Anyone Remember Bethesda and Silver Spring in 2000?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah Silver Spring has been going downhill (still love AFI Silver tho, best repertory movie theater in the country).

Bethesda is still really nice, better than any place in NoVa to me. But other than Bethesda I’d take the Clarendon-Ballston-Arlington Forest region over any place in MoCo

The problem with Bethesda is that that’s it. There is no reason to go anywhere else in MoCo. Everywhere north and east of Bethesda in suburban MD is either more dangerous or has less amenities.

In Arlington, you can drive to neighborhoods like Del Ray, Old Town, McLean, Tysons, Mosaic, etc. All of these places are as safe as Arlington and have either more or different types of retail than Arlington, like the boutiques in Del Ray or Tysons Mall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All this talk about grocery stores is so funny. The Harris teeter looks exactly the same in North Bethesda, as in Park Potomac, as in Bethesda, as in N Arlington.

The only difference is Maryland doesn’t have a Ballston-Rosslyn corridor of urbanization. You step outside Ballston and N Arlington is exactly the same as North Bethesda or Silver Spring in terms of endless suburban sprawl, strip malls, and highways. Fairfax arguably has more highways than MoCo

That’s because of the proximity to the DC line. Wisconsin Ave and CT Ave from Bethesda/CC into DC is that. Tenley, friendship, Bethesda is essentially that corridor. We just don’t have a river blocking the access to dc

That’s part of the problem. Places like Cleveland Park and Tenleytown were nicer 10-20 years ago. Cleveland Park peaked when Dino and the Uptown Theater were still around.

Yeah, I lived in Cleveland park in the 90s and early 2000s and it was great. Now it just bums me out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah Silver Spring has been going downhill (still love AFI Silver tho, best repertory movie theater in the country).

Bethesda is still really nice, better than any place in NoVa to me. But other than Bethesda I’d take the Clarendon-Ballston-Arlington Forest region over any place in MoCo

The problem with Bethesda is that that’s it. There is no reason to go anywhere else in MoCo. Everywhere north and east of Bethesda in suburban MD is either more dangerous or has less amenities.

In Arlington, you can drive to neighborhoods like Del Ray, Old Town, McLean, Tysons, Mosaic, etc. All of these places are as safe as Arlington and have either more or different types of retail than Arlington, like the boutiques in Del Ray or Tysons Mall.

Only if you prefer shiny new development and chain stores more than rooted communities with character and diverse neighbors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah Silver Spring has been going downhill (still love AFI Silver tho, best repertory movie theater in the country).

Bethesda is still really nice, better than any place in NoVa to me. But other than Bethesda I’d take the Clarendon-Ballston-Arlington Forest region over any place in MoCo

The problem with Bethesda is that that’s it. There is no reason to go anywhere else in MoCo. Everywhere north and east of Bethesda in suburban MD is either more dangerous or has less amenities.

In Arlington, you can drive to neighborhoods like Del Ray, Old Town, McLean, Tysons, Mosaic, etc. All of these places are as safe as Arlington and have either more or different types of retail than Arlington, like the boutiques in Del Ray or Tysons Mall.

Only if you prefer shiny new development and chain stores more than rooted communities with character and diverse neighbors.

Like all the chain stores on Rockville Pike? Del Ray has a bigger selection of Mom and Pop stores than anywhere in suburban MoCo. And there is nowhere in MoCo with more history and character than Old Town Alexandria.

As far as diversity, the schools in Fairfax, Alexandria, and Arlington are as diverse as MoCos. They’re just safer and surrounded by less decrepit infrastructure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah Silver Spring has been going downhill (still love AFI Silver tho, best repertory movie theater in the country).

Bethesda is still really nice, better than any place in NoVa to me. But other than Bethesda I’d take the Clarendon-Ballston-Arlington Forest region over any place in MoCo

Silver Spring has not gone downhill. Like lots of places, it had some crime issues during covid, but it's a very safe and wonderful place to live. It has great dining options, including two breweries and tons of ethnic restaurants, as well as tons of entertainment options (AFI, Fillmore, Black Box, chain movie theater, ice skating rink), and every single thing you need for daily life (Whole Foods, Safeway, Giant, Mom's Organic). I think lots of the hatred comes from people who need majority-white neighborhoods to feel safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My grandma settled in bethesda in the 50s… so yes I remember when it was nicer.

I moved to Bethesda in 1964, as a 3 year old. I prefer the Bethesda of today, much more going on, lots of places to eat and shop. When I was a kid we had a Hot Shoppes and auto body shops in downtown Bethesda, plus the Strosniders/Bruce Variety shopping strip. It was pretty basic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My grandma settled in bethesda in the 50s… so yes I remember when it was nicer.

