College Park Metro Walk Score Ranks Among the Worst
March 11th, 2012 | by Clay Gump | Published in M Square Research Park, Transportation | 2 Comments
Greater Greater Washington recently did a story on the Walk Scores of Metro stations and predictably found Prince George’s County bringing up the rear with an average score of 49.8 out of 100… which is considered Car Dependent. Using an address on the west side of the Metro station gives a score of 49 while the east side give a horrendous score of 37.
This probably isn’t news to anyone who works near M-Square or uses the College Park Metro station with any regularity. There is a complete lack of any viable options for those wishing to move towards a car-free lifestyle and using the current M-Square master plan as a guide, not much will chance in the future.
As Matt Johnson from GGW points out, Prince George’s County in particular is having challenges taking advantage of its Metro stations.
Prince George’s has 15 stations, which is more than any other jurisdiction aside from the District. The county is at a disadvantage because of the placement of many stations. Even so, Prince George’s has not committed to transit-oriented development around its stations. The county has a history of allowing development on the fringes of the county to short-circuit demand for offices and retail near Metro.
In the past, there have been grand plans for development near the Metro that have gone nowhere for one reason or another; however, M-Square is moving forward with three “suburban style” office buildings that would do very little to bring up that Walk Score. It’s time to take M-Square and the area surrounding the Metro seriously.
March 28th, 2012 at 1:07 pm (#)
Imagine if there was a large open and totally underutilized plot of land right next to the Metro Station that could be developed…oh wait, there is, its call the College Park “Airport.” Airport in quotes because very few planes actually take off or land there anymore due to FAA restrictions on the DC region. So its sits largely empty, with a few old planes rusting away on the grass, and PG County Police using it as a base for their helicopters.
Keep the museum, but develop the airport into something that will benefit College Park.
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April 6th, 2012 at 11:08 am (#)
It would be awful to lose such a historic airport to development. Trust me I hate the helicopter noise but that airport should stay. Its the oldest continually running airport in the WORLD! Maybe the FAA restrictions will be relaxed at some point in the future.
Plus there is plenty of space available. Many of those car shops and warehouse buildings are for sale by a single owner.
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