Anonymous wrote:It's not that a presidential motorcade would make Tenleytown hip, but the point is our hip president and first lady certainly find their way to the hippest places in the city--and the entire stretch of Wisconsin from the Cathedral to Friendship Heights is a stretch of dreary unhipness, sadly. More accurately, just a stretch of dreariness. Certainly no presidential birthday parties at Yosaku, Dancing Crab, or the entire lineup of restaurants that haven't even changed the carpets since the late 80's (although I guess the new Panera and Chipotle bring Tenleytown dining into the early 2000s).
It didn't have to be this way. During the first Bush administration, upper NW, Georgetown, and maybe then ultra-edgy Adams Morgan was all that was in play in DC. Tenleytown certainly could have become more of real urban neighborhood (where the moms would be able to say they are dcURBANmoms with a straight face), but instead the neighbors fought fiercely against all development, liquor licenses, zoning variances, and everything that would have increased density, brought some diversity (brought ANY diversity to Tenleytown), and with it better amenities of a real city neighborhood. Back in those days, H Street, Shaw, Penn Quarter, Barracks Row, the Navy Yard, Columbia Heights, and the Southwest Waterfront all were in the range from down-and-out blight to ridiculously dangerous. The acronym NOMA didn't exist. They all welcomed development, built density, attracted diversity in every way imaginable, and became a magnet for restaurants and amenities from Oyamel to Rose's Luxury to Vida. Meanwhile, a big night in Tenleytown is still happy hour at Yosaku and then a drive over Politics and Prose, coming home and and then maybe trolling dcurbanmom to complain about GDS.
It's going to take a lot more than GDS' development to turn Tenleytown into something other than a strip of Wisconsin Avenue that everyone tries to whizz by as fast as they can, but it does seem like a start. If you all keep saying no to everything, then you'll be stuck with the Dancing Crab and the Container Store.
that's a nice story. It completely ignores 1) relative demographics 2). the huge impact that a few thousand (relatively poor) HS and MS students have on the tenants who actively want those storefronts, PLUS 3) a six-lane major arterial (Wisconsin) will never, ever ever allow for the same funky walkabout feel that the intimate streets of half the entertainment districts you cited. <<<<-- the
combination of these 3 things means you shouldn't hold your breath for a series of $$$ adorable, yet middling, concept restaurants with tiny plates.