Columbia, Maryland
Columbia is a census-designated place and planned community in Howard County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Baltimore, and, to a lesser degree, Washington, DC. It began with the idea that a city could enhance its residents' quality of life. Creator and developer James W. Rouse saw the new community in terms of human values, not just in terms of economics and engineering. Opened in 1967, Columbia was designed to not only eliminate the inconveniences of then-current subdivision design, but also eliminate racial, religious, and income segregation.
Today, Columbia has a population of about 94,600 (making it the largest unincorporated community in Maryland). By the early 2000s, the town had inexorably acquired many of the characteristics of other contemporary U.S. suburbs, such as increasingly large private homes standing somewhat aloof on large parcels, and "big-box" retail stores accessible mostly by automobile. Rouse's ethos remains a strong influence upon the physical and political development of Columbia.
History
The Rouse Company accumulated over 14,000 acres (57 km²), 10% of Howard County, Maryland (located between Baltimore and Washington DC), from 140 separate owners. This acquisition was funded by Connecticut General Life Insurance, at an average price of $1,500 per acre ($0.37/m²). In October 1963, the acquisition was revealed to the residents of Howard County, putting to rest rumors about the mysterious purchases. These had included the theory that the site was for a laboratory to study diseases and another that the site was intended to become a giant compost heap.
At this unveiling, James Rouse described Columbia as a planned new city which would avoid the leap-frog and spot development threatening the county. The new city would be complete with jobs, schools, shopping, and medical services, and a range of housing choices. The property taxes from commercial development would cover the additional services with which housing would burden the county. The planning process for Columbia included not only planners, but also a convening of a panel of nationally recognized experts in the social sciences, known as the Work Group. Meeting for two days, twice a month, for half a year, the Work Group suggested innovations that the planners should try in education, recreation, religion, and health care, as well as ways of improving social interactions. Open classrooms, the interfaith centers, and the then-novel idea of a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) with a group practice of doctors (the Columbia Medical Plan) sprang from these meetings.
The physical plan, with neighborhood and village centers, also were decided upon at these meetings. Columbia's “New Town District” zoning ordinance gives the developer great flexibility about what to put where, without getting approval from the county for each specific project.
The first village to be developed in Columbia was Wilde Lake. The first high school to open in Columbia was Wilde Lake High School[1], which opened in 1971 as a model school for the nation. Constructed in the open classroom style, it was razed and reconstructed on the spot in 1996.
Master plan
To achieve the goals set forth by the Work Group, Columbia's Master Plan called for a series of ten self-contained villages, around which day-to-day life would revolve. The centerpiece of Columbia would be the Mall in Columbia and man-made Lake Kittamaqundi.
Villages and neighborhoods
The village concept is aimed to provide Columbia a small-town feel (like Easton, Maryland, where James Rouse grew up). Each village comprises several neighborhoods. The village center may contain middle and high schools. All villages have a shopping center, recreational facilities, a community center, a system of bike/walking paths, and homes. Four of the villages have interfaith centers, common worship facilities which are owned and jointly operated by a variety of religious congregations working together.
Most of Columbia's neighborhoods contain single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and apartments (though some are more exclusive than others). The original plan, following the neighborhood concept of Clarence Perry, would have had all the children of a neighborhood attend the same school, melding neighborhoods into a community and ensuring that all of Columbia's children get the same high-quality education.
- Village – Neighborhoods (in rough order of opening)
- Wilde Lake – Bryant Woods, Faulkner Ridge, Running Brook, The Birches
- Harper's Choice – Longfellow, Swansfield, Hobbit's Glen
- Oakland Mills – Thunder Hill, Talbott Springs, Stevens Forest
- Long Reach – Phelps Luck, Jeffers Hill, Locust Park, Kendall Ridge
- Owen Brown – Dasher Green, Elkhorn, Hopewell
- Hickory Ridge – Clemens Crossing, Hawthorn, Clary's Forest
- Dorsey's Search – Dorsey Hall, Fairway Hills
- Kings Contrivance – Dickinson, Huntington, Macgill's Common
- River Hill – Pheasant Ridge, Pointers Run, River Run
- Town Center – Vantage Point, Banneker, Amesbury, Creighton's Run, and Warfield Triangle
Columbia takes its street names from famous works of art and literature: for example, the neighborhood of Hobbit's Glen takes its street names from the work of J. R. R. Tolkien; Running Brook, from the poetry of Robert Frost; and Clemens Crossing, from the work of Mark Twain.
