Wawa Editorial and the Aftermath
In case you missed it, I wrote an opinion column that was published in last Wednesday’s Diamondback student newspaper entitled “Wawa, good riddance”. To read it, go here.
In summary, I celebrated the demise of the College Park Wawa and how it symbolized the less than desirable conditions of College Park. And while Wawa wasn’t the sole cause of College Park’s decline, it was perhaps the face of it due to routine weekend vandalizing from drunken bar-goers. I hoped that Wawa’s closing could catalyze future fundamental changes in downtown College Park to improve its sustainability and become more pedestrian-friendly. I called on JBG Rosenfeld Retail, the landlord of College Park Shopping Center where Wawa is located, to follow the East Campus Initiative’s lead and recognize the market and need for more attractive options for retail and housing in downtown College Park.
The College Park Shopping Center was built in 1949, where a society dominated by car culture called for a strip mall with easily accessible surface parking at the expense of pedestrians. There are several long-term leases on the property, including CVS/pharmacy and Bank of America. JBGR owns this main L-shaped center, as well as the lot one block to the south, which encompasses FedEx Kinko’s and Applebee’s. The official profile of the shopping center can be found here.
Following publication, I received a lot of attention and feedback. However, almost none of it was from undergraduate students, which was my original intention. Even though the scope of my editorial went far beyond Wawa, I hoped that using it as a scapegoat would draw attention from those lamenting the loss of a late-night hangout. Instead, the bulk of feedback came from professionals and alums, most of whom praised my column and agreed with the principle that change was needed in College Park. One individual noted that it was a shame that downtown College Park did not more accurately reflect the presence of a nationally-recognized planning program, as well as the innovative National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education center on campus.
This week, I was surprised to learn that the principal of JBG Rosenfeld Retail, Robert Rosenfeld, teaches a class in Real Estate Finance in the Real Estate Development graduate program on campus. He had read my column and had assigned it to his students in preparation for class discussion. This past Monday, I introduced myself to Mr. Rosenfeld and sat in on his class discussion. While the reaction to my column was overwhelmingly positive, insightful questions such as the perceived lack of financial incentive for JBGR to redevelop the property were brought up. Mr. Rosenfeld responded that long-term leases that give an unusual amount of clout to tenants such as CVS make a revisionary effort in downtown more cumbersome.
However, Mr. Rosenfeld said that his company would observe the progress of East Campus very closely to see what impacts it has on the retail and development climate of downtown College Park. Finally, he offered a tentative plan to redevelop the southern lot with Applebee’s into a mixed-use, multi-story building with retail on the bottom floor and housing for rent on the upper floors. The plan is four years away, he says, but it would go towards transforming College Park from its present state.
In conclusion, I have welcomed all the feedback that I have received from the column and I look forward to yours. The question I grapple with everyday is how to ensure students get a seat at the table when their general apathy towards these issues persists. In the coming weeks, I hope to come up with ideas to encourage active student participation in a time of hope and transition for College Park. Stay tuned.
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October 5th, 2007 at 10:59 am
Hey buddy good stuff, this follow up is very interesting. Unfortunately, I think some of this insight shows how difficult it can be to bring about change and how there is at times little incentive to change the status quo in College Park. Also, it points to one of the problems with getting students involved, one that I certainly came across last year. Here, for example, Mr. Rosenfeld says his redevelopment plans are four years away. By that time, most students in CP now will be gone. How do you get them interested in something that they likely won’t be around for? Answering that question could go a long way towards lessening student apathy about development and College Park at large.
October 5th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
Everyone is excited about the upcoming development of East Campus and the rest of College Park. Even though these changes will not occur in my tenure as a student, nor those of many others at the University - I believe collectively we are proud that our alma mater and future Terps will reap the rewards.
However, I disagree with your principal argument. The loss of the WaWa in the College Park Shopping Center has not bring us any closer towards the redesign of this establishment to make it more student or pedestrian friendly. Undoubtedly with the gift of hindsight, JBG Rosenfeld Retail may have designed the Shopping Center differently but until then we are frankly stuck with what we have.
We cannot be so forward thinking, that forget about the present. WaWa served students in its own unique. Personal feelings aside, one must admit that it fulfilled a critical niche. A 24/hr hangout that was relatively safe, properly heated or air-conditioned, and well served by campus transportation. Its departure results in a literal and metaphorical hole in downtown College Park. I fear that the replacement store will simply be able to serve in the same capacity.
Lastly, I would be cautious when making grandiose statements about student apathy. I dare to say that if you ask every student on this campus has an opinion on what they want College Park to look like and how it can be shaped to cater to their needs. Student leaders (who often have ’seats at the table’) have the responsibility of representing these opinions to their best ability.
