Well designed “Town Center” ?

[Anonymous]

I don't understand that point of the people who holler about how New England or Paris or wherever is better on a thread about finding places to live in the DMV. What is the purpose of doing that? To make people feel bad? To be boorish a-holes?

Yes, there are very nice physical environments to live in New England. I am sure of it. None of them are in commuting distance to my work, so they're entirely irrelevant to a conversation about real estate in this area.

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised Vienna hasn't been mentioned. The traffic along Maple Ave is horrendous, but it has the centralized town green and local shops that everyone is raving about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised Vienna hasn't been mentioned. The traffic along Maple Ave is horrendous, but it has the centralized town green and local shops that everyone is raving about.

I wouldn’t really call that a town center though. It’s more like a random bunch of strip malls that happen to be near each other than a pure town center.

[Anonymous]

How does Pike and Rose, which is across from a metro and on a number of bus lines, have poor public transportation?

The explicitly stated point was 'access' not public transportation per se but maybe you didn't read that. And it's a point well understood by anyone who's ever watched a nervous pedestrian try to dodge turning traffic at the busy Rockville Pike/Old Georgetown intersection, or seen pedestrians try to walk around each other on the narrow sidewalks of Rockville Pike without falling into the directly adjacent lanes of speeding traffic.

If you shoehorn nearly 1000 residences into a Pike and Rose space that previously had none but do nothing to improve pedestrian access to the nearby metro stop, it doesn't matter what the developers say on the brochure, it's still not tranport oriented development.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

How does Pike and Rose, which is across from a metro and on a number of bus lines, have poor public transportation?

The explicitly stated point was 'access' not public transportation per se but maybe you didn't read that. And it's a point well understood by anyone who's ever watched a nervous pedestrian try to dodge turning traffic at the busy Rockville Pike/Old Georgetown intersection, or seen pedestrians try to walk around each other on the narrow sidewalks of Rockville Pike without falling into the directly adjacent lanes of speeding traffic.

If you shoehorn nearly 1000 residences into a Pike and Rose space that previously had none but do nothing to improve pedestrian access to the nearby metro stop, it doesn't matter what the developers say on the brochure, it's still not tranport oriented development.

As someone without a car who is there regularly I have no idea what you are talking about. I have never seen anyone fall into traffic. There is already a crossing under Rockville pike and bus stops that eliminate the need to cross the street at all.

[Anonymous]

. As someone without a car who is there regularly I have no idea what you are talking about. I have never seen anyone fall into traffic. There is already a crossing under Rockville pike and bus stops that eliminate the need to cross the street at all.

Read and learn.
http://www.pikedistrictpeds.org/#home

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised Vienna hasn't been mentioned. The traffic along Maple Ave is horrendous, but it has the centralized town green and local shops that everyone is raving about.

I wouldn’t really call that a town center though. It’s more like a random bunch of strip malls that happen to be near each other than a pure town center.

strip malls have easy parking, that's not a bad thing. strip malls are still walkable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised Vienna hasn't been mentioned. The traffic along Maple Ave is horrendous, but it has the centralized town green and local shops that everyone is raving about.

I wouldn’t really call that a town center though. It’s more like a random bunch of strip malls that happen to be near each other than a pure town center.

strip malls have easy parking, that's not a bad thing. strip malls are still walkable.

they are if they are part of a wider urban fabric (Cleveland Park, Vienna, etc).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

. As someone without a car who is there regularly I have no idea what you are talking about. I have never seen anyone fall into traffic. There is already a crossing under Rockville pike and bus stops that eliminate the need to cross the street at all.

Read and learn.
http://www.pikedistrictpeds.org/#home

The fact that it's possible to make suggestions on how to make something even better, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Do you live near Pike and Rose? Have you been there without a car? Or are you just reading something online? As someone who lives and works close by and goes there often, it's already accessible, even if there's room for improvement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

How does Pike and Rose, which is across from a metro and on a number of bus lines, have poor public transportation?

The explicitly stated point was 'access' not public transportation per se but maybe you didn't read that. And it's a point well understood by anyone who's ever watched a nervous pedestrian try to dodge turning traffic at the busy Rockville Pike/Old Georgetown intersection, or seen pedestrians try to walk around each other on the narrow sidewalks of Rockville Pike without falling into the directly adjacent lanes of speeding traffic.

If you shoehorn nearly 1000 residences into a Pike and Rose space that previously had none but do nothing to improve pedestrian access to the nearby metro stop, it doesn't matter what the developers say on the brochure, it's still not tranport oriented development.

As someone without a car who is there regularly I have no idea what you are talking about. I have never seen anyone fall into traffic. There is already a crossing under Rockville pike and bus stops that eliminate the need to cross the street at all.

If the pedestrians follow the traffic lights and wait for their turn to cross the streets, no danger for them.
Most of pedestrians killed by cars are on in the crosswalks.

[Anonymous]

Old Town Alexandria is a nice town center

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised Vienna hasn't been mentioned. The traffic along Maple Ave is horrendous, but it has the centralized town green and local shops that everyone is raving about.

I wouldn’t really call that a town center though. It’s more like a random bunch of strip malls that happen to be near each other than a pure town center.

The town green does have free concerts twice a week in the summer, and there’s a public library a block away. The W&OD bike path also crosses this area. Cars pass through on Maple Avenue, but a block away is historic Church Street, which was Vienna’s original main street and is a walkable area of small shops, including a bookstore that hosts book clubs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Old Town Alexandria is a nice town center

Old Town is not a "town center"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Old Town Alexandria is a nice town center

Old Town is not a "town center"

Neither is Vienna.