The thing that frustrates me the most about what they're doing in the area is that their public transportation is still terrible.

Try taking the Metro from Vienna to Springfield. You have to get almost entirely into DC, then change lines and come back out. Compare to other systems which are much more efficient.

I believe there would be significant less backlash if the Metro wasn't awful and more people were able to use it reliably without ridiculous wait times.

FWIW, I lived there and hated the metro and seldom used it. The tube in London on the other hand - I wouldn't buy a car if I lived there.