@g-town note that georgetown residents fought metro with the same argument that it would bring crime to their hood.  in the past 20 years, there have been small efforts to revive rail to georgetown…but i understand that the financial implications would be born entirely by the residents.  i’ll look some of this up and post what i find.

G’town is pretty isolated from the rest of DC as a result of this.  I would argue that the real estate spike and successful development in Arlington could’ve been G’town’s to enjoy had they voted rail in.  Clarendon, Courthouse, Roslyn, Ballston, all have high dollar value demographics.

@maryla - I certainly appreciate your perspective, since you explained your credentials regarding this argument.

You said:  “DC is a slum, I have been there many times.”
It’s clear that your many visits to DC give you the credibility to label DC a slum.  In fact, your argument is so overwhelmingly strong, that I will stand down on this one.  I was wrong. You were right.  DC is a slum.  And if you reside in Loudoun, you live in a suburb of a slum.  DC is just a place with shiny buildings that have no good government workers, that feed at the tax dollars that you and I pay into their coffers everyday.  Those darn military folks, intelligence agents, homeland security guys…all those government guys, they are clearly just corrupt.  I wonder if they’re paying off the DC politicians or vice-versa.  Must be, since there are so many corruption cases.

You said:  “Go there sometime, see if you feel safe parking your car, think how YOU feel about the women’s shelters, halfway houses, and private homes surrounded by HIGH CRIME AREAS.”
You’re right, I SHOULD go there and visit the high crime areas surrounding the private homes.  I will do that and report back to you.  I must have overlooked some pretty daunting things in my previous visits. 

Maryla, you are right to be upset at McDonnell’s efforts, and I understand your frustration.  If I were you, I would reevaluate political affiliation.  After all, it is the McDonnell, the Republican, who is ramming rail down your throat, and only spending on NoVa.  You can’t pin this one on anyone but him right?  What a jerk, I hope he gets his act together soon for your and our sake.

To the DC hater’s credit, Georgetown is nice but also has no Metro stations.  Some people like to point that out.

OH, Maryla (did you misspell Marla ??), you’re a hoot.

“DC is a slum”.  Oops, “except…”.

“Constantly” re corruption, indictment.

“Call this the nations capital? Whatever.”

I mean, apparently, you’ve never been to the Georgetown area, hugely affluent, one of the great urban city areas in this country, IMO.

Your crass overstatements are born of some insecurity and/or hatred toward DC. What is that source? Let’s delve into that…

@burndude, DC is a slum, I have been there many times. Except for the government district, which does not have to pay property taxes because they are federal buildings. DC has a mayor but the upper officials are constantly being indicted for corruption or embezzlement. Go there sometime, see if you feel safe parking your car, think how YOU feel about the women’s shelters, halfway houses, and private homes surrounded by HIGH CRIME AREAS. Call this the nations capital? Whatever. There might be some status associated with working there, but that’s about all. I agree with the other commenters here that the commute would just be too long and realistically it won’t get many cars off the road. Transportation officials are not in sync with the needs or wants of the community. There are many parts of Virginia that could use upgrades or repairs in infrastructure. Why should northern VA always be the beneficiary? If McDonnell is the governor he’d better act like it. Stop playing favorites with corrupt beaurocrats and their friends. Stop giving northern VA what ever it wants. Money is infinite. Hear about something called the national deficit? Isn’t it time you respected the rest of your citizens??

Metro is a complete mess and is a disaster compared to other transit agencies.  Why does Loudoun want to take on the liabilities of being a Metro user?  Did no one read about the fare hike proposed this week?  The desire to hire 1000 more employees despite budget issues?  The aging trains and rail cars?  The aging existing infrastructure?  Wow, Loudoun will be on board just in time to help pay for 20 years of neglect and mismanagement.  All so I can spend $20 to take 2 hours to get to Rosslyn.  Sounds like a real “win” for the Loudoun tax payer.

@theshame - it’s not surprising at all.  same old song.  these arguments are tired.

Not surprising, Erin, after 3 days, still can’t provide a response when called out by burndude. So sad, but predictable.

They need to fix the current Metro system before adding to it. I would love to see a Silver line in Loudoun only if the bozos at Metro weren’t running it.

I hope Jim LeMunyon is successful at blocking new tolls. The toll road should have been taken back in 99 and made free in the first place.

@Erin

Lot’s of generalizations there…can you be more specific?

You say: “it would turn one of the nicest and most environmentally beautiful suburbs into just another overcrowded carbon copy urban area that eventually would deteriorate into a slum like DC.”
Is all of DC a slum?  I’m unaware of that or perhaps poorly informed.  I’m under the impression that many areas of DC are not a slum.

You say: “It would also create a corridor for predatory crackheads and inner city thugs to access their wealthy prey here in Loudoun. “
Call me uniformed if I am incorret, but I don’t think downtown Bethesda, suburban Rockville, Vienna station neighborhoods, Arlington and other areas are crawling with such predators. Please help me understand where i’m misunderstanding your point.  I don’t see these crackheads everywhere in these neighborhoods?  Do you? 

You say: “About the only people who would use it would be Ashburn and Leesburg residents who don’t want to pay the extortionist parking fees”
You seem to know more about the proposed parking fees.  Could you please articulate those numbers and share?  I’m aware that Vienna parking all day is $4.50.  It is $4.50 at West Falls Church as well.  Is it expected to be exponentially higher in Ashburn?  Please tell me where I can read about this.

