Cleveland Park is Dead.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009


Dearly beloved, we gather here to say our goodbyes...


When I moved into Cleveland Park in October 2007 as a means of escaping the sheer awfulness that is Glenmont, located all the way at the end of the redline, my new neighborhood was comfortingly cheery & full of action. I even blogged about the mini-Vegas I felt I'd situated myself in (ha), crowing about all the nearby amenities. When I got here, the only empty storefront was an old Radio Shack &/or an Old McDonald's - it's still unclear to me which it was, but it was a lone empty building in a sea of otherwise-bustling awesome.

Then, the consignment shop down the road shut down. I'd blogged about it a few times, too, because the weird messages written in its windows always caught my attention. When it went out of business, I felt bad for the owners (store closings make me a little emo), but it was also just sort of like, "Oh, hey, I'll miss the weird shoe-shaped chairs you sometimes displayed on the sidewalk."

And then Magruder's farmers market went out of business. Again, I felt sorry for whoever owned it, but hey, maybe they shouldn't have charged so much for their food, especially when they were located right next to a regular grocery store and an organic grocery store that were amenable to my wallet's shortcomings.

Then tragedy struck. A few weekends ago, my grandma & I were making our way to dinner when I stopped in my tracks to freak out a little.
Cardboard covered the windows:"This Starbucks will be closing on June 19th," the sign on the door read. The date was June 19th - thanks for the warning, Starbucks. Now I can no longer pick up chai lattes on my way to work & smuggle them onto the Metro in my purse. I also mourn the loss of one of only two outdoor seating spots on Cleveland Park's chunk of Connecticut Avenue. This closing? A huge blow.

And today I got coupons in the mail from Supercuts. Whatevs, right? After all the terrible haircuts I've had even at upscale salons, Supercuts is not a joint I frequent. But COME ON. This will make for the fifth empty storefront in Cleveland Park, three of them occurring in as many months.

It's official:
Cleveland Park is dead.

6 comments:

  1. Will there be a custody battle over the kids?

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  2. Hi there! Thanks for leaving a message on my blog. I appreciate it. I love reading other blogs, and yours is fabulous. I sympathize for you about the Starbucks! I look forward to reading more!

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  3. You lost a Starbucks? Isn't that a sign of the apocalypse?

    We're supposed to be gaining a Harris Teeter. I have my doubts re: whether it will ever actually appear.

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  4. this is very sad. i LOVE cleveland park. apparently i need to go there more often to show my (fiscal) support..?

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  5. You've got to be kidding me. That busy little Starbucks is closing down? I thought that place was so active. Wow!

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  6. do you know where is not dead? DUPONT! and do you know who lives in a rent controlled building full of young and energetic people waiting to be your friend? ME! so move on down the red line and leave CP in the dust...where it belongs.

    OOOh, that was painful. I love CP, but think you should live in DuPont.

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