Mystery of U of M area - College Park/University Park/etc.

[Bigbluelandrover]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Curious as to which neighborhoods those are.

Also, between Berwyn Heights, University Park, and College Parks...it seems the houses are certainly on the affordable side. However, since the entire area has so FEW local businesses....I am curious...is part of the problem that you have to drive into these more undesireable high crime areas to go to Wal-Mart or grocery shopping at major stores or whatsoever else? Is that an issue?

How much crime from the high crime areas around this area comes to College park/University Park/Berwyn Heights itself?

Personally, sounds like the area isn't all that interesting with little going for it...but college kids aren't as bad as high crime areas....and the prices of this part of PG County (while higher than the rest of PG it sounds like) are still less than NOVA or MoCo, it seems.

Lastly, just thinking that most DC area jobs....I mean gov't or gov't related or even NGO or whatsoever connected to the gov't...seems like most are over in that DC/Arlington side of DC...so would commuting over from a College Park/University Park by train be a tiring issue after awhile...or isn't that really much of an issue. How long does it take from College Park area to get over to that side of DC anyways?

The "bulk" of Govt jobs are toward DC/VA BUT there are many agencies that employ thousands outside of that corridor. I work in Woodlawn outside of Baltimore and my agency has over 5,000 people, NASA is in Greenbelt, there is a Agriculture agency in Beltsville (very close to CP), FDA is in White Oak (15 mins away) and soon 8,000 people will be working there, HHS is in Rockville and the IRS has a huge campus in New Carrolton (not far from CP). FT Meade is up near Laurel, So as far as Govt jobs go, it mainly depends on what you do and what agency you work for.

I'd estimate 45 mins to an hr on the metro because you might have to take two trains.

[Tiger Beer]

I was recently viewing demographic information...generally seemed skewed because of the university - saw numbers like 10% asian, and large caucasian population.

However, found some stats on elementary school students and demographics. At least kids at that age, seems like very very very few asian at all. Blacks and whites seemed about even, which was to be expected. What I didn't expect was that the Latino population is getting kind of high, up there with simililar numbers with blacks and whites....and the asian is nearly non-existant.

For those of you who live in the College Park area...does that seem about right? Or was that just an odd 'elementary school' statistic...?

(I gotta admit I was originally kind of interested in the area as assumed there were higher asian families....but thinking it must mostly be college students).

[RaisedWell]

Yeah that's about right. I don't live in College Park but I do visit and have family there.

[pcity]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

I was recently viewing demographic information...generally seemed skewed because of the university - saw numbers like 10% asian, and large caucasian population.

However, found some stats on elementary school students and demographics. At least kids at that age, seems like very very very few asian at all. Blacks and whites seemed about even, which was to be expected. What I didn't expect was that the Latino population is getting kind of high, up there with simililar numbers with blacks and whites....and the asian is nearly non-existant.

For those of you who live in the College Park area...does that seem about right? Or was that just an odd 'elementary school' statistic...?

(I gotta admit I was originally kind of interested in the area as assumed there were higher asian families....but thinking it must mostly be college students).

The bulk of the Asian population in the DC area is in VA, with Montgomery County, MD leading the MD counties. PG doesn't have a large population of Asian families, and I think you'd be correct to assume that many of the Asians in the College Park area are students.

[Moth]

I would never live withing puking distance of University of Maryland.

The last time I rented an aparment, the building was full of AU students doing what most college students do- partying and keeping me awake.

Of course, I would not want to live near the college version of myself.

College life is incompatible with life past age 30.

[scrapper105]

Tiger Beer, I'd say you are about right on the demographics skewing because of the University and the elementary school make-up seems about right. As I often say on here, because one city/town so easily merges into another, it's sometimes better to talk about neighborhoods than cities/towns. For example, the Calvert Hills neighborhood of College Park (south of the campus, on the east side of Route 1) has many, many lovely older homes owner occupied with families. But rentals of students are dispersed among them. The families have banded together, creating a "moms" listserv and a community listserv too, I think.

University Park has a few homes that are occupied by renters, but since 90% of the homes are owner occupied, they have a very close eye on them.

[liquideve]

Originally Posted by JEB77

College Park is a pretty good place to get an education. But it's just not an attractive place to live for a post-graduate wanting the benefits of a college/university town environment.

You're right that Ann Arbor and Madison are great towns (as is Evanston, Illinois, home of Northwestern), but College Park is nothing like these places.

Are there any areas around DC that are like Ann Arbor/Madison? Not necessarily the actual students, but the vibe.

[booklover3]

I don't think University Park is what the OP is looking for, but I wanted to clarify its image nonetheless. I live in one of the few rentals in University Park, and it is a very desirable and appealing community.....for those who want to live in a quiet area of single-family homes. There is a very active civic association, a pristine and lovely creek system, and an active elementary school with many highly involved parents. UP is also a beautiful neighborhood....the streets are hilly, wooded, and pleasant. It's like a different world from the feel of Route 1. Given the relatively low cost of living here, many of us feel we've hit the jackpot.

That said, no, nothing in the College Park area resembles a great college town, in my opinion, which was forged in many years of living in the Berkeley area. I don't yet understand the monolithic control that the Route 1 strip mall mindset has on local development, but if there were something to be done, sign me up. Takoma Park has its pluses, and resembles a tiny college town in ways. In general, I think the above vibe is more accessible within the city of DC itself. Columbia Heights. Georgetown. The Hill.