Comments on: Talks Resume for Whole Foods Just South of College Park http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/2011/5527/ Helping imagine a great college town for a great university Fri, 25 Jan 2013 04:03:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: jean http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/2011/5527/comment-page-1/#comment-190718 jean Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:21:24 +0000 http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/2011/5527/#comment-190718 when new faculty and graduate students come to look at the university, one of the obstacles to recruiting them is the state of the community. Even when they consider College Park as a place to live, the quality of the grocery stores and restaurants is a challenge. Therefore, many take their income and taxes to other counties, leaving Prince George's and College Park to fall Additional quality development, including restaurants and stores, will help with the property values and improve quality of life. every single weekend, we leave Prince George’s County to shop, go out to eat and often to go to movies. We shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s in Silver Spring, in part because the quality of the grocery stores in the College Park/Greenbelt area is just not very good. We would prefer to spend our money in our county, and the new development with a Whole Foods will help us do that. (We are thrilled with the addition of Busboys and Poets, and have been there several times already). Finally, when we moved to our old neighborhood in another city, there was no Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. In 2002, Whole Foods opened in a low income community. It sparked a re-development in that area that included restaurants, shops, a Trader Joe’s, housing and now a new Target. It also sparked an upgrade for the Giant Eagle grocery store that enhanced its quality significantly. It became not only a source of jobs and revenue, but a destination for people from all over the city. I support this development and will be at the Whole Foods the first week it opens. Now, add to all this a great development on East Campus, and we might find people choosing to live in College Park more often. when new faculty and graduate students come to look at the university, one of the obstacles to recruiting them is the state of the community. Even when they consider College Park as a place to live, the quality of the grocery stores and restaurants is a challenge. Therefore, many take their income and taxes to other counties, leaving Prince George’s and College Park to fall Additional quality development, including restaurants and stores, will help with the property values and improve quality of life.

every single weekend, we leave Prince George’s County to shop, go out to eat and often to go to movies. We shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s in Silver Spring, in part because the quality of the grocery stores in the College Park/Greenbelt area is just not very good. We would prefer to spend our money in our county, and the new development with a Whole Foods will help us do that. (We are thrilled with the addition of Busboys and Poets, and have been there several times already).

Finally, when we moved to our old neighborhood in another city, there was no Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. In 2002, Whole Foods opened in a low income community. It sparked a re-development in that area that included restaurants, shops, a Trader Joe’s, housing and now a new Target. It also sparked an upgrade for the Giant Eagle grocery store that enhanced its quality significantly. It became not only a source of jobs and revenue, but a destination for people from all over the city.

I support this development and will be at the Whole Foods the first week it opens. Now, add to all this a great development on East Campus, and we might find people choosing to live in College Park more often.

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]]> By: jean http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/2011/5527/comment-page-1/#comment-190717 jean Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:08:28 +0000 http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/2011/5527/#comment-190717 One of the challenges to recruiting faculty and for that matter, graduate students, to the university is that College Park offers few of the amenities that many college towns offer. That means that many who come to build careers at the university take their income and tax dollars to other localities. For those of us who elect to live in the area of the university, the quality of the grocery stores and restaurants often mean we drive to Bethesda or Silver Spring. I believe we need good development on the Cafritz property and East Campus. My experience in a previous home was that the advent of Whole Foods in a low income neighborhood brought jobs, foot traffic and ultimately spawned other businesses. College Park and for that matter, the county, needs these opportunities. I support the development and when Whole Foods opens, I predict there will be a line waiting outside! One of the challenges to recruiting faculty and for that matter, graduate students, to the university is that College Park offers few of the amenities that many college towns offer. That means that many who come to build careers at the university take their income and tax dollars to other localities. For those of us who elect to live in the area of the university, the quality of the grocery stores and restaurants often mean we drive to Bethesda or Silver Spring. I believe we need good development on the Cafritz property and East Campus.

My experience in a previous home was that the advent of Whole Foods in a low income neighborhood brought jobs, foot traffic and ultimately spawned other businesses. College Park and for that matter, the county, needs these opportunities. I support the development and when Whole Foods opens, I predict there will be a line waiting outside!

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]]> By: Colin Phillips http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/2011/5527/comment-page-1/#comment-190646 Colin Phillips Mon, 06 Jun 2011 12:18:53 +0000 http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/2011/5527/#comment-190646 I'll keep saying it till blue in the face ... if you are serious about protecting the environment, then building densely close to transportation hubs should be a #1 priority. No ifs or buts. To see why, look up (i) the amount of CO2 that a typical American puts into the atmosphere, through driving, heating/cooling large houses, etc; and (ii) the amount of CO2 absorbed by a mature tree. You'll find that (i) dwarfs (ii). SO, the biggest gains are to be had by reducing the carbon footprint of humans. And you do that by putting them close to transportation, stores, schools, workplace, etc., and in a place where they're happy to live in smaller/denser dwelling. For sure, the building should be done responsibly, with state-of-the-art practices and management of run-offs etc. But those are details. Build densely near transportation hubs is #1. I’ll keep saying it till blue in the face … if you are serious about protecting the environment, then building densely close to transportation hubs should be a #1 priority. No ifs or buts.

To see why, look up (i) the amount of CO2 that a typical American puts into the atmosphere, through driving, heating/cooling large houses, etc; and (ii) the amount of CO2 absorbed by a mature tree. You’ll find that (i) dwarfs (ii). SO, the biggest gains are to be had by reducing the carbon footprint of humans. And you do that by putting them close to transportation, stores, schools, workplace, etc., and in a place where they’re happy to live in smaller/denser dwelling.

For sure, the building should be done responsibly, with state-of-the-art practices and management of run-offs etc. But those are details. Build densely near transportation hubs is #1.

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]]> By: R. V. Bradley http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/2011/5527/comment-page-1/#comment-190641 R. V. Bradley Mon, 06 Jun 2011 04:03:00 +0000 http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/2011/5527/#comment-190641 "$97,000 per year for a part time job" What kind of f'ing joke is that?! They're not worth that kind of money! Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

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]]> By: David Daddio http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/2011/5527/comment-page-1/#comment-190640 David Daddio Mon, 06 Jun 2011 02:12:51 +0000 http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/2011/5527/#comment-190640 I agree the development review process is very political in Prince George's. No doubt. That's a major emphasis of this site. Dernoga did a lot to harm good projects in north College Park. He quashed projects or delayed them into the recession where the financing fell apart. South of 193, in Olson's district, it's a little bit different. Student housing was the only recession-proof development. Yes, these projects had the university's support, but they also had the financing package and were not being obfuscated by Olson. Fortunately things are turning around. Domain was recently approved in his district. It will be interesting to see how other projects unfold in Olson's district after we come out of the recession... east campus, a scaled down cafritz proposal, book exchange, etc. I agree the development review process is very political in Prince George’s. No doubt. That’s a major emphasis of this site. Dernoga did a lot to harm good projects in north College Park. He quashed projects or delayed them into the recession where the financing fell apart. South of 193, in Olson’s district, it’s a little bit different. Student housing was the only recession-proof development. Yes, these projects had the university’s support, but they also had the financing package and were not being obfuscated by Olson.

Fortunately things are turning around. Domain was recently approved in his district. It will be interesting to see how other projects unfold in Olson’s district after we come out of the recession… east campus, a scaled down cafritz proposal, book exchange, etc.

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