With Wheaton's demographics, I find it hard to believe they can ever become a more upscale area. Even after Silver Spring has gone through so much development, it's demographics hasn't changed much.

Not that I'm saying that Wheaton won't attract any upscale retail/commercial establishments, but for Wheaton itself to become upscale...

I echo your comment wheatoner

I can't say that the people in the median enhance the neighborhood, but my bigger concern is the fact that some of them go right up to your window. It's totally unsafe for the requestors, especially when the light changes and they are standing in a lane. Most don't do this, but some do.

As for the market, I really don't have much of a direct comment because when I drove by, I never saw much of interest to me so I didn't go. Also, with the plethora of dead retail space in Wheaton, I'd rather frequent mom and pop stores than a weekly market. For the same reason, even though the food trucks may be tasty and I often like them downtown where I work, I'll generally favor restaurants around Wheaton until we have less "for lease" signs everywhere. In the end, I don't mind the market or the food trucks, but I'd like to see Wheaton's permanent retail stores grow and prosper first.

I recently saw a drawing of a plan for the Costco gas station. On the plan I saw, the gas station will be close to where it was previously proposed, but moved closer to the Costco building itself - just outside of the 300 foot limit from Kenmont Pool, but closer to the homes and Stephen Knolls school.

ED--Would you know if the drawing is available online? I'm also curious about the entire parking lot plan. I wonder whether the spaces will be re-marked and made narrower to accommodate more cars in the available space.

Nothing was unique about this flea market. It was full of cheap knockoffs. Wheaton has no attachment to this unsightly market. If it was a true international market, fresh market, or even used collectibles market, then we may miss it.

Crime can be unique to community also.

I don't think it's a shame to have Costco as "another generic big box store" in Wheaton. We have Best Buy, which is on its last legs as a corporation, and the mall as for big retail establishments. In addition, without Costco coming, I think the mall would have taken much longer to develop into a place where many people shop regularly. Not long ago, it was a very depressing place to go and had many shops that turned over quickly and lots of unused space. From talking with some managers in a couple of the mall's newer not-big-box establishments, they are still doing middling sales but hope that Costco can help them and came here, in part, because of Costco's decision to open here.

The outdoor market has to be somewhat nomadic to keep overhead costs well below what others pay to have storefronts. It's difficult to find space that is (1) cheap (2) promises to remain cheap for a long time, and (3) welcome on the same property as other retail establishments.

Still, there are other places available for an outdoor market if the owners/costs allow it. Elizabeth Chaisson mentioned some possibilities. The Staples-side spaces of Glenmont shopping center are often empty. The BB&T building parking lot (Georgia and Blueridge) is often empty on weekends too. The County, I'm guessing, does not want school parking lots potentially littered over the weekend.

This is not about logic, this is about money.

I think the County Council minutes may express their logic for approving the border they passed.
ED-Thanks for the parking info. WMATA will probably be happy if mall parking turns scarce. I have a feeling that many drivers currently park at the mall for free and walk to the Metro. For the last decade at least (since I've been taking Metro), the mall certainly had an overabundance of spaces. If spaces start getting scarce at the mall, they may enforce towing, which, in turn, will lead to more Metro drivers using the facility. This is pure speculation on my part. Maybe all Metro drivers already park at the Metro parking deck and Westfield has cars towed regularly, but I'd be surprised if that were the case.

Thanks for the info. If that's true, I've wasted a lot of money over the years parking at the Metro when the weather was bad or when I had to run errands right after work (so I couldn't walk the 15-20 minutes home). I'll have to contact the mall and see if they know anything about it; I'll come back here if I find out anything specific.

There may be an agreement, but I just called the mall, and the people working in the mall's management office weren't aware of it.