Table #6: Vision
Table #6: Vision
, all in one place; as a
locally important commercial center, this
VISION area is great for this type of development.
· Hope to see more pedestrians. Create an
White Flint is a place to live, work, play, shop, environment conducive to walking, rather
and walk with sufficient density to encourage than driving.
quality redevelopment. Vibrant streets and · Add public use space on either side of
consistent streetscapes are important. Rockville Pike.
· Unify the east and the west side of the Pike
CHARACTERISTICS with better pedestrian cross traffic.
· Under or overpasses would help to create
· White Flint should be a CBD. a connection for pedestrians and cars and
ú Provide more walkable areas would help unify the business/residential/
ú Provide more mixeduse park mixes.
ú Add high density
ú Include operational elements like
parking district
ú Provide an urban district
· Provide more interconnected roads
ú Provide breaks in the superblocks and
provide connections to adjacent
communities
ú Make sure the network is intuitive for
both motorists and pedestrians
ú Separate through traffic from local traffic
ú Add local lanes on MD 355
· Encourage local focus and attention on the
streets that connect to MD 355 (like
Ellsworth in Silver Spring)
ú The type of land use in each block is
unimportant
ú Focus on form and density.
ú Provide for ground floor retail. (The
group discussed whether that retail
belonged primarily along MD 355, on a
parallel "Ellsworthtype" street, or
uniformly throughout, but no
consensus.)
· Consider some selected gradeseparated
pedestrian connections
· Maintain a retail base to build upon. MD 355
is now a regional draw for retail.
· A key for open space requirements is to
focus on quality rather than quantity.
PRESENTATION NOTES
· Being a Central Business District is key to
the functionality of White Flint.
· Inter connecting walkways should be
established and strengthened.
· Street system of small blocks, departure
from the superblocks.
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NOT TO SCALE
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Table #7 · Focus should be within walking distance of
Metro
VISION · More green—green parks and green
boulevards
No Vision Provided · Retail near Metro
· No parking between Metro and the
POSITIVE CHARACTERISTICS conference center—build in this area
· Be like Munich, with public spaces, shops on
· Good modes of transit the streets and parking behind
· Infrastructure should be built before · Be like San Francisco
development (smart growth)
· Should have the ability to walk PRESENTATION NOTES
· Should be conducive to less use of cars
· Keep traffic at a “social speed” on side roads · Want to see more walking incorporated into
(traffic on Executive Blvd is very fast—not the plan.
conducive to shared use with bikes and · A streetscape and an identity should be
pedestrians.) included in the urban spine.
· Channel through traffic · Create a town center or square.
· Facades would be portals to shopping,
EMPHASIS cafes, restaurants and commercial
establishments. Loading and deliveries
· Provide a minimum of “transit trips” before should be in the rear of buildings.
development can proceed, rather than Level · Green along Rockville Pike with trees and
of Service (transit must be at a certain landscaping.
percentage of mode share before any · Bike paths and walking paths connecting the
additional development is approved.) various commercial areas and residential
· Provide adequate side roads; provide a neighborhoods with parks.
network of streets rather than just 355.
· Ensure street architecture—control, not
necessarily only with lights. Roundabouts?
· Provide more human scale development
· Consistent addressing with visibility of
numbers
QUESTIONS
· Outlying densities? What are they?
· Provide “numbers” to compare White Flint to
Bethesda and Silver Spring
· Provide the results of a White Flint traffic
study
· Shuttle use:
ú White Flint Mall to Metro—does it still
exist? Is it used?
ú Other shuttles?
DRAWING COMMENTS
· Street, sidewalk and bikeway
interconnectivity is most important
· Look at jobs/housing balance; consider the
capacities of all public facilities
· Create an identity, create an identifiable
place
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NOT TO SCALE
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Table #8 · Transportation and Accessibility
ú Improve traffic control
VISION Add safe and attractive ways to get
between commercial areas without
White Flint is an urban village centered around a car
Metro that provides a focal point for surrounding Change Rockville Pike so cars know
neighborhoods, and that uses existing to go slower and it is safer to cross
infrastructure and provides public and private the road
urban amenities and public institutions, and safe Add more traffic lights from
and attractive pedestrian access between Strathmore to Montrose/Randolph to
residential and commercial areas. create breaks in traffic
Add new roads that break up large
DISCUSSION HIGHLIGHTS blocks and create alternative ways
to get around (see map)
· Create a Sense of Place ú Parking
ú Create an identifiable Town Center that Stop allowing parking in the front of
is a focus for the community stores to create a nicer streetscape
ú Create a “Market Square” near Metro Add more parking garages get rid
that is pedestrian friendly and provides of most surface lots
green space ú Bus Transit
ú Locate public facilities near the Center Add shuttle buses to go from nearby
including a post office and library neighborhoods to commercial areas
ú Provide an urbantype elementary Show bus destinations, not just
school numbers which are meaningless
ú Build pedestrian and shuttle bus Provide a shuttle bus that loops
connections to the Center and Metro from White Flint Mall to Metro to the
(see map) residential areas along Old
· Housing Georgetown Road East (see map)
ú Provide a better balance of housing for ú Pedestrian Access
varied incomes Improve streetscaping and create
wider and more pleasant sidewalks
· Density
ú Locate highest densities at Metro and down Rockville Pike to encourage
taper off beyond that walking
Improve pedestrian access for
ú Locate moderate density along
safety and attractiveness, including
Montrose/Randolph to Nebel Street (see
crossing the Pike
map)
Provide more clearly defined
ú Locate moderate density where surface
crosswalks use X crossing for
auto sales are now (see map)
“allwalk”?
ú Locate moderate density where White
Add lighting along sidewalks, not
Flint Mall is now (see map)
just roadways
ú Locate higher density along Rockville
Connect neighborhoods to retail
Pike at Nicholson Lane (see map)
with walking paths
· Zoning / Land Use
Add wayfaring signage (possible
ú Provide zoning that encourages retail for
amenity fund item)
necessities in walking distance of
Retain the green frontage along
residential development
Rockville Pike near Strathmore
ú Convert some industrial areas behind
Avenue (see map)
Metro along Nebel Street to mixed
Add a sidewalk along Strathmore
use/residential
Avenue to the Catholic School (see
ú Redevelop MidPike Plaza as a fully
map)
mixeduse center with higher density
Coordinate development so that
closest to Metro, moderate density
improved pedestrian access and
beyond. Include a green boulevard in
new development happen together
the center that is an activity center (see
ú Bicycle Access
map)
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Add more bike paths, perhaps along · Rockville Pike and Old Georgetown Road
the train corridor should be green corridors.
Expand the Bethesda Trolley Trail · Upgraded shuttle bus service is needed to
up and over to Metro (see map) provide nonvehicle ways to get around the
area.
PRESENTATION NOTES · Extend existing bike paths north of the
present locations to the Metro.
· Want an urban village. · A nexus of bicycle, hiking, walking and parks
· The White Flint area should be centered at need to all lead back to the urban village
the Metro. center and circulate throughout the White
Flint area.
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