Is FCC going to become the next Clarendon?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m concerned that the addition of all the new apartments in Founders Row 1 and the proposed 2 across the street (primarily studios and one bedrooms) in combination with the development near the metro is going to add a lot of people in their 20s. I’m curious about what others think?

Broad and Washington, One City Center, Founders Row 1, Founders Row 2, West End Development in around 1.5 mile radius, already drives FCC well past Clarendon in terms of retail. There are substantially less apartments though.

FCC is going to look shiny but the small town vibe will be gone.

+1

Too spread out and most is far from the Metro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Same thing starting up on Maple Ave in Vienna. I guess it’s just a slow westward expansion of development. They turned Clarendon into a sterile potempkin village and now they’re moving on to the next metro stops.

I felt this way when I moved from FCC 15 years ago. The city said it wouldn’t approved a bunch of the buildings that now make Broad St feel like a canyon, and then rapid succession it did. I basically lived at Broad and Washington. To me it already started feeling blah 8-10 years ago. (Not as horrible as Clarendon yet. Too sleepy.) It is a great location though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCC is full of empty storefronts yet they keep building more. It’s mystifying.

+1

It’s almost seems as though are in a pandemic.... oh wait, we are

This is a problem that long predates the pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Same thing starting up on Maple Ave in Vienna. I guess it’s just a slow westward expansion of development. They turned Clarendon into a sterile potempkin village and now they’re moving on to the next metro stops.

I felt this way when I moved from FCC 15 years ago. The city said it wouldn’t approved a bunch of the buildings that now make Broad St feel like a canyon, and then rapid succession it did. I basically lived at Broad and Washington. To me it already started feeling blah 8-10 years ago. (Not as horrible as Clarendon yet. Too sleepy.) It is a great location though.

And the traffic was bad even 15 years ago. Now Broad street is a mess because it is a cut through road. It will be even worse with each new complex.
Also, why is FCC obsessed with adding grocery stores? How many does a 2 mile city need?

[Anonymous]

Grocery stores are very profitable and they love being situated in rich areas. Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Harris Teeter love being next to each other in wealthy areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCC is full of empty storefronts yet they keep building more. It’s mystifying.

+1

It’s almost seems as though are in a pandemic.... oh wait, we are

This is a problem that long predates the pandemic.

Not going to be an issue. There is a lot of spending power there and the only thing keeping stores out was store space and old buildings. The new buildings are being built by developers who have similar projects in DC and have a bunch of signed leases already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. Clarendon has much more and more developed commercial space.

Don't you remember what Clarendon looked like 20-30 years ago? I do. There were a lot of small vietnamese restaurants and crappy strip malls with small businesses. Sound familiar?

And now, Clarendon is basically played out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grocery stores are very profitable and they love being situated in rich areas. Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Harris Teeter love being next to each other in wealthy areas.

Can you say more about that? I mean, great! I live in FCC and just wonder how HT will continue to do once WF moves in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. Clarendon has much more and more developed commercial space.

Don't you remember what Clarendon looked like 20-30 years ago? I do. There were a lot of small vietnamese restaurants and crappy strip malls with small businesses. Sound familiar?

Mmmm. Queen Bee was so good.

Stop it. You’re making me sad and hungry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Same thing starting up on Maple Ave in Vienna. I guess it’s just a slow westward expansion of development. They turned Clarendon into a sterile potempkin village and now they’re moving on to the next metro stops.

I felt this way when I moved from FCC 15 years ago. The city said it wouldn’t approved a bunch of the buildings that now make Broad St feel like a canyon, and then rapid succession it did. I basically lived at Broad and Washington. To me it already started feeling blah 8-10 years ago. (Not as horrible as Clarendon yet. Too sleepy.) It is a great location though.

And the traffic was bad even 15 years ago. Now Broad street is a mess because it is a cut through road. It will be even worse with each new complex.
Also, why is FCC obsessed with adding grocery stores? How many does a 2 mile city need?

I’m PP. I now avoid FCC like the plague. It definitely needed redevelopment, but I think they went about it all wrong with no signs of getting better. Look at Tinner Hill. So disappointing. I thought I would have stayed for much longer. It is now a Frankenstein village.

[Anonymous]

The next Clarendon is ballston- but Arlington learned from the Clarendon experience to make ballston better.
Ballston is way better design than Clarendon.

[Anonymous]

I think it will be more like Mosaic than Clarendon, more 30-somethings than 20-somethings, and somewhere for young, "hip" new parents to hang out. We live just outside FCC in Fairfax County and are not excited about the traffic all this development is going to bring to our area. It's already become much worse in the past 10 years and is going to get worse and worse with all the new development.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Same thing starting up on Maple Ave in Vienna. I guess it’s just a slow westward expansion of development. They turned Clarendon into a sterile potempkin village and now they’re moving on to the next metro stops.

I felt this way when I moved from FCC 15 years ago. The city said it wouldn’t approved a bunch of the buildings that now make Broad St feel like a canyon, and then rapid succession it did. I basically lived at Broad and Washington. To me it already started feeling blah 8-10 years ago. (Not as horrible as Clarendon yet. Too sleepy.) It is a great location though.

And the traffic was bad even 15 years ago. Now Broad street is a mess because it is a cut through road. It will be even worse with each new complex.
Also, why is FCC obsessed with adding grocery stores? How many does a 2 mile city need?

I’m PP. I now avoid FCC like the plague. It definitely needed redevelopment, but I think they went about it all wrong with no signs of getting better. Look at Tinner Hill. So disappointing. I thought I would have stayed for much longer. It is now a Frankenstein village.

Tinner Hill is a little out of the way, and hasn't done a good job of advertising its presence.

[Anonymous]

Not anytime soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Same thing starting up on Maple Ave in Vienna. I guess it’s just a slow westward expansion of development. They turned Clarendon into a sterile potempkin village and now they’re moving on to the next metro stops.

I felt this way when I moved from FCC 15 years ago. The city said it wouldn’t approved a bunch of the buildings that now make Broad St feel like a canyon, and then rapid succession it did. I basically lived at Broad and Washington. To me it already started feeling blah 8-10 years ago. (Not as horrible as Clarendon yet. Too sleepy.) It is a great location though.

And the traffic was bad even 15 years ago. Now Broad street is a mess because it is a cut through road. It will be even worse with each new complex.
Also, why is FCC obsessed with adding grocery stores? How many does a 2 mile city need?

Broad Street is not a cut-through road. It is just the name for Route 7, a major commuter route, in Falls Church City.

A cut-through road in FCC would be a street like W. Marshall Street, which turns into S. Oak Street and is a cut-through from Route 29 (S. Washington) to Route 7 (Broad Street).