White Flint 2 sector plan meeting today

If you are interested in what the county has in store for the land to the west of the white flint area (Called White Flint 2 right now), there is a community meeting scheduled for tonight, from 7 to 9 pm at the Luxmanor Elementary school, 6201 Tilden Lane.

Here is some information from the White Flint 2 sector plan page:

 Residents, business owners, community groups, and other interested stakeholders are invited to examine and discuss various plan elements including: land use and density; connectivity; public facilities; and open spaces. County Planners will facilitate focused discussions about these topics and work with participants to begin to prioritize a variety of issues within the Sector Plan area.

 Background:

 The White Flint 2 Sector Plan area covers approximately 290 acres in a horseshoe shape on either side of Rockville Pike (MD 355). The plan area includes office buildings along Executive Boulevard, west of Hoya Street; Montrose Crossing Shopping Center and Pike Center along Rockville Pike; light-industrial and commercial properties along Parklawn Drive, south of Randolph Road; office uses along Executive Boulevard; and Randolph Hills Shopping Center and other light-industrial uses along Parklawn Drive.

Issues:

• What level of new development can the transportation network support?
• How should Rockville Pike (MD 355) between the city and County be coordinated and designed?
• What transportation policies should be introduced or amended?
• Should the White Flint Special Tax District encompass White Flint Phase 2?
• How can uses on both sides of the MARC station and CSX tracks be integrated?
• What is the role of the proposed MARC station and how should nearby properties outside of White Flint Phase I develop?

Also note that this plan area feeds into the Walter Johnson Cluster and portions of it are currently in the Ashburton school district.

RIP White Flint Mall

Last weekend I went to White Flint Mall to see what was left.  The Boomingdales part was torn down last year and the rest of the mall has rapidly emptied out.  The only stores I saw were the post office (which closed last Friday), a jewellery store, the Dave & Busters (which lost a court fight to stay), PF Changs, and Lord & Taylors.  The rest of the Mall's three levels are empty.

The main entrance.  The Cheesecake factory used to be on the right, but now it is at Montgomery Mall.

The forever "Temporarily out of service" escalator going up to where the Borders bookstore was a few years agoi.

The Bloomingdales end of the mall has been blocked off with black plywood.

The food court doesn't have any restaurants in it anymore but there are tables and chairs left if you want to bring your own lunch.

One of the painting in the food court.

The mall directory is blank now, which is an odd sight to see.

Free outdoor movies Aug 14-21

There is a free outdoor film festival August 14th through the 21st (2009) on the grounds of Strathmoor and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (by Grosvenor Metro) The movies start at 8:15 but you can go as early as 6:30 and start eating.

Here's the lineup:

• Friday August 14th: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button


• Saturday August 15th: Dark Knight


• Sunday August 16th: Kung Fu Panda


• Monday August 17th: Indiana Jones - Kingdom of the Crystal Skull


• Tusday August 18th: Singin' In The Rain


• Wednesday August 19th: Twilight


• Thursday August 20th: Slumdog Millionaire


• Friday August 21st: Madagascar 2, Africa

Watch a movie under the stars and enjoy food from Potomac Pizza, Hard Times Cafe, Baja Fresh, and Ben & Jerry's.

This is the 13th year of the festival which is sponsored by Comcast and benefits the NIH Children's Charities.

For more information you can see their website.