You say: “Few would use it to go downtown as it would take forever to get there stopping at every station, and cost more than the gas to drive there.”
You’re right that people using it to go downtown would be discouraged by the numerous (i think approx 15-20 stops) stations between destinations.  But will it really cost more than the gas required to drive there?  A gallon of gas is around $3.30 today.  A roundtrip is likely $8-$10.  I’m assuming your car gets 35-40 miles a gallon, as you probably drive a hybrid.  So you’re probably saving money from driving in right?  But what about parking?  Are you able to park your car for the same price?  Of course you probably don’t have to maintain your car. 
The time argument is a strong one.  The design doesn’t allow for express trains which is detrimental.  Agree on that point.

Extending Metro to an underground station at Dulles is great and long overdue! Extending it into Ashburn however is a dangerous boondoggle. About the only people who would use it would be Ashburn and Leesburg residents who don’t want to pay the extortionist parking fees or monopoly taxi prices at the airport.  Few would use it to go downtown as it would take forever to get there stopping at every station, and cost more than the gas to drive there.  It would also create a corridor for predatory crackheads and inner city thugs to access their wealthy prey here in Loudoun.  Further, it would turn one of the nicest and most environmentally beautiful suburbs into just another overcrowded carbon copy urban area that eventually would deteriorate into a slum like DC.

The Republicans will ram rail down your throat.  Not much you can do about it.

Leej mentions the biggest reason I am not interested in paying for Metro to Loudoun.  They are doing it all wrong. 

It will take forever to get from Ashburn to anywhere downtown.  You will be stopping at EVERY station between Ashburn and DC. 

If they wanted to do it right, they would have built an express line for commuters going downtown.  Stop at Dulles, Tysons, Rosslyn and Metro Center.

Nevermind if you work at the Pentagon and need to switch lines to get there.  You better bring a book or a laptop with a hotspot to work off. 

As usual, this project is half baked and is going to cost taxpayers a lot.  The only winners here are Betchel, the MWAA commissioners who have to be getting some kickbacks for that no-bid contract to Betchel, developers who bought all the land around the stations, and the pols who will fool some people into thinking this project is a reason to re-elect them.  Joe Commuter is going to be screwed.

When the express buses are gone many will go back to their cars causing even more traffic jams. The ride on metro from Loudoun will be way too long past Tysons. I hear two hours plus to downtown and an other points even longer. The express bus ride is half that with wi fi and more comfortable. Huge mistake to extend past Dulles airport. Economic development will not be helped by metro in Loudouns two stations. It is going to Tysons and Reston where Class A high rises are already under construction or will soon be at Reston and Tysons.

What are they building at the moment at, and close to the ashburn station are a ton of very ugly apartments. And the And the stupid design at the Ashburn station has the swimming pool in the parking lot. It looks like a abortion right now with those huge parking lots and not parking garages. And who is going to rent the retail under the apartments under the apartments. It is neither
Suburban design or urban design it is a abortion. And the actual design is ugly as sin. And the wood frame is not as sound proof as concrete or even more important a fire there the place would go up in fire like match sticks.

The this developer Comstock is building a beautiful high rise at of concrete and parking garages at the at the reston station., So what does that tell us comstock just wants to throw up junk at Ashburn and Class buildings at reston. Perhaps they don’t see there ashburn metro site will not have have any economic development for businesses for a zillion years from now. like reston is having right now. So comstock builds cheapo residential with retail below just to get some money back. And they know Loudoun is the home to a zillion kids and more kids per family then any other major place in the country. So residential makes more sense. Of course that means even more kids in Loudouns bloated school system ;)

Shawn in Leesburg - Where are the toll booths on I-66 to pay for that Orange Line extension out to Vienna?  I’m sure there would have been the same outrage if they proposed $10 tolls and a local tax hike to pay for it.  Nobody would be complaining now if the federal government was footing the bill for the Silver Line.

Oh boy, now its time for the 9-0 republicans to form a circle, and shoot down rail.  Of course, they will then all be a little worse for wear.  And besides, WHERE IS MY TAX CUT!

I bet there were lots of people thinking like the LTM commenters out in Vienna back in the 1970s.

Like it or not we are a part of the Washington DC metro region.

Will Rider, is driving a car along Route 7 100% free? Nothing’s free—whether it be building interchanges on 7/50, reducing tolls on the Greenway, or setting up a bus rapid transit infrastructure (which will be less useful to commuters and those going to DC for a day than Metro)—100% on our own.

If Metro is shot down, what’ll go up in place of Loudoun/Moorefield Stations? More data centers, more residential.

Fire York now!

Republicans for rail.  Awesome!

What a total waste of money. Who do they think is going to use this? Has the fare from Loudoun into DC been mentioned? I bet it is a lot of money and a long trip! This is all about crowing to the world that Dulles has a Metro..like real World Class cities, not the embarrassing DC, full of crackheads, poor people and overinflated ego’s…I am only less than a year away from retirement…not just from a job but this useless area…good lick paying 100.00 a day in commuting costs!!!

Screw this, it is a boondoogle and I am embarrassed that our Governor and local electeds are cramming this down our throats. Numbers don’t lie and 2.8 Trillion is the best case scenario, the real numbers are probably double AND ongoing costs will strangle this county.

If this crap sandwich gets voted through by our Board it will drive out the people that can move before it becomes an additional tax burden. Guess what? Prince William and Clarke counties just because a whole lot more attractive.

Problem is, this is a drop in the bucket.  All this really does is ensure that Loudoun and Fairfax taxpayers will be on the hook for everything else.  We’ll either pay through property taxes or tolls.  I can’t wait for them to private-public the parking garages and they end up running people $250 a month to park in Ashburn.

Even though the Tea Party types will yell and scream, this is going to get rammed through by the powers that be.  There’s just too much money to be made for them and their connected friends.

Hooray for funding this needed project. And Amen for the need for Federal funding.

It’s time for Frank Wolf to step up and secure Federal funding for Phase II and reduce the local property tax burden on Loudoun County.  Loans are not enough…we need Federal funding.