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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Not "downtown" but still in the middle of DC-- I had to run an errand at Union Market today around 2 pm, and it was absolutely hopping. I drove to save time and I shouldnt have-- lot at UM was totally full, 6th Street spots totally full, no street parking on surrounding streets. Finally found a spot in the garage under the Latin market over on 4th. UM itself was packed, lines at bunch of stalls, indoor tables full, many outdoor tables as well. This was Wednesday afternoon, a lot of the weekend stalls were not even open, same with the bars. The Latin market was more dead but I popped into trader Joe's for a minute and it was busy too.

I've had similar experiences recently in Navy Yard, the Wharf, and Georgetown.

There is absolutely no reason you can't recreate this downtown with the right investment.[/quote]
It’s hilarious that you don’t see the pattern. [/quote]

PP here and I genuinely do not know what you are talking about. These are all neighborhoods that saw a ton of economic investment, do you mean that pattern? That is also what I think they should do downtown.

Also while Georgetown has been nice for a while, Union Market, Navy Yard, and the Wharf were all really rough neighborhoods before all this development went in. I live on Capitol Hill and the transformation is dramatic. As little as 10-15 years ago, these were neighborhoods you would not walk around in at night comfortable, they were just warehouses and crappy little shops, or empty lots. Union Market used to just be permanently filled with trash. There was violent crime and drug activity. Now these places are the bougie-est parts of DC. So there is absolutely no reason we can't do the same think downtown. It might look a little different because it's converting an office district instead of warehouses and industrial properties, but this idea it's impossible just does not add up. It obviously is.[/quote]
The pattern is available parking (but not enough. [/quote]

Navy Yard barely has any parking now (except for baseball games) and is inconveniently located but that hasn’t slowed its popularity. Downtown is central and served by every metro line. And there is some parking. If there was stuff bringing people downtown, they’d go. [/quote]

Navy Yard has plenty of parking but is also easy to get to by Metro.  I find parking in the Wharf to be much less practical and far more expensive.[/quote]
DC government gave into the GGW ideologues and drastically cut available parking at the Wharf. It was a bad mistake that is dragging the Wharf down as a destination location. Cars are more routinely doubled parked along Maine Ave causing traffic congestion and people, like you, rightly second guess going due to the parking hassle. But there is minimally enough parking right now that it will survive but not really thrive as much as it could.

It’s funny though that the PPP is all gung ho about car free downtown DC living while documenting his exploits trying to find parking at Union Market.

The lack of convenient and reasonably priced parking will be a long term drag on downtown DC as both a neighborhood and a destination location. [/quote]

I am not aware of any significant urban core that either lives or dies based on parking.  Even downtown LA which is kind of hot these days has expensive parking…and everyone drives in LA.[/quote]

I spend quite a lot of time in LA during the winter, specifically around Hollywood, Westwood, and downtown, and I have only rarely failed to find street parking within a block or two of where I needed to be. Compared to DC, LA is a parking spot paradise. [/quote]

Downtown LA is not exactly known as an urban destination [/quote]

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