Negotiating with Extortionists. Martin O'Malley makes a deal with Francis Underwood

As readers of this blog know, MOCO Musings has not been a fan of the tactics employed by the Netflix show House of Cards (HOC) to increase its tax credits from the state of Maryland.  (The show shoots in Baltimore, Annapolis, and Harford County).

To date, the show has received 26.6 million dollars in tax credits during its two seasons.   At the start of the year, the show's producers made a 'pitch' to increase their tax credits for the upcoming (3rd) season of shooting.

HOC used a combination of soft and hardball tactics. On the softer side, Kevin Spacey visited the state to host a cocktail party and pose for selfies with groupieselected officials.  On the hardball side, the show's producers sent Governor O'Malley a stern letter warning it might leave the state if bigger tax credits were not forthcoming.

In April, the Senate approved an increase of 15 million dollars, but the house wanted a smaller figure and an agreement that the state could use eminent domain to seize film equipment if the show left after receiving tax credits.  The two sides couldn't agree, and the Assembly closed before a deal could be reached. 

In walks Martin O'Malley to 'save' the day.  The show will now receive 11.5 million in tax credits for its third season.  It is unclear exactly where the money is coming from (since the General Assembly didn't vote for it).  But, state 'grants'  appear to be in the mix. 


The amount is less than what the show received for its first two seasons (about 13 million for each season), but a lot more than many people thought it deserved.

What's the lesson here?  For his part, the governor chose to downplay the previous conflict, relying on a too cute by half press release that began:  "Spoiler alert: we’re going to keep the 3,700 jobs and more than 100 million dollars of economic activity and investment that ‘House of Cards’ generates right here in Maryland."

Another way to look at it is this:  you can negotiate with extortionists for a markdown.  

All of this reminds me of another TV show set in Baltimore, The Wire, and a character on it, Tommy Carcetti.  Rumor always had it that Carcetti, a city councilman with mayoral ambitions, was based at least in part on Martin O'Malley.  Carcetti was an idealist whose mayoral ambitions got in the way of his idealism.  Whether or not the rumor is true, it seems apt today.   

MOCO Map of the Week--Percent Asian by Census Tract, 2010

This week's map shows the distribution of the Asian population in Montgomery County.  In 2010 13.9% of the county's population was Asian.

By comparison, only 5.52 % of Maryland's population was Asian in 2010.  For the US as a whole, the percent was even smaller, at 4.8%.

A couple of patterns stand out here.  First, Asians tend to be clustered outside the beltway, which runs in a straight line just above the District's northern tip (the top of the triangle at the bottom of the county).  Second, the census tracts with the highest percentages of Asians tend to be on the western side of the county. Next map will look at the distribution of the Hispanic/Latino population in MOCO.  Stay tuned!

The Millennial Fetish

As every new generation comes of age, the media loves to fixate on them.  What makes them tick, we wonder?  How are they different from all the others that came before them?  I get it, I really do.  But, some of the recent coverage of millennials, especially in the DMV, veers toward the ridiculous, or sublimely funny, depending on your mood. 

Case in point?  An article in the Washington Post Real Estate section this past Saturday (4/19/14) about the efforts of developers and architects to build for millennials, or as the article puts it,  "to create living spaces with this generation’s behaviors in mind."

So, what sorts of behaviors do millennials exhibit that the rest of us don't, and more importantly, how does this translate into different living spaces?


The WAPO article identifies three main differences.

1.  Millennials aren't buying homes just yet.  They've got too much debt, so they either can't afford a mortgage, or they don't have enough savings to cover a down payment.  So, how does this translate into how we build/design spaces for them?

Wait for it...really, you're going to be floored by this one...seriously, sit down...take a deep breath...THEY RENT APARTMENTS. 

2. Millennial like customizable spaces.  As the WAPO article notes:  "Millennials have the same expectations about physical spaces and digital spaces; they want to be able to socialize within personalized spaces that they can break down and rebuild in different ways."

I'm not sure what a digital space is.  But, this is to be expected.  I'm a Gen-Xer.  Translation:  I'm a slacker working on a refurbished IBM 486.

