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None of Langley Park is in Silver Spring, it is entirely in PG county. Silver Spring is an unincorporated area in MoCo. Brentwood does not have a Hyattsville mailing address, but Colmar Manor and Cottage City have the same zipcode as Brentwood and often have a Brentwood mailing address.
None of Langley Park is in Silver Spring, it is entirely in PG county. Silver Spring is an unincorporated area in MoCo. Brentwood does not have a Hyattsville mailing address, but Colmar Manor and Cottage City have the same zipcode as Brentwood and often have a Brentwood mailing address.
The City of Hyattsville has a widget on its website to ID addresses that are within the city limits or not -- Hyattsville, MD - Official Website - Map Page . The Post Office labels multiple ZIP Codes as being "Hyattsville" when only parts of 20781, 20782 and a little of 20783 are actually in the city.
I'm interested in moving to Hyattsville or Riverdale Park and could really use some help from some insiders in figuring out what those areas are all about. (I realize some of these are idiot questions if I just walked around the area, but I'm 450 miles away.)
* I've heard that both have nice "walkable" communities around their town centers, but don't really have a sense of (a) where those town centers are, and (b) what kind of commercial businesses are there currently (rather than merely planned for the future). Does either one have the basics (like a grocery store, pharmacy, non-crap restaurant)? (I'd hate to think I can walk to get my errands done and then find out the town center is all art galleries and antique shops.) Also interested in the crime and "grittiness" factors of these areas, and how they compare to the commercial districts in places like Silver Spring and Takoma Park.
* What are the "nice" areas to live, and are they near the town centers? Is "Hyattsville Hills" nice (and where the heck is that anyway)? What about the Hyattsville area west of Rte. 500 and south of Rte. 410? Or the Riverdale area (East Riverdale?) east of Rte. 201?
* I know what the transit options are, but what are they like (on-time, slow, sketchy, etc.) and what do most people use to get into DC? (I've heard 1 hour from Riverdale MARC to Dupont Circle - for real?) Is MARC less reliable or otherwise less desirable than Metro?
* Since home values have taken a plunge in this area, I gotta ask: Would you buy a house in those areas today? Why/why not?
* Do many/most people know their neighbors and get involved in the community?
Hyattsville is larger than Riverdale Park, but they abut each other so there are some shared amenities. Riverdale Park's town center (Queensbury & the train tracks) is near the MARC station and has the potential for retail, but not much active at the moment (a salon and a bar/restaurant with a pizza place and beer/wine store not too far away). There is a fantastic farmers market there Thursday afternoons from April to November. A two blocks away, along Route 1, are some more restaurants, a bank, a Rite Aid pharmacy, and other businesses.
Moving south along Route 1, you'll find the EYA development. This is new, mostly townhouse construction with some businesses. There's a mix of restaurants and art galleries, as well as a bike shop, florist and a few other businesses. A Yes Organic Market is slated to open this fall. (Whole Foods Market has signed a lease in Riverdale, too, but I don't know timing or location of that store ... it could be east of the town center along Kennilworth Ave.)
Moving west across the Hyattsville Historic District (which overlaps some with Hyattsville Hills) there's the West Hyattsville commercial district at Queens Chapel and Hamilton St. There's a barber, dog grooming place, post office, a few ethnic/specialty groceries, thrift store, and restaurants. A small, older Safeway grocery store is near here, too, as is the new community garden. The West Hyattsville Metro station is near here, and there's a Tuesday afternoon farmers market June through August or September (I don't remember off the top of my head).
Heading north up Queens Chapel and heading a little west at Route 410 (East-West Highway) you get the Mall at Prince George's, Shops at Metro and the UTC development. This is a basic mall (Old Navy, Macy's, RadioShack, etc.) with a Target and Ross connected to it. There's a Staples next to the Prince George's Plaza Metro stop (same line as West Hyattsville) and a Giant Foods and Home Depot a little further west along 410. UTC has restaurants and a movie theater. More has been planned for UTC, but the economy has stalled it. There is a splash fountain that runs in the summer for kids at UTC and during past summers they've had a Wednesday night concert series there. The county library, which is scheduled to be renovated soon, is near here, too.
Hyattsville Hills is (roughly) the part of Hyattsville bounded by Queens Chapel, Route 410, Hamilton Street and Route 1. It overlaps some with the historic district. The old Victorians are more toward City Hall, while Hyattsville Hills has lots of Craftsmen bungalows and some colonials and other styles of house. I live fairly centrally in Hyattsville Hills and it's about a mile-and-a-half walk to Riverdale Park Farmers Market, about a mile to either West Hyattsville or Prince George's Plaza Metro, and a half mile to Magruder Park. It's nice, friendly area that feels like a small town.
West Hyattsville (the area west of Queens Chapel) has smaller houses and yards, mostly built up in the 1950/60s and some apartment buildings. It's not at nice in the sense that the architecture is more bland. Further north up Queens Chapel, north of 410, you get into the University Hills area, which was annexed to Hyattsville a few years ago. These houses are also more 1950/60/70s, but bigger. They're further from the Route 1 retail and from Riverdale Park, but not too far from UTC and the Mall.
The areas closest to the train tracks (on both sides of 410) are the older parts of Riverdale Park with more Victorians and bungalows. Closer to Kennilworth Ave (201) are some big apartment buildings. Sort of in the middle of things is Riversdale, a colonial era historic mansion that holds multiple public events and is open for tours.
