I grew up in Georgetown - Holy Trinity, Visitation, then GU; now as an adult I live in Shaw (early 40s). My parents still live in Georgetown, which I can honestly say has been going downhill since about 2005. I used to love the mall and spent a lot of my teen years inside it; rip FAO squartz . I remember when the waterfront was just parking, and then when the new complex opened. In college, I would bar hop up and down M St. I really think when the mall started faltering is when Georgetown began to go downhill; this was about the same time other part of the city picked up - Chinatown/Penn Quarter shopping, Logan/Shaw, and now H Street and the Wharf. Georgetown just doesn't feel the same as it did in my youth. From my understanding, there is a rule with a cap on liquor licenses for the area to prevent there being too much debauchery back in the day, so it is really hard to open a new restaurant as there are loads of hoops to jump through as compared to other parts of the city.

Sad thing is that my sister's home in Georgetown has just rebounded since she purchased it right before the recession. She is constantly complaining that the downturn of Georgetown in terms of shops/restaurants is not good. She's also been robbed at gunpoint walking near Wisconsin twice in the past 3 years, so it isn't immune from crime. Property values aren't going up as they are in other parts of the city, so I'd agree with other PPs that this does affect property values.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This made me nostalgic. i lived in Georgetown as a young 20 something person in the 1990s. I remember shopping at the Georgetown mall at Xmas, and it would be packed, with a quartet playing carols in the center. I saw Bill Clinton shopping there one year.

What was Georgetown mall? What building in GT would be large enough to be a mall?

-new resident

It was right on m street. They kicked the pinball museum out after a year which basically ruined the man and a wonderful place ( he did a lot of renovations and was kicked out before coming close to earning that $$ back). It was run down at the time - you mean it’s not there anymore? I thought the idea was to renovate it?

I just learned it was closed on this thread!

The ruin started in Georgetown. It was supposed to be a national treasure but it was closed against his will in a very short time after many renovations. The idea with a Georgetown location was that many people would come to visit. I can believe that Georgetown is becoming a dump, yes.

https://wjla.com/news/local/georgetown-s-national-pinball-museum-to-close-61218

He then moved to Baltimore and was kicked out of there and then that was it. He ran out of money.
He was trying to recoup what he lost in Georgetown in Baltimore which did not work out. Everything was sold.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/game-over-the-pinball-wizard-and-his-lost-dream-of-a-washington-museum/2014/07/31/e882c48c-cedf-11e3-a6b1-45c4dffb85a6_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.d39ee4e25932

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This made me nostalgic. i lived in Georgetown as a young 20 something person in the 1990s. I remember shopping at the Georgetown mall at Xmas, and it would be packed, with a quartet playing carols in the center. I saw Bill Clinton shopping there one year.

What was Georgetown mall? What building in GT would be large enough to be a mall?

-new resident

It was right on m street. They kicked the pinball museum out after a year which basically ruined the man and a wonderful place ( he did a lot of renovations and was kicked out before coming close to earning that $$ back). It was run down at the time - you mean it’s not there anymore? I thought the idea was to renovate it?

I just learned it was closed on this thread!

The ruin started in Georgetown. It was supposed to be a national treasure but it was closed against his will in a very short time after many renovations. The idea with a Georgetown location was that many people would come to visit. I can believe that Georgetown is becoming a dump, yes.

https://wjla.com/news/local/georgetown-s-national-pinball-museum-to-close-61218

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of sour grapes and haters in this thread. Georgetown is great for what it is - safe, family friendly, walkable, solid by-right public schools. The houses are old, but charming. Lots of fun free activities for our kids at the rec center, pool, and Book Hill Library.

If Georgetown was so awful, then we wouldn’t have all these OOB students from Petworth, Shaw, Cap Hill, etc clamoring for our seats. Also, I can’t remember the last time I even heard of a shoot out in Georgetown, Burleith, or Glover Park. That’s a weekly occurance, per reports on Popville, in EOTP neighborhoods and happened three times in two years within 250 feet of our doorstep on Euclid St NW in CoHi.

