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Well, I have, and I've used Lenox a ton when wanting to access that mall so I can say it isn't as bad as you're trying to make it seem. Yes, Atlanta is far behind the DC metro when it comes to TOD but Lenox has tons of dense residential within walking distance and the walk to Lenox Square is pretty easy and direct. Buckhead station also has decent access to restaurants, residential, and retail and it will only get better as Buckhead continues to densify. Is it better than Bethesda? No, but the bones are there and it will only get better.
I voted for Buckhead because it's a leading center of recreation in Atlanta and has a mix of things to do. Bethesda lags Arlington/Alexandria with so much growth in the DC area being on the Virginia side. I also used to live just a few stops from Bethesda over the DC line in Woodley Park and rarely felt compelled to go up there. Walking around chain restaurants isn't that much more exciting than parking near them.
Agree with this 100%. I have always loved the built environment of downtown Bethesda, but have always felt like it was seriously lacking something. I could never think of a really fun bar, night spot, restaurant, shopping experience, or other real draw for Bethesda. Very few people that I know are enthusiastic about moving to Bethesda. If you want the full urban experience, there are plenty better neighborhoods in DC, and if you want more of a hybrid experience similar to what Bethesda offers, Arlignton and Alexandria offer more at likely a better price-point.
I've never been to Bethesda, but I'm pretty impressed with what I see on Google maps. If I were in charge of LA and I wanted to show developers what I wanted TOD to look like, I'd take them Bethesda, not Buckhead.
Not that Buckhead isn't nice for what it is, but it was built around a mall with large parking lots and added some more malls with parking lots/structures along with more urban elements. And I'm not one that considers roads or driving to be a non-urban activity. Driving and cars have been urban for 100 years, but so is walking and I don't think that Buckhead has the best balance between the two.
Which location provides the better urban style of living? Which feels more like a mini-big city in it's footprint?
Discuss:
Walk-ability
Public Transit
Bicycling
High rise living
Parks/Rec
Housing diversity
Dining
Specifically Downtown Bethesda, or the DT Buckhead core.
Bethesda wins in every category but High rise living and Dining. Anytime I would go to Buckhead I never thought about public transit or even walk-ability outside of Buckhead village. It's more auto centric than Bethesda.
Bethesda wins in every category but High rise living and Dining. Anytime I would go to Buckhead I never thought about public transit or even walk-ability outside of Buckhead village. It's more auto centric than Bethesda.
Buckhead has wide car lanes but it's walkable. When someone from Korea visited Atlanta, I took them down to Ponce City Market and we walked up the beltline to Piedmont park (we also visited downtown). After parking near centennial Olympic park, we walked to Peachtree Center station and took Marta up to the Lenox station. After shopping a little at Lenox we walked to Maggiano's for brunch and then walked to Buckhead Village and the shops of Buckhead area. It was all walkable with pretty wide sidewalks throughout, it's just you don't see too many people walking beside the residents who live in the high rises.
Buckhead has wide car lanes but it's walkable. When someone from Korea visited Atlanta, I took them down to Ponce City Market and we walked up the beltline to Piedmont park (we also visited downtown). After parking near centennial Olympic park, we walked to Peachtree Center station and took Marta up to the Lenox station. After shopping a little at Lenox we walked to Maggiano's for brunch and then walked to Buckhead Village and the shops of Buckhead area. It was all walkable with pretty wide sidewalks throughout, it's just you don't see too many people walking beside the residents who live in the high rises.
Yeah I'm not denying that Buckhead isn't walkable it's just not as urban as Bethesda. And most people don't treat it as an urban experience in the way of other unmistakably urban centers in this country.
Yeah I'm not denying that Buckhead isn't walkable it's just not as urban as Bethesda. And most people don't treat it as an urban experience in the way of other unmistakably urban centers in this country.
Having [even large] sidewalks and crosswalks is the bare minimum for walkability. Small block sizes, low traffic volumes and speeds, narrow roadways/lanes, tree canopies, etc. are what defines a truly walkable place and Buckhead is not comparable to Bethesda in this regard.
Literally one-third of Buckhead's land area is surface parking or structured parking.
Buckhead has wide car lanes but it's walkable. When someone from Korea visited Atlanta, I took them down to Ponce City Market and we walked up the beltline to Piedmont park (we also visited downtown). After parking near centennial Olympic park, we walked to Peachtree Center station and took Marta up to the Lenox station. After shopping a little at Lenox we walked to Maggiano's for brunch and then walked to Buckhead Village and the shops of Buckhead area. It was all walkable with pretty wide sidewalks throughout, it's just you don't see too many people walking beside the residents who live in the high rises.
Very true. But where Bethesda is a different is that its main drag, Wisconsin Ave, has more of a solid streetwall with more retail and restaurants accessible to pedestrians and less curb cuts across an impressive stretch. You can also access tighter knit commercial distrcts from Wisconsin, similar to the historic Buckhead Triangle and the Shops. And Bethesda also has a mall but it's intergrated better into the urban fabric than Lenox.
Very true. But where Bethesda is a different is that its main drag, Wisconsin Ave, has more of a solid streetwall with more retail and restaurants accessible to pedestrians and less curb cuts across an impressive stretch. You can also access tighter knit commercial distrcts from Wisconsin, similar to the historic Buckhead Triangle and the Shops. And Bethesda also has a mall but it's intergrated better into the urban fabric than Lenox.
Hmmm? The only mall I'm familiar with in Bethesda is Montgomery Mall, which is in no way integrated into Bethesda's "urban fabric." It is about 15-20 minutes (or more depending on traffic) up the highway from downtown Bethesda. It's located in the "North Bethesda" area, which is not at all integrated within the downtown fabric of Bethesda.
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