[RP TownTalk] Relocating to area

Wed Jan 9 16:00:02 UTC 2013

Jim - Good to hear you are considering Riverdale Park for your move.  I've
lived here for six years now and have been happily commuting on the MARC
all of that time. You are right that the trains run less frequently than
Metro, certainly - only 4 trains to DC in the morning and 4 trains home in
the evening.  There are a couple of express trains that bypass our station
but stop at College Park, which does come in handy sometimes as well.

College Park Metro and PG Plaza Metro are equidistant from the RP MARC
station.  (You may be unaware of one of Riverdale Park's well-kept secrets (
*Shhhh!)*: We have a secret back way from the MARC Station/Town Center to
College Park Metro - technically it runs through a University parking lot
and so doesn't show up on most GPS's but it does in fact operate as a
street. By that route it's about 1 mile exactly from the MARC station to CP
Metro, which is about the same distance as PG Plaza Metro).

So if the MARC schedule doesn't work for you, you have two metro stations
you can walk to (or drive to). You can also bus to PG Plaza pretty
conveniently (the F4 runs about every 20 minutes, and there's also PG
County "The Bus" #13 that runs maybe every 30 minutes. Technically you can
take the PG County "The Bus" #13 to College Park Metro, but it takes a
circuitous route to get there).  Another well-kept secret. If you do have a
monthly MARC pass, you can ride the buses for free!

You can also bike to College Park with the assurance that your bike will be
safe while you're at work - they have a new, fancy, enclosed and secure
bike parking area that costs only 50c a day.

There are a lot of people who walk to PG Plaza Metro along Queensbury Rd.,
including some from our town (many more from Hyattsville, of course).  I'm
sure you would hear a wide variety of opinions on the safety of that
commute if everybody with an opinion spoke up.  My opinion is that during
daylight hours, absolutely no problem whatsoever.  Of course in the winter
months, you would be walking in darkness.  Personally I wouldn't hesitate
to do it, certainly within normal commuting hours.

One thing that is true now but certainly wasn't in 2006 when I moved here:
Commuting via MARC (if you buy and use a monthly pass)+Metro to DC is
cheaper than parking at the Metro and riding, and is only slightly more
expensive than walking to the Metro and riding all the way.  Clearly this
has not gone unnoticed, as ridership from our RP MARC station has increased
markedly. I have an odd habit of counting heads as we board the train in
the morning.  Until maybe 18 months ago, I had never counted more than 13
getting on a train here; now it's an unusual day when there are as few as
13.  My current record is 24.  I think this is likely due to both the
competitive cost advantage of the commute (parking at our MARC station is
also free, and people drive from as far as Cheverly and DC to catch the
MARC train at Riverdale) and the fact that we've had a significant influx
of new families in the area.  I think the average age of MARC passengers
boarding here has probably dropped by 20 years in the last 2 or 3 years! As
a 60-something wanting our community to grow and prosper, I can tell you
that is a good thing!

The commute and convenience of the MARC are not the only reasons to live
here, of course.  We enjoy many aspects of small town living with an
increasing number of urban conveniences. And then there's the farmers
market (April thru Thanksgiving, Thursdays 3- 7; and a smaller version
indoors same time, at the Town Center Market store at Queensbury &
Lafayette) which is one of, if not thee best in the area.  It's more than a
market - it's a community happening.

As for Cafritz, I'm going to bow out on this one and anticipate that our
town councilman Jonathan Ebbeler will give us an update, in response to
your question.  I, for one, certainly hope and anticipate that it will move
forward but there are no doubt bumps in the road ahead, and I'm sure that
delays are the rule rather than the exception. I wouldn't expect to go
shopping up there before 2016, but that's just me. Let's see what Jonathan
says!  ( We're still waiting on our trolley trail bike line (that will
connect Franklin's, Busboys & Poets and points south to our town center and
then on to College Park and points north) which has been under discussion
since we moved here and is now all approved and budgeted and put out for
bids - hopefully that will get done once the weather breaks in the Spring. )

Dwight Holmes

On Sun, Jan 6, 2013 at 8:07 AM, Jim Kenney <kenney.jim at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi - I'm relocating this Spring and considering Riverdale Park as an
> option. My partner and I would be buying a house and commuting to DC for
> work.
>
> I'm posting here to get some information on a couple things about the
> community.
>
> - Status of the redevelopment of the Cafritz Development.  The last post I
> saw on the RethinkCollegePark blog suggests it is up in the air still as to
> whether it is going forward (See
> http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/2012/7119/). If its going forward,
> when will it get started?
>
> - Commuting to DC - MARC train or Greenline.  What do most people take?
>  MARC train is walkable but runs less frequent. Is the Greenline at PG
> plaza walkable and safe in the morning and evening?
>
> Any insights would be greatly appreciated.
> Thanks,
> Jim
>
>
> Sent from my iPad
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