Smithsonian museum at Dulles

Jay Honeck wrote:
And you're right -- I don't remember seeing any pan-handlers.

How has D.C. managed to create such a great system? What's the secret?

All the pan-handlers have offices on the Hill.

Blanche wrote:
Jay Honeck wrote:

And you're right -- I don't remember seeing any pan-handlers.

How has D.C. managed to create such a great system? What's the secret?


All the pan-handlers have offices on the Hill.


Did I just hear a rim shot?

Jay,

What is your ETA? Anything you need from my end? The condo in
Manassas has been rented out. But, if you don't mind our little house,
you and your family are welcome to stay with us and the offer to drive
you around is still good. I am free to show you around, I don't have
any projects going on right now.

Bryan "The Monk" Chaisone

What is your ETA? Anything you need from my end?

Thanks, Bryan. We're still awaiting "The Final Word" from Margy about
hotels, discounts, landing fees, etc., but we're planning to arrive in D.C.
on Friday, June 10th.

Once I've got a handle on those other arrangements, I'll be able to let you
know what's up.

I really appreciate the lodging offer, but I suspect we'll probably find a
hotel near Dulles, just for convenience sake. Got any suggestions? All I
ask is that it have a suite, with two separate sleeping areas for the kids
and us.

Blue skies!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Mon, 30 May 2005 12:55:40 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

How has D.C. managed to create such a great system? What's the secret?

For one thing, it was designed to be graffito-proof. The dim lighting
results from the rough concrete walls, which when you look at them
turn out to be out of reach. And most everything that is within reach
is shiny black.

There's no circular line. While it's theoretically possible to ride
back and forth all day, then get out at a station nearby, it's still
not a convenient sleep. And the Metro card may be time-stamped to
prohibit it--I don't know.

Doubtless there are security cameras, and there may be more kopz
around than I ever saw.

But I think the big deterrent to crime is the fact that the Metro is a
middle-class transportation system. At eleven o'clock it is full of
people in jackets and ties, going home from the theater. Because it is
comfortable, it is used, and because it is used, it is safe (or seems
to be, which is pretty much the same thing).


-- all the best, Dan Ford

email (put Cubdriver in subject line)

Warbird's Forum: www.warbirdforum.com
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the blog: www.danford.net
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In article ,
Cub Driver wrote:


But I think the big deterrent to crime is the fact that the Metro is a
middle-class transportation system. At eleven o'clock it is full of
people in jackets and ties, going home from the theater. Because it is
comfortable, it is used, and because it is used, it is safe (or seems
to be, which is pretty much the same thing).


Sounds like the rapid transit systems in a lot of European cities
(Munich or Zurich, for example; all of Holland; most German cities; and
so on), and with the same result: The systems get used, and once you
get used to how convenient and comfortable it can be for you (and for
your family of all ages) to use them -- to be able to ride point to
point, reading or relaxing as you go, no traffic fights, no parking
fights at the destination, OK for your kids to use by themselves also --
you wish many U.S. cities could get over the chicken and egg problem of
getting to similar situations.

Cub Driver wrote:


For one thing, it was designed to be graffito-proof. The dim lighting
results from the rough concrete walls, which when you look at them
turn out to be out of reach. And most everything that is within reach
is shiny black.

The dim lighting results from having dim lighting. Even the stations
that have painted the originally unfinished concrete with white paint
are DARK.


There's no circular line. While it's theoretically possible to ride
back and forth all day, then get out at a station nearby, it's still
not a convenient sleep. And the Metro card may be time-stamped to
prohibit it--I don't know.

The system doesn't run all night either. Originally it closed
at midnight, but that's been extended of late.

Cub Driver wrote:

For one thing, it was designed to be graffito-proof.

Exactly. The Atlanta system copied some of the features. Floors are tile and can
be cleaned with caustic chemicals to remove paint. Walls and ceilings are either
concrete or aluminum with a baked-on coating. Just about any type of readily
available paint can be removed from either with strippers that won't harm the
coating on the aluminum. Stuff that won't come off the concrete is just painted
over with concrete-colored paint.

Of course, some people have discovered that you can carve slogans and such into
the aluminum. In Atlanta, perpetrators are likely to require a short detour to
Grady (the trauma hospital) en route to the jail if they are caught.

George Patterson
Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry,
and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing?
Because she smells like a new truck.

Cub Driver wrote:
Everyone in DC rides the Metro. It is brilliantly designed, fast,
reasonably priced, and safe. I have ridden it from Greenbelt in the
north to Vienna in the southwest, from 7 a.m. to midnight, and I've
never felt a qualm.

There are no cops on the Metro, and no muggers either, and almost no
vagrants. It is rarely crowded. It may well be the best public
transport system in the world.


That is absolutely correct. I was up in the DC area last month and my father
and I used it to ride from Falls Church into the District so we could visit the
Vietnam and Korean War Memorials. Everybody on the Metro looked like they
either worked for the government, a restaurant, or were touring like me. There
were no low lifes, no panhandlers in the stations, no graffiti, no cops and no
bad guys that I noticed. I felt completely at ease.

The only negative was trying to figure out how to work the ticket machines. I'd
learned in the past you *never* want to pay with a $20 bill. They claim the
Metro will send you a refund check within 10 days but it was more like 7 weeks.
Carry ones and fives and you can cover any contingency.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

Can you get from downtown DC to the Dulles museum via the Metro or do
you have to take a bus?

Thanks,

BJ

Cub Driver wrote:

On Mon, 30 May 2005 00:53:46 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:



We loved the Metro!

When we visited D.C. in 2000, we didn't rent a car,



Everyone in DC rides the Metro. It is brilliantly designed, fast,
reasonably priced, and safe. I have ridden it from Greenbelt in the
north to Vienna in the southwest, from 7 a.m. to midnight, and I've
never felt a qualm.

There are no cops on the Metro, and no muggers either, and almost no
vagrants. It is rarely crowded. It may well be the best public
transport system in the world.


-- all the best, Dan Ford

email (put Cubdriver in subject line)

Warbird's Forum: www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum: www.pipercubforum.com
the blog: www.danford.net
In Search of Lost Time: www.readingproust.com