Submission statement:

In my hometown of Bethesda, we have reached a crossroads. We have reached a maximum population under the current housing and transporation PB&J sandwich. But we can’t just add more PB without adding more J. But then we run out of bread. So instead of making a bloated sandwich that just falls apart and gets sticky guck everywhere, we could make a new sandwich. We could have our sandwich and eat it to.

More specifically, we could use monorail to facilitate sustainable growth. But many, including our representative, have correctly pointed towards the science of “induced demand” wherein larger roads and transportation networks jack up the traffic because more people use them. So that’s where zoning laws come into play. Instead of upzoning everything to meet the transporation network, what if the monorail network just flew over MOCO and only stopped once, if at all, as a sort of “express” route from end to end?

Here in NYC where I am a student of architecture, I have empirically observed these options. I had a friend who lived in Inwood, they very top of Manhattan, also Bethesda native, who’d take the express train. The express train does not stop everywhere, it just goes from end to end. That allows people to live where the rent is cheaper and commute to where they make more money. That is precisely what is needed in MOCO — and around the country. Unique to DC, there are concerns with upzoning tied to national security, so urban sprawl is the only option.

If we had an express monorail from DC to Fredrick with a few, minimal stops in between, we could create affordable housing conditions that don’t compromise the commute time. You’d also be taking cars off of the road, keeping them safer and less polluting. But then somebody has to have a monorail above their house. So because nobody wants to be the unlucky person asked to leave, the housing prices get jacked up and the traffic gets congested.

What does the law say about laying down monorail? Eminemt domain is draconian, which is why China is whooping us on the monorail front. Can we solve the housing crisis by modernizing our transportation network, without compromising the overall neighborhood capacity of existing areas? I don’t want Bethesda to turn into Brooklyn. Just make a new Bethesda.