Anonymous wrote:"Most of the people in CP that don't want this development don't know how to use the internet."

I live in Cleveland Park. I even know how to use the Internet. I have kids who walk to school, parks, shops and other places. Most of my neighbors have school age kids, too, but we also value the fact that our neighborhood has a diversity of ages and new and long-time residents. Like our neighborhs, we support thoughtful growth but want a safe environment for our kids to walk -- like other communities we already have problems with a lot of through traffic on narrow side streets and a shortage of street parking, particularly near the commercial corridors. Many of us non-old timers owe a debt to the neighborhood's long tradition of civic activism -- those who deflected the proposed highways in the 1960s, who saved McLean Gardens from being razed in the 1970s and 80s, who created the CP historic district later and who preserved Rosedale and Tregaron as DC's first land conservancies open to all in this decade. These efforts required hard, sustained work and were often characterized as a false choice between "no change" and "progress." CP would not be the livable community that it is today without these efforts. (T-shirts designed by John Eaton students proudly call Cleveland Park a "village in the city"). I support a modern Giant store, but also want development that is consistent with the DC Comprehensive Plan requirements.

Anonymous wrote:If it is in fact true that financing for this project is being held because of the NIMBY appeal, then it is a crying shame for the majority of residents (I believe it was close to 95% on a listserv poll) who favor and encourage this grocery store and new residents.

I understand that many of the people who are responsible for this 10+ year debacle are not even residents of the neighborhood or city any longer.

Anonymous wrote: I support a modern Giant store, but also want development that is consistent with the DC Comprehensive Plan requirements.

Anonymous wrote:The Chevy Chase Safeway is a nice, "neigborhoody" grocery store. So is the one in the Palisades. They have a good selection and are easy to use. I don't like the 60,000+ square feet, pseudo-WalMart superstores that Giant (and Safeway to a lesser extent) are building. They're overwhelming and lack the local feel. I know they have a larger selection, but I don't need a choice of 165 different kinds and sizes of potato chips!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know that PP was joking about the long-time residents with SFHs vs. 27 year olds who just got their first job post-grad, moved into a rental studio apartment, and wish they had "amenities" so their block isn't a "snoozefest."

But there's some truth to the tongue-in-cheek part about who has the power. ANd it's patently false that this group "doesn't know how to use the internet." Unless you're imagining that some of the biggest names in the legal world don't use computers, which would be stupid if you think about it.

Weirdly, as a long-time resident who is neither 27 nor 88 y.o., I kind of identified with that joke post. You know what? It's actually OK if not all historic parts of a city look exactly like Manufactured McTowns. So that they're not ... what was it? a "snoozefest" for temporary residents who are going to move on within 3 years regardless of the commerce available downstairs in their rental.

i'm not 27. i am an adult with a doctorate, a husband, a job, and two children. and yes, i moved out of cleveland park because it was boring and didn't have enough diversity of services, among other things it was lacking that make it not terribly attractive to people who are not filthy rich and driving everywhere in a luxury car to and from a SFH.[/quote]

And therein lies the point. Consciously or not the activist who want to keep their prefect little slice of paradise in the city the way it is don't want this to change. In a way who can blame them.