Friday, December 30, 2016

Town Center North Construction

Recently, I've noticed a lot of finishing touches being added to buildings north of Beall Avenue and east of Washington Street in the Town Center North area. Hopefully, once these buildings are finished the street grid will be more complete, as today there's quite a large superblock there, only broken up by parking lots. I am, however, concerned for restaurants and shops that make up Rockville's Chinatown located in that area, such as Szechuan Jinriver, as this area is one thing unique to Rockville, so some effort should be made to try and keep the many Chinese businesses within Downtown Rockville. It seems as though rents for the retail spaces in Town Center are quite high due to the high turnover rate of the businesses there, so maybe lower rents in new areas north of Beall might encourage old businesses to simply relocate into these buildings after construction is complete. This would, I think, also come with advantages to the Chinese community, as many of them who frequent the restaurants and markets in this area are car free and currently face a hostile built environment in order to patronize these businesses.

Friday, November 11, 2016

East Rockville Civic Association Meeting November 15th

Continuing on the October meeting's theme of looking at the neighborhood plan's flaws and advantages, this month's meeting will look at what residents have found in the plan that they feel needs changing, or that they feel works well. If you want to help decide what needs to be added to the existing plan, come to the Croydon Park Pump House at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, November 15th.

Saturday, October 29, 2016

My Community Development Project Needs Your Help!

I've been working with a program called LearnServe International since this summer to try and create a solution to the issue of a lack of fair, educated input in community development, and to do so I want to know how residents of the neighborhood feel about it. The survey can be accessed via the link below, and only takes about five minutes to complete:
LearnServe International is an organization dedicated to helping high schoolers in the DMV develop their own nonprofits and venture programs to address issues that they are passionate about. They have helped me in countless ways in regards to creating my venture and have given me lots to think about. Their website can be found here
Right now, I'm mostly focused on collecting information about existing conditions and getting people's opinions, but in the future I hope to start looking at what can be done to actually change this. If you live in East Rockville, please take the survey!

Sunday, October 9, 2016

ERCA Meeting Wednesday, October 12th

The East Rockville Civic Association will host a meeting this Wednesday, October 12th at 7:30 in the Croydon Park Pump House at 401 South Horners Lane. Guest speakers for the night will include staff from the city planning office to discuss updates to the neighborhood plan. Please come to the meeting to make sure your voice is heard as the neighborhood plan is updated!

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

East Rockville Neighborhood Meeting Tonight!

Tonight at 7:30 PM (EST), the East Rockville Civic Association will host one of its monthly neighborhood meetings at the Croydon Park Pump House at 401 South Horners Lane. Hope to see you there!

Friday, July 22, 2016

Baltimore Road Bus Stop "Improvements"

Recently, Ride On installed new signs for their bus stops on Baltimore Road. While it is nice to see that they are trying to improve signage and wayfinding, I'm not too keen on a lot of aspects of the new signage. My biggest issue is that for many of the signs, the information is either incomplete, or incorrect. This should not happen! If Montgomery County is going to spend money on new signs, the information should be correct! This is a major issue which must be resolved immediately, and something needs to be done to prevent future issues like this, as this is not the first time that something made by Ride On has had some embarrassingly obvious examples of information. For example, the 26 to Glenmont has had a headsign that has read "26 GLENNONT" for awhile now. The biggest issue involves the eastbound signs at Grandin Avenue, Horners Lane, and Taylor Avenue. The signs say "49 WHEATON," while in reality the 49 goes to Glenmont! 

The sign at Baltimore Road and Horners Lane, eastbound. The 49 goes to Wheaton? Ummm...

This is a major mistake, and cannot be left in its current state. Too many people in Montgomery County, thanks to car culture, do not even think of transit when considering their options when traveling. Incorrect information will only further stigmatize public transit as a mode of travel that "isn't for them." For riders who do not own cars, these signs are like a slap in the face. Montgomery County cares about you, but not enough to have correct information at your bus stops or crosswalks to get from one side of the busy suburban arterials throughout the county to the other, let alone to create roads that actually encourage pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users. Westbound signs at the stops mentioned above have incomplete information. While they list the 45 to Fallsgrove on their signs, they do not mention the 49 or 52, both of which end at Rockville. Now, even putting all this aside, the stops are still filled with problems! 

The sign at Baltimore Road and Horners Lane, westbound. Note how routes 49 and 52 are not even mentioned.

