Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So what happened they demolished the neighborhood and put up townhomes? I ask because you say it was historically black but from the aerial it looks like a run of the mill modern development.
Excellent point and your description is correct. I will check on the history. I suspect your explanation is close to the mark. There's another historically black neighborhood in College Park, Lakeland. The original Lakeland was located where Lake Artemesia is now. If you walk on the foot path surrounding the lake, you can see the stonework from the old foundations on the east side of the lake. The houses were torn down for Metrorail.
those are some really interesting and detailed maps, nanoscale. may i ask where to get them? i'd like to zoom in on some other areas.
and I was thinking of putting it online if there's enough demand. I can also do a %owner-occupied vs %rental on a census block basis. %Asian, %Hispanic ....
College Park is secretly high on my list of PG locations. It all sounds bad, in the current situation. But, long-term sounds great. Cheap housing, a huge university, a place that seems situated to probably go upwards at some point in time.
THe plusses outweigh whatever negatives, at least in the long-term.
Being an original Rust Belt guy myself - I can see many attractions on so many levels. Rust Belt people have pretty low expectations to begin with for things...just any college is a center of attraction for us, even if I hear College Park is a very lame college town, as far as college towns go. Nontheless, there is still is a university, which is attractive enough, in my Rust Belt opinion.
The university is pursuing what is called East Campus redevelopment. It was all ready to go but fell apart after the 2008 crash. New RFPs were issued, and my understanding is that they've picked new developers and it's full steam ahead.
One component of the project is more university-associated housing. As I mentioned earlier, a new complex (Varsity) is online right in front of campus. There's another new place further up Rt 1 for grad students.
This is the first time in the last 25yrs that I've been following CP that I've heard the investors who rent residential homes in the neighborhoods complaining & talking about getting out. There's also been a fair share of foreclosures over the past two years. Housing prices have lost almost all of their gains from the last decade. A specific example I know of is a SF house appraised at around 375K during the height of the bubble. It would have sold for about 140K in 2002. It was foreclosed on and is now up for resale w/ new appliances and new carpeting for $179K.
The Rust Belt reference refers to the license tags associated w/ (usually pickups) new arrivals from economically distressed areas. It's not hard to find a rental house in CP, plus it's easier to bring pets. There's been more than a couple "leaving in the middle of the night" scenarios after falling behind on rent + a few domestic squabbles out on the street. It's hard on the neighbors who want to be welcoming but of course don't desire transients who basically don't care. It remains to be seen whether this is a permanent trend, fingers crossed on the economy.
The university is pursuing what is called East Campus redevelopment. It was all ready to go but fell apart after the 2008 crash. New RFPs were issued, and my understanding is that they've picked new developers and it's full steam ahead.
One component of the project is more university-associated housing. As I mentioned earlier, a new complex (Varsity) is online right in front of campus. There's another new place further up Rt 1 for grad students.
This is the first time in the last 25yrs that I've been following CP that I've heard the investors who rent residential homes in the neighborhoods complaining & talking about getting out. There's also been a fair share of foreclosures over the past two years. Housing prices have lost almost all of their gains from the last decade. A specific example I know of is a SF house appraised at around 375K during the height of the bubble. It would have sold for about 140K in 2002. It was foreclosed on and is now up for resale w/ new appliances and new carpeting for $179K.
The Rust Belt reference refers to the license tags associated w/ (usually pickups) new arrivals from economically distressed areas. It's not hard to find a rental house in CP, plus it's easier to bring pets. There's been more than a couple "leaving in the middle of the night" scenarios after falling behind on rent + a few domestic squabbles out on the street. It's hard on the neighbors who want to be welcoming but of course don't desire transients who basically don't care. It remains to be seen whether this is a permanent trend, fingers crossed on the economy.
I'm not sure I'm in love with the site plan. I'd want to see the detailed site plan before I'm comfortable with it. I know it's only a first phase, but I though the first phase would be a little bigger. The Birchmere is not even mentioned in this first phase. I thought that would be the anchor.
Mt. Ranier is one that keeps coming up in PG County.
One poster once said there were two crime areas on both sides, with a center that was fairly left alone. The two bad spots were centered on two other parts right across the border.
Does that seem fairly accurate?
Looking at houses and such in Mt. Ranier, and what people have to say about it, it sounds like a scratched up rough daimond in a clearing in the field.
The 'no prostition sign' and the hair weaves...is that a reference to there is prostitution regularly everywhere? Or am I not infering that well?
I mentioned the sign bc it's a tough one to explain to kids :-) I bike through Mt Ranier often. My impression of the neighborhoods that are off to the sides is that it's very much a mixed bag. For example, I might be working hard to get up a hill, and someone will come out and ask questions about my bike. OTOH, you have little groups of young teens w/ too much time on their hands. This is fairly typical for a lot of areas. My view is to exercise caution at all times.
I have not personally seen streetwalkers at night. The DC area is full of escort services who contact me whenever I put something on Craigslist :-( I'll post a pic of the sign next time I ride through.
Capitol Hill is very accessible from Mt Ranier. There's a spiffy new paved bike trail from Brookland (CUA) nearby to Union Station downtown. I've ridden it many times, and although I've never timed it, it seems rapid fast to get downtown. However, there's been many reports of getting tasered and robbed while biking in and out. (See, for example, the Prince of Petworth blog). The problem is that the trail is not accessible by car. The Guardian Angels conduct a couple of chaperoned rides per week to deter would-be robbers.