The problem, I believe, is showing some degree of progress. Students are worried about the rumored Organic/Health food store that will open in WaWa’s place. What ever happened to the Thirsty Turtle? Will we be able to sustain a varied eateries or will we see repeated turnover? I will undoubtedly try and work on this in every capacity I serve.
October 5th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Mr. Verghese, while your points of student leadership are well-taken, the sad fact is that students are largely oblivious to planning and development issues around them. If it’s there and they can take advantage of it, then great, but if not then they don’t see themselves as part of the solution. Like Mr. Blitzstein stated, if they aren’t around when these new plans would open, then they don’t see the relevance to their lives. I don’t plan on being here when East Campus is built, but that doesn’t stop me from being as informed as I can.
Why don’t you contrast students’ attitude toward College Park with some of the other more idealistic student movements on campus. Something that they have a far less chance of impacting, yet they feel empowered to do it. I want to bring some enthusiasm for some more mundane issues that aren’t nearly as “glamorous” as making marijuana legal or reducing the drinking age. In your own experiences, how excited have students been about Dining Services? And yet Dining Services constitutes a huge part of a student’s experience here. And you are fortunate in that things happen faster on campus than elsewhere. And even then, Northwoods is still a year away.
October 5th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
Mr. Farhoodi, I would assert that students are not as oblivious to the development issues around them. Every student have visited downtown College Park, driven on Route One or visited a fraternity or sorority - sometime during their time at Maryland. East Campus planning has been covered in The Diamondback, in the Washington Post and has filled our e-mail boxes. If nothing else, once construction begins - no can really ignore the changes that will occur.
I strongly believe that everyone has a vested interest or an opinion on the matter. How they voice this, is what differs from person to person. You see this voice represented by who students vote for, how they get involved or who gets their business.
Its the tragedy of the commons. The work of a few will bring benefit to a large majority. This is true for many things on this campus including your example of Dining Services. But this doesn’t stop student leaders from continuing their hard work on behalf of students. In fact the burden is on those people. For example, Andrew Friedson as Student Body President has a seat at the table and a considerable amount of influence. But as the sole student voice, he must try and represent all students.
Don’t confuse student leadership and student activism. There are two very different things and have different goals and aims. Activism is some regards a lot more attractive for students at this point, and I find it quite important. But development will never become an activist goal. Too mundane and just unsexy!
October 5th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
The vast majority of news coverage that East Campus ever got was a direct result of the work we do here on this site (the washington post article was a result of eric fidler calling them). This site is a small bastion of student activism (and at times student leadership) that is certainly unprecedented on this issue (development) in College Park. Even with the extreme amount of work we’ve put in here, we’ve basically been stonewalled by (most of) the city, county, and our own university. Why is there apathy on this issue? Activism produces few tangible results, much criticism, and few (much appreciated) thank yous.
What has RTCP’s activism produced in 1+ years it has been running? Maybe some understanding across different populations within the city, certainly a lot of newspaper articles, and definitely some changed perceptions of the future of the city. Any shovels in the ground? I sure don’t see any.
October 7th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Great article. Redeveloping College Park is long overdue.
October 7th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
When I first got involved with plans for the revitalization of College Park in the early 1990s, I had a five year time frame for showing progress. After a few years my time frame shifted to ten years. After I got elected to City Council I came to realize that a ten-year time frame was too optimistic. My time frame for significant progress is now 2015, which reflects about a 20-year timeframe when you consider that the City adopted its Comprehensive Plan in 1995. But if East Campus fails to progress as proposed, that estimate will not pan out either.
Mr. Rosenfeld’s plans to renovate the Applebee’s-Kinko parcel in four years has already been in the works for three years. Other developers, like Mazza, JPI and Starview, involve projects that will take 7 to 10 years to go from initial plan to completion (if they are ever completed). University View, which was about only a three-year process, was an abberation.
With respect to the Thirsty Turtle, I have heard that the owner, Allan Wanuck, has applied for building permits to construct a costly fire excape, so that his business could one day open.
October 7th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
Regarding Vertigo: Recently when I entered the store at 6:50, after rushing there to meet the tight closing time, the clerk greeted me with a shrill “We’re closing!” After I told her that I just wanted a gift certificate, she backed down, but greeted everyone else who entered, eager to quicklysith a Borders or Barnes and Noble likely coming to East Campus, it might be necessary for Vertigo to stay open a bit later at night in order to compete.
