College Park - News, Events, Updates, Questions and Developments Etc. (Baltimore: crime rate, neighborhoods)

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by Catcprtc

College Park development and business updates for September 2017

http://www.collegeparkmd.gov/Plannin...te%2071717.pdf

http://www.collegeparkmd.gov/develop...at%2010617.pdf

At first glance I didn't notice anything of major importance that was new to me.

THe first link is to the June report, not September. Same thing on the College Park website as well. It downloads the June report.

[adelphi_sky]

Is it lost on people that RT. 1 in College Park is congested simply because of Rt. 1 is a state highway that was meant to pass THROUGH COllege Park for those traveling from DC to Baltimore? Its current use is a shortcut from points north to DC. College Park is still not a true destination for those from DC or points north where they converge on the City. A lot of the traffic is thru-traffic.

Yes, more development will get in the way of that thru-traffic and congest it further, but right now, that's not the case. And again, adding amenities closer to home causes more people to walk, ride a bike, or make short trips in their car. Riverdale Park Station is just close enough to where you could take a 30-minute walk to downtown COllege Park.

But like I said the other day, there are too many breaks in the street retail. Look at all the breaks when going north on Rt. 1.

Riverdale Park Station -> Break (Residential)
Downtown College Park -> Break (Chapel Front Lawn/Frat Row)
UMD -> Break (Campus Drive/Stream/Bridge)
Varsity/University View/Campus Village Shoppes -> A hodgepodge of strip centers away from the street.

THese breaks and the lack of amenities that can fill these breaks causes people to get in their cars because the current amenities are broken up by long breaks that make it too far to walk. College Park still does not have a robust centralized core. THere's downtown, but there are pods of development spread out shown int he list above.

As development in downtown College Park surges, District 1 resident Harriet McNamee said she and other residents have mixed feelings about the long-term effects of construction on the community.

http://www.dbknews.com/2017/10/17/co...ction-traffic/

[lookingbutnotlost]

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

Is it lost on people that RT. 1 in College Park is congested simply because of Rt. 1 is a state highway that was meant to pass THROUGH COllege Park for those traveling from DC to Baltimore? Its current use is a shortcut from points north to DC. College Park is still not a true destination for those from DC or points north where they converge on the City. A lot of the traffic is thru-traffic.

Yes, more development will get in the way of that thru-traffic and congest it further, but right now, that's not the case. And again, adding amenities closer to home causes more people to walk, ride a bike, or make short trips in their car. Riverdale Park Station is just close enough to where you could take a 30-minute walk to downtown COllege Park.

But like I said the other day, there are too many breaks in the street retail. Look at all the breaks when going north on Rt. 1.

Riverdale Park Station -> Break (Residential)
Downtown College Park -> Break (Chapel Front Lawn/Frat Row)
UMD -> Break (Campus Drive/Stream/Bridge)
Varsity/University View/Campus Village Shoppes -> A hodgepodge of strip centers away from the street.

THese breaks and the lack of amenities that can fill these breaks causes people to get in their cars because the current amenities are broken up by long breaks that make it too far to walk. College Park still does not have a robust centralized core. THere's downtown, but there are pods of development spread out shown int he list above.



CP mayor says The Hotel is a “game-changer,” but resident traffic concerns remain - The Diamondback

D1 is a little antibusiness

[terp80]

Maryland board approves surplus of 10 college properties for city, campus revitalization Maryland board approves surplus of 10 college properties for city, campus revitalization


Maryland’s Board of Public Works approved the surplus of 10 University of Maryland properties Wednesday for an ongoing community redevelopment project known as the Greater College Park Initiative.

The university’s president, Wallace Loh, took the podium at the Maryland State House to show his support for the project and the Terrapin Development Co., a recently created limited liability corporation, which will develop and manage the real estate on the edges of the College Park campus.



