[xzmattzx]

Here's a look at an interesting town or suburban area, depending on how you look at it. Columbia is regarded by some as the best planned community in the United States (other highly successful planned communities include Reston, VA, and Radburn, NJ). It is located about halfway between Baltimore and Washington DC. The idea behind Columbia was to create a planned city/suburb, that would not only provide jobs to keep people within the community, but would also mix people of different religions, races, and incomes. It was also designed to prevent cul-de-sacs and end roads, and have each part of the community connected to other parts of the community via roads or paths through parklands.

Columbia has ten Villages: Oakland Mills, Long Reach, Owen Brown, Kings Contrivance, Hickory Ridge, Town Center, Dorsey's Search, Wilde Lake, Harper's Choice, and River Hill. These villages are further divided into three or four neighborhoods each. The result are individual communities, which are closely tied together by the village they are in, and then the villages are tied together by the Town Center to form the Town of Columbia.

Developers began buying land for Columbia (more than 14,000 acres overall) in the early 1960's. The developers formed several different companies to buy the land, in order to prevent farmers from holding out on their property and forcing one big conglomerate to build around a single farm. Once the acquisitions were complete, the companies merged and revealed their plans for the area. Residents first started moving into Columbia in 1967.


Part of Columbia's skyline. Columbia calls their central business district the Town Center, like I believe many other suburban areas do.

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A shopping plaza in the village of Oakland Mills modelled to look like a farm.

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Some small offices off of Kilimanjaro Road in Oakland Mills. These offices are used by doctors, dentists, etc.

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Looking down Stevens Forest Road. The neighborhood of Stevens Forest is centered around this road.

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The Oakland Mills Interfaith Center. One way that planners wanted to get people to mix together was to put all of the churches into one building. This Interfaith Center has a Catholic Church, Methodist Church, and Synogoge among other things.

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Some apartment buildings in Oakland Mills.

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Another way to get people to mix together and move around in the town was to put unique town anemities in certain neighborhoods. The town ice skating rink is in Oakland Mills.

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Some houses on Thunder Hill Road. The neighborhood of Thunder Hill is centered around this road.

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Some modern apartment buildings near the Town Center. The downtown condo wave seems to have made it to Columbia.

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The Columbia Mall in the middle of the Town Center, with a midrise in the background.

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More new condos in the Town Center.

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Symphony Woods, near the Meriweather Post Pavilion, where concerts are held.

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Banneker Place, a townhouse complex in the village of Town Center.

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Apartments in the village of Harper's Choice.

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Houses on Hesperus Drive in the Harper's Choice neighborhood of Longfellow.

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Townhouses on Morning Glory Court in Harper's Choice.

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Apartments in the neighborhood of Bryant Woods in the village of Wilde Lake.

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The Village Center for Wilde Lake includes the Swim Center, a large pool complex and tennis complex, complete with a big slide. Like the ice rink in Oakland Mills, the Swim Center was placed in the middle of the Village of Wilde Lake to get people to travel to different villages and mingle with other residents.

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The Interfaith Center in the Village of Wilde Lake.

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The intersection of Twin Rivers Road and Great Mountain Circle are the entrance to Bryant Woods, one of the neighborhoods in Wilde Lake. The neighborhoods of Faulkner Ridge and Running Brook are nearby.

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Wilde Lake, located near the Town Center. This is the view from The Birches, a sub-neighborhood in the neighborhood of Running Brook. Across the lake is the neighborhood of Bryant Woods.

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Looking at the Town Center from The Birches area of the Running Brook neighborhood.

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There are plenty of walking paths between neighborhoods and villages to make it easier to walk or bike to certain places, rather than drive. This walkway is along Wilde Lake, and it goes from The Birches in the neighborhood of Running Brook directly to the neighborhood of Bryant Woods. Driving to Bryant Woods would be longer and farther, as it would require getting onto the main thorofare, driving through the Town Center, and then coming all the way back around to the other side of Wilde Lake.

