Although the state has been lining up private money for the project, few people believe private money will materialize without federal backing. In that regard, Wednesday's news can be viewed as an insurance policy of sorts--private money is now more likely and with it so is the purple line.
Here's the most recent map of the proposed route.
Of late the coverage about the purple line has focused on its opponents (e.g. the Town of Chevy Chase). As with any big public works project, though, the goal is to benefit far more people than you disadvantage. So, what are the benefits of a Purple Line? Here are two that come to (my) mind:
1. The purple line will update the metro system's hub and spoke design. A hub and spoke network is basically designed to move people from suburb to city (and vice versa). People that want to go from suburb to suburb don't tend to get much benefit from a hub and spoke system because the spokes only connect through the hub. If I want to take the metro to go from Silver Spring to Bethesda, for example, I have to go through DC and then back out again. The distance by road is about 5 miles. By train it's around 15 miles. The purple line will provide people going between Maryland's DMV suburbs with another, faster public transportation option.
2. Transit beckons development. Urban planners love something called 'smart growth,' which in the DMV usually translates into building at higher density around transit points. And, since the fashion these days is the 'mixed use development,' the transit stations along the purple line could see a boost in housing and retail options. This trend won't have a huge affect in a place like Bethesda, which is already well developed, but stops on the eastern half of the line, where development has been anemic, could really benefit.
There are, of course, potential downsides. And, it is worth considering those not normally considered in the papers (i.e. let's stop worrying about
1. The working class Hispanic population. Let me start with some context. Most of the transit stops along the proposed purple line are in areas geographers and urban studies types call 'first suburbs.' The Brookings Institution defines first suburbs with two criteria--they were built before 1950 and are located in counties adjacent to the main city. In DC this usually means suburbs inside (or touching the beltway). First suburbs are a study in contradiction. Some of their neighborhoods are quite posh (Bethesda). But, some have experienced significant disinvestment (Langley Park). This is especially true as you move east along the proposed purple line. This wealth gradient means that housing in MoCo's eastern suburbs and PG county's western suburbs has become an affordable oasis in a metro area where housing prices are ridiculous (see my earlier post on this topic here). Big stretches of University Boulevard, for example, now have large immigrant populations from Central America. The area around 'Tick Tock' Liquor store is a veritable little El Salvador. There are also some amazing Asian and African places tucked in between the pupersaries and Peruvian chicken places. The boom of immigrants to these areas has made them culturally vibrant places. Developers coming into these neighborhoods may appreciate this 'diversity' as a selling point, but they probably won't build new houses or apartments for the working class Hispanics already living in the area. Instead, they'll do what developers in DC have done--aim for the luxury market. And, that will mean gentrification and displacement.
Great news!
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