Anonymous
Post 07/12/2024 09:59     Subject: Union Station Starbucks Closing
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I was there a couple weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised. Didn't encounter the issues I'd read about here.


I am there every day and agree. Funny to see comments of people who have not stepped foot in there in years but feel the need to bash it.


I actually appreciate these updates. Last time we visited our DD in DC after the pandemic she was pretty adamant we use the bathroom on the train because Union Station bathroos were vile and dangerous. It did look like Escape from NY at that time.


Well that is true.
Anonymous
Post 07/12/2024 08:45     Subject: Union Station Starbucks Closing
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I was there a couple weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised. Didn't encounter the issues I'd read about here.


I am there every day and agree. Funny to see comments of people who have not stepped foot in there in years but feel the need to bash it.


I actually appreciate these updates. Last time we visited our DD in DC after the pandemic she was pretty adamant we use the bathroom on the train because Union Station bathroos were vile and dangerous. It did look like Escape from NY at that time.


It's a bathroom...at a train station...in a big city. It's fine.


Bucees is one of the busiest highway stops I've ever been in, with immaculate bathrooms and an attendant. German road side stops have fully automated, self cleaning bathrooms with plastic seat wraps. It's about priorities, and a modicum of manners and pride.


And we've decided that public facilities used by the public (including restrooms used by the public in public facilities) are not a priority. Basically, we shouldn't get to have nice things.
Anonymous
Post 07/12/2024 08:40     Subject: Union Station Starbucks Closing
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I was there a couple weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised. Didn't encounter the issues I'd read about here.


I am there every day and agree. Funny to see comments of people who have not stepped foot in there in years but feel the need to bash it.


I actually appreciate these updates. Last time we visited our DD in DC after the pandemic she was pretty adamant we use the bathroom on the train because Union Station bathroos were vile and dangerous. It did look like Escape from NY at that time.


It's a bathroom...at a train station...in a big city. It's fine.


Bucees is one of the busiest highway stops I've ever been in, with immaculate bathrooms and an attendant. German road side stops have fully automated, self cleaning bathrooms with plastic seat wraps. It's about priorities, and a modicum of manners and pride.
Anonymous
Post 07/12/2024 05:59     Subject: Union Station Starbucks Closing
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I was there a couple weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised. Didn't encounter the issues I'd read about here.


I am there every day and agree. Funny to see comments of people who have not stepped foot in there in years but feel the need to bash it.


I actually appreciate these updates. Last time we visited our DD in DC after the pandemic she was pretty adamant we use the bathroom on the train because Union Station bathroos were vile and dangerous. It did look like Escape from NY at that time.


It's a bathroom...at a train station...in a big city. It's fine.


Ahhhh, the power of low expectations.
Anonymous
Post 07/11/2024 15:20     Subject: Union Station Starbucks Closing
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/07/08/office-housing-conversions-residential-boston-real-estate

Bowser should absolutely be incentivizing developers to convert to residential, and punishing vacancies. I don’t know why they can’t think more broadly,


First off, if you think commerical-to-residential isn't happening in DC, you're just not paying attention:

https://wtop.com/business-finance/2024/01/dc-region-leads-nation-for-office-to-apartment-conversions/

Secondly, I know a whole lot of dim-bulb urbanists think that you can just slap down a coat of paint and call a building residential, but it's a hugely expensive and complicated process. Oftentimes, it would be cheaper simply to knock down an office building and put up apartments. From the article you linked:

"Architect Tim Love of Utile Architecture and Planning, one of the contributors to Boston's conversion study, said certain features make buildings more adaptable. For example, he said commercial buildings built before World War II that rely on natural light and ventilation are more suitable for living than ones that came later, with massive floor plates and windows that don't open."

What percentage of non-fed office buildings in DC's downtown core were built before WWII? 5 percent? Less? The point is, the commercial-to-residential process is prohibitively expensive much of the time, even with a government assist.


Maybe the point should be to stop building glass boxes in the sky, and instead build buildings that can "learn." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Buildings_Learn
Anonymous
Post 07/11/2024 14:51     Subject: Union Station Starbucks Closing
Anonymous wrote:https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/07/08/office-housing-conversions-residential-boston-real-estate

Bowser should absolutely be incentivizing developers to convert to residential, and punishing vacancies. I don’t know why they can’t think more broadly,


First off, if you think commerical-to-residential isn't happening in DC, you're just not paying attention:

https://wtop.com/business-finance/2024/01/dc-region-leads-nation-for-office-to-apartment-conversions/

Secondly, I know a whole lot of dim-bulb urbanists think that you can just slap down a coat of paint and call a building residential, but it's a hugely expensive and complicated process. Oftentimes, it would be cheaper simply to knock down an office building and put up apartments. From the article you linked:

"Architect Tim Love of Utile Architecture and Planning, one of the contributors to Boston's conversion study, said certain features make buildings more adaptable. For example, he said commercial buildings built before World War II that rely on natural light and ventilation are more suitable for living than ones that came later, with massive floor plates and windows that don't open."