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A big house facing Wilde Lake in the neighborhood of Running Brook.

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Looking past the bike path towards Wilde Lake and the neighborhood of Bryant Woods beyond that.

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A rustic little cottage on Hyla Brook Road in The Birches area of Running Brook.

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A house on Thunder Hill Road in the neighborhood of Thunder Hill.

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Houses on Mellenbrook Road.

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Houses on Thunder Hill Road.

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More houses along Thunder Hill Road.

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Columbia is one of the premier suburbs in the United States. I don't think Columbia is perfect; a couple problems I have with it are 1) the maze of roads that make driving through a section of Columbia very confusing, and 2) putting all of the churches into one nondescript building (churches look nice; why not let each religion build their own?). But Columbia has shown that there are many good qualities about it that draw people to it and make it one of the most desirable suburbs in the United States.

[Smirkman]

Nice pictures. You have provided a nice snapshot of some of the older areas of Columbia. I live in Hickory Ridge (a middle-aged village). Columbia, although a suburb, provides most of the amenities of a mid-sized city. Of course we have Washington and Baltimore for real city culture, architecture and urban streetscapes.

BTW - That barn in the Oakland Mills village actually predates both the old and rebuilt OMVC that it is now a part of. One of the early debates that took place was deciding on a location for the Oakland Mills Village Center. It is the only village center that does not front a major road. The planners wanted to incorporate the barn into the OMVC and it has suffered from a lack of traffic for years because of this. When the OMVC was redone in the 90s it was scaled back. The barn is used as a meeting house.

[BTinSF]

My Mom worked for Rouse Co. when they were planning Columbia in some farm land between DC and Baltimore and the general opinion among nearly everyone was, "Why would anybody want to live way out there?" Interesting to see how it turned out.

PS--Interesting to see all those 60's split levels like the ones I grew up in too. ;)

[James Bond Agent 007]

Interesting. I remember reading about Columbia and Reston when I was a kid in the 70's. It's actually one of the things that got me interested in urban issues, so in a way this is sort-of a "nostalgic" thread (even though I've only driven by it on the freeway!). Thanks for the pics!

[BTinSF]

in a way this is sort-of a "nostalgic" thread (even though I've only driven by it on the freeway!). Thanks for the pics!

:haha: :haha: That "freeway" is a rural 2-lane road in my memory.

[James Bond Agent 007]

:haha: :haha: That "freeway" is a rural 2-lane road in my memory.
Well I meant I-95. Either that or you're reeeally old. ;)

[Cirrus]

I have never been impressed with Columbia. It's always struck me as a more or less regular suburb that just happens to have all been planned at once. Reston is far more interesting, IMO.

Nice tour, though. Always good to see some diversity in the forum.

[LSyd]

interesting tour. i can't tell whether that farm shopping center is cool or tacky. my Columbia's cooler though. ;)

-

[BTinSF]

Well I meant I-95. Either that or you're reeeally old. ;)

Ah. I was thinking of US 29, otherwise known as Columbia Pike. But, as a matter of fact, I'm reeeally old enough to remember the construction of I-95 and I used to drive my motorized go-cart (had a lawmower engine in it) on the Washington Beltway when it was under construction. The Baltimore Beltway is older. I don't actually remember that being built, but I think I remember hearing "the grownups" talking about it being built.

How old were you thinking of as "reeealy old" because, although I guess I fit the definition, I still can't get Social Security? :(

[Cirrus]

I don't think a lot of people realize just how new the whole interstate system really is. For my generation it's simply always been there, like the sky and the Potomac River. I know I have trouble imagining a time without it.

Maybe light rail will be like that for the next generation. :)

[toddguy]

Actually as suburban towns go Columbia seems very nice. My only concern is that it really does not seem to represent alot of socio-economic diversity(looks to represent really on the middle-higher end and on up). But it looks clean and pleasant, and seems interconnected fairly well with amenities within walking distance. And in every pic there were sidewalks!:) Amazing how many suburban areas do not even have these in the residential areas, let alone connecting those residential areas to commercial/retail areas. At least if you want to walk to buy something you don't have to take your life in your hands struggling along some rutted path and then darting across some six land highway with no lights or crosswalk.

