News, The Daily Feed

VA gets $75M, MD $70M for Railway Improvements

Photo courtesy of
‘Tomix EF66 41 Hauling Hayabusa’
courtesy of ‘foolish adler’

Both Virginia and Maryland will received funds from the federal government’s American Reinvestment and Recovery Act to improve local railway infrastructure and services.

Virginia’s $75 million dollars in funding will build an additional 11 mile track to the current railway service between Woodbridge and Quantico.  The new track will allow freight and passenger trains to simultaneously navigate this bottle-necked section and will allow trains to reach speeds up to 100mph. Improving this stretch is only part of a proposed $1.8 billion dollar project to create a Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor.

According to WTOP, the $70million awarded to Maryland will rebuild a highly-traversed Baltimore tunnel and will speed both commuter and freight  traffic.

The Daily Feed, We Green DC

Woodbridge Aspires to Have World’s First Green Car Wash

Photo courtesy of

courtesy of ‘constantly_Jair’

The little car wash that could is chugging away in Woodbridge.

Yesterday, groundbreaking ceremonies were held for The Smart Car Wash, which is seeking to become the world’s first car wash to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.

The Smart Car Wash will re-use over 90 percent of its water, reduce noise and light pollution, use technology that cuts equipment power requirements in half, and wash cars only with bio-friendly chemicals. Designed with sustainability in mind, it will follow guidelines from the US Green Building Council.

Soon, you’ll be able to get your car green-clean at the Smoketown Shopping Plaza near Potomac Mills.

The Daily Feed

Foreclosures: Not In My Backyard?

Photo courtesy of
‘American Dream, after Grant Wood’
courtesy of ‘Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com’
The Washington Post has put together a handy little map on DC area foreclosures, including a few tools to help you see the breakdown of auctioned homes by zip code and time period over the last few years. The foreclosing of residential real estate is one of the biggest indicators of a recessed economy. And while it is the effect or result of a failing economy, it’s also one of the biggest contributing causes to the continuation of that faltering economy. It’s a downright nasty cycle to be stuck in and most likely you know at least one person who has had to suffer because of it. But if you live in Arlington or Bethesda…you probably only know one. Other neighborhoods in our area have not been so lucky.

Clinton, Annandale, Petworth? Ouch. They’ve each had between 500 and 1000 foreclosures over the last 2.5 years. Herndon, Manassas, Woodbridge? Wow – now you’re talking over 1,000 each. Including over 3,000 for Woodbridge, VA, the hardest hit neighborhood in the DC metro area. If you live there, you probably know more than a handful of people who’ve lost their homes.
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