As I said in my last entry, Dom and I took full advantage of the beautiful Spring weather D.C. has had lately by going on a lot of walks.  The majority of those walks took place, at least partially, along the Capital Crescent Trail, a biking/hiking path that connects Rock Creek Park and the Georgetown Branch Trail to the Montgomery County Park system. 

We live in an area with no room to run.  The streets aren’t safe – even our dead-end road – because drivers are idiots.  The sidewalks are mostly along very busy Connecticut Avenue, so we have to hold tightly to Dom as we walk.  Parks?  I have ranted about the nonexistence of them in our area before.  The grass in our apartment complex is usually covered with pesticides, and the hills are too steep to run up and down, anyway. 

So, in essence, the only time Dom is free to run on his own is when we walk along the Trail.  There, we can let go of his hand and let him do what comes naturally – running, spinning, walking backwards, looking for rocks, stomping in puddles.  The Trail allows him to be a kid.  And soon it will be gone.

The State of Maryland, in cahoots with Montgomery County and a greedy developer (you know who you are, Chevy Chase Land Company) next year will begin building the Purple Line along the Trail.  No study has yet shown that the planned train line will actually reduce traffic, and the greedy developer’s part in all of this hasn’t been made public, but why bog ourselves down with details? 

The plan calls for a pedestrian walkway just feet away from a high-speed light rail line, despite the fact that in no other place in the world has anyone been stupid enough to put pedestrians at such risk.  The quiet that now envelops users of the Trail will be no more – instead, it will be replaced by the squeaks and rattles of a train (I know the government says that the trains will be silent.  Yeah, right). 

The rail line will destroy our community – the tracks themselves will bisect the small-town atmosphere we enjoy now.  A train stop will be built here, which gives the greedy developer (Chevy Chase Land Company) the opportunity to put in high-rises and way too much retail.  Street parking will be nonexistent, even for residents.  Traffic will be worse than it is now (and during rush hour, it is bad already).  The increase in visitors will lead to an increase in crime.

The silence that gives me peace of mind when our windows are open?  The babbling creek across the street that soothes my soul when I am stressed?  It will be drowned out by traffic and trains.  The Trail runs 20 feet from Dom’s window, which will disturb his sleep.  And that situation exists all up and down the Trail, where homes were built close to the Trail for maximum residential enjoyment.  Some of those homes will have to be torn down to make way for the trains.

Ah, progress…thy name is greed.