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I don't think the various advantages of living in downtown Bethesda are a good model for the kinds of communities you're talking about creating.

First, the Bethesda urban district makes economic sense because it serves a huge 'non-local' residential population in the surrounding suburban areas and a large local daytime commercial population. Second, the concentration of amenities in Bethesda is a result of the one thing the MoCo planners got right-- keeping the urban district within a fixed boundary. This forced dense development within the urban district and deflected critics of dense development who live outside the downtown area. But these are unusual conditions that you can't rely on.

It's easy to look backwards and come to the conclusion that success in Bethesda was inevitable. But twenty years ago, Bethesda was a place to go to buy rugs, and that was about it. There were several attempts over the years to spark development in the downtown area, and most of them failed. The dead zone near the metro station was the result of years of planning.

I think it would be great to create walkable, livable local from the suburban, car-dependent mess we have now. But Bethesda isn't going to be the model.

by MattF on Dec 29, 2009 7:12 pm • link • report