College Park has been on a building spree over the last decade so intense that it made a list of the top 10 most-changed cities in the country.

As part of a long-term plan to build more student housing, the city has approved a number of large apartment buildings along Route 1 such as The Varsity and University View and even projects aimed at graduate students.

One statistic tells the story. In 2013, the median year that a home was built in College Park was 1979. Ten years later, it’s 17 years younger.

That made College Park the ninth most-changed city over that time period, according to data from PropertyShark cited in the New York Times.

Other cities on the list include Hoboken, N.J.; Atlanta and Seattle. Notably, the cities that changed even more include Williston, N.D., where the discovery of oil has transformed the local economy, and Farmers Branch, Texas, a fast-growing suburb of Dallas.

Urban planner Dan Reed noted that a lack of a lack of student housing led to a “tent city” protest in 2007, riting on social media that the growth in housing has made Route 1 “unrecognizable” compared to then.

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The abundance of parks and green space on and around the Route 1 corridor reveals its dog-friendly nature, but we asked Hyattsville Wire readers to pinpoint the best spots, uncovering local favorites.

Here’s what you recommended:

Where to take your dog for a walk:

College Park
Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail
The Northeast Branch of the Anacostia Tributary Trail (especially along the dike)
Acredale Park
Lake Artemesia

Riverdale Park
Denizens Brewing Co.
Riversdale House Museum

Hyattsville
Driskell Park

Greenbelt
Greenbelt Park
Buddy Attick Lake Park
The Patuxent Research Refuge

Where to get pet supplies:

Beltsville
Pet Supplies Plus

Dakota Crossing, D.C.
Costco

Where to eat outside with your dog:

Riverdale Park
Town Center Market
Le Fantome Food Hall
2Fifty Texas BBQ

Hyattsville
Franklins Outdoor Tiki Area
Busboys and Poets

Other dog-friendly businesses:

Hyattsville
Maryland Meadworks
Sangfroid Distilling Co.
Streetcar 82 Brewing Co.
Vigilante Coffee

Did we miss a place? Let us know in the comments and we’ll add it!

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An Oriental rug shop run by a former Afghan professor has moved to a new location in Mount Rainier.

Run by political science professor Jawid Jawid, America Oriental Rugs has sold hand-selected handmade rugs from Afghanistan, Turkey, India, Pakistan and Persian rugs, in various sizes and designs since last year.

It recently moved to a new location just a few doors down at 3211 Rhode Island Ave.

Jawid told the Hyattsville Wire that he’s expanded the inventory and also offers services such as cleaning, repair, pad and appraisal.

“These rugs are more than just floor coverings; they are art on the floor,” he said. “Making one 8-by-10 rug could take six to 12 months to weave.”

A properly cared for Afghan rug can last decades, he added.

Jawid fled Afghanistan with his family three years ago after the government collapsed. He said the Taliban take over “crushed many dreams, especially with the ban on girls’ education,” but he said he has found “warmth and support” here and is “living the American dream.”

“I have two daughters who now have access to education—something millions of Afghan girls are denied,” he said. “In Afghanistan, they would not have been allowed to attend school beyond the sixth grade. This is why I cherish their opportunities here, and I dream of a future where girls in Afghanistan can also thrive.”

America Oriental Rugs is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. You can also contact Jawid at 571-867-0353 or america.orientalrugs@gmail.com.

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A long-planned effort to move the FBI headquarters to Greenbelt is again on hold.

In a speech last week at the Department of Justice, President Donald Trump said that he would oppose the move, arguing that Greenbelt is “three hours away.”

It’s actually about 40 minutes, depending on traffic, from the current FBI headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue in D.C. to Greenbelt.

The General Services Administration chose Greenbelt over other top finalists, Landover, Md., and Springfield, Va., in 2023.

“They were going to build an FBI headquarters three hours away in Maryland, a liberal state,” Trump told Department of Justice staffers. “But that has no bearing on what I’m about to say. We’re going to stop it. I’m not going to let it happen.”

The FBI headquarters would have meant 7,500 employees working out of Greenbelt. Local officials have long argued that it would boost the Prince George’s economy and address an imbalance in federal spending between Virginia and Maryland.

Trump added that he would instead “build another big FBI building right where it is.”

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Denizens Brewing Co. is launching a new menu on Wednesday.

Located at 4550 Van Buren St. in the Station at Riverdale Park, the brewpub will feature classic American fare with gluten-free and vegan options and a kids options on its new menu.

Several dishes feature Denizens’ beer, including fish and chips and onion rings made with a Bohemian pilsner batter, a Caesar salad with a dressing that includes its Animal Hazy IPA and a shrimp and grits with a pilsner butter sauce.

Others are classic pub fare such as a smash burger on a brioche bun, a blackened salmon BLT and a cast-iron bacon mac and cheese.

Co-founder Julie Verratti told the Hyattsville Wire that Denizens has tweaked the menu from time to time, most recently in 2022 when they brought in All Set and then Catalyst hot dogs to focus on the food while they worked on their beer production and distribution.

“We are now in a place where we want to bring the food back in house — we are no strangers to running the restaurant side, as we did so successfully in two locations for 8 years between 2015 and 2022,” she told the Wire.

The menu was developed by Executive Chef Shannan Troncoso, who previously launched Brookland’s Finest and Ted’s Bulletin in D.C.

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A single block of eight townhomes next to DeMatha High School in Hyattsville, west of Route 1 on Oglethorpe Street, will be on sale soon.

The new homes are expected to be available by May 15, but are already pre-listed with real estate agents with Long & Foster under the name Hyatt View.

The townhomes have a similar layout to the nearby Arts District Hyattsville townhomes, with a first-floor garage and office, sweeping second-floor kitchen, dining, and living room area with nine-foot ceilings, and bedrooms on the third and fourth floors.

The townhomes are listed on Redfin and Zillow at $725,000.

The lot, which faces the Oglethorpe Condominiums apartment building, was previously home to a historic bungalow and then sat vacant when it was torn down.

The townhomes are a great example of the kind of infill development that Route 1 towns hope to add, especially in high-demand areas like the Arts District.

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A new cafe from the owner of Northwest Chinese has opened in College Park.

Hua Wang, owner of the much-lauded Chinese restaurant, will hold a ribbon cutting on Saturday, March 8, for the new Li Chun Cafe located on the ground floor of City Hall at 7401 Baltimore Ave.

The cafe had a soft opening in late February and has already picked up some regular customers.

A representative of Li Chun Cafe said that it would feature “authentic flavors” from Wang’s home region of Shenyang with some innovative twists.

“Our menu features handmade bing (Chinese flatbread wraps), rice dishes, and Chinese tea culture, all designed to create a warm and welcoming place where guests can relax, connect, and enjoy thoughtfully crafted food and drinks,” spokesperson Xue Ling told the Wire.

Other menu items include a bento box with your choice of sides, a beansprout and kelp salad, soft tofu in dried shrimp scallion sauce and Yanji-style dried beancurd strips. Drink options include bubble tea, matcha lattes, a jasmine green tea and various coffees.

This is not Wang’s first attempt at popularizing chun bing, which she describes as a sort of Asian burrito. In 2019, she opened the short-lived CB Chinese Grill, which sold chun bing in a Chipotle-style setup.

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