What’s happening to Bethesda, Montgomery Mall, etc.?
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Anonymous
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I wrote on a previous thread that I was disappointed in how Bethesda has turned out vs. when I moved away in 2008.
I was there for the days leading up to NYE 2023 and the NYE itself. With my family staying in a hotel near the Metro. The metro complex and streetscape at night feels closed down, dark, uninviting. As do the office buildings. There was a person panhandling outside the Trader Joe's. Wouldn't surprise me in Chicago, but not what I'd expect to see in Bethesda. The highlight was seeing a play at the local theater. The Tastee Diner was an oasis of cheer and a good dinner at a cheap price. The Chinese restaurant we ate at was very mediocre. I like bargain ethnic food but couldn't find believable good reviews of anywhere close by. It was the best we could do. The hotel we stayed at had a couple weddings but otherwise seemed pretty empty/not cheerfully bustling. There wasn't a First Night celebration as far as I could tell. The streetscape along Rockville Pike is kind of a jumble of establishments - it just looks asymmetrical somehow. I also noticed that you could still see the remains of the Claire Dratch sign on the old store - I think it looks bad when old signage lingers. It suggests the buildings aren't rentable/aren't being maintained. In my little town, they've managed to keep buildings pretty low along the main 2 streets. And many have been fully renovated. I think that helps aesthetically. Bethesda is much richer and has more costly real estate so I don't know why it should look worse. Basically, the town seemed a bit more overgrown without positive benefits. I saw on this site the slogan "communities not canyons" and that actually resonated with me. I'm not a night owl, a drinker, or a young person. It just seemed to me that things weren't quite right. Maybe it was still the aftereffect of Covid. |
Anonymous
| ^moved away in 1998. |
Anonymous
I do not believe this. I follow crime closely and I’m not even convinced crime grade is legit. |
Anonymous
Such a shame. |
Anonymous
| I've lived and worked in the area for a long time. It IS a bit strange and disjointed as other PPs have mentioned. I can't decide if I love it or hate it, probably both, particularly Woodmont Triangle. There is no unified look to the area and some odd-looking businesses. (The Corner Slice is now a bank but still looks like the Corner Slice!!) |
Anonymous
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They need a new downtown Bethesda planning committee and get all developers off the committee. They need artists/ performers/ culture - not more bland buildings and shops.
Even the tree lights look devoid of imagination - tightly wrapped around tree trunks:like robotic springs -/ Iin Alexandria they are whimsically draped loosely around the branches to much better affect. The office shops and apartment buildings are generic and need colorful murals/ graffiti paintings on walls that face public spaces. They should partner with Smithsonian folk festival and Glen Echo Park to host interesting satellite cultural events and diverse musicians in Bethesda. We need cool shops such as book stores, music stores, board game stores, costume stores, thrift stores, fair trade gift shops. and idiosyncratic hobby stores. They should give discounts to such store owners to encourage interesting stores to come back. Better planning and valuing more cultural and artistic ambience could help Bethesda to better reflect the human wealth in the area. |
Anonymous
| Bethesda had so much potential; it's such a shame. Now you have to leave the area for anything decent be it food, culture or interesting events. |
Anonymous
OP here. LOL … I wish I was in the stage of my life where I want my nightlife to be an extension of my college days! Funny, even in those days I was never one to “go out at all hours”. No, I’m a boring professional with a family who grew up in Montgomery County and still live here. I’m asking about Bethesda and Montgomery Mall, etc. because I have noticed a decline in even this more affluent area of Montgomery County (where modest houses cost 2M+) and wondering if others have a better feel for what’s going on. I’m not looking for a nightlife filled with bars, but the last two times we had dinner in Bethesda it felt desolate by 8 or 9. I mean there was literally no one besides us on some main streets (including the main intersection where Anthropologie is located) It wasn’t alway like this. And then while holiday shopping this past month to find so many stores permanently closed made me almost scared… why are retailers moving out of Montgomery County’s only major mall (besides Wheaton Plaza)? Why is Bethesda a once vibrant area and still filled with its share of restaurants desolate by 8 or 9? Home prices in this area continues to rise, so I assume people still want to live here, but is something happening in this area, in our county, that is causing this decline? If you live here would you move here again or perhaps more telling, would recommend your adult children move here and raise their children here? |
Anonymous
It is very legit. Head over to arlnow.com and read the comments in any story about crime to get an unfiltered perspective on how bad crime has gotten in Arlington. It is very bad. And remember Arlington has a fraction of the population of Fairfax and Montgomery, so crimegrade reflects that. Montgomery county is extremely safe despite what some on this board want people to believe. But of course some crime happens as it does everywhere — just not much in proportion to the population. |
Anonymous
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There is almost no crime.
The reason is the people are boring. Fun people want to be in dc. |
Anonymous
Nope. There is no more crime there than other places. |
Anonymous
Ok I’ll bite. I’ve lived in East Bethesda for almost 17 years, have two upper elementary schoolers who attend public school, and I commute into DC on the metro. I love it here except for the traffic. I’ve never been a nightlife or going out person. I miss the Barnes and Noble. Other than that, I almost never ate or shopped at any of the places in the downtown Bethesda area except for the movie theaters, ice cream, and bagel place. It still has those. We’ve always concentrated on the woodmont triangle area which is vibrant and fine. We don’t eat lot a lot these days and for years have shopped almost exclusively online. I loathe shopping malls. The main things I need are metro, school, public library, grocery stores, gym, playground, place of worship, and walking trails. I have all of those within a mile and can walk to them. Plus all my kids activities are within walking distance too except for the pool on Hillandale. The neighborhood is friendly with lots of kids. The only thing I miss is the Georgetown branch trail but hopefully we’ll get some semblance of it back in a few years. I wouldn’t recommend my kids live in this metro area at all unless they work for the government. If I didn’t, I’d have found a similar neighborhood in a northern city. But as I am here, it suits me well. |
Anonymous
Well that's an exaggerated take on asking why a downtown area is really quiet these days. Or did you just want to throw in an insult? |
Anonymous
The bolded has been answered numerous times in this thread, I guess you've chosen not to read those posts because the reasons don't support your "why is Bethesda dying" thesis. Retailers are pulling out of malls all over the country, not just at Montgomery Mall, because the economics of malls simply don't work for them any more. |
Anonymous
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There’s a new bookstore in Bethesda!
https://www.wonderlandbooks.com/ |