Anyway, I digress.  How does this love of customization translate into millennial spaces?  According to the WAPO article, millennials want "retail-style walk-in closets that can be arranged multiple ways, in-unit areas to hang bicycles and kayaks, and sliding doors within apartment units that can enable more opened or closed environments."  Seriously?  That's what makes them different--big closets?  The article's writer clearly hasn't seen the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.  Those ladies have closets the size of Alaska, and are, ahem, older than your average millennial. 

3.  Millennials like upgrades.  I'm not sure exactly what the article's author means by an upgrade, but it seems to boil down to technology. 

So, how do millennials' preferences for the most updated technology translate into new and creative spaces?  Apparently it is about things like new and inventive lighting.  As WAPO puts it, "glowing floors, lit walls, light boxes...flat-screen technology."

I'm starting to think a millennial wrote this article.   

John Travolta's best dance moves in Saturday Night Fever were on a glowing floor.  All those hip thrusts would've been just another Elvis rip-off without that floor!

And, don't even get me started on the Lava Lamp, that beacon of alternative lighting from across the ages.    

So, the next time you meet a millennial, behold the exotic creature before you.  She rents an apartment, has big closets, and likes funky lights.  Dorothy, you're not in Kansas anymore.  

P.S. the movie poster is from Wikipedia and falls within the fair use category. 

Random MOCO Pic of the day--Mad Men under the Beltway

Maybe there's a little Don Draper in all of us?  How else to explain the opened but mostly full bottle of Vodka standing delicately, with not a scratch on it, under a 495 underpass yesterday?   

MOCO Map of the Week--Median Age by Census Tract, 2010

MOCO Musings is introducing a new feature starting today--Map of the Week!  Today's map answers the question 'how old is Montgomery County?'  

The US Census Bureau reports that the county's median age in 2010 was 38.5 years.  This figure means we are slightly older than the US as a whole, which has a median age of 37.2.  There is, however, considerable variation when we look at median age by census tract.  The range across MOCO's 215 census tracts is substantial, ranging from 29.1 on the low end to 82.8 on the high end.  On the map below, the darker the tract, the higher the median age. 

The tract with the oldest median age (tract 703218) is located on the east side of Georgia Ave. just south of the Intercounty Connector.  Not surprisingly, a retirement community, Leisure World, takes us the majority of the tract.  The tract with the lowest median age (701422) is further east, along Columbia Pike, on the northside of the Intercounty Connector.   

Look for a map about once a week!

 

Smart Growth Pet Peeves Continued--Elitism.

I want to like smart growth.  I really do.  I used to walk to work when I lived in DC, and I would love to live in such a walkable place again.  It was good for me (built in exercise) and the environment (no emissions since the car stayed parked most days). 

But, several things keep me from jumping on the smart growth bandwagon.  In my last post I complained about the transportation and infrastructure blind spots smart growth advocates have. They encourage building up at metro but ignore the fact that DC's metro system is falling apart.  Building up in this context just adds to metro's woes.  I was also put off by the cheery indifference smart growth advocates have to people who need cars and places to park them.  Some people need a car because they don't work near a metro station (even if they live by one).  In households with couples it is common to find one person who can use the metro and another who can't (and thus needs a space to park the car).  For smart growthers, though, these kinds of nuances just don't matter.  For them, we should all walk, bike, or metro to work, circumstances be damned. 

Today, as promised, I'll share my other pet peeve about smart growth.  It is inherently elitist.

Let's start with who smart growth advocates are targeting as their best potential acolytes--millennials.  It's now common wisdom that Millennials prefer city living and don't like cars.  Ok, maybe some of them like cars, but they can't actually afford to buy them, pay insurance, and cover parking costs.  Either way, they have a penchant for living in walkable neighborhoods near downtown, or next to metro hubs that will get them there. 

People who write about millennials often act as if this preference is natural, an obvious choice in the modern world.  However, not so many years ago the fashion was the exact opposite.  If you could afford to live away from the city center, and transit hubs, you did.  It was where crime, excess noise, and crowds presumably clustered. 

I bring up the fashion element here because fashionable things are often expensive.  In the context of smart growth, this means that when DC, MOCO, or Arlington County approve plans to build high-density housing near metro stops, they are usually talking about luxury apartment or condo developments.  If you don't believe me, just look at the advertisements for these apartment complexes near metro stations.

