A NEW ROUTE 1

Driving in downtown College Park ten years ago was a drastically different sight — boarded up businesses, one-story buildings and vacant lots lined the streets leading up to this nationally-recognized university, officials said.

But an area once notorious for single-story development has seen a shift in the past five years toward mixed-use development projects — such as the University View, the View II and the Varsity — and more pedestrian-friendly communities, according to city and Prince George's county officials. This aligns with university President Wallace Loh's overarching goal to turn the city into a more appealing college town for prospective and current students.

"We're really starting to change that whole midtown section of College Park," county Councilman Eric Olson (D-College Park).

District 2 City Councilman Bob Catlin said that developers have shifted their focus along Route 1 to accommodate the university's needs. Without this recent push for more development from city, Prince George's County and university officials, the city would have continued to look like it was stuck in the 1950s, according to Catlin.

"Certainly the old Route 1 was just a lot of one-story buildings," Catlin said. "That's what we would have had more of."

Over the last hundred years, residents converted houses into small businesses, starting a trend toward one-story development in the area, according to Facilities Management Director Frank Brewer. Nearly a decade ago, the 8400 block of Route 1 boasted the city's tallest structure: a three-story office building, Brewer said.

"That is not the wave of the future," Brewer said. "The future is growing up, not out."

Sahil Raghavan, a senior government and politics major, said he's seen the city's skyline steadily rise.

"It definitely changes the skyline on that part of Route 1," Raghavan said.

At The Varsity's ribbon cutting ceremony last Tuesday, Olson said the building's foray into the surge of mixed-use development projects springing up near the campus is a shining example of the "new, revitalized Route 1 corridor."

This emergence of off-campus high-rise apartment complexes has prompted more students to walk to the university, as opposed to commuting and contributing to the traffic congestion that is characteristic of the crowded downtown streets, Brewer said.

"It encourages folks to use their feet or use public transportation instead of single-occupancy vehicles," Brewer said.

Olson noted that the opening of off-campus apartments brought with them a flood of "for rent" signs in neighboring community single-family homes, which indicates a strong shift in the student housing options.

Several students said apartment complexes, such as the View, were a better fit for those who didn't want to live in dorms.

"[The University View] reminded me more of a home," said Rachel Brown, a freshman business major.

While city and county officials said they were content with the city's rapid development, District 2 Councilman Jack Perry said that he feels the city hasn't really changed — there's still the same revolving door of businesses shuttering in the city's harsh economic climate.

"It's the same that it was 20 years ago," Perry said.

bach at umdbk dot com