Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I noticed that at the Metro stations, for the most part, there is not much of meshing between businesses and Metro stops. At Waterfront, there's only Safeway, a bar and a couple of restaurants. And those are on one side of the intersection. At Navy Yard/Ballpark, all I saw was the ballpark a block away.
But what really got me was Anacostia Station. Here's a stop with a bunch of bus lines terminating there. That makes a station like that a major hub. I couldn't even find a Dunkin Donuts. A major transit hub with little to no type of business development surrounding it struck me as very interesting.
Many may say, "Oh, Anacostia's the hood!" But in New York, every, if not most, train stops have businesses that are meshed in with the subway stop. Shoot, even in "the hood", there's at least either a fast food restaurant (KFC, McD's, Wendy's, etc), Dunkin Donuts, check cashing place and other businesses that surround the train stop.
Two stops in New York that compares closest to Anacostia are Marcy Avenue in Brooklyn (J, M, Z) and Jamaica Center in Queens (E, F). Both stations also have multiple bus lines that terminate at those stations. But both have some sort of business development either at the station (Marcy Avenue) or a block away (Jamaica Center).
I do love DC. It's one of my favorite cities. And yes, DC and New York are like apples and oranges. But I do make a city planning observation. Love to see the responses. Peace.
I noticed that at the Metro stations, for the most part, there is not much of meshing between businesses and Metro stops. At Waterfront, there's only Safeway, a bar and a couple of restaurants. And those are on one side of the intersection. At Navy Yard/Ballpark, all I saw was the ballpark a block away.
But what really got me was Anacostia Station. Here's a stop with a bunch of bus lines terminating there. That makes a station like that a major hub. I couldn't even find a Dunkin Donuts. A major transit hub with little to no type of business development surrounding it struck me as very interesting.
Many may say, "Oh, Anacostia's the hood!" But in New York, every, if not most, train stops have businesses that are meshed in with the subway stop. Shoot, even in "the hood", there's at least either a fast food restaurant (KFC, McD's, Wendy's, etc), Dunkin Donuts, check cashing place and other businesses that surround the train stop.
Two stops in New York that compares closest to Anacostia are Marcy Avenue in Brooklyn (J, M, Z) and Jamaica Center in Queens (E, F). Both stations also have multiple bus lines that terminate at those stations. But both have some sort of business development either at the station (Marcy Avenue) or a block away (Jamaica Center).
I do love DC. It's one of my favorite cities. And yes, DC and New York are like apples and oranges. But I do make a city planning observation. Love to see the responses. Peace.
You visited a bunch of metro station's that are currently going through major phased redevelopment.
The "hoods" of DC are a lot less populated than the hoods of NYC, so I just don't think there is the population density to support businesses at many of these stops. Remember that just ONE of NYC's five boroughs (Brooklyn) has FOUR times the population of ALL of DC (2.5 million compared to 600,000). But clearly, in the instance of Navy Yard, developers are now trying to change that, as MDAllStar's posts show.
Yeah - Navy Yard was an industrial backwater 10 years ago. Give it time to evolve. Waterfront was less industrial but pretty devoid of life. Development around Metro stops takes time to evolve.
I noticed that at the Metro stations, for the most part, there is not much of meshing between businesses and Metro stops. At Waterfront, there's only Safeway, a bar and a couple of restaurants. And those are on one side of the intersection. At Navy Yard/Ballpark, all I saw was the ballpark a block away.
Go to Pentagon City, King Street, Crystal City, Silver Spring or Wheaton metro stops - to name a few. They will change your mind pretty quickly.
I noticed that at the Metro stations, for the most part, there is not much of meshing between businesses and Metro stops. At Waterfront, there's only Safeway, a bar and a couple of restaurants. And those are on one side of the intersection. At Navy Yard/Ballpark, all I saw was the ballpark a block away.
But what really got me was Anacostia Station..
Navy yard is an area that used to be mostly industrial, and is rapidly transforming - it will look a lot busier in five years.
Waterfront, is an area that was urban renewaled in the 1960s and has that era's lack of urban vibrancy - it is also being rebuilt with greater density and different layouts.
Anacostia station was built in the wrong spot - theres an area about half a mile away that at least has the potential for urban vibrancy.
There are other areas with much more going on - but even those mostly don't integrate the city and the subway quite the way NY does.
I'm also a NYer who's been to DC multiple times (and will be returning multiple times). I've ridden the Red Line a LOT and I saw a lot of what could be considered transit oriented development on the Connecticut/Wisconsin Avenue leg of the line.
Tenleytown: As soon as you get out, there's a Best Buy, a Container Store, a Whole Foods and a Panera Bread.
Friendship Heights (if I remember correctly) has sizable shopping centers on both sides of Wisconsin Av.
Woodley Park: Chipotle and a McDs nearby and a Bank of America and a few more restaurants right across the street.
Those are just off the top of my head. Apologies if I screwed any location up.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