The Portico in downtown Silver Spring describes itself as "a luxury apartment community."  Rents for a 1 bedroom start at $1,702.  The View, a new 17 story building in Arlington uses similar language, describing itself as a complex of "luxury apartments a short stroll from Ballston Metro" that provides a "service focused approach to living" (because who doesn't need good servants?).  Rents for 540 square foot efficiencies start at $2,000.  One bedrooms with dens begin at $2,550.  A two bedroom--you'll need to shell out at least $4,300.

These rents don't just determine who will and won't move into new buildings.  They also affect people already living nearby, many of whom pay much lower rents.  These people are often forced out as landlords raise rents to compete for a share of the luxury market. 

How do smart growth advocates respond to the fact that building up, around transit hubs has resulted in high end development and displacement?  Many advocates have little to say about the trend.  For them higher density and fewer cars on the roads is what matters.  Others concede the lopsided nature of smart development, but think a few units set aside for low income residents will suffice.

Neither answer is satisfactory.  The first suggests that smart growth is not (and perhaps never was) about getting all of us out of our cars.  Rather, it is about selling a particular lifestyle to professionals in the millennial generation and beyond.  What happens to people who aren't professional doesn't seem to matter, even though many of them are forced to move further away from metros and rely on cars to get to work.

The second answer--to provide a few set asides to solve the problem--is akin to plugging a dam leak with a wad of gum.  It is insufficient to the task at hand.

So, the next time someone tells me I should get out of my car and walk to work, I'm going to ask them when my check arrives.  If I'm going to live with hubby, baby boy, and dog in The View, I'm going to need some help.

Next up:  Bonus Smart Growth Pet Peeve--it's all about the 1-bedroom. 

Random MOCO Pic of the day--comin' home to spring

I took a four day trip to Tampa this week.  When I returned on Friday spring had sprung--cherry blossoms at National Airport!

Still no love for Francis Underwood

Yesterday was the last day of the Maryland General Assembly and it was Francis Underwood's last shot of love from the state of Maryland.  A couple of posts ago I noted that the Maryland House of Delegates passed legislation that would give the state the right to seize production equipment from the show House of Cards if it left the state, which it was threatening to do if further tax credits were not forthcoming.

The show's last hope was in the Senate, where support for more tax credits seemed robust.  Apparently, all those selfies with Kevin Spacey did the job.  But, the Senate could not convince its colleagues in the House to compromise.  The potential compromise--some tax credits (but fewer than the show wanted) in exchange for the state's right to recoup money if the show left the state--didn't suit enough people so Assembly members left without any bill.

Who knows how House of Cards will respond, but I'm glad the opponents of the expanded tax credit stood their ground (they never do in the show where all of Underwood's potential nemeses lack backbone or sufficient savvy to outsmart him).

And, let's be clear as the inevitable fallout appears.  The lack of action isn't about Maryland being anti-business.  The show is already getting plenty of tax credits (roughly 15 million a year).  And, it isn't likely to last many more seasons either, so pulling up stakes could be quite expensive.  So, this seems like an effort to pull an Underwood on the state simply because it can.  Thankfully, the other show being filmed in Maryland (VEEP) isn't playing the Francis Underwood game.

Is 'smart growth' smart when the infrastructure hasn't caught up?

I'm generally a fan of the idea behind smart growth. That is, instead of continuing to build out, creating sprawl, traffic congestion, and more blacktop, build up, in the city near public transportation.


There are, however, two problems with the smart growth approach. The first has to do with the capacity of urban infrastructure to absorb all these new people. The second has to do with elitism. I'll cover the infrastructure angle today and the affordability one in a later post this week.

I started thinking about the smart growth concept last week when I saw that WMTA has received a new proposal from local developers (EYA) for space adjacent to the Takoma Park metro station. Right now the space is taken up by the kiss and ride, a surface parking lot, and a green space. Here's a current map of the space (be sure to scroll down).

Efforts to develop the site, owned by WMTA, have been going on for nearly a decade. The new plan still has opposition in the neighborhood (which straddles the border between Maryland and DC and the two Takomas--Takoma Park, MD and Takoma DC). But, the smart growth advocates in the area are getting behind it. The plan, which you can see here, proposes a building with around 200 apartments. The building will be built on the parking lot and over top of the kiss and ride.  The green space will be left intact.    

