Chevy Chase Retail is Subpar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we can all agree that the chevy chase safeway is an absolute embarrassment, and half the restaurants are way past their prime. There are some gems though like Magruder's, the avalon, Opal, Birdsong, core 72... and Wheelhouse coming in (owner of millies)

This! Around the country Chevy Chase is synonymous with wealth and opulence and is on par with Georgetown as being the DC neighborhood with the most upscale cache. The country club costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to join, I’m guessing, and it is home to two Supreme Court Justices. If you took someone from Arizona or California to the “Chevy Chase Safeway” or the “Chevy Chase [insert random store]” what they saw would not match their preconceptions.

I don't really understand your point. I don't think many people around the country know much about the DC area to think anything of Chevy Chase except to think it's funny that an actor is also named Chevy Chase. They know Georgetown...and that's about it. I would be shocked if you asked 1000 people in CA or Arizona if more than 1 knew that any Supreme Court justices lived in CC...and they would probably only know Kavanaugh because of the psycho that was arrested supposedly trying to attack him.

Also, nobody thinks of Judges or Supreme Court justices as super wealthy people...so, not sure why a place associated with where any of them live would translate into wealth and opulence.

Well CT has amassed a huge fortune so maybe PP thinks that kind of “arrangements” are the norm

[Anonymous]

I live in Chevy Chase and it’s fine for me. You are making a mistake that we want NYC style retail or the same things. I’d rather spend my afternoon in Rock Creek Park than in a high end (or any!) retail store

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since when did all 9 Justices live in Chevy Chase? I think it's only two (who happen to be conservatives). I believe three live in DC. One lives in Falls Church. Not sure about the others.

Where did you see anyone say 9? Someone said 2. And people from out of state have heard about Chevy Chase. Chevy Chase is one of the few neighborhoods people in VA acknowledge as nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Chevy Chase and it’s fine for me. You are making a mistake that we want NYC style retail or the same things. I’d rather spend my afternoon in Rock Creek Park than in a high end (or any!) retail store

No one is talking about Cartier stores, just not bland restaurants and stores that no one would drive anywhere to visit outside the immediate area. Del Ray is more charming and doesn’t have any high end boutiques. Even Barrack’s Row has more going on and it’s not next to homes like this:

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Chevy-Chase/5-Chevy-Chase-Cir-20815/home/10640693

Aim higher!

[Anonymous]

OP seems to be referring to Friendship Heights retail. Most of Chevy Chase is not that close to Friendship Heights, and is actually closer to downtown Bethesda, where there's plenty of retail. I have friends who live in nice houses Chevy Chase and who can walk to downtown Bethesda in under ten minutes. Even if you live in the part of Chevy Chase close to FH, downtown Bethesda is a 5-10 minute drive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP seems to be referring to Friendship Heights retail. Most of Chevy Chase is not that close to Friendship Heights, and is actually closer to downtown Bethesda, where there's plenty of retail. I have friends who live in nice houses Chevy Chase and who can walk to downtown Bethesda in under ten minutes. Even if you live in the part of Chevy Chase close to FH, downtown Bethesda is a 5-10 minute drive.

OP was talking about Connecticut just south of the circle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since when did all 9 Justices live in Chevy Chase? I think it's only two (who happen to be conservatives). I believe three live in DC. One lives in Falls Church. Not sure about the others.

Where did you see anyone say 9? Someone said 2. And people from out of state have heard about Chevy Chase. Chevy Chase is one of the few neighborhoods people in VA acknowledge as nice.

Sure, people from Virginia which is out of state. But “around the country Chevy Chase is synonymous with wealth and opulence” is a crock.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP seems to be referring to Friendship Heights retail. Most of Chevy Chase is not that close to Friendship Heights, and is actually closer to downtown Bethesda, where there's plenty of retail. I have friends who live in nice houses Chevy Chase and who can walk to downtown Bethesda in under ten minutes. Even if you live in the part of Chevy Chase close to FH, downtown Bethesda is a 5-10 minute drive.

OP was talking about Connecticut just south of the circle.

