Putting Main St. On the Map

"People are jumping the gun when they worry about the effects of development already," said Tucker of the Arlington County Planning Department. "Let's see if we can get redevelopment first, before we start saying there's going to be an adverse impact from it."

Fred Saah, owner of Saah's Unfinished Furniture store, which has been operating on Columbia Pike for 53 years, welcomes the redevelopment plans, but says most of his customers are not local.

"Most people drive to the store from other parts of the area," Saah said. "They come from Fredericksburg, Upper Marlboro, Waldorf, all over."

Steinhaeur from Capstone Properties said most of the interest in his live-work townhouses, however, was from retailers already in the area looking for better space.

Retailers already on the Pike there have managed to stay in business. Retail vacancies are rare. Businesses such as Saah's, Lady Hamilton's dress shop and Bob and Edith's Diner have been there for decades. Bob and Edith's recently opened another diner along the Pike. The Arlington Cinema 'N' Drafthouse is also still operating at a time when many other old movie theaters have shut down. There are also plenty of smaller stores that cater to the immigrants who live nearby.

Columbia Pike resident Whitson, a stagehand, mused about how spiffy new commercial centers such as Clarendon's Market Common, which sports chains including Barnes & Noble books and Ben & Jerry's ice cream, might do in the area as he sat at Rappahannock Coffee after work last week.

"I'm not sure you're going to be able to make a lot of money here on the Pike," Whitson said. "There isn't a lot of money here."

As with any plan, some people remain unconvinced. Some, for instance, are skeptical about the idea of turning a road so reliant on the automobile into a walking town center.

"I don't think it's right to put businesses close to the road and create parking spaces behind," said agent Kennemer, who has lived along Columbia Pike her entire life.

"The reason I love Columbia Pike the way it is is that I can drive up to the front of a store, park my car and run in and get my stuff done. If they crunch down the number of parking spaces and make me go to a parking garage where I have to pay, I won't shop there anymore."

She said, "I don't want to see Columbia Pike become Clarendon. I never go to Clarendon anymore. There's nowhere to park."