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Old 03-28-2012, 10:25 PM
 
3,307 posts, read 9,359,857 times
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IIUC = If I understand correctly

It is Columbia (not "Colombia" like the country) that is considering redevelopment.
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Old 03-29-2012, 05:04 AM
 
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
14,129 posts, read 31,181,902 times
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You should come down the parkway and visit us here in Mount Vernon, one of the most beautiful drives in the metro region. In fact drive the whole parkway from end to end.
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Old 03-29-2012, 05:10 AM
 
Location: Virginia
18,717 posts, read 31,013,560 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CAVA1990 View Post
You should come down the parkway and visit us here in Mount Vernon, one of the most beautiful drives in the metro region. In fact drive the whole parkway from end to end.
Ahhh, that would indeed be a lovely end for his trip. The parkway is a gorgeous drive.
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Old 03-29-2012, 06:20 AM
 
Location: Macao
16,265 posts, read 43,072,795 times
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I'm officially out of the region, as of last night

Anyways, from the visit, I can definitely say I have a much better understanding of the entire area.

I finally made it to the Eden Center in Falls Church, VA., and bballniket recommended a similar Ethiopian one in South Arlington, which I visited, which was equally interesting.

I think in the NoVA area, I found South Arlington more interesting than 'inside the beltway' Fairfax. Actually, I didn't find Fairfax interesting at all. It certainly gets beautiful out by Fauquier and Loudoun though.

Maryland had some interesting towns though, but not the ones I thought. I thought Silver Spring might be the most interesting, but I didn't feel 'the vibe' that you'd get when you think 'I'd love to live here'.

If I were to live in the area, South Arlington or Rockville/Gaitherburg would probably win out. I also saw some interesting places scattered about in MD that looked interesting - I'll mention that if there is interest, but since it's technically a VA thread, I won't get into them.

But, I certainly liked the area. Since I was in the car exploring the metro most of the time, it's interesting that traffic didn't really get to me. I thought it would be worse. I was conscious of directions for major commuting times though. I was also surprised how 'woody' with forests and hilly terrain I saw throughout the metro area. I once assumed you'd only see that if you went westward, but actually most of the Metro has some nice hills and beauty to it. Going westward is beautiful too, but certainly holds no monopoly on it.

Anyways, that concludes the 'live visit' impressions. But, I'll of course still be reading and responding in the general thread.
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Old 03-29-2012, 07:02 AM
 
Location: Metro Washington DC
15,409 posts, read 25,718,688 times
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I've noticed that traffic isn't as bad as it used to be either, at least in some places. I wonder it it's gas prices. Whatever. I enjoyed reading your experiences and thoughts.
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Old 03-29-2012, 07:53 AM
 
Location: The Port City is rising.
8,868 posts, read 12,528,080 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiger Beer View Post
I think in the NoVA area, I found South Arlington more interesting than 'inside the beltway' Fairfax.
as someone who currently lives inside the beltway in FFX, I must say I concur with your judgement.
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Old 03-29-2012, 07:58 AM
 
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,767 posts, read 15,737,428 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiger Beer View Post
If I were to live in the area, ... Rockville/Gaitherburg would probably win out...
That really surprises me! They are generally the epitome of the suburbs. When I lived in Rockville (North Bethesda ) in the 1990's, the "downtown" area was not really built up. Then they put in movies, Calif. Tortilla and some other places that had a nice, walkable "town center" feel, but it was pretty small. The older homes in that area are gorgeous, though! Maybe they've built up the downtown a lot since I was last there (when was that???), but based on all of your posts in the past year, Rockville would pretty much be the last place I would think would be the top of your list. The rest of Rockville is very suburban with subdivisions and Route 355 (Rockville Pike) with strip mall after strip mall and matching traffic to boot. Nothing wrong with it if you like suburbs but I am just surprised it was that attractive to you.

Gaithersburg has alway had a nice, small organic downtown, although in the past it was a bit rough around the edges. And I believe there is a push underway (perhaps it's already started?) to get that built up. But again, Gaithersburg to me is the land of subdivisions and big box stores and a place where people moved who couldn't afford closer-in Rockville or Bethsda. Nothing wrong with it if you are into suburbs, but again, with your list of requests, Gaithersburg would have been pretty far down the list of my suggestions to you.

Again, I'm not dissing either place, but my idea of what Rockville/Gaithersburg are and what you want in a city/town just do not jive at all.
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Old 03-29-2012, 08:14 AM
 
Location: The Port City is rising.
8,868 posts, read 12,528,080 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by michgc View Post
That really surprises me! They are generally the epitome of the suburbs. When I lived in Rockville (North Bethesda ) in the 1990's, the "downtown" area was not really built up. Then they put in movies, Calif. Tortilla and some other places that had a nice, walkable "town center" feel, but it was pretty small. The older homes in that area are gorgeous, though! Maybe they've built up the downtown a lot since I was last there (when was that???), but based on all of your posts in the past year, Rockville would pretty much be the last place I would think would be the top of your list. The rest of Rockville is very suburban with subdivisions and Route 355 (Rockville Pike) with strip mall after strip mall and matching traffic to boot. Nothing wrong with it if you like suburbs but I am just surprised it was that attractive to you.

Gaithersburg has alway had a nice, small organic downtown, although in the past it was a bit rough around the edges. And I believe there is a push underway (perhaps it's already started?) to get that built up. But again, Gaithersburg to me is the land of subdivisions and big box stores and a place where people moved who couldn't afford closer-in Rockville or Bethsda. Nothing wrong with it if you are into suburbs, but again, with your list of requests, Gaithersburg would have been pretty far down the list of my suggestions to you.

Again, I'm not dissing either place, but my idea of what Rockville/Gaithersburg are and what you want in a city/town just do not jive at all.

rockville has a new town center where the old mall used to be. some folks would dislike it as disneyish (the way some folks dislike RTC) but I found it pretty nice on the two occasions Ive been there. Germantown of all places has a new town center of vaguely neotrad design as well. IIUC there are plans afoot to do one in Gaithersburg as well. There are also some fairly controversial plans to take the white flint area (where the mall is dead) and try to do something like what FFX is doing in Tysons.
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Old 03-29-2012, 08:21 AM
 
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,767 posts, read 15,737,428 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brooklynborndad View Post
rockville has a new town center where the old mall used to be. some folks would dislike it as disneyish (the way some folks dislike RTC) but I found it pretty nice on the two occasions Ive been there...There are also some fairly controversial plans to take the white flint area (where the mall is dead) and try to do something like what FFX is doing in Tysons.
Which old mall in Rockville? The town center I am thinking of is literally where the "downtown" of Rockville is located - near Maryland Avenue/Washington Street, etc. It has California Tortilla and a movie theatre there.

I've heard about the proposal to revamp White Flint. Anything to make that area more walkable would be great. That whole corridor is so traffic-y. I'd be interested to see what they do with it. I used to live walking distance to White Flint.
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Old 03-29-2012, 08:42 AM
 
Location: The Port City is rising.
8,868 posts, read 12,528,080 times
Reputation: 2604
Quote:
Originally Posted by michgc View Post
Which old mall in Rockville? The town center I am thinking of is literally where the "downtown" of Rockville is located - near Maryland Avenue/Washington Street, etc. It has California Tortilla and a movie theatre there.

I've heard about the proposal to revamp White Flint. Anything to make that area more walkable would be great. That whole corridor is so traffic-y. I'd be interested to see what they do with it. I used to live walking distance to White Flint.

this old mall

Rockville Mall - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

the new town square is located there, and thats about 2-3 blocks north of where the movie theaters and calif tortilla are.
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