Things are turning over right now on Wisconsin. Legacy tenants are getting the boot. There’s a new French bakery opening in a long empty space. Wingo’s Cafe replaced the Fox Taproom. The recent renovation of the Glover Park Hotel was very successful and Casolare is packed. The new Trader Joe’s and high end condos is ahead of schedule. Changes are happening quickly.

Most of the things you mentioned are in Glover Park... GP is not the same as Georgetown, and thank goodness for that.

Wingo's, Casolare, and the new TJ's are/will be mostly for locals... and that's fine with me.

PP just proved all of our points. The day that WINGOS became a draw for Georgetown is the day we can all agree its gone downhill.

For those who don't know, Wingos is the best fried wing place WOTP. Draw of college students and drunks.

I'm the PP you're quoting. Honestly, I'm sure some of the long time residents of Shaw and U Street would love an affordable place, like a Wingo's. Not everyone can afford to drop $80 every time they step out of the house for fancy "sharing plates." There's room for lots of demographic groups and price points in the Wisconsin Ave corridor. My point was that some of the empty storefronts along Wisconsin are starting to fill up.

Fresh Baguette - a very successful shop from Bethesda - is opening their first DC location on a long-shuttered corner on Wisconsin Ave. http://www.freshbaguette.net/

I know that lots of people in Dupont, Shaw, etc would kill for a fresh bread shop.

There's also an amazing Uyghur Restaurant that just opened, complete with hand pulled noodles. It has rave reviews: https://www.yelp.com/biz/eerkins-uyghur-cuisine-and-tea-bar-washington-3

We moved to the Wisconsin Avenue corridor from Adams Morgan last year and we can honestly say that there's plenty here within walking distance to keep us satisfied. And, even better, the stuff near our place is actually affordable.

Seylou - 9th and N
www.seylou.com/

Also Uyghur is great - seriously I'm happy for you - but specialty restaurants like that rarely stick around more than 18 months (I say this still weeping about my lost Mongolian on H Street).

I think you’re mis-judging the market (and probably financing) for Uighur food. There are almost certainly some things behind these places that increase their likelihood of success. And the Georgetown place seems to get the best reviews of the local Uighur restaurants.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This made me nostalgic. i lived in Georgetown as a young 20 something person in the 1990s. I remember shopping at the Georgetown mall at Xmas, and it would be packed, with a quartet playing carols in the center. I saw Bill Clinton shopping there one year.

What was Georgetown mall? What building in GT would be large enough to be a mall?

-new resident

It was right on m street. They kicked the pinball museum out after a year which basically ruined the man and a wonderful place ( he did a lot of renovations and was kicked out before coming close to earning that $$ back). It was run down at the time - you mean it’s not there anymore? I thought the idea was to renovate it?

I just learned it was closed on this thread!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This made me nostalgic. i lived in Georgetown as a young 20 something person in the 1990s. I remember shopping at the Georgetown mall at Xmas, and it would be packed, with a quartet playing carols in the center. I saw Bill Clinton shopping there one year.

What was Georgetown mall? What building in GT would be large enough to be a mall?

-new resident

It was right on m street. They kicked the pinball museum out after a year which basically ruined the man and a wonderful place ( he did a lot of renovations and was kicked out before coming close to earning that $$ back). It was run down at the time - you mean it’s not there anymore? I thought the idea was to renovate it?

Anonymous wrote:This made me nostalgic. i lived in Georgetown as a young 20 something person in the 1990s. I remember shopping at the Georgetown mall at Xmas, and it would be packed, with a quartet playing carols in the center. I saw Bill Clinton shopping there one year.

What was Georgetown mall? What building in GT would be large enough to be a mall?

-new resident

Georgetown died when Rhino Bar closed. End of an era.