October 9th, 2007 at 11:35 am
To Jesse’s comment at the top of this comments thread:
I agree to some degree (although, when i was a student “back in the day” we could only dream of having people like Rob, David, et al and sites like RTCP) but we need to continue to develop a sense of pride and stewardship among the students and help them understand that once a Terp, always a Terp and we all have a responsibility for leaving CP a little better than when we first arrived. When I was a student we paid a special assessment fee/surcharge to fund construction of that gorgeous rec center. I paid for 10 semesters for something I was never going to set foot in but it did not bother me because I knew it would make the place better, would help attract better students, and in turn help us rise in the rankings which in turn makes my degree more valuable. In today’s point and click/ instant gratification /”whats in it for me?” society its increasingly more challenging to get people so “see the bigger picture” and understand the long term / grand vision.
I was on campus for an event on Sept 29th and had dinner with some students who had no idea what East Campus was. when i explained their faces lit up and they got totally jazzed. I told them they need to bookmark RTCP and get involved. Who knows if they will or not but point is, we all have to engage in grass roots / word of mouth tactics and really push students to 1) see the value and importance and 2)become engaged.
Again, its all about stewardship. If we all collectively play our part, we will all win and benefit from each other’s efforts. As Terps, and for those that are residents of Maryland, we all have a collective responsibility to help The Univ, The City, and that state become the very best that it can be. Not just the students, but ALL residents of Maryland will benefit from a revitalized College Park. But it takes time. It does not happen over night. We need to just keep chipping away.
October 9th, 2007 at 11:35 am
To Jesse’s comment at the top of this comments thread:
I agree to some degree (although, when i was a student “back in the day” we could only dream of having people like Rob, David, et al and sites like RTCP) but we need to continue to develop a sense of pride and stewardship among the students and help them understand that once a Terp, always a Terp and we all have a responsibility for leaving CP a little better than when we first arrived. When I was a student we paid a special assessment fee/surcharge to fund construction of that gorgeous rec center. I paid for 10 semesters for something I was never going to set foot in but it did not bother me because I knew it would make the place better, would help attract better students, and in turn help us rise in the rankings which in turn makes my degree more valuable. In today’s point and click/ instant gratification /”whats in it for me?” society its increasingly more challenging to get people so “see the bigger picture” and understand the long term / grand vision.
I was on campus for an event on Sept 29th and had dinner with some students who had no idea what East Campus was. when i explained their faces lit up and they got totally jazzed. I told them they need to bookmark RTCP and get involved. Who knows if they will or not but point is, we all have to engage in grass roots / word of mouth tactics and really push students to 1) see the value and importance and 2)become engaged.
Again, its all about stewardship. If we all collectively play our part, we will all win and benefit from each other’s efforts. As Terps, and for those that are residents of Maryland, we all have a collective responsibility to help The Univ, The City, and that state become the very best that it can be. Not just the students, but ALL residents of Maryland will benefit from a revitalized College Park. But it takes time. It does not happen over night. We need to just keep chipping away.
October 9th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
Hear, hear, Kevin.
I share Kevin’s surprise at how many people have not yet heard about the developments in the pipeline, East Campus in particular. I wonder why the university does not take the easy step of slapping a couple of big signs on the east side of Route 1 with sample renderings, saying something like “Coming soon… See eastcampus.umd.edu”. People certainly spend enough time stuck in traffic there that they would notice.
October 11th, 2007 at 10:09 am
Yeah Kevin I totally agree with your comments. The students of now are inevitably the alum of the future and one would hope that all or most would care about the university, the city, and the state long after they graduate.
I was back this past weekend for my first football game as an alum (a nice win over Georgia Tech by the way!) and besides feeling a little weird, I also felt some pride in my school and some curiosity as to how/if things had changed both on campus and in the city.
Unfortunately, I think Bob’s personal insight above again shows just how long the process of change can take. But hopefully that sense of “stewardship” that Kevin describes can be cultivated and students both past and present will see that the betterment of College Park is in their interest regardless of how long it takes.
Oh and Kevin, I spent a lot of my time at UMD at the rec center, thanks for paying for it!
October 11th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
“I wonder why the university does not take the easy step of slapping a couple of big signs on the east side of Route 1 with sample renderings, saying something like “Coming soon… See eastcampus.umd.edu”
Very, very ironic that you say this considering we were just discussing how long it takes for anything to get done in CP. Indeed, Rob and I brought up the very same idea to John Porcari way way back during the RFP process and nothing ever materialized. We brought it up again to Doug Duncan before the summer. We can’t even get shovels for a sign…
(my guess is that they want as few people involved in the public participation process as possible.)
October 13th, 2007 at 11:38 am
Hey, look at the bright side, at least they gave some publicity to both East Campus and Rob/David and RTCP in the last issue of Terp magazine. That was pretty cool.