Columbia today
In 2006, Money magazine ranked Columbia (together with Ellicott City, its neighbor to the north) #4 out of the 100 "Best Places to Live" in the United States.[1]
Education and libraries
Columbia's schools are operated by the Howard County Public School System.
As of the 2004-05 school year, Howard County had 37 elementary, 18 middle, and 12 high schools[2], Howard Community College, and several graduate degree programs.
All 12 of the county's high schools — Atholton[3], Centennial[4], Glenelg[5], Hammond[6], Howard[7], Long Reach[8], Marriotts Ridge[9], Mt. Hebron[10], Oakland Mills[11], Reservoir[12], River Hill[13], and Wilde Lake[14] — serve the students of Columbia.
There are six public library branches in Howard County, two of which — the Central Library in Town Center and the East Columbia Branch in Owen Brown — are in Columbia.www.hclibrary.org
Health
Medical care is available in the recently renovated Howard County General Hospital, affiliated with Baltimore's famous Johns Hopkins Hospital. The Columbia Medical Plan was the city's largest health maintenance organization (HMO). In more recent years, however, this plan has divided into separate medical groups that simply share the Twin Knolls buildings.
Shopping
The Mall in Columbia is a large regional shopping mall with five anchor department stores (Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, Sears, Macy's, and JC Penney) and over 200 stores and restaurants. Also containing a 14-screen AMC movie theater, an LL Bean retail store, and a Cheesecake Factory restaurant, the Mall is a societal center for the community and is located in Town Center.
There are several other major shopping centers in the Columbia area, including Snowden Square, Columbia Crossing I and II, Dobbin Center, Gateway Overlook (under construction), Ellicott City's Long Gate Shopping Center, and Hanover's Arundel Mills (in neighboring Anne Arundel County).
Columbia's nine "village centers" provide residents with nearby shopping as well, often including grocery stores, gas stations, liquor stores, dry cleaners, restaurants, and hair salons. The layout of some of the older village centers is frequently criticized. Individual stores are not visible from the road (unlike traditional strip malls), making it difficult for newcomers and non-residents to know what shopping is available. At the same time, this setup is praised by some for eliminating much of the garishness of roadside America.
Work
Jim Rouse conceived of a city, not a suburban bedroom community, and Columbia is today an "edge city" in the terminology of Joel Garreau. There are 15 office, industrial, and research parks in Columbia. Most are at the eastern and southern edges (such as the sprawling Columbia Gateway Center), but a number of office and residential high-rise buildings are located in Town Center surrounding the Mall in Columbia. Although many residents commute to nearby Baltimore and Washington, D.C., the business complexes in and around Columbia have grown drastically in recent years in response to increased population in the town as well as to a broader expansion of the Baltimore-Washington corridor. Many residents work for the government and nearby U.S. Department of Defense facilities (such as Fort Meade and the National Security Agency, or NSA).
Recreation
Recreation has always been an important part of the Columbia concept. The homeowners association, the Columbia Association, known to Columbians as "CA," builds, operates and maintains most of these facilities. CA operates a variety of recreational facilities, including 23 outdoor swimming pools, six indoor pools, two water slides, ice and roller skating rinks, an equestrian center, a sports park with miniature golf, a skateboard park, batting cages, picnic pavilions, clubhouse and playground, three athletic clubs including the 24/7 Supreme Sports Club, numerous indoor and outdoor tennis, basketball, volleyball, squash and racquetball courts, and running tracks.
There are three lakes (Lake Kittamaqundi, Lake Elkhorn, and Wilde Lake) surrounded by parkland for sailing, fishing, and boating; 80 miles of paths for jogging, strolling and biking; and 148 tot lots and play areas.
Nine village centers, 15 neighborhood centers, and four senior centers provide space for a large variety of community activities. There are a variety of fairs and celebrations throughout the year, including entertainment on the lakefront of Lake Kittamaqundi during the summer and the Columbia Festival of the Arts.