What percentage of non-fed office buildings in DC's downtown core were built before WWII? 5 percent? Less? The point is, the commercial-to-residential process is prohibitively expensive much of the time, even with a government assist.
Anonymous
Post 07/11/2024 11:47     Subject: Union Station Starbucks Closing
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I was there a couple weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised. Didn't encounter the issues I'd read about here.


I am there every day and agree. Funny to see comments of people who have not stepped foot in there in years but feel the need to bash it.


I actually appreciate these updates. Last time we visited our DD in DC after the pandemic she was pretty adamant we use the bathroom on the train because Union Station bathroos were vile and dangerous. It did look like Escape from NY at that time.


It's a bathroom...at a train station...in a big city. It's fine.


No reason why they can't be as clean as airport bathrooms.

Airports are too far from the cities so the homeless cannot get to them to hang out under the cool air condition.
Anonymous
Post 07/11/2024 11:09     Subject: Union Station Starbucks Closing
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I was there a couple weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised. Didn't encounter the issues I'd read about here.


I am there every day and agree. Funny to see comments of people who have not stepped foot in there in years but feel the need to bash it.


I actually appreciate these updates. Last time we visited our DD in DC after the pandemic she was pretty adamant we use the bathroom on the train because Union Station bathroos were vile and dangerous. It did look like Escape from NY at that time.


It's a bathroom...at a train station...in a big city. It's fine.


Apparently you have never traveled abroad.
Anonymous
Post 07/11/2024 11:08     Subject: Union Station Starbucks Closing
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I was there a couple weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised. Didn't encounter the issues I'd read about here.


I am there every day and agree. Funny to see comments of people who have not stepped foot in there in years but feel the need to bash it.


I actually appreciate these updates. Last time we visited our DD in DC after the pandemic she was pretty adamant we use the bathroom on the train because Union Station bathroos were vile and dangerous. It did look like Escape from NY at that time.


It's a bathroom...at a train station...in a big city. It's fine.


No reason why they can't be as clean as airport bathrooms.
Anonymous
Post 07/11/2024 10:50     Subject: Union Station Starbucks Closing
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I was there a couple weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised. Didn't encounter the issues I'd read about here.


I am there every day and agree. Funny to see comments of people who have not stepped foot in there in years but feel the need to bash it.


I actually appreciate these updates. Last time we visited our DD in DC after the pandemic she was pretty adamant we use the bathroom on the train because Union Station bathroos were vile and dangerous. It did look like Escape from NY at that time.


It's a bathroom...at a train station...in a big city. It's fine.
Anonymous
Post 07/11/2024 10:41     Subject: Union Station Starbucks Closing
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I was there a couple weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised. Didn't encounter the issues I'd read about here.


I am there every day and agree. Funny to see comments of people who have not stepped foot in there in years but feel the need to bash it.


I actually appreciate these updates. Last time we visited our DD in DC after the pandemic she was pretty adamant we use the bathroom on the train because Union Station bathroos were vile and dangerous. It did look like Escape from NY at that time.
Anonymous
Post 07/11/2024 06:37     Subject: Union Station Starbucks Closing
Anonymous wrote:https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/07/08/office-housing-conversions-residential-boston-real-estate

Bowser should absolutely be incentivizing developers to convert to residential, and punishing vacancies. I don’t know why they can’t think more broadly,


The vacancies are partially due to absurdly high rents and tax write offs. There should be a diminishing write off the longer a property stands unrented, to encourage lowering the rent - within reason. Fine with a cap that allows the landlord to cover cost and a reasonable profit. DC is incredibly punitive to small residential landlords but let's the big commercial ones do whatever.
Anonymous
Post 07/10/2024 21:24     Subject: Union Station Starbucks Closing
https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/07/08/office-housing-conversions-residential-boston-real-estate

Bowser should absolutely be incentivizing developers to convert to residential, and punishing vacancies. I don’t know why they can’t think more broadly,
Anonymous
Post 07/10/2024 21:19     Subject: Re:Union Station Starbucks Closing
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Union Station has become a complete hellhole. Go try to take a train out at 7:00 one morning and come back to report to us on the experience.


Pandemic casualty unfortunately. There has long been a large homeless population there but it was still a bustling thoroughfare for commuters, tourists, and travelers alike. I used to take the metro there every day for work but no longer and it really is giving off some unsettling vibes now.


Blaming everything on the pandemic isn't cutting it anymore.

Things are gonna get a lot worse, before they get a lot worse.
Anonymous
Post 07/10/2024 20:40     Subject: Union Station Starbucks Closing
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I was there a couple weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised. Didn't encounter the issues I'd read about here.


I am there every day and agree. Funny to see comments of people who have not stepped foot in there in years but feel the need to bash it.


+1


The entrance hall for Union is beautiful. The empty shops on the upstairs of the concourse area post-pandemic was quite sad, as it was pretty occupied by retailers throughout previously.