This made me nostalgic. i lived in Georgetown as a young 20 something person in the 1990s. I remember shopping at the Georgetown mall at Xmas, and it would be packed, with a quartet playing carols in the center. I saw Bill Clinton shopping there one year.

I remember taking my son there when he was little (early 2000s) and I remember wondering what happened -- why it was so empty. And then of course it closed.

I have all these memories of restaurants that no longer exist but were part of my young adulthood -- Georgetown Cafe (many late nights there), Hamburger Heaven, Something that was like White Castle (can't remember its name), Au pied de cochon.

And there was a great club there Champions.

Sigh.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People dont shoshop in retail stores anymore. It's funny that all you old hens are clucking on and on about busses WOTP, EOTP, and other nonsense. Get with the times. Of course stores are closing. It's 2018. We have Amazon now.

This is dumb. I don't want cheap clothes from Amazon. Look at the studies, people do indeed still shop retail.

You are right and stats show that people who are shopping brick and mortar stores are going places like TJ Maxx, Marshall's, etc
Those stores are doing well and growing.

I don't do any real shopping at those stores, but I do shop at boutiques. I love boutiques where I will find something that other people don't have. I also still shop at Neiman's and Saks. I also like Zara. Georgetown is all chains now. I can definitely go online for those stores.

I used go to Georgetown every Christmas for my holiday shopping. It was so beautiful and festive. The mall used to have a great Santa. But no more. Nothing stays the same and it's sad t see Georgetown go down. I hope it will shift to shops aimed at the neighborhood rather than tourists. If they could get a nice grocery store (WholeFoods? Wegman's?) that would be a draw. Right now, you have to head north to Burleith/Glover Park for Safeway (and Trader Joe's soon!) or east to Foggy Bottom for TJ's. Admittedly, none of those are far, but Georgetown proper has nothing of it's own with regard to grocery.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of sour grapes and haters in this thread. Georgetown is great for what it is - safe, family friendly, walkable, solid by-right public schools. The houses are old, but charming. Lots of fun free activities for our kids at the rec center, pool, and Book Hill Library.

If Georgetown was so awful, then we wouldn’t have all these OOB students from Petworth, Shaw, Cap Hill, etc clamoring for our seats. Also, I can’t remember the last time I even heard of a shoot out in Georgetown, Burleith, or Glover Park. That’s a weekly occurance, per reports on Popville, in EOTP neighborhoods and happened three times in two years within 250 feet of our doorstep on Euclid St NW in CoHi.

Things are turning over right now on Wisconsin. Legacy tenants are getting the boot. There’s a new French bakery opening in a long empty space. Wingo’s Cafe replaced the Fox Taproom. The recent renovation of the Glover Park Hotel was very successful and Casolare is packed. The new Trader Joe’s and high end condos is ahead of schedule. Changes are happening quickly.

Most of the things you mentioned are in Glover Park... GP is not the same as Georgetown, and thank goodness for that.

Wingo's, Casolare, and the new TJ's are/will be mostly for locals... and that's fine with me.

PP just proved all of our points. The day that WINGOS became a draw for Georgetown is the day we can all agree its gone downhill.

For those who don't know, Wingos is the best fried wing place WOTP. Draw of college students and drunks.

I'm the PP you're quoting. Honestly, I'm sure some of the long time residents of Shaw and U Street would love an affordable place, like a Wingo's. Not everyone can afford to drop $80 every time they step out of the house for fancy "sharing plates." There's room for lots of demographic groups and price points in the Wisconsin Ave corridor. My point was that some of the empty storefronts along Wisconsin are starting to fill up.

Fresh Baguette - a very successful shop from Bethesda - is opening their first DC location on a long-shuttered corner on Wisconsin Ave. http://www.freshbaguette.net/

I know that lots of people in Dupont, Shaw, etc would kill for a fresh bread shop.

