Chevy Chase Lake is a chaotic destination at the moment. You have a major redevelopment project by the Chevy Chase Land Company underway at the site of the former shopping center. The Purple Line light rail project is under construction adjacent to that. And finally, the pavement has recently been all torn up along the Chevy Chase Lake-area stretch of Connecticut Avenue. Here's a look at the progress as of yesterday.
13 comments:
As a resident of downtown Bethesda, I look forward to development at Chevy Chase Lakes to provide a fun destination using the CCT or Purple Line. It will be the first real test case for new enhanced development density that was promised along the Purple Line. I’m not a big fan of the proposed new-traditional design, but it looks like it will be a fun place to visit for a meal, or a unique shop. I would image the civic green will include lots of planned events like art fairs and movies on the green.
From the reverse perspective, I think new residents of Chevy Chase Lake will enjoy the small town center feel, but will often want to walk, bike or take the Purple Line to access the more varied options that are available in downtown Bethesda, or Silver Spring. Of course this is great news for Bethesda and Silver Spring retailers and restaurants.
I imagine that over time, development along the Purple Line will evolve in a manner similar to the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, with closely spaced, densely developed, urban nodes along the light rail corridor. Even folks going to or from Rockville, Twinbrook, White Flint, Grosvenor, Chevy Chase will have a short two seat ride on the Red/Purple Lines, and will likely feel very connected to Chevy Chase Lake. I sure hope they figure out a way to use MetroCards to pay for fares and transfers on the Purple Line to keep this easy as possible.
Thank you for the thoughtful comment, 7:52 am. I hope you’re right. Yet I fear we are creating a dystopia.
The Rosslyn-Ballston corridor is saved from unbearable gridlock by Route 66. No-one drives through Rosslyn or Ballston to get to Falls Church and further. We have only Conn Ave, and it’s already beyond capacity.
The County planners projected only small traffic increases due to this huge project and the big project on the other side of Conn. They will be proved wrong, and this urban node will be the biggest traffic bottleneck in the region.
10:08
There are multiple commuter routes from western Montgomery County to downtown DC via the Beltway: G-W Parkway, Clara Barton Parkway/Canal Road, Massachusetts Ave., Wisconsin Avenue/River Road, and Connecticut Avenue.
North Arlington has just Wilson Boulevard, Lee Highway, and I-66. I-66 also has very high tolls.
The two urban developments at Chevy Chase Lake are just tiny postage stamps in the middle of about five square miles of single-family Chevy Chase suburbia.
What makes the R-B corridor successful, is largely because of the closely spaced mass transit stops. That’s why I believe many Purple Line stops, or at least the ones between Bethesda and Silver Spring might see the same growth potential. Of course it will take time, and a willingness to zone areas around the stops for dense growth. I recall that the early concepts for Chevy Chase Lake were much, much larger, at least until Chevy Chase Nimby’s got their pitchforks sharpened up.
11:07am all those DC commuter routes are dark red on Google Maps every rush hour. Hellish when all those cars are jammed.
Of course the big idea of mass transit, is that you don’t have to drive, so the amount of congestion on the street network is meaningless.
Of course it does require that you live and work close to transit stations, or can at least drive to one from your home and pay to park. It also means one must be willing to pay a large premium to live and work close to transit. Ideally, this means you might even be able to give up owning one or more cars, saving about $9500 each year per car, which you will likely spend of more expensive housing.
I think that folks that live in the DMV, that don’t or can’t take advantage of mass transit to avoid commuting by car, have chosen a difficult, expensive and frustrating place to live.
7:36: Many people cannot afford to live close to transit, or to have the size of home they want in those areas. We also have to admit that our transit system is quite limited compared to places like New York City, where it really is possible to go almost anywhere via transit, sometimes 24 hours a day.
Most importantly, the majority of our traffic congestion has been caused by our elected officials not completing the region's freeway system. The fact that voters continually re-elect these corrupt morons, while complaining about traffic congestion, is the most "frustrating" thing of all.
Northern Virginia has a "complete" freeway system and it's gridlocked most of the time.
My point was that the DMV has a great transit system, that many choose to ignore, and prefer to suffer on the road network. Affordable places to live near transit do exist, but not many single family home neighborhoods. If you really want to live on a large suburban lot, I suggest that the DMV is not a good choice.
Our area is not unique. If you want a nice suburban home in the Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia or New York ares, you will likely have a horrible commute if you chose to drive into the urban core. If you make the required compromises, like multifamily housing, or owning fewer vehicles, many can and do choose to live in urban area, or at least, near reliable mass transit.
A good read about this subject is “Suburban Nation, The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream”, by Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and Jeff Speck. The book describes how suburban sprawl has killed so many great cities. Extensive freeway systems are one of the the primary cause of the draining of the vitality of American cities. The DMV are wise to reduce sprawl and restrict the development of freeways, and put more emphasis on providing great transit options and transit oriented development.
What an excellent exchange of views.
Let’s agree that the Purple Line may combat suburban sprawl while accommodating some of the increased population that appears inevitable. But will it?
Few people will live near one Purple Line station and work near another. Commuting to D.C. will still dominate.
If you lived near a Purple Line station and worked downtown, would you walk to your nearby station, change to the metro, and walk the last part to your office?
What if it’s 30 degrees or 90 degrees? What if it’s raining or snowing? What if you can’t get a seat on the metro at Bethesda? What if metro is unreliable?
What if you work late and can get home by car in light traffic? What if you want to shop at Calvert-Woodley on the way home? What if you can take the kids to child care on the way to work?
What if you have subsidized parking at work?
My guess is that many people will drive to work downtown from Chevy Chase Lakes, and Connecticut Ave will be a nightmare.
If in the future there are plenty of jobs in Bethesda and Silver Spring, the Purple Line will come into its own as an antidote to suburban sprawl. Let’s hope.
Calvert Woodley Fine Wines & Spirits is less than 500 feet from the Van Ness Metro station.
Any news on the grocery store tenant at Chevy Chase Lake?
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