This past Friday the social media account Eat DC had a hot take: Ballston is nice. But also, it’s not.
The reasoning came down to Ballston’s stores and restaurants being predominantly chains (of various sizes) and the neighborhood — home to the densest census tract in the D.C. area — giving off “sterile” vibes.
From Twitter:
Ballston is weird. Like…it's nice… but it's not?
— Eat DC (@eat_dc) April 21, 2023
Not just that. I think every single place has more than one location, streets are wide with big setbacks, lots of concrete and steel without much beautification – flowers, murals, etc. Very sterile. Age is part of it but not the whole story. More about lack of texture.
— Eat DC (@eat_dc) April 21, 2023
Any place that seems like a convenient stop for eighth grade bus trips is probably going to struggle with sense of place.
— Eat DC (@eat_dc) April 21, 2023
The implication here seems to be that Ballston is a contrast from some D.C. neighborhoods which have, for instance, more homegrown restaurants and less of a sense that someone is actively trying to make a once not-so-nice place nice. Of course, those homegrown restaurants that help to give a neighborhood its organic character often don’t last forever.
So what do you think? Is Ballston a nice place without caveats, or is Eat DC onto something?