Get rid of Horrible Hines and put in mixed use structures that echo the Cluss buildings that once dominated ..[besides Eastern Market there is a Cluss row of houses on South Carolina Ave facing the square]...the square prior to 1950 when Wallach School was demolished. A giant statue of John Phillip Sousa would be a great way to bring attention to the area.Forget the "kids mural" another dated trash idea for the feel good newbies who do not want to pay real working artists to make something that will stand the test of time. Im sick of the idea of having child-labor feel good art projects- let's bring in the pros and do it right- make it last for CENTURIES.And for gods sake- consider another subway entrance- the present one crowds the passengers at one end of the station, and corner buildings that are taller and prominent instead of the low density Kinko's/Radio Shack configuration that we are now stuck with. Go up five more stories atop the old People's Drug[ now CVS] and put a pretty tower or finial to crown the building.
I agree that a second entrance is needed - preferably on the other side of Penn (people jaywalk across the median, which is unsafe and creates an ugly brown path). I remember when this whole process was going on there was a proposal to put a fence down the median of Penn right there to keep people from crossing, which I think is a terrible idea. In addition something should be done to improve the green space of the median - I realize you can't plant trees there, because of the station, but some appropriate plants would be nice.
Or my cycling highway idea- complete with traffic signals to give priority to the cyclists- it could be a unique experiment in reusing an old trolley right of way ....The Metro was designed with social engineering in mind- and they made the mistake of trying to load the trains evenly by placing the entrances at different parts of a station /intervals as the train moves into the city.It was not taken into consideration that people will enter metro and walk to where the car will let them off at their destination. Clearly - the Metro designers were not subway users.
This is a great description of the state of the public space around the eastern market metro stop. I hope the group is able to implement most of the suggestions! It would really improve the area.
I think those involving the area immediately around the metro stop are key. It needs more grass, brick paths where the pedestrian traffic flows (and nowhere else), benches, and a bike rack. That would be great. The school needs some attention too. I feel bad for kids who have to go there.
Commenting by HaloScan