Information-wise, the signs could be much more detailed. If I'm a new rider interested in trying to take the bus and I walk up to the stop, what does it tell me (apart from incorrect information)? Okay, the 45 goes to Twinbrook. With what frequency? Does the 45 go to Twinbrook every day? What do I do with that Stop ID in the corner? How much do I need to pay, and is there some sort of pass I can use? The stop doesn't tell you any of this, which it really should, or at least make an effort to. In addition, in terms of design, the stops are ugly! The blue used on the sign is much too bright and artificial looking, the signs are very large and almost childish looking, half the sign is taken up by a ridiculous cartoon bus driving down a road through a city, and the font used has serifs. While that last point might not seem very important, sans serif fonts, such as the font this post is written in (Helvetica), are a lot easier to read from far away and in bad weather conditions. In addition, fonts do have a certain psychological effect, and transit systems generally use Helvetica, or Helvetica-like fonts, as they look calm and orderly. It isn't even hard to create signs which show this information! I sketched a rough idea of what I think the signs should look like:





Lastly, the stops suffer from environment issues. There are no schedules affixed to the poles which hold the signs, and no pedestrian improvements were made when the stops were installed! While the eastbound Taylor Avenue stop does have a bench, the bench is not sheltered, and really should be. Not a fancy shelter, a bare bones roof over the bench would do, but nonetheless a shelter is needed, especially because most people at that stop are elderly, carrying groceries, or have small children, and are taking the bus a short distance into Rockville Town Center. These are people who are in greatest need of a shelter, and there is certainly ridership to justify one. In addition, the stop at First Street on the 45  in both directions could use a bench or shelter, and the eastbound stop could also use a sidewalk connecting it to Denham Road and to First Street. The eastbound Taylor Avenue stop, which also has lots of riders, could use a bench or shelter as well. There, I understand space is an issue, as there is a (rather oddly placed, it isn't quite on any street) home sitting on a sharp hill above the stop, which means that there is a wall which confines the sidewalk there to a rather tight spot. However, a bus bulb could be put in, and a bench and shelter put there to allow for a better waiting area. This would also prevent people from parking in front of the bus stop, and would keep buses from having to weave out of traffic to pick up and drop off passengers. The only problem is that concrete, sidewalk-level bus bulbs are expensive! So, instead, I would advocate putting in plastic flexposts, like those that form a barrier for protected bike lanes, around the bus stop to create a car-free area that extends out to the traffic lanes, which could be painted a different color. If there was extra money, maybe some sturdy planters could be put in between the flexposts. For disabled passengers, a ramp could be put in between the sidewalk and the bus bulb. The shelter could then go in this space, and buses, instead of wasting time pulling up to the curb, could just stop to allow for boarding and alighting. Additionally, crosswalks are needed at all the bus stops, especially Taylor Avenue due to the amount of people that use the stop. Many people cross Baltimore at Taylor despite the lack of a crosswalk, and so adding one would increase pedestrian visibility and safety. A crosswalk at Croydon Avenue would also be nice, as would some traffic calming measures on Stonestreet, as that part of the road is overbuilt, with four lanes for what really should be a two lane road, which means that a lot of fast-moving traffic blows past. With Ride On, the only way to get something done is to complain about it, and often! Email Ride On, call them, talk to your local Rockville councilmembers. Taking transit is hard enough in Montgomery County, there should at least be accurate information for riders at bus stops.

The locations of the bus stops featuring new signage.





Sunday, March 20, 2016

Boundaries, History, Background, and Current Plan for the Future

I encourage you all to visit the East Rockville page of the Rockville, MD webpage to learn more about the area:
Here, one can find the current neighborhood plan (complete with a lengthy history section) and several maps of the current zoning and boundaries of the neighborhoods. I encourage you all to read the plan to become acquainted with the current plan for the future for the neighborhood.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Welcome

I've only lived in this neighborhood for about a year and a half, but I really think that this neighborhood has something special. The neighborhood seems to have a strong sense of community and is incredibly diverse. Additionally, the area is quite walkable and has good access to public transport and businesses, making it very different from your typical cookie-cutter suburban area. This blog will aim to cover various aspects of this neighborhood, as well as the neighborhood's history and distinct areas. Lastly, I hope to discuss possible improvements to the neighborhood that would allow East Rockville to stay an urban and diverse neighborhood, and continue for generations to come.