[Smirkman]

Columbia has diversity. Both in culture and income. Check out the Columbia's CDP (Census designated place - Columbia is unincorporated) stats on American Fact Finder. Columbia has long been a place that welcomed Black people and recently a large influx of Asian and Hispanic people have moved to the area.

Although Howard County is one of the ten weathiest counties in the US, Columbia has people of all different incomes. Although most skew to the Upper-Middle Class there are many opportunities for employment amung the less fortunate). To see this in action go to an older village center or observe any of the children walking home from the public schools (which are ranked 1st in MD). Columbia was designed to have the lower income and denser housing near the village center (and schools) so those who lived there could walk. The more expensive homes are further out from the VCs or are newer.

One thing that Columbia is currently stuggling with is how to transform the town center from one that was designed around the auto to one that is denser and more pedestrian friendly. We'll see.

[Ex-Ithacan]

There may be some economic diversity, but it's quite obvious from my visits that the vast majority are in the middle and upper income brackets. I do agree the racial diversity has enhanced the community and the schools are the best in the state. Looks nice, but your point about dense urban type commercial development is missing. I guess it's an OK place, but nothing makes it stick out for me.

I remember taking a trip to DC when I was about 13 (with my mother & brother). The Baltimore beltway was 2 lanes in each direction, and packed solid. We crawled along the B-W parkway for what seemed like forever (no I-95 then). I think the DC beltway was under construction. I know traffic sucks now, but as I recall it sucked quite a bit back in the 60s too.

[giantSwan]

I don’t mean to offend anyone from Columbia, MD but from the pictures I cannot gather what makes this a great place? Or great planned place for that matter…

It looks painfully MEDIOCRE. Why would someone choose to live here?

[passdoubt]

Yeah, Columbia's pretty boring. I'd take the one in South Carolina over this one.

I do like all the trees though.

[Smirkman]

Perhaps some more photos would do it justice, but it is still a suburb (I'll try and follow-up in the spring). Columbia's development dates from 1967 to the present. The early years were not the best time for suburban architecture. Most of the newer development is more attractive, but still suburban in nature.

If you don't think Columbia has economic diversity, hang out near the Long Reach VC, OMVC, Wilde Lake VC or Harpers Choice VC in the evening. :rolleyes: My street is Upper-middle class, but I can easily walk to areas where a good number of the residents use vouchers. Don't confuse well kept with prosperous. The Columbia Association ensures that all areas are well kept without regard to property values.

BTW - People choose to live in places for many reasons. Columbia, as mentioned, has great schools. The community was chosen as one of the best places for recreation in the US. I also believe that is was chosen as the 4th best place to live in the county.

[bryson662001]

I do love the 60's architecture.....it seems so "pure". Even the "colonial" houses look good. It was an era of "good taste".

[jeremai]

It seems almost surreal to look at these pictures, having worked in Columbia for four years and then moving to the UK back in September. I used to work in Wilde Lake village center and often parked in the little parking area opposite this house during my lunch break:
http://img287.imageshack.us/img287/695/dscf3913ans3.jpg

Funnily enough, I have now found myself living in the British "New Town" of Crawley that was built between the 1950s and 1990s. It is of course much denser than its US counterparts, and has a 1000-year-old town at the centre, but I still find many comparisons to be drawn with Columbia.

[boden]

Looks pretty in the sun, but is fairly ghastly in real life imo. It may be some people's cup of tea I guess. Thanks for sharing them.

[whatsthepoint13]

I was there yesterday...

[Evergrey]

I had an interview in Columbia a couple years ago.... and explored this "settlement" beforehand... I found it to be exceptionally creepy and disturbing.