Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP.
Do you like Georgia Avenue? I almost bought in Woodside which is a beautiful neighborhood. But the surrounding area is ugly. The Mofongo place makes me mad just to see it and I’ve had it in PR and like the dish. I don’t prefer neighborhoods with check cashing, cape stores, and pawn shops all over the place. DTSS also looks depressing.

You left out the adult video store and the worlds sketchiest aquarium store.

PP. The only thing that is intriguing to me is the Tropical Ice Cream store. Haven’t had a chance to go there.

Jumping in here with a genuine plug for the tropical ice cream. It’s delicious and BIPOC woman owned. Definitely worth a venture in to try some unusual flavors.

Second that. Super good Caribbean ice cream.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Sorry, didn’t mean to offend anyone. I like the diversity in SS and some of the neighbourhoods are nice. People seem friendly.
It’s just that I have been to downtown SS many times now and it is a bit depressing. I’m fine with urban grit but there is something about the SS downtown that I find jarring. It is not designed well and many of the buildings are ugly and rundown. I love ethnic food. It’s just that the area feels utterly charmless. The WF is nice but the parking lot there gets crazy on the weekends. I was surprised at the traffic and congestion in downtown on Friday evenings. I just feel it would add to my stress level if I had to go there a lot. The farmers market is very nice. Maybe it is fine to live there but avoid downtown and instead frequent Takoma Park, Bethesda and Rockville instead. Even the metro station looks imposing and uninviting. Good to hear there are nice parks around. We are also looking at Kensington. I’m not a huge Bethesda fan but I would say the Bethesda downtown beats SS by a mile. I guess that visual aesthetics are important to me. I could never live in an ugly house even if the inside was very nice.

OP, I lived near SS for 16 years and worked in downtown SS for 6 and I agree with you 100%. I think the people being mean to you are just being defensive. FWIW, I like a lot of the neighborhoods in SS and like the people there better than in Bethesda but anyone who argues that DTSS is as nice as or nicer than Bethesda is deluded or just trying to justify their choice to live there.

+1

I don't live in DTSS, but I live in South Four Corners. DTSS is fine but nothing special.

Anonymous wrote:Rented there YEARS ago when we first moved to area and HATED it. The people were great but it was visually depressing and traffic was always a bear to get ANYWHERE.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP.
Do you like Georgia Avenue? I almost bought in Woodside which is a beautiful neighborhood. But the surrounding area is ugly. The Mofongo place makes me mad just to see it and I’ve had it in PR and like the dish. I don’t prefer neighborhoods with check cashing, cape stores, and pawn shops all over the place. DTSS also looks depressing.

You left out the adult video store and the worlds sketchiest aquarium store.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Sorry, didn’t mean to offend anyone. I like the diversity in SS and some of the neighbourhoods are nice. People seem friendly.
It’s just that I have been to downtown SS many times now and it is a bit depressing. I’m fine with urban grit but there is something about the SS downtown that I find jarring. It is not designed well and many of the buildings are ugly and rundown. I love ethnic food. It’s just that the area feels utterly charmless. The WF is nice but the parking lot there gets crazy on the weekends. I was surprised at the traffic and congestion in downtown on Friday evenings. I just feel it would add to my stress level if I had to go there a lot. The farmers market is very nice. Maybe it is fine to live there but avoid downtown and instead frequent Takoma Park, Bethesda and Rockville instead. Even the metro station looks imposing and uninviting. Good to hear there are nice parks around. We are also looking at Kensington. I’m not a huge Bethesda fan but I would say the Bethesda downtown beats SS by a mile. I guess that visual aesthetics are important to me. I could never live in an ugly house even if the inside was very nice.

OP, I lived near SS for 16 years and worked in downtown SS for 6 and I agree with you 100%. I think the people being mean to you are just being defensive. FWIW, I like a lot of the neighborhoods in SS and like the people there better than in Bethesda but anyone who argues that DTSS is as nice as or nicer than Bethesda is deluded or just trying to justify their choice to live there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Sorry, didn’t mean to offend anyone. I like the diversity in SS and some of the neighbourhoods are nice. People seem friendly.
It’s just that I have been to downtown SS many times now and it is a bit depressing. I’m fine with urban grit but there is something about the SS downtown that I find jarring. It is not designed well and many of the buildings are ugly and rundown. I love ethnic food. It’s just that the area feels utterly charmless. The WF is nice but the parking lot there gets crazy on the weekends. I was surprised at the traffic and congestion in downtown on Friday evenings. I just feel it would add to my stress level if I had to go there a lot. The farmers market is very nice. Maybe it is fine to live there but avoid downtown and instead frequent Takoma Park, Bethesda and Rockville instead. Even the metro station looks imposing and uninviting. Good to hear there are nice parks around. We are also looking at Kensington. I’m not a huge Bethesda fan but I would say the Bethesda downtown beats SS by a mile. I guess that visual aesthetics are important to me. I could never live in an ugly house even if the inside was very nice.

Can you give us specific examples of what streets/buildings you like in downtown Bethesda, as compared to downtown SS? Because to me downtown Bethesda is just bland. Would like to see what you think is appealing.

Also there are plenty of houses near DTSS that aren't "ugly." They're probably smaller or less built out than what you'll find in Bethesda, but the styles are similar. The DC suburbs overall are not known for the unusual architectural beauty of their neighborhoods. There's not much like the fantastic early 20th century homes in cities in the midwest or the colorful and elegant regional architecture of California, for example. Too many neighborhoods that were built with conservative cookie cutter houses in the 1950s-1970s, and only sporadic streets that have some lovely examples of pre-war buildings or interesting mid-century modern houses.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Sorry, didn’t mean to offend anyone. I like the diversity in SS and some of the neighbourhoods are nice. People seem friendly.
It’s just that I have been to downtown SS many times now and it is a bit depressing. I’m fine with urban grit but there is something about the SS downtown that I find jarring. It is not designed well and many of the buildings are ugly and rundown. I love ethnic food. It’s just that the area feels utterly charmless. The WF is nice but the parking lot there gets crazy on the weekends. I was surprised at the traffic and congestion in downtown on Friday evenings. I just feel it would add to my stress level if I had to go there a lot. The farmers market is very nice. Maybe it is fine to live there but avoid downtown and instead frequent Takoma Park, Bethesda and Rockville instead. Even the metro station looks imposing and uninviting. Good to hear there are nice parks around. We are also looking at Kensington. I’m not a huge Bethesda fan but I would say the Bethesda downtown beats SS by a mile. I guess that visual aesthetics are important to me. I could never live in an ugly house even if the inside was very nice.

You think DTSS meets the definition of “urban grit?” Jesus where are you from?[/quote]

Completely. What is she going to do when Steph wants to do double-date in the new hotspot in DC? Also,if you think SS is congested travel wise, perhaps you should just leave the DC area altogether. I mean, even Kensington can get less congested, but there are fewer BIPOC walking around.