I moved to Bethesda in 1964, as a 3 year old. I prefer the Bethesda of today, much more going on, lots of places to eat and shop. When I was a kid we had a Hot Shoppes and auto body shops in downtown Bethesda, plus the Strosniders/Bruce Variety shopping strip. It was pretty basic.

+1. It had the sorts of places that people today would look down on today -- a sitdown Pizza Hut restaurant, Roy Rogers, Burger King, Baskin Robbins, McDonalds. When people say it was nicer at some point in the past, I have no idea what they miss about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah Silver Spring has been going downhill (still love AFI Silver tho, best repertory movie theater in the country).

Bethesda is still really nice, better than any place in NoVa to me. But other than Bethesda I’d take the Clarendon-Ballston-Arlington Forest region over any place in MoCo

The problem with Bethesda is that that’s it. There is no reason to go anywhere else in MoCo. Everywhere north and east of Bethesda in suburban MD is either more dangerous or has less amenities.

In Arlington, you can drive to neighborhoods like Del Ray, Old Town, McLean, Tysons, Mosaic, etc. All of these places are as safe as Arlington and have either more or different types of retail than Arlington, like the boutiques in Del Ray or Tysons Mall.

Only if you prefer shiny new development and chain stores more than rooted communities with character and diverse neighbors.

Like all the chain stores on Rockville Pike? Del Ray has a bigger selection of Mom and Pop stores than anywhere in suburban MoCo. And there is nowhere in MoCo with more history and character than Old Town Alexandria.

As far as diversity, the schools in Fairfax, Alexandria, and Arlington are as diverse as MoCos. They’re just safer and surrounded by less decrepit infrastructure.

Takoma Park.
Arlington is fugly as hell and Alexandria is dilapidated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MOCO was just first. Ballston will seem tired soon enough. It’s just shiny and new now. That’s how development goes. Momentum isn’t infinite. People made their money and moved on

Haha, Ballston was new in the 90s, died in the 2000s, and revived in 2020s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember when Bethesda was MUCH nicer than a boring, run down place like Ballston, which had an old Radison hotel, a decaying mall, and a subpar movie theater and not much else. I remember when Silver Spring had more going on than Crystal City or Pentagon City.

No one would prefer Ballston over Bethesda 25 years ago. Now it’s a toss up, and some might want to live in Ballston instead. You could make comparisons to VA suburbs vs MD suburbs over the course of the past 25 years and in almost every instance VA will come out ahead when you look at how much economic and infrastructure development they’ve had.

What happened to all of MOCO’s momentum? Is it all Elrich’s fault? Who’s to blame for the complete lack of forward momentum compared to Virginia in business and infrastructure development in the past 25 years?

Your assessment is wildly off the mark.

Silver Spring in the year 2000 didn’t have much of anything but a dying mall with discount stores where Hecht’s was until the 1990s when it closed. Pentagon City had Pentagon City with the DC region’s second Nordstrom and Macy’s and other upscale shops like the Nature Company and Benetton along with a Ritz Carlton.

Ballston in the year 2000 had a somewhat decent mid range / healthy mall before its death spiral and also a Kramer Books. Nearby Clarendon had that new shopping area with one the first Apple Stores that replaced an old Sears department store. Bethesda at the time had Bethesda Row which was still new.

I was going to say— OP clearly didn’t live in Silver Spring in 2000. There was nothing there. The AFI Silver only started restoration in 2001. The “downtown” didn’t open until 2006, maybe?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BRING BACK MONGOLIAN GRILL

Only sensible post in this thread

God, I loved that crap. Hangover cure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BRING BACK MONGOLIAN GRILL

Only sensible post in this thread

God, I loved that crap. Hangover cure.

I used to work at the Papa John's around the corner and we'd frequently organize trades - we bring over a big stack of pizzas and in return we'd get to load up takeout containers as full as we could stuff them. Man, I forgot how good that place was until just now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My grandma settled in bethesda in the 50s… so yes I remember when it was nicer.

I moved to Bethesda in 1964, as a 3 year old. I prefer the Bethesda of today, much more going on, lots of places to eat and shop. When I was a kid we had a Hot Shoppes and auto body shops in downtown Bethesda, plus the Strosniders/Bruce Variety shopping strip. It was pretty basic.

+1. It had the sorts of places that people today would look down on today -- a sitdown Pizza Hut restaurant, Roy Rogers, Burger King, Baskin Robbins, McDonalds. When people say it was nicer at some point in the past, I have no idea what they miss about it.

