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Atlantic Station is a superb attraction,well located,good transportation,shuttle and Marta train at Art Center Station,near Midtown,15 mns from the busiest airport in the world,8 mns from the World of Coca Cola,the aquarium,few miles from Underground Atlanta.
You don't need a boat to navigate Atlanta,no troubled water.
National Harbor is far from a failure, if you look at the renderings from back in 2005 it pretty much looks exactly like it. Peterson executed what he envisioned decades ago for that development. It was never supposed to rival Baltimore harbor, but instead there to compliment the other multiple waterfront developments along the Potomac and some what be that last anchoring leg of a string of waterfront developments in DC. NH is already in the suburbs outside of the Beltway. This is why as Bajan said that "cookie cutter" look of the harbor does not bother me that much at all. Could you imagine if it was put in Downtown DC somewhere or therefore the equivalent to where Atlantic Station is located in Atlanta? Then I would complain a lot more. It's an addition to PG County like no other.
Atlantic Station is really not comparable to NH in any way. Atlantic Station is home to multiple big box retailers Target, Ikea, Dillards. Which is the opposite of the original vision of National Harbor. Peterson intentionally gated off the harbor from surrounding areas and for the most part held true to not bringing big box stores to NH. Atlantic Station has a Publix, NH has no major grocery store. Condo/apartments are about equal at both. NH has the largest non-gaming hotel/ convention center on the east coast, not to mention the Westin, Wyndham Vacation Resort, Aloft among others (I'm not even bringing MGM to the conversation for obvious reasons). I used to prefer the dining options at Atlantic Station more than NH but due to the fact they share some of the same restaurants and my thinking about it, I would say maybe it's a draw if not slight edge to NH.
As far as retail is concerned, i really look at NH as divided into two sides and although that area where the Tanger Outlets are now located i truly don't see as a connected part of the National Harbor. Therefore it's hard for me to add this to the argument, but it technically is a part of NH, and with that addition the retail at National Harbor currently crushes Atlantic Station.
All of this said, and I'm not even bringing MGM into the equation like i said for obvious reasons, that wouldn't even make sense to compare.
I view that as a negative. I think New Urbanist developments work better when they at least make an attempt to connect with the surrounding neighborhood. AS isn't the best example of that, but there's not a stark disconnect between it and the adjacent neighborhood.
I view that as a negative. I think New Urbanist developments work better when they at least make an attempt to connect with the surrounding neighborhood. AS isn't the best example of that, but there's not a stark disconnect between it and the adjacent neighborhood.
That's actually the worst imo. In older cities at least, you'd have tons of shiny, new buildings in the middle of older buildings made of stone and brick. It's just an odd contrast.
I also think Atlantic Station and the National Harbor play two different roles within their respective regions. AS is supposed to provide a more classicially urban, transit-oriented experience for a region that doesn't have many classically urban and transit-oriented areas. Nobody has that expectation of NH. It's just another place in the area to hang out. Would it be better if NH were more transit accessible? Probably. But I don't see that as being any more problematic than Mount Vernon not being transit accessible. I guess it kinda sucks for the residents though. But then again, if metro access were a big deal to you, you probably wouldn't live there anyway.
That's actually the worst imo. In older cities at least, you'd have tons of shiny, new buildings in the middle of older buildings made of stone and brick. It's just an odd contrast.
But that's nothing new. When Art Deco was all the rage, they were being built in cities alongside the buildings from the mid- to late-1800's. At some point, what's new won't be new anymore so over time, it works better to have the new stuff integrated with the older stuff.
I hate Atlantic Station, if National Harbor is anything like it, I'm sure I'd hate it also. You also have to walk over a freeway or take a bus to get there.
National Harbor is even worse. It's greenfield development in suburban Prince George's County.
Whoever said it's only accessible by car & out in the middle of nowhere has absolutely no idea what they are talking about...
I've myself walked there plenty of times... YES, WALKED. No Bus ride, just a walk.
It is directly connected to Old Town Alexandria by walking paths across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, which by the way is a nice walk on a nice Spring/Summer or Fall day... I've also rode my bike down there from the city. There is a nice bike & walking trail that runs down the Potomac from north of the Pentagon all the way down to Mount Vernon. From those trails, you can easily get on the trail that'll take you right across the bridge and dump you off right at the Piers in National Harbor. There are also water taxis that move from National Harbor to Downtown Alexandria, Navy Yard area and Georgetown/Washington Harbor. So, you can really just walk from Georgetown to National Harbor...
I love National Harbor for that. And when the MGM and ferris wheel go up, it's going to be even better.
Atlantic Station is kind of a bore... I only go there to work out at the LA Fitness there... Other than that, there's no reason for me to go.
Although, I never take the water taxis, it's nice to know they are there. Ferris are pretty cool.
The restaurant selection at National Harbor beats the crap out of what's at Atlantic Station.
IF the Ferris Wheel gets built at National Harbor, it'll beat the crap out of the poor placement of the wheel at Centennial Park (not AS, I know...)
There's an actual nightlife at National Harbor.
The hotels at National Harbor are nice and beats the heck out of AS hotel selection.
National Harbor can even be a destination in itself aside from DC
NH is a great place for a family reunion (I know, because our's was there and it was awesome).
There are new Tanger Outlets next to NH, which isn't a bad addition
The view of the bridge is kind of nice, but may not beat the Atlanta skyline, but so what...
The Children's Museum is at National Harbor, and the kids love it.
NH IS pedestrian friendly
The theater at AS might be nice, but if I'm going to a nice movie, I just go to Phipps Plaza instead anyway, so that's no draw.
NH is going to have a nice MGM nearby. That's pretty cool.
And the spa at the Gaylord is pretty nice. The waiting room there has a HUGE viewing window of the bridge, and I was in there while it was snowing one day. Was an AWESOME view. I don't think there are any nice spas at AS with views.
The Woodrow Wilson is better than the 17th Street bridge...
I love Atlanta, but face it... There's no competition. National Harbor easily, hands down...
Last edited by Psykomonkee; 01-25-2014 at 11:14 AM..
Whoever said it's only accessible by car & out in the middle of nowhere has absolutely no idea what they are talking about...
Um, I don't think you've been to National Harbor.
There is no rail whatsoever to National Harbor (or even anywhere in proximity), no frequent bus service (or even in proximity), most of the surrounding streets don't even have sidewalks (basically 1970's-era ranch house sprawl), and it's in the least desirable and least developed county in the entire Washington metro area.
The whole reason National Harbor was even allowed to be developed is because PG County is desperate for development, so they agreed to whatever was proposed. They could have proposed a megacity of towers there (in fact they originally did), and ask the public to subsidize it, and even that was approved with no controversy.
National Harbor makes Atlantic Station look like a terrible disappointment
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