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solidrecommendations t1_jb0s3us wrote

Cleveland park restaurant/retail has sort of been dying a slow death for years (hopefully that reverses) … my guess it lacks the volume needed for a coffee shop to be profitable with the high rents in the area

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9throwaway2 t1_jb1b8v3 wrote

yep the problem is simple. CT ave is 6 lanes of sheer shitshow for cars. Yet the city-run survey showed that 64% of CP store customers walked/biked and 16% took transit - only 19% drove. But nearly all public spaces is for drivers and room to store their cars.

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CydeWeys t1_jb1sifa wrote

Sadly this is it. Cleveland Park is a place set up to drive through, not to walk around in.

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rlpw t1_jb2nnoa wrote

Im confident this is consistent with other busy streets - so I’m hoping we see more changes that support non-driving customers. (Ie benning/h st ne)

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Misaniovent t1_jb53ena wrote

And yet all the storefronts there have signs oppose bike lanes, which will probably bring them more business than not.

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9throwaway2 t1_jb58uca wrote

well the ones with them seem to be going out of business quickly these days. i guess the signs are driving away customers.

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acdha t1_jb5kxj5 wrote

Each time I’ve looked, the owners of those stores live an hour away in Maryland or Virginia. I’m not surprised that they want a personal highway but I doubt it’s representative of their customers or employees.

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ksixnine t1_jb37c6r wrote

I’d bet that the the reason as to why the driving percentage is low is because there’s no parking.

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neil_va t1_jb1ilbx wrote

Cleveland park is bizarre to me. Such a gorgeous area and close to RCP, but the restaurant and bar scene there is really limited

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acdha t1_jb1xknx wrote

Connecticut Avenue was designed to serve suburban car commuters, not residents. There’s pretty much always traffic, it’s unsafe and unpleasant to walk around with all of the speeding cars and their pollution (who wants to eat outside with 110dB of car noise?), and if you’re already driving the parking situation is a mess so you might as well keep going to the suburbs with better pricing and easier, cheaper parking. The redesign should help a lot since it’ll make it safer for the majority of customers who live in the area.

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ActuaryPersonal2378 t1_jb1kp3r wrote

I've lived in CP for 4 years now and it's kind of a bummer to feel it falling apart. I understand that could just be a feeling I have though. Hopefully this new development of the storefronts will do some good

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wailonskydog t1_jb2sfnc wrote

Having grown up in DC and lived in CP for a bit 6/8 years ago, CP has always been like this. It’s just as falling apart as it ever was.

I think the problem is that new residents see all the growth in the rest of the city and are bummed it hasn’t also happened in CP.

But unfortunately not everywhere can be 14th St. neighborhoods like CP, Glover Park, North Connecticut Ave, all just seem perpetually stuck.

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Potential-Calendar t1_jb3hazn wrote

It’s stuck because it wants to be stuck, it’s not like there’s any undeveloped lot, or any area zoned for multifamily that isn’t already using it. If they want new residents and the development and new restaurants that serves those new residents they need to upzone. There’s single family houses 300 feet from the metro stop, there just aren’t enough people per square mile at that density to support a lot of stuff

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9throwaway2 t1_jb2byxm wrote

also they are planning on cutting down a car lane and putting in bike lanes; that'll help things. Honestly it should just be 2.5 car lanes (turn lane when needed), 2 parking lanes, and rest sidewalk/bike lanes.

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daybeers t1_jb3k4z8 wrote

nah, 2.5 car lanes, 2 bus lanes, and rest sidewalk and protected bike lanes.

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Plus_Mirror_2611 t1_jb1th61 wrote

IDK, the commercial area of CP is pretty hard on the eyes. Residential area is very pretty.

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ksixnine t1_jb39rzp wrote

That’s because of the ANC pushing to limit restaurant licenses post the closure of Klingle Rd - some of the neighbors want a neighborhood that isn’t retail.

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ArmAromatic6461 t1_jb4zk6z wrote

The older neighborhood residents with the money don’t want it to be a destination neighborhood for nightlife. They make it very difficult— also the rents are very high.

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DCGinkgo t1_jb2vvzb wrote

Yep, moved away for a long time came back and it is the.same. No growth and stagnant. Hip to be square, I guess, some place has to be. Trendy and

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