Ending Gridlock in Montgomery County

I went to my neighborhood association meeting this week and heard what I think it the most intelligent (and only) solution to our traffic woes in Montgomery County. Sponsored by Councilmember Marc Elrich, the proposal is a bus rapid transit system along all major roads in the county. It is not your daddy's bus line but a new sophisticated high speed bus system along contained routes. The good news is the buses are running in their own designated lanes and not interfering with the flow of traffic-a serious issue today. The even better news is the system takes advantage of existing routes and right of ways and is dirt cheap to install compared to other suggested solutions such as subways and light rail. This type of system is already in place in a few major cities in the US and Europe and has a proven track record for efficiency and reducing traffic.

Another major factor is that this system, with the correct political support can be up and running in five years vs decades for other more complicated systems. Click on Marc's name above for more details or click "here" for a look at the proposed routes.

Playdate at Tudor Place

For our birthdays, my wife and I try to find some hidden gems in Washington or surrounding areas to visit. Since it was her birthday this time I got to choose and picked "Tudor Place" in Georgetown for our visit. Built just after the turn of the 19 century by a granddaughter of Martha Washington, the house and grounds are quite impressive to see and well worth the trip. Go on a weekday and you are almost guaranteed a private tour. The tour takes about an hour. I tried but could not get them to let me go up into the attic. It was well worth an afternoon visit and there was plenty of parking on the street around the mansion entrance.

Next time I am going call ahead and work out a look see into the attic.....

Best Silver Spring Car Wash

Ok, so it is actually in Langley Park. However the New Hampshire Ave Car Was near the corners of New Hampshire and University Blvd is the only place to go. Price is reasonable and no other car wash takes care of your ride like they do. After your car gets the wash treatment, an individual worker takes your car over for a complete wipe down. Inside and out, seats, dash and windows. I have yet to see another car wash do a job like they do.

If you are going on the weekend get there early and take the paper (book, gameboy-whatever) as you are going to wait. The lines can get long and they take their time when wiping down your car after the wash. (Quality does not come quick). Best time to go is on a weekday morning as the lines are smaller but you still could be there for half an hour.

Take my word, it is worth it.

Live Nation and the Fillmore

Well, I am sort of, kind of excited about live music coming to Silver Spring. If you read the article about the coming of the Fillmore it just sounds too good to be true. However, I am worried that it is too large and the tickets are going to be too expensive. They say it will make money but I doubt that it will and we taxpayers will boot the bill. Still, I know some good music is going to be there and that can't be all bad, can it?

Montgomery County's Fiscal Woes. Part 1

Well, the county is pretty much out of money. They are looking for ways to raise revenues but the issue becomes where and how to squeeze the public without the public screaming and kicking back. The problem is that there is no way that they can raise property taxes. Already having sucked that cow dry when times were good they are now in a pickle as to where to turn. The solution seems to raise fees. Everywhere you look fees are going up. Parking, tickets, licensing fees, recordation fees, library fees and death fees. Not only is this happening in our county but everywhere. National, state and local governments used to feeding off property taxes have turned to increased fees to cover the shortfall. And I ask you who is not feeling these costs.

The big issue to me is how do they expect for any sort of recovery to occur if they are slamming consumers with burdensome fee hikes. I did not have a bad year this past year but am feeling the pinch of higher fees so both my wife and I don't feel like we can spend any money. I can't see how all of these fee hikes are going to do much for our household income. So nobody feels any wealthier and nobody feels like spending money. And getting people to spend money is how you dig yourself out of a recession.

This seems to happen every time we have a downturn. I wonder why the hell can't our elected officials figure this out when the economy is booming and set aside reserves for the slow times. I suppose it is just human nature and the way our system works. When we have it, we spend it all and then when we don't have it we fly into a panic. The public then suffers because there are few options to getting lost revenue unless they squeeze the cow a bit more.

Silver Spring Market

Yes, it cold out, but you can look forward to getting your fresh farm produce and other assorted goodies from the Silver Spring Farmers Market, a regular Saturday feature these past few years. Only problem is that it only runs from April to December so you will have to wait a few months. However, it is well worth the wait and now is the time to put the market on your calendar.

Terra-cotta warriors vs the Heuirich museum

For my birthday last week, my wonderful wife scored tickets to go see the Chinese Terracotta Warriors at the National Geographic Society. I was pretty excited about this, (You just have to know what excites me.) We rode the Metro down on the blessed day and chilly day and the exhibit was excellent. However, Nat Geo in an effort to squeeze some coin out of the deal over sold the tickets and the dang show was just too crowded to really enjoy. Plus they really did not manage the flow of people too well, contributing to the problem. But, I got to see the warriors (well, a few of them) and I think that it was a pretty nice deal-large crowd or not.

As a filler, she took me over for a tour of the Christian Heurich Mansion, which is located just a few blocks away. Unlike the warrior exhibit, the two of us and another lone single woman were the only souls on the tour. Our guide who happened to be the director of the museum was only too glad to give us special treatment and was more than willing to talk of the mansion that is his personal love. We had a blast looking at one of the most unique private homes ever built in Washington. Looking for an afternoon treat? Take some time off in the middle of the week and go visit the Heurich home. This is the time of year to see is as you are likely to have the whole place to yourselves. However, be careful and do not lean on the walls. They frown on that....