Columbia - Feels fake (Ellicott City, Gaithersburg: apartments, houses, neighborhoods)

[Andy1369]

First of all, I just want to make it clear I am NOT trying to start any trouble, or be a "troll."

That said, does anyone feel the same way I do about Columbia, MD? When I went there to visit my friend, I got a bad vibe from the area. It was nice and all, with nice-looking apartments, a mall, and many restaurants. However, something about the area felt off, like it was fake or something - I didn't see any actual houses, and the area felt like it was lacking in atmosphere, like it was just generic chains (stores/restaurants) everywhere, and no actual city culture. I hope that makes sense? It also felt too generic and too nice to be real.

Does anyone feel the same way about the city/town (not sure what Columbia is)?

Thanks...and again, hopefully you don't take this post as a trolling one.

Andrew

[cutgarden]

You may feel that way because Columbia was a planned community, laid out start to finish, instead of just growing out over the years like towns and cities do naturally. I believe the developer's name was Roush, and I *think* it was the first community of it's kind.

[jessy0780]

I think you should take a longer look at it. There are many actual houses. Columbia is comprised of villages, where the neighborhoods have village "centers"; shops, grocery stores, etc. All of the villages are different, some are nicer than others. All around, I think Columbia has a nice feel to it, lots of parks and playgrounds, libraries, shops and stores. For example- near the mall is a great dinner theater called Tobys. Lake Elkhorn is off Broken Land Pkwy, and in the summer you can often see families sitting on the "steps" with their feet in the water, or walking around the lake. In one of the villages is a great little Thai restaurant, that most people don't know about- luckily for us, since it's not usually crowded. Even my 6 year old loves the food there. At Christmas time, Merriwether Post has a Christmas lights display you can drive through, with proceeds going to charity. One of the 2 libraries in Columbia has a great farmers market on Thursday afternoons.
Anyway, no city is perfect, and this is just a few things that I think are nice about Columbia.

[Ann_Arbor]

Andy1369

I would say that is a very astute observation. Columbia has a planned/designed history which Landscape Architecture played a very influential role. The separation/ hierarchy of transportation, car and walking, made it modern for its time, much like Olmsted's Central Park. Though it had decent and some-what bold intentions in its creation, it is increasingly resembling a contemporary suburb- large homes on large lots and big box stores.

[dkf747]

Those are some of the reasons I don't want to live there.

[hioh142]

My girlfriend always wants to kill me when I say this cause she loves the community, but I get the same fake feeling from the Kentlands in Gaithersburg.

[MDDCtoATL]

Originally Posted by Andy1369

First of all, I just want to make it clear I am NOT trying to start any trouble, or be a "troll."

That said, does anyone feel the same way I do about Columbia, MD? When I went there to visit my friend, I got a bad vibe from the area. It was nice and all, with nice-looking apartments, a mall, and many restaurants. However, something about the area felt off, like it was fake or something - I didn't see any actual houses, and the area felt like it was lacking in atmosphere, like it was just generic chains (stores/restaurants) everywhere, and no actual city culture. I hope that makes sense? It also felt too generic and too nice to be real.

Does anyone feel the same way about the city/town (not sure what Columbia is)?

Thanks...and again, hopefully you don't take this post as a trolling one.

Andrew

You are correct in your assesment, the problem is not only that Columbia was a planned community like others have said, it's also the fact that it was a planned community in the 1960's.

Much of the older housing stock looks very dated or did not age well like something in Montgomery Village. In fact I would say that looking at Montgomery Villae/Lakeforest is like looking into the future of what could happen to Columbia. The two are very similar in physical setting.

The age of the indoor mall is dead, too much housing and not enough mixed-use are big problems in Columbia.

Columbia does not know what it is or what it wants to be. They need to make a choice of what they want to be cause what they have now is not anything unique, just an odd hodgepodge of things.

[Alt Dach]

[quote=Andy1369;5012313]First of all, I just want to make it clear I am NOT trying to start any trouble, or be a "troll."

That said, does anyone feel the same way I do about Columbia, MD? When I went there to visit my friend, I got a bad vibe from the area. It was nice and all, with nice-looking apartments, a mall, and many restaurants. However, something about the area felt off, like it was fake or something - I didn't see any actual houses, and the area felt like it was lacking in atmosphere, like it was just generic chains (stores/restaurants) everywhere, and no actual city culture. I hope that makes sense? It also felt too generic and too nice to be real.

Well now,you are a person who should trust your impressions/intuitions,
you are absolutely right so just keep it up.

[newhart]

The age of the indoor mall is dead, too much housing and not enough mixed-use are big problems in Columbia.

Just have to say I much prefer the indoor malls over the town center concept. And Columbia's mall is quite nice. It's improved a lot over the past ten years.

But as for the original observation, it depends on where you were in Columbia. If you stay on the main roads, you'll never see the villages where most of the houses are. The first time I drove through Columbia, I went through on Rt 175 and wondered how I"d missed the town.

[formercalifornian]

I never really enjoyed Columbia, but I have to agree with those who pointed out that the city is comprised of villages, and you have to get off the main roads to get a feel for the community. Columbia also has very aggressive by-laws and covenants, so everything looks extremely manicured. I preferred the slightly over-grown and quirky Ellicott City myself, but to each, his own.

I now live in HOA-happy Colorado, and I must say that my time in Columbia well prepared me to deal with the covenant-crazy old people who run my new neighborhood.