we also need the redline to *always* go to Wheaton. Every other train stops at Silver Spring in non-peak hours - which substantially decreases peoples' perception that Wheaton is easy to get to.

by Tom A. on Mar 9, 2012 10:23 am • link • report

Excellent analysis. The same argument could be used to describe the success of Downtown Rockville, The Washingtonian, and the Kentland’s. Wheaton has a lot of potential and it is an area the county should focus on with its easy access to the metro. I actually think one extreme option is to tare down the mall and build a whole community like Rockville.

by Matt R on Mar 9, 2012 10:47 am • link • report

I'll echo the comments that this is a good piece -- well-written, and well-considered. On the substance, I agree with much of what you say, and I think that the County should work hard to maintain the viability of already-established businesses. Having said that, it's also a question of what those businesses are -- are they there because more ambitious businesses wouldn't touch Wheaton as it is? Are all these businesses going to be part of the destination area you envision? You want a walkable Wheaton, but you're making a stand over a handful or two of parking spaces in a strip mall? If those few parking spaces are so crucial to those businesses, then maybe they aren't the businesses a walkable, pulsing Wheaton will need. Parking spaces that turn over every 10-20 minutes, while people grab a quick meal -- those aren't the key to the community you say you want.

Also you wrote this: "what Wheaton does not have is a connecting space to weave the shops, and its identity, together. Typically I have to park at one restaurant and then get back in the car to drive to another location, which is a real pain with kids."

While a public space is great -- the fountain in Silver Spring, etc, are great destinations, with lots of pedestrians, but walk two blocks in any direction and you find many sidewalks that are comparatively empty. You're asking for a connecting space because otherwise you "have to get in the car to drive to another location?" Why do you "have" to do that, and what will change if there's a "connecting space?" Those businesses on opposite ends of the connecting space won't suddenly be any closer. The only difference is you might have interesting places to stop at in the meantime (in which case, you better have a lot of money in the meter), or you won't "have" to go to the other places on the other side...which has consequences. The businesses on the fringes may feel greater economic pressures as they compete with new, probably costlier businesses more centrally located.

Those newly-developed central areas are great drivers for economic activity, for the businesses that are right there. For businesses outside these new cores, they will need something more than a "tourist"-oriented development. They need development that goes well beyond the new core.

by Fischy (Ed F.) on Mar 9, 2012 11:15 am • link • report

One question, with the growing popularity of electronic books and shrinking relevance of libraries in local communities, wouldn't it make more sense for the county to invest in business incubator at this site. Wouldn't growing local companies have a much larger positive economic effect on wheaton as well as create more jobs then a library?

by Mikem on Mar 9, 2012 11:42 am • link • report

with the growing popularity of electronic books and shrinking relevance of libraries in local communities

Actually, the explosion in digital media and information has made libraries more relevant, not less. Library patronage is up across the country in spite of cutbacks on opening hours. Libraries service as information resource centers, community gather spots, and an ever important "third place". The features that drive patron satisfaction are ambiance and interaction with librarians.

That said, the location of Wheaton Regional is not conducive to the above plan since it's pretty far from downtown Wheaton and has a car-oriented design. Better to move the library into the downtown core much like the Shirlington Library serves as an important gathering spot and architectural feature in downtown Shirlington. Ballston Central is similarly situated near metro and the main commercial area, although it's not as well integrated into the neighborhood fabric as Shirlington.

by Falls Church on Mar 9, 2012 12:11 pm • link • report

I hope the mall property will indeed redevelop with mixed use, a walkable street system, connected as one downtown Wheaton. The Westfield corporation has indicated that it will move in that direction in property that is adjacent to Viers Mill. That will be a huge improvement for Wheaton.

by Hans Riemer on Mar 9, 2012 2:52 pm • link • report

considering that between a quarter and a third of all that parking will go unused, even on the peak shopping day of the year, you really could convert a lot of parking areas to some other use, like destination areas where people will want to hang out, or pathways where people could walk around. And trees, people like to take shelter under trees.