Entertainment / performing arts
While possessing no true nightclubs or nightspots for local performing arts to flourish, Columbia does have a unique independent music scene of teens-to-early-20s residents. These residents perform in local independent bands including Moment of Youth (M.O.Y.) who wrote a song denouncing the Columbia Association and mentioning the People Tree, is appropriately titled "CA". Columbia is also the home of Insubordination Records, a punk, power-pop label featuring regional and national artists.
In the absence of nightclubs, Columbia relies on local bars to bring in bands. Clyde's (near the Columbia Mall and on Lake Kittamaqundi) and Sonoma's (in Owen Brown) regularly bring in groups to perform. Sonoma's features a band every Friday and Saturday evening. The Fire Rock Grill (in Oakland Mills) features stand up comedy shows every Thursday night.
Merriweather Post Pavilion, a well-known outdoor concert venue, attracts many prominent performers. In addition, there are several performing arts organizations that present professionl theater: Toby's Dinner Theater and Rep Stage at Howard Community College.
Transportation
Columbia's initial plan called for a minibus system connecting the village centers on a distinct right-of-way. This was never constructed, though minibuses were operated by the Columbia Association under the name ColumBus. These were eventually taken over by Howard County. Six Howard Transit bus routes now serve Columbia and connect it with its neighboring areas (such as Ellicott City and BWI Airport), while several Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) routes provide access to and from both Washington and Baltimore. In addition, proximity to Washington Metro stations in Montgomery and Prince George's counties provides public transportation to Washington, D.C., while the MARC commuter rail — which services both Baltimore and Washington — and easy access to Interstate 95 puts both cities within easy reach.
Geography
Columbia is located at 39°12.5′N 76°52′W / 39.2083°N 76.867°W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 71.6 km² (27.7 mi²). 71.4 km² (27.6 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.36%) is water.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 88,254 people, 34,199 households, and 23,118 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 1,236.4/km² (3,202.0/mi²). There were 35,281 housing units at an average density of 494.3/km² (1,280.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 66.52% White, 21.47% Black or African American, 0.26% Native American, 7.30% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.63% from other races, and 2.76% from two or more races. 4.12% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 8,815 | — | |
| 1980 | 52,518 | 495.8% | |
| 1990 | 75,883 | 44.5% | |
| 2000 | 88,254 | 16.3% |
There were 34,199 households out of which 35.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.4% were married couples living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. 25.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.09.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 26.3% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 34.1% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 7.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.7 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $71,524, and the median income for a family was $83,753. Males had a median income of $60,498 versus $41,501 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $32,833. About 3.4% of families and 5.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.7% of those under age 18 and 11.0% of those age 65 or over.
Sister cities
Columbia is a sister city to the planned cities of Cergy-Pontoise, France and Tres Cantos, Spain. Columbia Association organizes a summer exchange program for French and Spanish students enrolled in Howard County Public Schools.
Famous Columbians
- Jayson Blair, disgraced former New York Times reporter
- Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize winning author
- Frank Cho, creator of Liberty Meadows comic strip
- Cristeta Comerford, White House Executive Chef
- Laura Lippman, award winning mystery author
- Aaron McGruder, controversial cartoonist
- Edward Norton, Academy Award-nominated actor and grandson of James Rouse, made his professional debut at age 8 at Toby's Dinner Theatre
- James W. Rouse, urban planner, real estate developer and philanthropist. Also grandfather of actor Edward Norton
- Linda Tripp, central figure in the Lewinsky scandal
- Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, OM, KBE inventor of the jet engine
- Ian Jones-Quartey, creator of the webcomic RPG World
- JJ Kincaid, New York City Radio Personality. Got his start DJing at the Columbia Ice Rink.
Further reading
- Joseph Rocco Mitchell and David L. Stebenne, New City Upon A Hill: A History of Columbia, Maryland (The History Press, 2007)
External links
- Columbia Association, Inc.
- Columbia Village Associations including map
- Community Information
- Columbia, Maryland - a planned community
- 2006 Money Magazine's 4th Best Place to Live in the US