Smart growth advocates are especially happy with the development because it has fewer parking spaces than an earlier proposal for the site, which included townhouses with 2 car garages.  The new development will include about .7 spaces per unit.  Critics of the first townhouse plan thought 2 car garages next to a metro station was, well, ridiculous. Isn't the whole point of living next to metro, they reasoned, to not have to use cars?

So, what's wrong with this picture?  On the face of it nothing.  But, according to several sources, smart growth advocates would like to lower the number of spaces per unit to below .7 parking spaces.  As Greater Greater Washington argues: "Like with any proposal, there is room for more improvement. The proposal offers much less parking for residents than before, which makes sense for a site next to a Metro station. But it could be lower still, since this is the transit agency's land and the point is to build housing for more transit customers."

Taking metro instead of driving is great in theory.  But, anyone who has ever had to rely on the metro's red line knows how scream-inducingtrying that can be. The red line is not only the busiest line in the system, but also the most problem-laden.  And, it's not much better on the weekend when single tracking can double commute times.

Let's also keep in mind that when people couple up in this region, they often work on opposite ends of the city/region, meaning that even if one one person can hop on the metro the other can't use metro to get to work.  Hello car, you don't look like Satan anymore.    

So, cutting parking spaces in this new development just seems naive.  Sure, we'd all like to live near a metro station and never have to drive in DC traffic.  But, until the infrastructure permits it, even some people near metro will need cars.   

I want to support smart growth, but sometimes their sheer lack of pragmatism is off-putting, more preachy and smug than aware of how people actually live.        

Random Moco Pics of the Day

It's a gray and cool day in MOCO.  I took a walk this morning, and it still looks too much like winter for my liking.  I keep hearing the Starks of Winterfell.  "Winter is coming...

the white walkers are about..."

Amid the gloom there were some hopeful signs.  The graffiti artists have emerged from their parents' basements.
They appear to be in good spirits.     

The daffodils have finally bloomed.

The forsythia have arrived.

And people are flyin' their spring flags!

Renting in the District, Gangnam Style

I feel sorry for Emmy, a British Bulldog profiled in a Washington Post article yesterday about the competition for renters among DC's new luxury apartment complexes.  

Emmy's job is to bounce between the apartments of millennials who want a bit of fur to pat after a hard day.  That's right, tenants "will be able to pick her up in the lobby, take her upstairs to their apartment or for a walk, and return her as they would a library book, a DVD or bowling shoes."

Emmy's place of bondageemployment is 2M, a new apartment complex developed by the William C. Smith & C0.

Yup, this is what luxury looks like when its marketed to millennials.  Age-appropriate symbols of luxury.  Your kitchen will have granite counter-tops and stainless steel appliances.  You'll have cupcakes delivered on your birthday (from Georgetown Cupcakes of course because you could also end up on TV).  And, the concierge will drop off your dry-cleaning while you're out hustling for a date with your wing-lady Emmy in tow.      

Emmy's just the latest feature designed to make an apartment building--in this case 2M--stand out in the sea of granite counter-tops, rooftop decks, and cupcakes that has become the new DC.

What does all of this say about the DMV as a whole?

First, the District is becoming an attractive place for the wealthy to live.  This wasn't the case even 15 years ago.  1-bedroom apartments at one of the new luxury properties profiled in the Post article, for example, ranged from "$1,786 to $2,347."  The range was even higher for 2-bedroom apartments--"$2,315 to $3,145."  That's right, some people are paying more than 3k a month for a two bedroom apartment. 

But, poor and working class people haven't gone away--someone still has to work those minimum wage jobs.  In fact, it's an open question whether the region is actually getting wealthier or whether the city is simply catering to the wealthy at the expense of everyone else.  And, this brings us to our second trend.  As the city gentrifies, working class and low income people who used to be able to afford to live in the city are now heading to the 'burbs.

Of course anyone who's tried to buy or rent in the close-in suburbs knows that rents aren't much of a bargain there either.  So, poor and working class people frequently settle outside the beltway, or even further afield, in the exurbs (think Gaithersburg in MOCO).

A new distribution of wealth and poverty is emerging in the DMV.  We'll keep tracking it here, and hoping Emmy finds a real owner.