Because Mt Rainer is right on the district line, it's impossible to evaluate what is "homegrown" vs what the city is trying to keep at its doors. The sign could refer to warning off DC streetwalkers, for example.
Even if you go up to College Park, you have some issues w/ people coming in by metro to take advantage of "soft" college kids. Lots of cell phone ripoffs, that kind of thing.
I have never had a problem, but I don't want to downplay other people's experiences, either. I do take sensible precautions. I do not feel the need to talk on my smartphone, for example. I don't flash valuables. If I have cash on me, I break it up so that I don't have to hand over all of it. I don't linger.
I'm not sure I'm in love with the site plan. I'd want to see the detailed site plan before I'm comfortable with it. I know it's only a first phase, but I though the first phase would be a little bigger. The Birchmere is not even mentioned in this first phase. I thought that would be the anchor.
all the original Foulger-Pratt/Univ "community input" presentations back in 2006. Those plans are completely scrapped which is why they've been removed from the East Campus site. I imagine that residents will get this opportunity again.
You are wrong about local percdeptions of what constitutes a suitable grocery store for the area. People have high standards these days, and Shopper's as a the sole source on the edge of CP just doesn't cut it. The Giant isn't that great either, but they've renovated to have a better selection which has been a bit of a draw. When I'm talking about preferences, I'm talking about residents of CP, not students looking to save a buck or people from Beltsville, or people who live along Cherry Hill Rd. They've been trying to get a Whole Foods on the Cafritz property at the CP-RIverdale junction, so that should give you some idea.
Here is a local letter to the editor:
When and where is a GROCERY store coming to a place in COLLEGE PARK? How about a Trader Joe's at the empty Koon's Ford lot on U.S. [Route] 1? The space is big enough for both a TJ's AND a decent sized parking lot.
I've lived in College Park since 1971 and find it disgraceful that we have no REAL grocery store within walking – or at least cycling – distance. There are a lot of people who live in the College Park community who do not own a car – including thousands of students, and even those of us who do have a car greatly resent having to tool all the way over to Beltway or PG Plaza's Giant, to the COOP in Greenbelt, or to Shopper's all the way up near the Beltway.
I rest my case. This is typical of the sentiment here.
There's thousands of people in CP who shop there so I don't see how I'm wrong. The crowd you hang out with likes something else. The Shopper's is a full grocery store. I shopped there for 6 years. I don't get how you can say it's not in CP, when it is clearly within the borders of the city. If some food store does build closer to the University, I'm sure lots of folks will be happy, but that doesn't mean the Shopper's is not a real grocery store. I didn't mind the location, but I'm sure lots of people don't like it. What can I say? CP is such a small little town that I don't get the letter writer's complaint about the distance. I used to use the trail to get there. Slightly long, but not too bad. Whatever. I used to roll up (wheelchair) Rhode Island Ave to the Mom's as well. Mom's is just a few blocks from the Shopper's. Maybe the letter writer is lazy? Giant was way overpriced when I lived there so I stayed away from the Giant. It seems their prices are better now though.
all the original Foulger-Pratt/Univ "community input" presentations back in 2006. Those plans are completely scrapped which is why they've been removed from the East Campus site. I imagine that residents will get this opportunity again.
I have no idea what the status is on Birchmere.
I attended the workshop with the Cordish Companies. They took a lot of our good ideas. But I don't see them in this plan. I don't know if they are having problems with funding, etc., but parking garages and flat surface parking were never considered or desired. Especially having them run down the middle of the project. I don't think that's going to fly. I'd rather them build one parking garage and plant grass until they can build phase 2.
I attended the workshop with the Cordish Companies. They took a lot of our good ideas. But I don't see them in this plan. I don't know if they are having problems with funding, etc., but parking garages and flat surface parking were never considered or desired. Especially having them run down the middle of the project. I don't think that's going to fly. I'd rather them build one parking garage and plant grass until they can build phase 2.
for different reasons, since I missed the Cordish presentation. I have been spending more time on campus this past year, unlike 2006-2008. Most of the retail/food options on campus are very different from the last time I spent significant amounts of time here. Gouging and fleecing come to mind. To get an idea -- I saw a certain sandwich product at an upscale outlet in Penn Quarter downtown, but it's a dollar more in the Stamp shop.
Then take a look at the rents at Varsity/View -- almost $1K for a bedroom in a shared dorm-style situation. Or the mandatory univ catering for rooms in Stamp.
Their business models depend on no competition within close proximity. I don't imagine independent (as in truly independent, competitive) vendors and retailers at East Campus, and this may be the reason Cordish appeared disinterested in discussing it further. "Market rate" residential? I guess it's in how you define the market.
Nevertheless, I do think the development will encourage more visitors from other research institutions, which is a good thing for the local area overall.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have a host,
If some food store does build closer to the University, I'm sure lots of folks will be happy, but that doesn't mean the Shopper's is not a real grocery store. I didn't mind the location, but I'm sure lots of people don't like it. What can I say? CP is such a small little town that I don't get the letter writer's complaint about the distance. I used to use the trail to get there. Slightly long, but not too bad. Whatever. I used to roll up (wheelchair) Rhode Island Ave to the Mom's as well. Mom's is just a few blocks from the Shopper's. Maybe the letter writer is lazy? Giant was way overpriced when I lived there so I stayed away from the Giant. It seems their prices are better now though.
