O/T [[I guess): Some in D.C. Want to declare a parking lot a 'historic landmark'

[emu steve]

D.C. has too many historical landmarks to mention, but adding a parking lot as one of them? [[this would never fly in Detroit where surface parking lots are about as popular as taxes).

Or, I missed the main point: It is the shopping center which is historic and the parking lot is an essential part of it.

So now shopping centers and parking lots are historic.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...y.html?hpid=z3

[Jason]

I don't know anything about that particular historic landmark, but I do agree in general that certain historically important developments have autocentric features. Shopping malls are a really big part of american culture, and it makes sense for historic malls to have their parking protected as well. The same could be said for things like drive in movie theaters and drive in fast food places, which are iconic parts of american culture, should be preserved, and have parking as key features.

That said, historic designations are very often used by NIMBYs to block or control developments, and it could be as simple as that.

[wolverine]

The buildings around it look like cheap colonial knockoffs. More than a parking lot should be replaced.

[cman710]

The buildings around it look like cheap colonial knockoffs. More than a parking lot should be replaced.

I live less than five minutes from this shopping center and pass it all the time. I see nothing at all historic about this parking lot, and I do not have any objection to the owner of the shopping center placing a building on the lot. I also have not lived in the area very long, so perhaps that colors my perspective.

For further context, the neighborhood in which this shopping center is located is called "Spring Valley," and it is one of the fanciest neighborhoods in DC. The neighborhood is entirely suburban in character, with mostly large and super-large houses set on large lots. LBJ lived in the neighborhood in a house called "The Elms" when he was the Vice President, and the neighborhood has called many other well known Washingtonians home over the years. The residents of the neighborhood tend to be on the older side and have lived their for years, so perhaps their objection comes from a general reluctance to accept change.

[Patrick]

I live less than five minutes from this shopping center and pass it all the time. I see nothing at all historic about this parking lot, and I do not have any objection to the owner of the shopping center placing a building on the lot. I also have not lived in the area very long, so perhaps that colors my perspective.

For further context, the neighborhood in which this shopping center is located is called "Spring Valley," and it is one of the fanciest neighborhoods in DC. The neighborhood is entirely suburban in character, with mostly large and super-large houses set on large lots. LBJ lived in the neighborhood in a house called "The Elms" when he was the Vice President, and the neighborhood has called many other well known Washingtonians home over the years. The residents of the neighborhood tend to be on the older side and have lived their for years, so perhaps their objection comes from a general reluctance to accept change.

I am across the Potomac...seems like a lot of DC natives are reluctant to accept change with regard to planning and new builds.