Capital idea

I'm now in the process of moving to Washington, DC. This really is a great city, from a planning perspective at least. Like other planned cities, among which I'll count Philadelphia, downtown New Haven, and New York north of Canal Street, L'Enfant's city follows a sensible grid pattern. It also has the diagonal streets (those named for states), which also makes sense (since the shortest distance between two points is a straight line and, separately, I think the hypotenuse of a right triangle always has to be shorter than the sum of the two legs, which, for the record, I think can be proved using the Pythagorean Theorem.

But what's especially smart about this city's planning is the height restriction in place. The popular belief is that no building in the district may be taller than the Capitol. Supposedly there's legislation to this effect, and I believe that historically there may be. Other sources seem to suggest that a modernized zoning code (one that restricts height based on the width of the street in front of the building) is in place. For a decent and believable review, see this article. If anyone knows for sure, or has a cite to where Congress' legislation on the subject may exist, I'd be interested to see it. But what matters most is that the height restrictions ensures an acceptable ratio of pedestrians to sidewalk space. This is something that most other cities--especially New York--do not enjoy.

Please downsize us

I drive an SUV. I don't like the fact that I drive an SUV, but the truth is, I'm not inclined to downsize if the cost of doing so is a head-on collision with a Ford Excursion. My family and I deserve the same heft in an impact as anyone else. Thus, car choice in America represents a variation on the classic Prisoners' Dilemma. Now, I am not for big government. I think the best way our leaders can spend our money is to solve our various Prisoners' Dilemmas. (I might even argue that such situations are the only justified purpose of government, but this is not a political blog). Specifically, the government has a responsibility to force all of us to reach the best outcome (which we wouldn't otherwise reach).

So, getting back to cars. I'm not inclined to put my family in a Mini Cooper (i.e., cooperate, in the Prisoners' Dilemma setting), when I believe that Joe American isn't willing to do the same and part with his Hummer 2 (it's the mid size one, I think). But if the government could force me and Joe to drive Mini Coopers (and no, I don't hold any BMW stock), then we'd both be better off. And I'm not talking about raising gas taxes; I'm talking about simply making cars above a certain weight illegal. Of course, there will be a time when Joe America or I have to schlep some furniture somewhere. And for those rare occasions, a special government-issued permit (and a rental truck from Ryder) will suffice. This all might be a little unrealistic, unfortunately. If the government can't ban assault weapons, they probably can't ban commuter tanks either. Oh well. I guess we'll all have to learn to live with more traffic, bloodier accidents, increased dependence on foreign oil, worsening air quality, and so on.

Manhattan is an island

Considering the fact that Manhattan is an island, the lack of waterfront access in New York City is a common enough complaint. What I find particularly frustrating though isn't so much the restricted access to the water (who really wants to swim in the East River?), but rather the under-utilization of our waterways for passenger traffic. Apparently there used to be efficient ferry service between Manhattan and Laguardia. It's inexcusable that this was discontinued, and that a similar service doesn't exist for JFK Airport. Imagine how much more useful ferry service would be than the monorail, which requires a separate commuter rail trip out to Jamaica. Some automobile and pedestrian traffic experts ought to also study the impact of a high speed ferry that would ply the East River making stops along the eastern shore of Manhattan. I'm guessing such a service would help ease the burden on the grossly inadequate 4-5-6 line. Everyone agrees that another mass-transit option is needed on the eastern East Side. A ferry to the east of Third, Second, and First Avenues would be a lot cheaper and nearly as effective as the perpetually planned Second Avenue subway line.

When did we become the rats?

New York, despite its shortcomings, is a great city. Not necessarily the best place to live, but still undoubtedly a great city of the world. Yet its citizens are forced to share their main transportation thoroughfares--that is, the sidewalks--with mountains of garbage left out for the sanitation department to pick up. Nearly every other city in the same class as New York has in place a system that allows pedestrians unrestricted use of those routes that are meant to be dedicated walkways, not garbage-holding stations. Even notoriously ill-conceived Boston has its alleys which keep garbage out of sight and out of the way. Why are the citizens of New York, the very people who make the city the great place it is, left to wallow about in their own waste? Surely they deserve better.