For now, step one — the surplus — is complete. Step two comes in 45 days, when the board will vote on the official transfer of the properties to the Terrapin Development Co. The company, which is operated by the university and its foundation, can acquire, develop, lease, manage, and sell real property.
The following are surplus properties approved for transfer at Wednesday’s meeting:
–UMD land (southern wing of service building, 7757 Baltimore Ave.)
–Parking lot (immediately east of Ritchie Coliseum, 7675 Baltimore Ave.)
–4505 Campus Drive
–4608, 4610, 4624, 4642, 4644 Norwich Road (Old Leonardtown Road)
–4425 Campus Drive (Bldg. 11)
–7761 Diamondback Drive (Bldg. 6)
–8320-8400 Baltimore Avenue
–Parcel C (immediately northeast of The Hotel at UMD, 7777 Baltimore Ave.)
–Parcel B (immediately north of The Hotel at UMD, 7777 Baltimore Ave.)
–4100, 4103, 4109 Metzerott Road

[terp80]

Hollywood Road Sidewalk Project Inches Forward Hollywood Road Sidewalk Project Inches Forward | KabirCares.org

[phoenixmike11]

https://marylandmatters.org/2017/10/...er-glendening/

[lookingbutnotlost]

Originally Posted by phoenixmike11

https://marylandmatters.org/2017/10/...er-glendening/

Duh. smdh. There's no reason it should be so far away.

[terplandlord]

I completely disagree .
1) The metro station is only .25 miles from the UMD campus leonardtown and frat row. The area of the station is being developed into the commercial hub of the region with enough vacant land to mold. It already has the national weather prediction center of NOAA , a huge FDA facility , USDA , Homeland Security international languages center, the American Physics institute, Raytheon and dozens of startups. This kind of brainpower nexus is unique to UMD since it is inside the beltway. UMD also has the national archives and the Phillips collection on campus.

2) a metro stop in the center of campus would undoubtably bring more crime which is publicity a university cannot afford.

3) the metro was put where it was because it was on tracks and right of way that already existed and had an extremely low cost of construction to spur it off the existing railroad through the already developed city , campus then back through the already developed city to greenbelt would have been impossible . Even now the purple line is a trolley on the existing roads which in my opinion is ugly / cluttered looking with wires and telephone like poles and spreads crime.

[Urban Prince]

In my honest opinion the Purple is a political joke and the people that support it that claims that it will boost business growth are flat out lying to themselves and know good and darn well that a light rail has never been proving to be an business growth booster.

Every time when the question comes up as to why Downtown Baltimore has failed to attract major businesses like Northern Virginia, Atlanta, and Houston since the light rail opened in Baltimore nearly 30 years ago they can never positively answer the question with a straight face.

What is now being proving is that the Purple Line has caused some retail businesses to close near Silver Spring.

If the the planners really had Business growth in mind for the Maryland suburbs of DC they would have build the Purple line as a underground/el train subway like they did with the Silver line. So what if it is more expensive it would have paid for itself in the long run....

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by terplandlord

2) a metro stop in the center of campus would undoubtably bring more crime which is publicity a university cannot afford.

This is patently false. To suggest that rail brings more crime than bus lines don't already bring is false. Buses already run through campus. We don't see criminals jumping off specifically at College Park to commit crime and then hopping back on the buses. To suggest that the Purple Line would increase this alleged criminal activity by multiples is not backed by any hard science. If someone wants to target UMD, they can walk, bike, bus, or Uber if they wanted to. Criminals aren't itching for there to be a metro stop at UMD to commit a crime when they have the expanse of the entire metro system to choose from. Come on.

Let's take a look at where Metro already travels.

1. Foggy Bottom (GWU)
2. U St. (Howard University)
3. Cleveland Park (UDC)
4. Brookland (Catholic U.)
5. Tenleytown (American U.)

And countless high schools - public and private.

It seems to me that these universities are doing just fine. Again, why is it that Maryland has to always shoot itself in the foot by assuming something is worse than it really is? While other jurisdictions are moving forward and experiencing job growth and rising property values despite Metro.

Look at all the prime real estate around metro stops in the DC area. Are all these areas struggling with life-choking crime to where they WISH metro had never located in their neighborhoods? Do you hear dread from people in Downtown Silver Spring? Rockville at Pike & Rose? Bethesda? Tysons? Cleveland Park? NoMa? No.

But God forbid if UMD wants to do the same thing by bringing transit on campus. "Well, we can't because of crime crime crime." Meanwhile, everyone else is laughing at our stupidity. When will Maryland get a clue?

ANd let's not even talk about transit at more prestigious universities than UMD. Let's be honest, UMD was never a haven of safety. BUt the world moves on. IF other universities can do it, so could Maryland. BUt we always seem to be shortsighted.