Also there is a huge problem with latinos getting run over on Veirs mill Rd. when they try to cross. I mean it really is near impossible to walk around without getting nearly or actually run over by a vehicle. You have to make the roads narrower and slow down the cars. you have to create some sort of network of safe pathways to get around the area comfortably. There's a metro, but you can't walk anywhere, that's the problem.

by lee on Mar 9, 2012 4:10 pm • link • report

Tom A. -- Your comment on Metro has it reversed. During non-peak hours, every train goes all the way to Glenmont. During peak hours, every other train does to Glenmont, which means that for a few hours in the morning and evening on weekdays, you have to wait up to 6 minutes for a train, instead of 3. I don't really think you can blame Metro for Wheaton's problems.

by N on Mar 9, 2012 8:24 pm • link • report

Unlike Bethesda or SS, Wheaton is quirky. It has far more in the way of indie businesses and real ethnic restaurants. The desire for public space has to be balanced needs to be balanced against the degree to which some businesses depend on a trade that parks closeby and won't walk a long distance. This is the lifeblood of many small businesses. This is why pedestrian malls have largely failed in a variety of places. What's more important is making the area friendly for all kinds of people--the mall and the Metro parking garage do a great deal to limit walkability. The recent vacancies (e.g., Circuit City) have been a missed opportunity to repair some of this and tie walking to and around the mall better to the Metro stop.

The beauty of Bethesda is that it accommodates cars, pedestrians, and bikes fairly well. There are numerous garages in different parts of the area, and plentiful on street parking---which drives GGW crazy but does reduce thru vehicle traffic. Wisconsin Ave is a bit of a dead zone, but does provide an efficient through driving route. Bethesda Row is of limited importance to the whole area and its probably the compactness in the two main areas (near B&N and up behind the Doubletree) that makes the area vital. Doing this is Wheaton is far more complicated because of the barrier created by the garage and the layout of the mall property. This is larger and less "mixed use" than the area that separates Bethesda's two core areas. The presence of 3 main trunk routes (University, Viers Mill & Georgia) and the need for mall access makes Wheaton far more complicated to knit together, as well.

SS still falls short of the mark--it also has multiple trunk routes, although they help define boundaries of sorts. The parking is terrible--the lot by Whole Foods is constantly full and really awkward. The mix of businesses does not keep the sidewalks full--too many chains and not enough mixed use. Housing should be closer to the shopping and the hotels should buffer restaurants and Metro. Instead, almost the reverse is the case. Wheaton's new housing is better integrated, but there needs to bethought regarding how to redevelop the outer areas of the mall and how to make pedestrian circulation less awkward throughout.

Metro trains terminate where they can be turned around which means that Wheaton is stuck beyond SS, just as White Flint (which has many reverse commuters) is just beyond Grosvenor. metro has limited degrees of freedom in trying to maximize the number of available trains.

by Rich on Mar 10, 2012 11:00 am • link • report

Rich: "GGW" has no positions (except when we formally endorse candidates), but for my part I've never criticized on-street parking in Bethesda. Yes, as a walkable urban area among large quantities of auto-oriented suburban land it needs parking for car-dependent people to get there.

The on-street parking is fine, though in busy areas the rates could probably be higher to better promote turnover. There is adequate off-street parking today as well, with all of the garages that are in the area.

The problem is that they underprice the garages and surface lots, especially the Woodmont Ave and Bethesda Ave lot, which is in the most desirable spot, so everyone tries to park there. And on weekends (still Saturdays, too? Definitely Sundays) it's free. It doesn't cost any more than any other lots or garages. Unsurprisingly, it's therefore overfull at all busy times.

The county's solution was to spend huge amounts of money to build a multi-level underground garage. What they should have done instead, first, is to make it a premium price lot. Charge extra for it, 7 days a week. Put up digital signs that tell people how many spaces are available at other nearby public lots.

It's fine to have parking in Bethesda, but the county should stop adding more at great public expense, at least until they better manage the parking they already have.

by David Alpert on Mar 10, 2012 11:40 am • link • report

Honestly, I don't go to Wheaton much because of the previous gang problems at the mall (which culminated in a shooting a few years ago). Why should one go to Wheaton? It will take more than a park...there are lots of parks.

I will, however, go to Costco whenever they build that. If they built the gas station with it, I would go every week.

by elisabeth on Mar 11, 2012 6:00 pm • link • report

I can't help but read this and think of Wheaton getting what Riemer wants only for the shops that make Wheaton unique are out-priced and forced to move or close.

by selxic on Mar 12, 2012 8:46 am • link • report

Unlike the thriving malls at Tysons, Pentagon City, and Montgomery, there is no direct freeway access to Wheaton Mall or Wheaton in general. From the north, access is pretty decent, with the ICC and Georgia Avenue clear a good part of the time, but coming from elsewhere, you'll deal with traffic lights and congestion. Perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to run an aerial highway above the strip malls, from the ICC down to Military Road near 16th Street in DC. Make it sleek and modern. Ban trucks if you wish. Cut and cover wouldn't be a bad idea for more residential areas like Leisureworld. This would relieve urban-decay-causing congestion on GA avenue.

