Wednesday, August 12, 2009

what's up the pike: can it be september already?

Wayne Avenue

One Gazette letter-writer says it's time for Wheaton Plaza (a.k.a. Westfield Wheaton) to bite the dust in lieu of something a little more pedestrian-friendly. "Imagine if Westfields was removed and in its place something similar to Reston or Rockville Town Center was constructed. Maybe Reston is a bit ambitious, but anything is better than what we have," she says, finally concluding that "pretty much everything not built within the last decade in Wheaton should go."

Yes, I'm still writing columns for the Diamondback, the University of Maryland's student newspaper, until school starts up again (and I am officially no longer a student) later this month. Check out my latest column here. Meanwhile, Ledo Restaurant, the pizzeria whose branches can be found all over the country, is moving from their original location in Adelphi to the ground floor of a new parking garage in Downtown College Park.

Finish the Trail, a blog created by Woodside resident Wayne Phyillaier, has a new home. You can now read his writing about local trail issues, notably the Capital Crescent and its relationship to the Purple Line, at silverspringtrails.org.

East County's received high marks for breakfast and Kosher food, but hasn't fared so well in a WTOP survey of local Chinese food. The closest we get to making the list is Hunan Delight, located in the Olney Village Mart on Route 108.

The D.C. blogs covered this a couple of days ago, but it looks like streetcars are a little closer to becoming a reality in the District, beginning with a line in Anacostia. One of the several lines that could eventually criss-cross the city will go up Georgia Avenue to Downtown Silver Spring, re-creating a route that served the area decades ago. Still waiting to see trains continuing up Route 29, but this is a good start.

5 comments:

retgroclk said...

With the closing of Hollywood East and Dynasty a few years ago there are few Chinese Restaurants that are good.

One of the newer ones is Won Gee that replaced Barnabys.

The food is quite good and so is there Dim Sum menu

WashingtonGardener said...

Georgia Ave IS Route 29 -- all the way to where it crosses Colesville in downtown SS and then Colesville Rd takes over the Rt 29 name for the next several miles.

This is a pet peeve of mine when locals who don't know the actual street names of Rt 410, Rt 29, etc. and where those names stop and start -- adding to confusion already in our directions for visitors. Not that you, Dan, don't know the routes - but good to keep things straight in our own heads.

Bowie Mike said...

I just read Brady Holt's article in the Diamondback about Ledos and the city parking garage. The original Ledos is owned by the Marcos family, and most of the other Ledos are franchises. The Jimmy Marcos quoted in the article is a member of the Bowie City Council, although he was representing his family business in the article. The format of the new Ledos, with the liquor license and bar, sounds similar to another Marcos family owned restaurant - TJ Elliotts in Bowie. I believe that TJ Elliotts is the only place that you can get Ledos pizza that is not a Ledos Pizza restaurant. Serving beer and pizza in a college town sounds like a winning recipe.

retgroclk said...

Washington Gardener an I wrong in thinking that Georgia Ave. is 7th street in parts of the District. It has been a while since I have taken Ga. Ave into DC but I seem to recall it changing to 7th street somewhere along the way.

Bob Fustero

WashingtonGardener said...

Yes BF Georgia Ave usedto be called 7th St Turnpike for that reason - when it crosses Florida it becomes 7th.