A New Look for Takoma-Langley Crossroads

The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission – of which the Montgomery County Planning Board is a part – is launching a sector plan that will result in a 15-year vision for the Takoma/Langley Crossroads area. Our sector plan will prescribe the land uses, transportation system, parks, community spaces and other amenities that will define and revitalize this important community.

As a plan that straddles the Montgomery/Prince George’s line, the Takoma/Langley Crossroads signifies an important strength of the Commission: We can overlook jurisdictional boundaries to examine the needs of communities, which don’t always conform to county lines.

The Crossroads extends in a half-mile circumference around University Boulevard and New Hampshire Avenue. Its population is among the most diverse in the region.

The community is poised for major civic projects that will alter the way people get to and through the Crossroads. The Purple Line will run through Takoma/Langley on its path from New Carrollton to Bethesda, and the planned construction of a bus transit center by the Maryland Transit Administration will consolidate eight bus stops now scattered throughout the community.

The transit improvements provide a great opportunity for planners to create development standards that emphasize walking, bicycling and public transit use at the Crossroads. Moreover, the community’s multi-cultural population makes Takoma-Langley an ideal place to support outdoor gathering places, recreational opportunities, mixed residential and retail, and new jobs.

Planners from both Prince George’s and Montgomery have been collaborating on the bi-county project. On the 16^th, they will present to the Commission their proposal to produce the sector plan and, in particular, use strategies that encourage broad resident participation.

I encourage the community to get involved by participating in upcoming meetings and getting in touch with our staff working on the plan.  We've got planners in both Prince George's and Montgomery -- and a Spanish hotline -- you can tap with your ideas. Visit www.mncppc.org/tlc to learn more.

Comments

[Laurie Kelly]

I'm very excited to see the coordination of two counties and the state in a project that will not only revitalize, but also improve safety and the quality of life for residents of the Takoma-Langley area. The transit center will reduce the number of fatalities and injuries at and near the Crossroads by pulling eight bus stops off of the urban highways where people are taking shortcuts across the street. I just hope that planners will consider the housing needs of the working poor, the same diverse population we're serving, so that not only those who can afford it can continue to live here.

[Casey Anderson]

I'm glad to see you make a specific reference to bicycling in connection with the Takoma-Langley Crossroads sector plan. Many immigrants rely on bikes for transportation, and the major roads in this area have a lot of very aggressive, fast traffic (e.g., University Boulevard) with few obvious alternative routes. I hope you will consider ways to develop additional bike crossings of the Northwest Branch and bike routes that can safely be used by commuter cyclists going to and from the sector as well as within its boundaries.

[Laurie Kelly]

This is an open letter to the local planners working together for the benefit of the Crossroads. I want to reference the article "Transit-Oriented Development for Takoma-Langley Crossroads: Will the Future Be Displacement?" with you from Bill Hanna's current issue of the Barrio Langley Park newsletter in case you haven't seen it.

I also want to let you know that I've been frustrated lately having scheduling conflicts with each of the public meetings you've held at the Langley Park Community Center recently, but I plan to attend the discussion of the final design on July 17.

With regard to Bill's disapproval of including too many high rise office/condo/some "affordable" housing units... I agree with him that retaining the existing "strip malls" (a derogatory term), with the idea of building on a couple of floors above them to provide truly affordable rental housing, would be preferable in any efforts to maintain rental housing.

First of all, I believe that maintaining the feel of a suburban community with low-rise buildings, rather than a collection of too many high rises in an urban center, will add to the village or town square concept and its attractiveness. Those shopping centers can be upgraded, if only their facades.

Secondly, knowing the poverty level income of most of the renters in Langley Park who could be displaced, they would not qualify for traditional affordable housing even at 30% of their wages. Some form of subsidies would have to be provided. The vibrant, colorful character of the Crossroads is enhanced by the low-income, multicultural-- increasingly Central American and West African-- population that resides on both sides of University Avenue. Let's not lose them to gentrification.

When I was teaching for the past six years at Langley Park-McCormick Elementary, I was conflicted about including a bike to school program along with our walk to school events because it really isn't safe to cycle around the area. Conventional safety tips just don't address the dangers of the urban highways that are University and New Hampshire Avenues, much less the fact that we have a lot of inexperienced and aggressive drivers in the area.

Respectfully yours,

Laurie Kelly
Resident, Takoma Park