidewalk optional neighborhoods throughout the place. If this wasn't the easiest place for me to find work.... David ________________________________ From: pedegars <[email protected]> To: TVorNotTV <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, January 9, 2009 6:34:27 PM Subject: [TV orNotTV] Re: Way OT: California Question Another thing to consider (aside from train capacity/volume), is that proximity to the nearest Metro station is all relative. On one of my forays to the National Capital Area for a DC Big Event, I stayed at a hotel on the outskirts of Arlington, which touted their location as being five blocks (or perhaps even three) from the nearest Metro station. Sounds really close & walkable, no? Well, what they didn't mention is that the hotel (and the most expedient route to the station) is located on a busy roadway which is a main route to downtown Arlington, and that as such, there are almost no sidewalks, so that it was necessary to walk on the off-shoulder of the road, and navigate through a narrow underpass---all with traffic whizzing by at 35-40 MPH---until you reached the area of the station, which had all the urban walking amenities for the last 500 feet to the entrance. It was challenging enough in warm, dry weather; I can only imagine what walking it is like on a cold day with inclement weather (and possibly icy/slushy/mucky conditions). --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Like TV only smarter. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
