What’s the most horribly planned community in the dc area?

[Anonymous]

Just in terms of anything homes, streets, schools, stores, anything. Just a fun discussion.

[Anonymous]

Tysons

[Anonymous]

Amalyn in North Bethesda. 4,000-6,000 sq foot modern houses plopped in an established neighborhood of 1960s homes. Yes, I live in one of them

[Anonymous]

Route 29 in Montgomery County is a chaotic, poorly planned corridor that feels more like a highway someone dropped in the middle of a suburban experiment. It’s a major road, yet you’ll see people walking along the shoulder because there are barely any sidewalks—just dirt paths worn down over time. It’s incredibly unsafe and makes the whole area feel disconnected and neglected.

The entire surrounding area was master-planned in the 1970s to be affordable, and that legacy is still visible today. Many of the apartment complexes were originally built with 50% low-income units, and townhomes were sold for around $50,000 with government-backed low-income mortgages. There’s nothing inherently wrong with affordability, but the execution left a lot to be desired. The planning was car-centric and patchy, with no cohesive sense of neighborhood design.

Castle Boulevard is a perfect example—just rows of garden apartments, many of them in poor condition, that end abruptly at a townhome complex. Subdivisions all blend together, built from the same tired 1980s designs, and the roads are full of potholes and poorly patched repairs. A significant portion of the housing is still subsidized or Section 8, and while there’s absolutely a need for that kind of housing, the lack of long-term investment in infrastructure and aesthetics has left the area looking neglected.

And yet—despite the similarities to adjacent parts of Prince George’s County in terms of school quality and housing stock—prices are higher here. For what? The same congested roads, similar schools, and aging housing? At that point, you might as well move to PG County and save some money.

I actually love the area—there’s history, diversity, and a kind of charm if you look closely. But damn, it was badly planned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Amalyn in North Bethesda. 4,000-6,000 sq foot modern houses plopped in an established neighborhood of 1960s homes. Yes, I live in one of them

Curious what's bad about it? Just that the rest of bethesda is 1960s?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just in terms of anything homes, streets, schools, stores, anything. Just a fun discussion.

Every neighborhood outside the District.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tysons

This is a contender ^^.

[Anonymous]

Seven Corners

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seven Corners

Seven Corners is an intersection, not a community. That said, most of zip code 22042 in Falls Church (Fairfax County) would qualify for discussion as it's jumbled mess of crummy strip malls along Rte 50 with adjacent neighborhoods that are haphazard, especially between Annandale Rd and Graham Rd.

[Anonymous]

Add Baileys Crossroads to the chat, especially the Skyline area, along with nightmare that is Alexandria outside of Old Town.

[Anonymous]

I'd say Clarksburg MD, and it's still growing. They built homes on top of homes with no new major roads (well, MoCo has always done that). They didn't build the promised town centers and amenities. They built too high and too close to a major road. I'm so glad we didn't buy there 20 years ago...and yet some people still want to be there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Route 29 in Montgomery County is a chaotic, poorly planned corridor that feels more like a highway someone dropped in the middle of a suburban experiment. It’s a major road, yet you’ll see people walking along the shoulder because there are barely any sidewalks—just dirt paths worn down over time. It’s incredibly unsafe and makes the whole area feel disconnected and neglected.

The entire surrounding area was master-planned in the 1970s to be affordable, and that legacy is still visible today. Many of the apartment complexes were originally built with 50% low-income units, and townhomes were sold for around $50,000 with government-backed low-income mortgages. There’s nothing inherently wrong with affordability, but the execution left a lot to be desired. The planning was car-centric and patchy, with no cohesive sense of neighborhood design.

Castle Boulevard is a perfect example—just rows of garden apartments, many of them in poor condition, that end abruptly at a townhome complex. Subdivisions all blend together, built from the same tired 1980s designs, and the roads are full of potholes and poorly patched repairs. A significant portion of the housing is still subsidized or Section 8, and while there’s absolutely a need for that kind of housing, the lack of long-term investment in infrastructure and aesthetics has left the area looking neglected.

And yet—despite the similarities to adjacent parts of Prince George’s County in terms of school quality and housing stock—prices are higher here. For what? The same congested roads, similar schools, and aging housing? At that point, you might as well move to PG County and save some money.

I actually love the area—there’s history, diversity, and a kind of charm if you look closely. But damn, it was badly planned.

I live in Burtonsville and really like it, but I do agree with you.
The route 198 corridor through Burtonsville is awful too. No sidewalk on either side. It’s a state road so the county won’t do anything. Ridiculous planning..Burtonsville elem was built and then considered a “ no walking” school so every kid is provided a bus. Why design a school in that location with no sidewalks. Bad planning.
The school is moving so that’s a slight plus.

[Anonymous]

I think it's Georgetown, or rather how they have NOT planned getting in and out of there.
Key bridge dump at bottom of M street gives me nightmares. That weird exit off key bridge to whitehurst that is like a side highway sidearm is super creepy. A beautiful riverfront area that's now in the shadow of the creepy freeway. I've said creepy a few times, so that's how I feel. Not sure why. I never go there anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tysons

Many years ago, I worked for an ad agency in LA. Our clients were luxury brands like Tiffany and Cartier. While developing advertising plans to support their retail stores, “Tyson’s” was always a key market for the client. Since I had never lived in the DC area, I envisioned a super luxurious Beverly Hills / Rodeo Drive type shopping area, our perhaps an outdoor shopping center like Fashion Island. When I moved to DC five years ago, I was so excited to finally see Tysons! I drove around and around, thinking there was some hidden gem of a high street/shopping area that I kept missing. Nope, Tysons is just a convergence of highways, strip malls and parking lots. I just couldn’t believe the disconnect between my perception and the reality of Tyson’s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tysons

Many years ago, I worked for an ad agency in LA. Our clients were luxury brands like Tiffany and Cartier. While developing advertising plans to support their retail stores, “Tyson’s” was always a key market for the client. Since I had never lived in the DC area, I envisioned a super luxurious Beverly Hills / Rodeo Drive type shopping area, our perhaps an outdoor shopping center like Fashion Island. When I moved to DC five years ago, I was so excited to finally see Tysons! I drove around and around, thinking there was some hidden gem of a high street/shopping area that I kept missing. Nope, Tysons is just a convergence of highways, strip malls and parking lots. I just couldn’t believe the disconnect between my perception and the reality of Tyson’s.

Serves you right for believing in advertising. The worst industry humans have ever come up with: legalized attention theft.