Wisconsin Ave Development Project

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gee, I've always wanted to live in Ballston -- and now Ballston is coming to me! Yuck.

Anyway, the person who keeps using the word 'activate' in every paragraph in that planning doc must be silenced

"Activate" is the new Smart Growth industry buzzword, now that "urban vibrancy" has become a term of ridicule.

Do you think FH should stay the way it is now with a bunch of empty buildings and surface parking lots? What is your development solution for a high transit hub on a major corridor?

I can't stand the smart growth people. They remind me of locusts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gee, I've always wanted to live in Ballston -- and now Ballston is coming to me! Yuck.

Anyway, the person who keeps using the word 'activate' in every paragraph in that planning doc must be silenced

"Activate" is the new Smart Growth industry buzzword, now that "urban vibrancy" has become a term of ridicule.

Do you think FH should stay the way it is now with a bunch of empty buildings and surface parking lots? What is your development solution for a high transit hub on a major corridor?

I can't stand the smart growth people. They remind me of locusts.

There is no housing shortage in DC. Now, the safe parts may be unaffordable to some, but that’s a different issue.

[Anonymous]

Turning the Lord and Taylor into a WMATA bus garage is nuts. Makes me question the credibility of the entire plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, Trader Joe's is coming to Chevy Chase Pavillion.

FH could be incredible if it was connected on the MD side. You could create another Reston Town Center or whatever they call the area in Rockville/North Bethesda with the REI and LL Bean.

You have a wasted surface lot behind the new Mazza replacement, wasted surface lot at the Saks in CC MD. You have the Lord & Taylor site...it seems crazy to turn that into the new bus depot...although I guess that opens up development of the current bus depot.

It needs to be far more mixed-use...apartments, retail, entertainment (Dave & Busters, Pinstripes type places), etc.

Turning Friendship Heights and AU Park into some high rise city with Dave & Busters? No thanks.

That would be awesome. Right now it is basically nothing and wont be converted into a SFH or open space area…so what would you suggest?

BTW…I don’t care nor even understand what Smart growth is. I want a fun, dynamic destination with lots for everyone to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, Trader Joe's is coming to Chevy Chase Pavillion.

FH could be incredible if it was connected on the MD side. You could create another Reston Town Center or whatever they call the area in Rockville/North Bethesda with the REI and LL Bean.

You have a wasted surface lot behind the new Mazza replacement, wasted surface lot at the Saks in CC MD. You have the Lord & Taylor site...it seems crazy to turn that into the new bus depot...although I guess that opens up development of the current bus depot.

It needs to be far more mixed-use...apartments, retail, entertainment (Dave & Busters, Pinstripes type places), etc.

I don't know about Reston Town Center, but Pike and Rose has way more parking than anything in DC should have. Or, really, that anything in North Bethesda should have.

Funny how many cars with DC tags I see when I walk to Pike and Rose.

Fine to visit; don't want to live there. It's ugly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gee, I've always wanted to live in Ballston -- and now Ballston is coming to me! Yuck.

Anyway, the person who keeps using the word 'activate' in every paragraph in that planning doc must be silenced

"Activate" is the new Smart Growth industry buzzword, now that "urban vibrancy" has become a term of ridicule.

Do you think FH should stay the way it is now with a bunch of empty buildings and surface parking lots? What is your development solution for a high transit hub on a major corridor?

I can't stand the smart growth people. They remind me of locusts.

So you want FH to remain as it is now, with closed storefronts, empty surface parking lots and a whole lot of nothing going on?

Because that didn't answer the question, and simply calling out a planning movement as "locusts" doesn't really advance the dialogue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://planning.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/op/page_content/attachments/Wisconsin%20Ave%20Development%20Framework_web.pdf

What do people in the community think of this? How do you think it will impact property values?

I love the idea of developing from Friendship to Tenley as it's a bit of a ghost town for such an affluent area.

People don't care as much about property values as the look and feel of a place where they want to live. They like "small village," trees and sky, not suburban massing that is a city trying not to look like a city.

[Anonymous]

It seems off to odd more people and simultaneously reduce the ability of cars to travel on the main roads. This can only lead to more pass through commuters from MD and VA speeding through the abutting residential neighborhoods, which are lined with schools, where you have thousands of children and elderly walking.

They need to encourage commuters and cars to stay on the main roads. Instead, they are putting the traffic calming on the very roads you WANT the cars to use.

I also don't see anything in the plan for Access van and disability drop off from cars and vans to the commercial areas.