The nicest areas, depending upon how you determine nice, are probably the older parts of Hyattsville and Riverdale Park and the new EYA development along Route 1.
Silver Spring is way more developed than Hyattsville, Riverdale Park or Takoma Park. It's more of a small urban downtown, as opposed to a town center. Takoma Park's town center is nice (very good, year-round farmers market on Sundays) with a mix of small stores, including a hardware store and some antique places, as well as a few restaurants and, a little further away, a good food co-op/grocery.
The big difference between Metro and MARC is the timing of the trains. During rush hour you may have only two or three MARC trains that stop in Riverdale Park vs. Metro trains every 6 minutes or so from West Hyattsville or Prince George's Plaza. There also are Metro bus lines that run into downtown via Queens Chapel and Route 1. You should be able, during rush hour, to get to Dupont Circle from West Hayttsville in about 25-35 minutes.
There might still be some softness in the housing market in Hyattsville, but I think it's near the bottom if not on the rise. With the exception of a few houses that are priced as if it were still 2007, things seem to be moving off the market fairly quickly at prices that don't seem too bad to me.
I think there's a good community spirit in Hyattsville. The city hosts monthly "Summer Jam" events during the summer and two festivals at other times during the year. Those draw a lot of people out. We have good civic participation and there are multiple local listservs for different interests (a mom's group, the H.O.P.E. in Hyattsville list, the dog park list, etc.), we have a new community garden just taking root, there's the Hyattsville Preservation Society that hosts an annual historic house tour, etc. The local PTAs are gaining strength and are visible in the community.
TCR25: Incredibly helpful, thank you! It sounds like we are looking at the right areas and it sounds like a charming community. We're eager to come down and see it.
Our realtor has told us she's seeing a very high rate of foreclosures/short sales in the 20781 and 20737 zips, something like 2/3 of the listings. Not sure how to reconcile that with your on-the-ground observations, and it is a bit worrisome as first-time homebuyers.
You're welcome, liquideve. One reason for at least some of the foreclosures and short sales are that prices really did roll up pretty high a few years ago. Places that may have sold for $400,000 in 2007 are now on the market for closer to $200,000. Part of it was the bubble and part of it was due to Prince George's in general being priced well below other Inside-the-Beltway communities. We haven't been immune to the economic downturn, and a fair number of people have ended up underwater. That said, valuations are back to around 2003/2004 levels before things went crazy (although some prices are staying higher).
(Whole Foods Market has signed a lease in Riverdale, too, but I don't know timing or location of that store ... it could be east of the town center along Kennilworth Ave.)
When did this happen? I'm pretty much on top of economic developments in the area and haven't heard about this. Source? Also, seems odd they would choose Kennilworth Ave. in Riverdale as their first store in the county. My wife and I have tried to boycott them since they have avoided PG for so long. I mean they built their warehouse here, but not any stores? Also, I assumed they chose areas with high incomes and hippy-ish areas. Whenever they did choose to locate in the county, I thought they would choose outside the beltway first - Bowie, Mitchelville, Largo, Fort Washington, etc. Inside the Beltway I would think College Park or Hyattsville would be the winners.
If this is true, then my wife and I would be very happy. That means that the tree cities of College Park, Hyattsville, and Riverdale would each have an organic market from a different chain. lol That's awesome.
You're welcome, liquideve. One reason for at least some of the foreclosures and short sales are that prices really did roll up pretty high a few years ago. Places that may have sold for $400,000 in 2007 are now on the market for closer to $200,000. Part of it was the bubble and part of it was due to Prince George's in general being priced well below other Inside-the-Beltway communities. We haven't been immune to the economic downturn, and a fair number of people have ended up underwater. That said, valuations are back to around 2003/2004 levels before things went crazy (although some prices are staying higher).
At the height of the bubble, my house was valued at $415,000. Since then I've put maybe $75,000 worth of work into it and I'm under water. Insane. I do think it is due to all of the foreclosures. But our part of the county is a great value. Low prices and an up and coming area. I don't expect prices to remain low in this area for too long.
In addition, as more student housing is built in College Park, students are moving out of rental properties. Luxury apartments are being offered as well. So, without rental income, some of those properties are being lost to foreclosure. That adds to the foreclosure numbers.
When did this happen? I'm pretty much on top of economic developments in the area and haven't heard about this. Source? Also, seems odd they would choose Kennilworth Ave. in Riverdale as their first store in the county. My wife and I have tried to boycott them since they have avoided PG for so long. I mean they built their warehouse here, but not any stores? Also, I assumed they chose areas with high incomes and hippy-ish areas. Whenever they did choose to locate in the county, I thought they would choose outside the beltway first - Bowie, Mitchelville, Largo, Fort Washington, etc. Inside the Beltway I would think College Park or Hyattsville would be the winners.
If this is true, then my wife and I would be very happy. That means that the tree cities of College Park, Hyattsville, and Riverdale would each have an organic market from a different chain. lol That's awesome.
Just read an article about it here. It's actually the old Cafritz property on Rt. 1 that has been waiting for development for some time now. Seeing as how Whole Foods signed a lease, I'm assuming that construction will begin within the next 18 months?
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