Illustration of Arcade Row proposal courtesy of Flywheel Development
Here’s the good news: Growth is coming to the Route 1 corridor. That’s also the bad news.
After years of watching developments like the Arts District Hyattsville, Riverdale Park Station and Studio 3807 with bated breath, it’s clear that the Route 1 corridor is actually becoming a hotspot for new development.
But that also means some residents, especially those who’ve lived in the area for a while, are concerned. New projects like the townhomes in College Park and proposals like a major mixed-use development in Hyattsville and new homes on the site of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission building have raised concerns about things like traffic, parking and crime.
Growth is inevitable, but we can affect how we grow. Perhaps its time for the area to start talking more about smart growth. Here are a few initial thoughts to consider.
Accept that growth is coming. When market forces align to drive growth to an area, there’s almost nothing that residents can do to stop it. A group of committed neighbors can stop a single proposal, but developers will just look for another opportunity nearby.
Figure out what kind of growth you want. The best example of this kind of decision are the two very different proposals for Hyattsville’s municipal building. One is townhomes, while the other is a mix of apartments and artists studios. You can voice your opinion about what best fits the community you want to live in.
Ask more of developers. Require developers to extend bike paths, add bikeshare stations, build public playgrounds and pay fees for school construction. Push them to install rooftop solar farms, plant more trees and vary facades to avoid cookie-cutter neighborhoods.
Don’t pine for hypothetical alternatives. Some have floated the idea of renovating the Hyattsville municipal building or converting the WSSC building into a community center. Those are fine ideas, but without a plan or cost estimates, they’re just ideas.
Plan for affordable housing now. As growth comes, housing prices will rise. That’s actually good for people who already live here. But over time, it can start to price people out of the area. The time to develop a plan to fight that is before it happens.
One helpful exercise is to think about what you like about developments that have already come to the area and how to encourage more of that.
For example, the original EYA homes in the Arts District Hyattsville did a great job of varying townhome facades to give each block its own character and judiciously using corrugated metal to add a funky design touch. Meantime, Riverdale Park Station preserved a historic icehouse and incorporated it into the site entrance, then added an Ercoupe plane as a piece of public art to showcase the property’s history. And Studio 3807 went carbon-neutral and encouraged the local arts and dining scenes to flourish with it.
Towns like Cary, N.C., have shown that it’s possible to tame developers and implement smart growth, but it takes a little bit of work. The first step is for residents to get educated and involved.
Bravo, well said.
Nice thoughts but, some suggestions on where the leadership to implement these ideas might come from would be useful. How do we, as an existing community, organize our collective input and who do we need to influence? There are plenty of people talking about this over social media but there doesn’t seem to be any overall organization.
Thank you Lise!
Very well said! I am from the Raleigh area and I agree that Cary has done a wonderful job!
Thank you Heidi! Thanks for reading!
Alison – amen, amen, amen! My concern is way too many townhouses — they just keep coming — and already we are seeing congestion issues — a small example – just look at what is involved in taking a trip to Home Depot. I love Hyattsville but I am very concerned with all of these developments — regardless of the creativity to watch out for making cookie cutter housing — we are jamming people in and are left with the feeling we are stuck with what is being presented end of discussion. The county really has control (add that to the list of what we need to accept). How creative can we be and how can we approach developers with some concrete ideas that might keep them from making a bit of money but would at least offer some options for people with a variety of incomes and needs. BUT if we make a commitment and bring the right people together — maybe we could work with developers to make some creative changes (some you point out). There is a real problem that we might not be able to keep our area diverse — and I am so concerned we will lose what helped to put us on the map — the arts community. Artists need support, reasonably priced places to live and work; many current residents who might need to change their current housing are getting priced out; we have an aging population (who the city has made a commitment to in recent years) who have unique needs — and again could be priced out and not really have good options. NC has been very creative in what they have been developing. We should follow suit and be the first int in region to do so. HOW? I hear this is what we want – but who and how to do that work? Is it too late?