Anonymous wrote:So it's not a neighborhood, just ths shopping center? I know Merrifield, nothing wrong with that as a neighborhood...I thought the Mosaic District was some special sub-neighborhood that only cool people knew about. So the big news of the day is that a Chipotle and a tes store are now in Merrifield. Okedokee.

Anonymous wrote:So it's not a neighborhood, just ths shopping center? I know Merrifield, nothing wrong with that as a neighborhood...I thought the Mosaic District was some special sub-neighborhood that only cool people knew about. So the big news of the day is that a Chipotle and a tes store are now in Merrifield. Okedokee.

Anonymous wrote:But at least the Atlas District is based around an actual place, the old Atlas Theater.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody hates Mosaic District. Well, except maybe Urban Militant - who probably grew up in the Ohio suburbs. MD is what it is. You can go or you can skip it.

What we, the beehive, hate is the MD overenthusiastic cheerleaders who trash other areas just to pump up their own. They make some stupid claims and then it becomes extremely entertaining to make fun of them.

I agree with this. That's also why Pimmit Hills is mercilessly mocked.

Anonymous wrote:So what and where is the Mosaic District? Is there an actual mosaic or is it a mde-up name that some PR genius came up with? I'm not familiar with Falls Church, but I have lived in the area for 40 years and have never heard of it before the past couple of years on DCUM. But if it has chain restaurants and a faux-town center, is it kind of like Rockville Town Center, or the Kentlands?

Anonymous wrote:Nobody hates Mosaic District. Well, except maybe Urban Militant - who probably grew up in the Ohio suburbs. MD is what it is. You can go or you can skip it.

What we, the beehive, hate is the MD overenthusiastic cheerleaders who trash other areas just to pump up their own. They make some stupid claims and then it becomes extremely entertaining to make fun of them.

Anonymous wrote:So what and where is the Mosaic District? Is there an actual mosaic or is it a mde-up name that some PR genius came up with? I'm not familiar with Falls Church, but I have lived in the area for 40 years and have never heard of it before the past couple of years on DCUM. But if it has chain restaurants and a faux-town center, is it kind of like Rockville Town Center, or the Kentlands?

Anonymous wrote:So what and where is the Mosaic District? Is there an actual mosaic or is it a mde-up name that some PR genius came up with? I'm not familiar with Falls Church, but I have lived in the area for 40 years and have never heard of it before the past couple of years on DCUM. But if it has chain restaurants and a faux-town center, is it kind of like Rockville Town Center, or the Kentlands?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Militant urbanist here. The Mosaic District will be a great development for the region, as are all of the other "town centers" (and I get that this one is aiming to have some better... programming, I guess, than many of the others) that bring a little bit of "New Urbanist" experience to yesterday's 'burbs.

No reason to knock this little oasis of civilization, but also no reason for us to shlep way the hell out there. And although the Mosaic experience will certainly help to alleviate the painful idiocy of suburban life, you all will still pile into your minivans at the end of your visit and return to either your cookie cutter "townhomes" sitting in parking lots, your formerly working class rambler 'hoods with chain link fences, or perhaps your architecturally unbalanced McMansions that would fall down after the first huff and puff.

So... on the one hand, not too shabby. But on the other, still a resounding MEH.

Yawn. I don't think the expectation is that militant urbanists would trek to the Mosaic District, but rather that the monied suburbanites won't trek to places like Old Town or Dupont for things they can now find at Mosaic.

There really isn't much difference in the types of people who seek out these yuppie comforts in the city and the suburbs. The suburbanites might be a bit more open minded, many previously having lived in cities, but I'm sure there are some who ferociously disdain the Disney-fied stage set that passes for DC urban living these days. In their own way, places like the Mosaic District seem more honest about exactly what they are and are not. Oh, and parking there is a breeze!

Ciao.

You are comparing apples to oranges, the city is the city, a suburban outdoor mall/restaurant/entertainment complex development is just this. People come to the city for different reasons other than to get an easy drive to go shopping, watch a movie, or to have a family dinner. There is a difference.

True the city is the city but those things you described are why people come to the city (the positives). The main difference of Mosaic is that you get all the city benefits without the crime and low income housing units.

Sounds terrific.

No, it's not why people come to the city, not why people choose to live in a city or drive there. It's also not the reason people come to visit distant cities, not just to shop, dine, go to the movies. Shopping/dining/movies have been around in the suburbs for a long time, they are called malls. Mosaic district just like Reston center are suburban malls, designed with a newer concept in mind, to allow walkability and provide some extra aesthetic amenities, like outdoor relaxation space and outdoor dining. It's great these places keep coming up, provides more options for people living nearby and encourages people to get out of their cars and walk around. I am all for it. But if I want the city, I drive to the city.

Which city are you referring to .... Merrifield or DC?