Which still isn't close to most of Chevy Chase. I guess I'm missing why Chevy Chase needs its own retail and dining hub, when downtown Bethesda is right there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we can all agree that the chevy chase safeway is an absolute embarrassment, and half the restaurants are way past their prime. There are some gems though like Magruder's, the avalon, Opal, Birdsong, core 72... and Wheelhouse coming in (owner of millies)

This! Around the country Chevy Chase is synonymous with wealth and opulence and is on par with Georgetown as being the DC neighborhood with the most upscale cache. The country club costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to join, I’m guessing, and it is home to two Supreme Court Justices. If you took someone from Arizona or California to the “Chevy Chase Safeway” or the “Chevy Chase [insert random store]” what they saw would not match their preconceptions.

I get it now. You are newish to the area and want something like Erewhon. You might feel more comfortable in a flashier/ tear down / new money zip code.

People self-segregate and you can, too! But before you go, I think we’d all be curious to hear your hot take on how the retail strips in Spring Valley don’t honor the even wealthier homeowners who live nearby

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Chevy Chase and it’s fine for me. You are making a mistake that we want NYC style retail or the same things. I’d rather spend my afternoon in Rock Creek Park than in a high end (or any!) retail store

No one is talking about Cartier stores, just not bland restaurants and stores that no one would drive anywhere to visit outside the immediate area. Del Ray is more charming and doesn’t have any high end boutiques. Even Barrack’s Row has more going on and it’s not next to homes like this:

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Chevy-Chase/5-Chevy-Chase-Cir-20815/home/10640693

Aim higher!

I don’t think you get it, at all. The vast majority of my neighbors and I don’t want destination, retail or fuzzy restaurants, and the traffic that comes with that. We like our neighborhood stuff. Sometimes that’s a sandwich with the kids. Other times it’s to pick up a prescription and some poster board for a school project.

[Anonymous]

Fuzzy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For a place with exclusive country clubs, multimillion dollar pre WW2 homes, and the kind of cache that comes with the name Chevy Chase, it is odd that the area’s retail isn’t that nice, specifically along Connecticut Avenue. Similar neighborhoods on the edges of other East Coast cities like Brookline near Boston or Bronxville near New York City have stretches of high end boutiques, grocery stores, and restaurants that match the character of the charming $1 million+ pre 1940s SFHs around them. What’s been keeping Chevy Chase from having the same type of retail?

I’m not saying the retail is horrible, it just doesn’t match a neighborhood that has that kind of historical prestige and the same types of neighborhoods in other East Coast cities with the same cache and housing stock have far nicer options.

I live in Greenwich and there is a lot more high end luxury options for clothing, cars, home, and dinning. The population here is wealthier and probably more flashy about wealth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP seems to be referring to Friendship Heights retail. Most of Chevy Chase is not that close to Friendship Heights, and is actually closer to downtown Bethesda, where there's plenty of retail. I have friends who live in nice houses Chevy Chase and who can walk to downtown Bethesda in under ten minutes. Even if you live in the part of Chevy Chase close to FH, downtown Bethesda is a 5-10 minute drive.

OP was talking about Connecticut just south of the circle.

Which still isn't close to most of Chevy Chase. I guess I'm missing why Chevy Chase needs its own retail and dining hub, when downtown Bethesda is right there.

And now there’s all that stuff at Manor Road. (RIP, Chevy Chase Supermarket.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fuzzy?

Meant ‘buzzy’. Buzzy restaurants

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP seems to be referring to Friendship Heights retail. Most of Chevy Chase is not that close to Friendship Heights, and is actually closer to downtown Bethesda, where there's plenty of retail. I have friends who live in nice houses Chevy Chase and who can walk to downtown Bethesda in under ten minutes. Even if you live in the part of Chevy Chase close to FH, downtown Bethesda is a 5-10 minute drive.

OP was talking about Connecticut just south of the circle.

Which still isn't close to most of Chevy Chase. I guess I'm missing why Chevy Chase needs its own retail and dining hub, when downtown Bethesda is right there.

Chevy Chase retail has gone down hill. Maybe it was overbuilt to begin with, but there has been decline. While the decline may have been accelerated by COVID, it is not entirely attributable to COVID. Maybe there have been shifts in demographic patterns that are negatively impacting the area or the area doesn’t attract spendy wealthy flashy types anymore. Maybe they want to stay in Georgetown or wherever. Let’s hope our probing questions and insights allow Chevy Chase retail to br restored to its former greatness. After all, 9 Supreme Court justices, 21 billionaires, and 43 members of the royal family call Chevy Chase home!