The loss of a dream for Columbia moving into the future

      A recent discussion at the "Longest Table" I brought up a concern I had for Columbia and Howard County moving into our second 50 years of Columbia's existence.   Has the Columbia goal of diversity and integration of groups across the economic scale been lost in Columbia and Howard County.  Has affordable and subsidized housing been limited to only certain areas in both Columbia and Howard County?  Why was River Hill Village designed for mostly single family homes unlike the diversity of housing, both subsidized and unsubsidized,  in our earliest villages?  The lower density zoning of Western Howard prevented diversity of housing in half of Howard County.  Is this the new reality as we move farer from Rouse's vision of what makes a community exceptional?
     This new possible reality is seen in our school system.  While our school system is still seen as a valuable asset to our County we see signs of a "de facto redlining" in Howard County.   This reality is known to any realtor in our County.  The first statement for many home buyers in Howard County is "here are the school districts I will only look at homes in."   This reality is based on the school test scores.   I experienced this reality when I tried to sell our home a few years ago.   After being on the market for almost a year we finally had an offer that we were ready to accept.  The couple was from out of state with school age kids.  On the way to our realtor's office to sign the contract the husband received a cell phone call from his wife telling him not to sign the contract because she had looked up the test scores on the internet and our school fairer poorly in comparison to other schools in Howard County.  As they were looking at Howard County because of the schools this was enough to not sign a contract.
     For most of us who have lived in Howard County we know that any school in Howard County will give a good education to any student regardless of academic ability.   Teachers in schools with lower test scores are just as good as teachers in schools that score higher.  I am sure that our school administrators work to minimize the impact of our the housing reality.  But if we are honest with ourselves the school system's job of providing an excellent education to every student in Howard County is made more difficult if our housing patterns move farther and farther from Rouse's vision of our community.  Is the 1960's goal of "fair housing" no longer relevant in the 21st Century Howard County?

P.S.
      I really struggled with not bringing into this discussion the new reality brought in at the Federal level the past 6 months.  I will just post this link.

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How Chow now back on Twitter

   For those of us who have missed the HowChow blog I have good news.  They are back on Twitter.  Like them at  https://twitter.com/HowChowBlog?refsrc=email

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Tomato Palace is closing

  One of my favorite outdoor dining options will soon be closing.



The Tomato Place had a nice location near the Lake and summer evenings were a great place to take out of town guests.  Moving over to the stage for some music or a movie made for a nice way to show off what Columbia had to offer.  Unfortunately it will be closing to allow Clyde's to open a music and dining venue.



No more take out pizza from their brick oven



Or the chicken rigatoni



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Longest Table

      Last week I had a chance to participate in an event that is so Howard County.  The event was called "The Longest Table" and it brought together Howard County residents from all walks of life to discuss how living in Howard County has impacted us and how we want Howard County to improve moving forward.

    Interestingly the people near me were asked what we missed in Columbia or Howard County and the one thing that got the most vigorous response was the Visitors Center that many of us remember as the place we learned about what made Columbia special.  It gave us a common vision for the community we were moving to.
     This event was co sponsored by Howard County Library, United Way of Howard County, the Columbia 50th Birthday Celebration, #OneHowardand the Howard County Community College .  I hope that events like this will continue.

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Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

    This week I once again took the Anacostia Bike Trail down from College Park to Bladensburg.  Just past Bladensburg is the sign for the dirt trail that leads a third of a mile to the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens.  The water lilies are in full bloom now.

    The trail is easily accessed in the parking lot near Lake Artemesia in College Park.  Here is a link to the parking lot for the trail.   https://www.google.com/maps/place//@38.993154,-76.9208288,170m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x89b7c6ad95f76fdf:0x2b9e880bc48532d1!2sLake+Artemesia!3b1!8m2!3d38.9876488!4d-76.9220875!3m4!1s0x0:0xa559604fd0995b3a!8m2!3d38.9933!4d-76.9205967

    Down from College Park to the Aquatic Gardens and back is about a 16 mile ride.  Here is a map showing the trail.  The Aquatic Gardens is at the bottom of the picture.