Best walkable communities/neighborhoods? (Baltimore, Silver Spring: apartment complex, renters, condo)

[westsideboy]

You just aren't going find many places like that in Maryland. The state only has a few cities large enough for a historic downtown (I have never heard of a "village areas" before, but I assume that is what you mean).

The central area of the state was nearly entirely farms and small crossroads or courthouse towns until after WWII when the Federal Government boom started. Nearly every residential area in the central counties was built after this and thus is suburban in nature. There is some "new urbanism" in both PG and Montgomery County, but it is not historic. What would have been historic is farm country that is now paved over.

Baltimore, Frederick, Hagerstown, and Ellicott City are probably the only historic cities in commuting distance that contain "downtowns" like you are looking for. I would suggest Frederick to start.

[Mel_eric]

You should check out historic Greenbelt, MD. It's a unique planned community where you can walk to nearby shopping, community center, library, indoor/outdoor pool and rec center, a lake and many playgrounds, etc. It's got beautiful landscaping and mature trees too.

www.greenbeltmd.gov/about_greenbelt/history.htm - says 'Greenbelt was a planned community, noted for its interior walkways, underpasses, its system of inner courtyards and one of the first mall-type shopping centers in the United States.'

[CharlotteRJ]

I think you’re going to have a hard time finding a complete walkable community in this part of Maryland. It’s just not the style of architecture here. That said, there are parts of La Plata that are walkable to the library, doctors’ offices, a bakery, a few restaurants, a gas station type convenience store, elementary school, etc. When people think of La Plata, they usually think of the 301 commercial strip, but the other parts of town are really the only thing I can think of in Southern MD that’s walkable. The advantage to La Plata, and Charles county in general, is that it is still quite affordable, compared to the rest of the DC area. And due to the tornado that ripped through town a few years ago, there are some newer houses in the walkable area as well.

[HandsUpThumbsDown]

Originally Posted by Mel_eric

You should check out historic Greenbelt, MD. It's a unique planned community where you can walk to nearby shopping, community center, library, indoor/outdoor pool and rec center, a lake and many playgrounds, etc. It's got beautiful landscaping and mature trees too.

www.greenbeltmd.gov/about_greenbelt/history.htm - says 'Greenbelt was a planned community, noted for its interior walkways, underpasses, its system of inner courtyards and one of the first mall-type shopping centers in the United States.'

I agree. Check out Old Greenbelt.

[tonyc]

Lake Whetstone Park - Montgomery Village, MD Patch

http://montgomeryvillage.patch.com/a...#photo-5028016

[liquideve]

In response to cfreiman, we've just gotten a realtor who thankfully understands the concept of a walkable community and knows what we're looking for. She's been orienting us toward the following areas:

Montgomery County:
*Takoma Park (esp. vicinity of the food co-op)
*Silver Spring (still drilling down on what neighborhoods in particular, but she mentioned Highview)
*Kensington apparently has a great little town center but the neighborhoods in that part of town are well beyond our price range.

PG County:
*Hyattsville (historic downtown area - 20781 zip)
*Riverdale Park (historic town center)
*Old Greenbelt has been mentioned by a number of posters. I agree it looks like a great walkable community, but it's far from transit access (can't walk to the Metro).
*We're also looking at University Park and College Park, but looks like there's negligible commercial areas around there (other than the mall). I am a bit curious about the new development across from the PGP mall in the University Park area. Looks really neat, but seems to have stalled with the recession. If anyone knows more, I'd be eager to hear it.

DC:
*Takoma
*Brightwood
*Brookland (20017)
*Woodridge (20018)
*Petworth

Anyone who would like to weigh in on these ideas, please do!

[TCR25]

Your realtor sounds like she's focusing on some good areas for you.

I'm admittedly a Hyattsville partisan (I lived in Takoma Park from 1991 to 1996, then to Northampton, Mass for two years, and back to Maryland and Hyattsville in 1998; we bought a house in Hyattsville in 2000) and think it's a great community for walking. The commercial sector is light, but growing. There are a lot of parks and lots of strollers being pushed. Hyattsville Elementary is a good school with a great staff, too. There are lots of little community events too, like the monthly Summer Jams with music and kids activities at the municipal building, and two bigger festivals each year.

The development you mention across from University Park is the UTC development; it's actually in Hyattsville. The movie theater and a few restaurants seem to be doing okay, but the project has taken a beating during the recession. Over on Route 1, several new restaurants have opened or will be opening later this year, and we have a good brewpub (Franklin's).

The Metro Green Line is an easy walk to one side of the city and the MARC Camden Line (commuter rail) is on the other in neighboring Riverdale Park.

[liquideve]

Thanks TCR25. I'm increasingly sold on Hyattsville/Riverdale Park as an affordable and more community-oriented alternative to Montgomery County, and would love to hear more from "insiders" about it. I posted some questions more specific to that area over here.

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by liquideve

Thanks TCR25. I'm increasingly sold on Hyattsville/Riverdale Park as an affordable and more community-oriented alternative to Montgomery County, and would love to hear more from "insiders" about it. I posted some questions more specific to that area over here.

Please consider College Park/University Park/Hyattsville. I am a contributing writer to an economic development bog called Rethink College Park. I also started a development thread. There are TONS of improvements coming to these areas in the NEAR future. Moving to those areas would be like getting in on the ground floor. Yes, projects have stalled or even gone into foreclosure do to poor management and the recession, but those are very few in number and are being sold to those who can do better with it.

Hyattsville is becoming extremely walkable. There is a retail section that includes restaurants, dry cleaners, and a grocery store along Rt. 1. College Park is transforming as well and will include the East Campus town center development much like Downtown Silver Spring but with better developers in my opinion. Look for that to break ground in the next 3 years. In addition, the new purple line light rail will travel through College Park and Hyattsville. All of these projects can be read about in the links I provided.

Another thing to consider is that University of Maryland is spending tons of money to become a top ten university and they are well on their way of accomplishing this. they are currently building one of the most advanced if not THE most advanced physics lab in the world on campus. This will draw world class researchers and scientists to the area. M-Square is a few hundred yards from campus and includes NOAA, FDA, and numerous additional scientific research organizations. It is considered one of the largest research parks on the east coast.

There's a massive redevelopment project that will break ground this year behind The Mall at Prince Georges that will transform the area around the mall and the metro shop into a more walkable transit oriented city. There are great things that are happening in the next ten years. in these areas that have convinced me to stay where I am in Adelphi. There is so much economic investment going on in Northern PG that anyone who comes back after being gone for awhile may not recognize the place.

[liquideve]

Despite my interest in Hyattsville area, some family members are pushing me (hard) towards Rockville. Since they live in Westchester County, NY, I'm not sure they have the same sense of what's "walkable" (or affordable for that matter!). Would love to hear some insight into the Rockville area esp. as it compares to some other areas that have been discussed (Silver Spring, TkPk, Hyattsville etc.).

Are there "town center" type of areas -- "pre-fab" or not, and including but not limited to Rockville Town Center -- that are within walking distance of single family homes in the $300-$400K range and reasonably transit-accessible? Or is that crazy talk?