DC/NY Film Commuters: Pondering?

Will Smith writes for Urban Turf questioning DC's status as a possible Suburb of New York City:

Richard Florida, renowned urban theorist and author of The Rise of the Creative Class, has made a splash with this month’s cover story in The Atlantic entitled How the Crash Will Reshape America. In the piece, Florida analyzes the changes, by geographic region, that he believes will come as a result of the current recession. Specifically, he predicts that certain cities and urban regions in the US will suffer a “body blow” from which they may never fully recover, while others will emerge stronger and more strategically relevant than before.

In a 45-minute NPR interview, he makes two comments about the DC area in particular. The first is complimentary:

“…Greater Washington, DC … I still think is a boomland. In fact in our ratings and rankings, it comes up as a great place for singles, a great place for families — and I’m not just talking about the city. Maryland and northern Virginia and the whole environment there.” (Minute 21:15 in the audio)

His second comment is more provocative:

“Part of Washington DC’s resurgence is not just that it’s a government town and has AOL high-tech. DC in a very real way has become a suburb of New York. And a lot of the media and broadcast — NPR functions that are there, XM Radio, many of the documentary film producers, many of the writers for The New York Times — have actually relocated [to DC] because of the affordability and connectivity.” (Minute 16:00 in the audio)

DC a suburb of New York?! Only if your definition of suburb extends 200 miles beyond a city’s borders.

In all seriousness, clearly Florida does not mean suburb in the conventional sense. And his point is an interesting one: technology enables some of New York’s elite to call DC home.

We’re curious, do you know anyone who “commutes” between DC and New York? Or for that matter, do you know anyone who commutes between DC and any other city outside the immediate metropolitan area?

Take this further and think about it in terms of filmmaking as Florida mentions (see bold above). My own work has taken me to New York and with Bolt Bus offerring WiFi and express service at a far reduced price to the train, can this be possible? Or is "being there" (anthro term) applicable to this situation and the benefits of existing in one location?

The interview goes on to mention the high speed rail as the future of transportation between metropolitan areas. The only problem with this is time and money and investing in this option over the highway. I've heard rumors of such a train going from DC to NY and I am not referring to the acela but rather a train closer to what is used in France. Considering the large amount of people that commute by metro/subway in NY and DC, having a superfast, reliable, and AFFORDABLE train would be a great draw and would be certain competition for the many bus options most people are preferring these days.

Listen to the podcast and share your opinions.