I disagree. I grew up in Bethesda from the mid-80s to the mid-2000s and thought it was great. I miss Louisiana Express, Rio Grande (Uncle Julio's in the new location, if it's even still there, isn't the same), Il Forno, Matuba. Tons of other great restaurants I'm not thinking of right now. I live in DC but still go to Bethesda frequently or my kids' activities, and I still enjoy it now, but it was great back then too. I am bummed out by the number of car dealerships in the downtown area. what a poor choice. They cause a lot of congestion. (Just last night, Arlington Rd. was down to one lane during rush hour because of a huge trucking delivering new cars.) Those were always on Rockville Pike when I was growing up; not sure why that changed. That downtown Bethesda retail space could be used for so many better things.

The obsession with crime on this post, when talking about any area, is just odd. Bethesda was not unsafe in the 80s/90s/2000s and is not unsafe now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My grandma settled in bethesda in the 50s… so yes I remember when it was nicer.

I moved to Bethesda in 1964, as a 3 year old. I prefer the Bethesda of today, much more going on, lots of places to eat and shop. When I was a kid we had a Hot Shoppes and auto body shops in downtown Bethesda, plus the Strosniders/Bruce Variety shopping strip. It was pretty basic.

+1. It had the sorts of places that people today would look down on today -- a sitdown Pizza Hut restaurant, Roy Rogers, Burger King, Baskin Robbins, McDonalds. When people say it was nicer at some point in the past, I have no idea what they miss about it.

I disagree. I grew up in Bethesda from the mid-80s to the mid-2000s and thought it was great. I miss Louisiana Express, Rio Grande (Uncle Julio's in the new location, if it's even still there, isn't the same), Il Forno, Matuba. Tons of other great restaurants I'm not thinking of right now. I live in DC but still go to Bethesda frequently or my kids' activities, and I still enjoy it now, but it was great back then too. I am bummed out by the number of car dealerships in the downtown area. what a poor choice. They cause a lot of congestion. (Just last night, Arlington Rd. was down to one lane during rush hour because of a huge trucking delivering new cars.) Those were always on Rockville Pike when I was growing up; not sure why that changed. That downtown Bethesda retail space could be used for so many better things.

The obsession with crime on this post, when talking about any area, is just odd. Bethesda was not unsafe in the 80s/90s/2000s and is not unsafe now.

The only two dealerships in downtown Bethesda that are more than just a storefront are the Mercedes and Honda dealerships, and both have been there forever and have a small footprint (they're not the eyesores you see in Tysons). If you've been around long enough to remember the restaurants you named, then you've been around long enough to know that the Mercedes dealership on Arlington Rd has always been there and sometimes has delivery trucks. I think the only new addition is the Volvo storefront across the street, which maybe has one or two cars on display.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My grandma settled in bethesda in the 50s… so yes I remember when it was nicer.

I moved to Bethesda in 1964, as a 3 year old. I prefer the Bethesda of today, much more going on, lots of places to eat and shop. When I was a kid we had a Hot Shoppes and auto body shops in downtown Bethesda, plus the Strosniders/Bruce Variety shopping strip. It was pretty basic.

+1. It had the sorts of places that people today would look down on today -- a sitdown Pizza Hut restaurant, Roy Rogers, Burger King, Baskin Robbins, McDonalds. When people say it was nicer at some point in the past, I have no idea what they miss about it.

I disagree. I grew up in Bethesda from the mid-80s to the mid-2000s and thought it was great. I miss Louisiana Express, Rio Grande (Uncle Julio's in the new location, if it's even still there, isn't the same), Il Forno, Matuba. Tons of other great restaurants I'm not thinking of right now. I live in DC but still go to Bethesda frequently or my kids' activities, and I still enjoy it now, but it was great back then too. I am bummed out by the number of car dealerships in the downtown area. what a poor choice. They cause a lot of congestion. (Just last night, Arlington Rd. was down to one lane during rush hour because of a huge trucking delivering new cars.) Those were always on Rockville Pike when I was growing up; not sure why that changed. That downtown Bethesda retail space could be used for so many better things.

The obsession with crime on this post, when talking about any area, is just odd. Bethesda was not unsafe in the 80s/90s/2000s and is not unsafe now.

The only two dealerships in downtown Bethesda that are more than just a storefront are the Mercedes and Honda dealerships, and both have been there forever and have a small footprint (they're not the eyesores you see in Tysons). If you've been around long enough to remember the restaurants you named, then you've been around long enough to know that the Mercedes dealership on Arlington Rd has always been there and sometimes has delivery trucks. I think the only new addition is the Volvo storefront across the street, which maybe has one or two cars on display.

Comparing Tysons to Bethesda is pointless. They’re dissimilar places and Tysons isn’t trying to be Bethesda. A better comparison to Bethesda is the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor in Arlington. Ballston used to be a wasteland 20 years ago and now has a lot of the same kind of retail and eateries that Bethesda has.

The overall point is that NoVA has been getting dramatically more investment in the past 10-20 years compared to MoCo and PG. I don’t think there’s any disputing this.