[Anonymous]

I'm fine with higher density in Friendship Heights, as long as it is respectful of the adjacent neighborhoods. But it's true that DC needs to stop densifying everything. People choose to live here because it does not have suburban massing. I know I do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://planning.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/op/page_content/attachments/Wisconsin%20Ave%20Development%20Framework_web.pdf

What do people in the community think of this? How do you think it will impact property values?

I love the idea of developing from Friendship to Tenley as it's a bit of a ghost town for such an affluent area.

People don't care as much about property values as the look and feel of a place where they want to live. They like "small village," trees and sky, not suburban massing that is a city trying not to look like a city.

This!

Don't make people choose between vacant parking lots and ugly towers of glass and steel. Make it human scale and make it beautiful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://planning.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/op/page_content/attachments/Wisconsin%20Ave%20Development%20Framework_web.pdf

What do people in the community think of this? How do you think it will impact property values?

I love the idea of developing from Friendship to Tenley as it's a bit of a ghost town for such an affluent area.

People don't care as much about property values as the look and feel of a place where they want to live. They like "small village," trees and sky, not suburban massing that is a city trying not to look like a city.

That's 1000% nonsense. We don't live in a "small village"...it is a fantasy that a strip of CT avenue with a gas station, bus turnaround and 1970s bunker library/community center resembles anything like a village. It offers convenience which is nice.

However, we aren't even talking about Upper CT Avenue. We are talking about FH which has never been a "small village". I have lived in the area for 30+ years and a major reason was FH offering a Macy's/Hechts, a Linens n Things, Border, Filene's, an AMC 8 movie theatre...that was in the early 2000s...let's revive the area and make it better and more dynamic then before.

Yeah, I also care about property values...which 99% of all homeowners care about.

[Anonymous]

It's funny to see those cropped and framed photos of areas you know and realize how much forced perspective changes things.

It would have saved a lot of time and effort if they just called it Pike & Rose without parking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://planning.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/op/page_content/attachments/Wisconsin%20Ave%20Development%20Framework_web.pdf

What do people in the community think of this? How do you think it will impact property values?

I love the idea of developing from Friendship to Tenley as it's a bit of a ghost town for such an affluent area.

People don't care as much about property values as the look and feel of a place where they want to live. They like "small village," trees and sky, not suburban massing that is a city trying not to look like a city.

That's 1000% nonsense. We don't live in a "small village"...it is a fantasy that a strip of CT avenue with a gas station, bus turnaround and 1970s bunker library/community center resembles anything like a village. It offers convenience which is nice.

However, we aren't even talking about Upper CT Avenue. We are talking about FH which has never been a "small village". I have lived in the area for 30+ years and a major reason was FH offering a Macy's/Hechts, a Linens n Things, Border, Filene's, an AMC 8 movie theatre...that was in the early 2000s...let's revive the area and make it better and more dynamic then before.

Yeah, I also care about property values...which 99% of all homeowners care about.

If you cared about property values you would demand a clear and credible plan on how DC will educate the hundreds/thousands of new DCPS students in already overcrowded schools. This plan is ready, fire, aim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Turning the Lord and Taylor into a WMATA bus garage is nuts. Makes me question the credibility of the entire plan.

The busses have to go somewhere and they need to be repaired/maintained. It's the end of the line for a lot of busses and connects to the Metro.

What they should be doing is building a bus garage and having some sort of mixed use 8 stories high above the garage - shopping, indoor playland, a big gym, etc. A stand-alone bus garage is dumb. Maximize use of air rights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, Trader Joe's is coming to Chevy Chase Pavillion.

FH could be incredible if it was connected on the MD side. You could create another Reston Town Center or whatever they call the area in Rockville/North Bethesda with the REI and LL Bean.

You have a wasted surface lot behind the new Mazza replacement, wasted surface lot at the Saks in CC MD. You have the Lord & Taylor site...it seems crazy to turn that into the new bus depot...although I guess that opens up development of the current bus depot.

It needs to be far more mixed-use...apartments, retail, entertainment (Dave & Busters, Pinstripes type places), etc.

Turning Friendship Heights and AU Park into some high rise city with Dave & Busters? No thanks.

That would be awesome. Right now it is basically nothing and wont be converted into a SFH or open space area…so what would you suggest?

BTW…I don’t care nor even understand what Smart growth is. I want a fun, dynamic destination with lots for everyone to do.

You don't need a concrete forest and lots of high rises to accomplish that though. You can revamp the area and make it a dynamic destination without turning it into Reston.