Then again, the gov't doesn't have the money to do this type of thing anymore. Maybe the private industry would fund the initiative.

As for transit, building some low-cost light rail lines radiating from Wheaton. It would increase ped traffic in Wheaton. Perhaps they could even be privately built and operated.

Find an excuse to run limited stop buses to Wheaton from "more desireable" parts of the county as a means to connect further-out areas to the Metro.

But also, there is the problem of easy walking. There is too much traffic on Univ. Blvd and GA to make it conducive to a walking environment. Univ. Blvd. near GA is a pretty good place for Asian (Chinese and Korean) food. Perhaps a nicely integrated skywalk would increase pedestrian safety and induce more people to park and walk. 40 yrs since the Rosslyn skywalk was built, I think we've learned a little bit about making skywalks more successful. Take high line park in NYC for an example.

Again, building a car bypass diverting thru traffic away from downtown Wheaton would allow for a political acceptable effort to reduce traffic speed through the development area. DC itself has many vehicle underpasses which keeps thru traffic from clogging up traffic circles and major intersections. I've thought of this for Rockville Pike as well.

Mont. Co. should step up efforts (or make efforts more widely publicized) to remove the violent criminal elements of the illegal immigrant population, such as MS 13, which has been ever growing in the past 10 years. Remember Thai Lam, the peaceloving teenager slaughtered brutally through the window of a Ride-On bus by such a gang element? Such elements give the perception that Wheaton is a dangerous place, and developers don't want to build and shoppers don't want to go to dangerous places.

Then you can use the Kentland model for redeveloping blocks at a time.

We can also bring in the desireable types (yuppies, young families and upper-middle-class hipsters) with ameneties they like, such as bike lanes and bike share (preferably, I'd start a program that did not have gov't invovlement).

by Adam on Mar 13, 2012 8:38 am • link • report

What Wheaton needs is more evening foot traffic. What the county council has proposed is 2 large county office buildings with a parking lot underneath. What that will get is 2 ghost buildings that empty out at 5pm from their garages and no evening foot traffic. In fact Id be willing to bet that the majority of the office workers wont even go out at lunch and support the local resteraunts.

A hotel as proposed by BF Saul would do far far more to promote evening foot traffic. Of course the county council has a vested interest in keeping Wheaton downscale as it has the highest concentration of public housing in the county, and makes a convenient dumping ground for "affordable housing" and all its attendant problems. If the area were to gentrify (as under the BF Saul plan) the county would actually have to spend money to address those problems, and they prefer the status quo.

by Think A Little on Mar 15, 2012 11:21 am • link • report

Downtown Wheaton needs some sort of major public amenity that draws people from all over eastern Montgomery County. It could be a large dance hall like the Spanish ballroom in Glen Echo Park, or a nice library like in the Rockville Town Center.

by Mike on Mar 19, 2012 3:47 pm • link • report

I live in Wheaton and think there are several things that need to happen. First, I've experienced two property thefts from my car, the second time the property was found in the possession of a guy in a bar brawl "throwing down gang signs" according to the cop. I believe that he was MS 13, he was a day laborer with a prior burglary and theft record in Florida. But of course, all of these gang members are coming to Montgomery county Maryland because we are a sanctuary county who has announced that we will not check the immigration status of individuals convicted of, among other things, felonious theft.

I cannot for the life of me figure out why we would want to encourage criminals to come to our county, unless CASA is so strong here they own all our politicians. I have no beef with otherwise law abiding people who are here in violation of immigration law, but once you commit a crime -- including theft, ANY crime -- you should be OUT. This alone is enough to make me want to move elsewhere.

Second, my neighborhood is not walkable, no sidewalks, like lots of Wheaton. Kids have to walk in the street. It's dangerous for them and its not an inviting community environment.

Third, lack of park space. I feel like I have all the negatives of urban city living -- congestion, crime, dilapidated and outdated looking business fronts -- but not the cultural benefits. Any redevelopment plan should include more green space.

by Anne on Mar 22, 2012 11:01 pm • link • report