I dairied about the Tysonstunnel.org meeting at Wolf Trap last night on Dailykos Can This City Be Saved? Tysons Corner, VA

Pretty much the current above ground proposal backed by Tom Davis, Frank Wolf and now Tim Kaine smells worse than the six month old carton of milk in the back of the fridge. If we want any hope of transforming Tysons Corner into a liveable city, we need tunnels not 65 foot pilons cutting route 7 in two.

SIGH.

but that's the beauty of an open thread ... you get to let me know what I forgot.

I quite agree that a tunnel (which Kaine originally backed until strong armed by Republican no-taxers) is far far preferrable to another soul-destroying elevated. But just wait until the anti-tax, anti-government howler monkeys from the Republican side, especially in our very own Assembly, hear about the costs.

Remember, the modern Republicans know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

When you get Chamber of Commerce types backing the tunnel, that's saying something. Additionally what has brought many to the tunnel side is the fact that the newer tunnelboring technology makes the cost of tunneling nearly *the same* as the above ground option.  Go figure!

it's about making choices about how we develop and live. As much as I have supported public transit as a way to limit the damage to our environment, I have come to see it as a double edged sword.

How many more Walmart giantshop bedroom McMansion communities do we want to have? Sure, people will commute into work on rail- which is good- but when they are home on the weekend, they still want all the giant shopping centers, movie palaces, and essentially urban conveniences. We say we want tog et away from it all, but we bring it with us....

As sad as it made me, with the last 5 years of crap disorganized development, I was not willing to turn my smaller town into one more giant bedroom slop community by supporting light rail. We need to look at our urban planning as whole. Basically, we have just got to be more efficient on multiple levels, and change our lifestyles as a whole. We can offshore our IT jobs to India, but we can't offshore it to Danville? Give me a break!

And...painful as it is, we have to come to terms with the illegal immigration that is encouraged by the developers who want cheap unskilled labour- they have to live somewhere too! And they won't be living in the new McMansions, but commuting in rattle trap vehicles from hours away. Deal with the developers, and the other problem will be much easier to resolve with dignity.

Really, its just a fact we have to start taking a serious look at our changing environment, and choices. Then we can better meet our transportation needs. Becuase I DO beleive in public transport for convenience.

and instead Tom Davis is interfering in local zoning plans to fix the problems, like MetroWest, and preventing tunnels through congestion because contractors are more important to him than constituents.

It's appropriate to say he traffics in it; it's like heroin to him. Follow the money:

Davis, his wife, and their multiple PACs have connections to mega-developers like the Hazel family. John "Till" Hazel made 214 donations totalling $634,563, including $27,250 to the couple. Hazel and his family contributed even more through other PACs like "Leadership for VA." Hazel was the second-highest developer/donor in the state in 2006, see here.

More information with links here:

*  Tom Davis did not support Virginians but instead supported Bechtel, the Davis donor and general construction contractor that holds the current, inadequate, construction plan in Tysons, when he insisted the Commonwealth abandon plans for a tunnel in Tysons.  See the generous Bechtel contributions to the Davis duo here [links available in the original]

*  Tom Davis appeared at a local zoning meeting to oppose a SmartGrowth plan near the Vienna Metro called MetroWest.
Davis told several attendees the urban plan of the community would attract Democrats to his District.

*  Davis gets donations and a lavish trip including SEVERAL private jet rides to the Italian Riveria thanks to NoVa developer Robert Pence.

See also how much other gridlock interests donated in 2006 here. To further demonstrate the complete lack of ethics of the Davis duo, the largest donor in this group is UPS to Jeannemarie Devolites Davis and their PACs. Mrs Davis probably represents them on behalf of ICG because they have postal reform business before Tom Davis's Government Reform Committee.

Caputo was a Democrat.

Jaime,
What part of that is not clear??? Chuck is trying constantly to get a "Kaine" style permanent financing solution in place that addresses the biggest single issue his constituents ask him about to get grid lock fixed. From what I have been told by Chuck, when Chuck walks his district, which he does almost year-round, he gets the “transportation” questions more than any other issue.

The NoVa delegation on the Democratic side has been united in favor and support of a real solution that doesn’t take from education and public safety, both of which are Chuck’s “hot buttons”.  The Repugs listed there have been the obstacles…..

in which Caputo has an (R) in the text.

Sorry Jaime, I just had talked to Chuck and his LA on something else and I shot from the hip..... :)