It makes sense because NoMa provides a very short walking distance to apartments, restaurants, and offices compared to many other stops while also being on the busiest metro line in one of the densest mixed-use areas in DC. Outside of the metro stops in the downtown core, a lot of them have large buffer zones between the metro stations and the nearby housing (usually due to excessive bus parking or entrances in inconvenient locations) which discourages people from walking to them. The Silver Line is one of the worst offenders currently. If you want to get your daily steps in.. just ride the Silver Line once per day.
Nice analysis of NoMa! It’s a neat station, for sure! I definitely like the graphs on-screen; I think it gives a better view of the whole picture. I definitely don’t mind just putting numbers on screen though, so maybe a combination of both (perhaps by putting the numbers you’re talking about in the margins of the graphs?) would be good! Excellent video, as always!
I prefer stats in bar graph form, thanks! I know gentrification is a concern, but the time-tested biggest way to address housing costs is to build more housing. The more housing availability, the more costs go down for all income levels. We should be doing this near metro stations (and frequent bus lines) in our urban cores, not further out which means fewer residents get displaced to places with poor transit, long commutes, etc. Lots of metro stations could stand to emulate building a zone of 6-12 story buildings in the 3x3 block or quarter-mile radius from stations. Off my head, I'm thinking stations with room for redevelopment nearby like Fort Totten, College Park, Van Dorn, Landover, and some far-flung or terminus stations with large parking lots like Branch Ave that could serve commuters with a garage and then lots more density immediately next to the stop. Some are already sort of doing it, or starting to: Anacostia with Barry Farms and on Howard St. Minnesota Ave with apartments on both sides of 295. Some are partly along like North Bethesda (taking ages), Eisenhower Ave, Wheaton, Potomac Yard or the Hyattsville Stations. Will these all be bustling nightlife, business, and residential hubs? Not likely. NoMa is unique in that it's close to the center of DC & other lines, has many federal jobs nearby, is on some major arterial roads that make driving in/out the city easy, and more. But there's so many upsides to dense housing nearby that it's a no-brainer. Especially since places like Bethesda, Silver Spring, and the Arlington corridor prove that you can have dense cities and it doesn't "ruin the character" of those who want single-family homes 1/2 mile away too.
I love this station. One fun fact is on the south exit of the station. Will be an REI Store that used to be Uline Arena aka Washington Coliseum, the first US venue The Beatles at. Great Assessment of the station! I’m quite surprised seeing how high the housing is there.
I moved to the NoMa/Union Market neighborhood with my fiance in 2023 and though rent is a bit pricey the new development and collection of new apartments is so nice.
Should have mentioned the future entrance to Union Market on the other side of the tracks. Space was put in the middle of an apartment building to allow for the future entrance.
I used to use this station every day when I worked in the area. I really like it too. One con I would say is there’s no entrance with direct access to the other side of the tracks closer to Union Market. I think they may be planning that in the future though. Overall though I agree, a great station.
I believe this is the area north of Union Station which you can see when you're traveling on the NER, crazy amount of new builds in the area, always a good thing although I'm skeptical about it putting a dent in the pricy DC rental prices!
It makes sense because NoMa provides a very short walking distance to apartments, restaurants, and offices compared to many other stops while also being on the busiest metro line in one of the densest mixed-use areas in DC. Outside of the metro stops in the downtown core, a lot of them have large buffer zones between the metro stations and the nearby housing (usually due to excessive bus parking or entrances in inconvenient locations) which discourages people from walking to them. The Silver Line is one of the worst offenders currently. If you want to get your daily steps in.. just ride the Silver Line once per day.
Nice analysis of NoMa! It’s a neat station, for sure!
I definitely like the graphs on-screen; I think it gives a better view of the whole picture. I definitely don’t mind just putting numbers on screen though, so maybe a combination of both (perhaps by putting the numbers you’re talking about in the margins of the graphs?) would be good!
Excellent video, as always!
Highlighting the current thing being discussed may help. Such as time period.
I prefer stats in bar graph form, thanks!
I know gentrification is a concern, but the time-tested biggest way to address housing costs is to build more housing. The more housing availability, the more costs go down for all income levels. We should be doing this near metro stations (and frequent bus lines) in our urban cores, not further out which means fewer residents get displaced to places with poor transit, long commutes, etc.
Lots of metro stations could stand to emulate building a zone of 6-12 story buildings in the 3x3 block or quarter-mile radius from stations. Off my head, I'm thinking stations with room for redevelopment nearby like Fort Totten, College Park, Van Dorn, Landover, and some far-flung or terminus stations with large parking lots like Branch Ave that could serve commuters with a garage and then lots more density immediately next to the stop.
Some are already sort of doing it, or starting to: Anacostia with Barry Farms and on Howard St. Minnesota Ave with apartments on both sides of 295. Some are partly along like North Bethesda (taking ages), Eisenhower Ave, Wheaton, Potomac Yard or the Hyattsville Stations.
Will these all be bustling nightlife, business, and residential hubs? Not likely. NoMa is unique in that it's close to the center of DC & other lines, has many federal jobs nearby, is on some major arterial roads that make driving in/out the city easy, and more. But there's so many upsides to dense housing nearby that it's a no-brainer. Especially since places like Bethesda, Silver Spring, and the Arlington corridor prove that you can have dense cities and it doesn't "ruin the character" of those who want single-family homes 1/2 mile away too.
I love this station.
One fun fact is on the south exit of the station. Will be an REI Store that used to be Uline Arena aka Washington Coliseum, the first US venue The Beatles at.
Great Assessment of the station! I’m quite surprised seeing how high the housing is there.
I was not expecting a Miles in Transit reference although I probably should have
wasn't surprised to find it was this one! no bus bays and the housing prices are quite a bummer though
I moved to the NoMa/Union Market neighborhood with my fiance in 2023 and though rent is a bit pricey the new development and collection of new apartments is so nice.
NoMA has experienced the lowest rent growth in the entire DC area due to the increased supply of housing.
I wasn't expecting a musical number!
oh, Auld Lang Syne at the end was a nice touch!
Have other similar high-density stations seen a similar return in ridership, even if it is not over 100%?
Should have mentioned the future entrance to Union Market on the other side of the tracks. Space was put in the middle of an apartment building to allow for the future entrance.
I used to use this station every day when I worked in the area. I really like it too. One con I would say is there’s no entrance with direct access to the other side of the tracks closer to Union Market. I think they may be planning that in the future though. Overall though I agree, a great station.
I believe this is the area north of Union Station which you can see when you're traveling on the NER, crazy amount of new builds in the area, always a good thing although I'm skeptical about it putting a dent in the pricy DC rental prices!
The more the better.
lowkey best spot to railfan in dc, also shouldve added the foamer meter as well as the song, great video!
I prefer the graphs