Last week, the Washington Business Journal ran a Q & A with Metro Chairman Chris Zimmerman, and while the majority of the interview was “Metro needs more funding” ad infinitum (not that we can argue), this one bit did catch our eye:

Transit-oriented development is what has made a success out of Arlington’s Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. Where else in Metro’s system do you see the best potential for new development?

Anywhere there’s a station. At first, it was just about getting revenue for Metro, but now, we’re trying to promote development that is environmentally sustainable and good for the system. The Prince George’s County stations all have good possibilities, but the biggest potential is at the stations that already have a lot going on, such as Navy Yard and NoMa.

Now, take into consideration a piece of our interview with David Alpert back in May:

H Street is the last major commercial corridor to recover from the 1968 riots, partly because it’s the one without Metro access. There are many undeveloped parcels and residents are eager for development. More stores would locate there if Metro could bring shoppers and diners in from around the city and region. H Street is perhaps the best spot in all of D.C. to put a new Metro station.

Partly inspired by these quotes and partly inspired by Ryan Avent’s late-August post lamenting the lack of a push on the issue (yes, we’re admittedly late to this party – we blame Labor Day RSS backup), we got to thinking: aren’t streetcars the answer to both these snippets of thought about development? We’d wager that building an east-west streetcar line with multiple stops down H Street, connecting to lines through Capitol Hill and points Southeast would not only work to bring more people and businesses to the H Street area, but would also be much more plausible in the short-term than Metro expansion there.

Photo by i love joy (more).