There's also an amazing Uyghur Restaurant that just opened, complete with hand pulled noodles. It has rave reviews: https://www.yelp.com/biz/eerkins-uyghur-cuisine-and-tea-bar-washington-3

We moved to the Wisconsin Avenue corridor from Adams Morgan last year and we can honestly say that there's plenty here within walking distance to keep us satisfied. And, even better, the stuff near our place is actually affordable.

Seylou - 9th and N
www.seylou.com/

Also Uyghur is great - seriously I'm happy for you - but specialty restaurants like that rarely stick around more than 18 months (I say this still weeping about my lost Mongolian on H Street).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of sour grapes and haters in this thread. Georgetown is great for what it is - safe, family friendly, walkable, solid by-right public schools. The houses are old, but charming. Lots of fun free activities for our kids at the rec center, pool, and Book Hill Library.

If Georgetown was so awful, then we wouldn’t have all these OOB students from Petworth, Shaw, Cap Hill, etc clamoring for our seats. Also, I can’t remember the last time I even heard of a shoot out in Georgetown, Burleith, or Glover Park. That’s a weekly occurance, per reports on Popville, in EOTP neighborhoods and happened three times in two years within 250 feet of our doorstep on Euclid St NW in CoHi.

Things are turning over right now on Wisconsin. Legacy tenants are getting the boot. There’s a new French bakery opening in a long empty space. Wingo’s Cafe replaced the Fox Taproom. The recent renovation of the Glover Park Hotel was very successful and Casolare is packed. The new Trader Joe’s and high end condos is ahead of schedule. Changes are happening quickly.

Most of the things you mentioned are in Glover Park... GP is not the same as Georgetown, and thank goodness for that.

Wingo's, Casolare, and the new TJ's are/will be mostly for locals... and that's fine with me.

PP just proved all of our points. The day that WINGOS became a draw for Georgetown is the day we can all agree its gone downhill.

For those who don't know, Wingos is the best fried wing place WOTP. Draw of college students and drunks.

I'm the PP you're quoting. Honestly, I'm sure some of the long time residents of Shaw and U Street would love an affordable place, like a Wingo's. Not everyone can afford to drop $80 every time they step out of the house for fancy "sharing plates." There's room for lots of demographic groups and price points in the Wisconsin Ave corridor. My point was that some of the empty storefronts along Wisconsin are starting to fill up.

Fresh Baguette - a very successful shop from Bethesda - is opening their first DC location on a long-shuttered corner on Wisconsin Ave. http://www.freshbaguette.net/

I know that lots of people in Dupont, Shaw, etc would kill for a fresh bread shop.

There's also an amazing Uyghur Restaurant that just opened, complete with hand pulled noodles. It has rave reviews: https://www.yelp.com/biz/eerkins-uyghur-cuisine-and-tea-bar-washington-3

We moved to the Wisconsin Avenue corridor from Adams Morgan last year and we can honestly say that there's plenty here within walking distance to keep us satisfied. And, even better, the stuff near our place is actually affordable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People dont shoshop in retail stores anymore. It's funny that all you old hens are clucking on and on about busses WOTP, EOTP, and other nonsense. Get with the times. Of course stores are closing. It's 2018. We have Amazon now.

This is dumb. I don't want cheap clothes from Amazon. Look at the studies, people do indeed still shop retail.

You are right and stats show that people who are shopping brick and mortar stores are going places like TJ Maxx, Marshall's, etc
Those stores are doing well and growing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People dont shoshop in retail stores anymore. It's funny that all you old hens are clucking on and on about busses WOTP, EOTP, and other nonsense. Get with the times. Of course stores are closing. It's 2018. We have Amazon now.

This is dumb. I don't want cheap clothes from Amazon. Look at the studies, people do indeed still shop retail.

Well if I’m a hen, you’re sheep. But your made by slave Labor crap on amazon. I’m 41 and shop on and offline, but actually enjoy interacting with humans. I saw a milleniell couple today glued to their kindles in the Banneker pool. Your generation are a bunch of dotards who listed to the worst watered down emo/dancehall/dj ”Musial””— take your pick, it’s all rehashed garbage..