How boring is Cleveland Park?
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Anonymous
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I went for a long walk in DC and ended up on Connecticut Ave in the Cleveland Park area. All I saw was a bunch of second-rate looking restaurants and chain looking stores. Couldn’t even find an independent coffee shop - just a Starbucks or two.
Might as well be a suburb. What am I missing? |
Anonymous
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Maybe you weren't looking hard enough? Saku Saku Flakerie and Dolan both sell coffee!
It's a nice area to live. It's kind of like Sesame Street - there is a post office, a firehouse, a library, dry cleaning, grocery stores, stores with coffee, etc. on the same strip. There is also a seasonal farmer's market on the weekends. Bindaas and Sababa are both run by Ashok Bajaj, so I don't think that they are second rate. I also enjoy Spices, Dolan, and Laredo. |
Anonymous
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Sounds like it is not what you are looking for. Different strokes for different folks.
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Anonymous
| We used to live in Cleveland Park (Kennedy Warren). The OP is right. Not much in terms of restaurants. To get variety, you have to go to elsewhere like Bethesda where we now live. |
Anonymous
| Cleveland park has too high rents and too little density to justify more shops. It’s not a place you can park your car, so it relies on foot traffic. If we truly up zoned the Cleveland park station (ie build apartments on top of the Sam’s park and shop), it could support many more cool shops. It’s a waste of a neighborhood right now |
Anonymous
Fellow KW former resident here as well! I miss the convenience of it all, all things considered. Moved to the burbs as well but to buy a house. But I wish CP had more variety, I loved the area |
Anonymous
Why did you go there? |
Anonymous
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you're not missing much OP. It's a suburb. Everyone will raise their arms about Saku Saku but having ONE cafe/pastry shop, and a very overpriced one at that, does not make an area exciting or convenient. Cracked Eggery is welcomed addition but like PP said, it's just not dense enough with pedestrian traffic to support interesting retail and food options.
It is pricey, so people who live there get offended when you point out how boring it is, or that it's basically the suburbs. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
“I went for a long walk in DC and ended up” there. Just as I said. No particular reason. And clearly no reason to ever return. |
Anonymous
+100 Current CP resident who moved from more "exciting" DC neighborhoods. It's no 14th St. corridor, but is a nice place for families. Although I do definitely notice the less variety in types of cuisine in terms of the restaurants - but still some good options. And, Fresh Baguette just opened - so a third option for coffee! |
Anonymous
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I both enjoy CP (eg Sababa) and get where OP is coming from. It could be a lot better, there are a lot of meh restaurants there.
One other shop in the neighborhood worth noting: Weygandt is one of the best wine stores in the district (if you like wine). A super value play is to grab a baller bottle from them and head over to Medium Rare for steak. St. Anselm it is not, but for the suburbs?.... Pretty good. |
Anonymous
Do you like Bethesda more? We are considering ditching a "nice" NW neighborhood for Bethesda |
Anonymous
| No one is ever going to say CP was some huge nightlife destination, but it at least used to have at least some vibrancy at night. I went out in CP a few weeks ago on a Saturday night and was struck by how deserted it was. We were told that removing the parking lane would be a massive boon for the businesses along that strip, but it was a ghost town. |
Anonymous
| So boring and leafy. Quiet, pretentious, with ever rising property values. The neighbors say hi and behave well. There are no ATVs or trash. It’s just the worst. |