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a progressive vision for our city
(thriving, funky & functional)
(thriving, funky & functional)
Takoma Park is a unique place, where our values - diversity, being green, arts, culture and community - are lived every day. Takoma Junction is currently a place where roads come together, but it’s not a place where the community comes together. Not yet. We support redeveloping the junction in a way that is consistent with Takoma Park’s values, and think that the current plan does just that.
This plan is the result of years of our City leaders engaging the community through transparent processes and working with a minority-owned, small local developer to make these ideas a reality. We think it’s important to move this plan forward because it supports:
1. Shopping locally – Let’s face it. One of the things that makes Takoma Park special is our unique shops, restaurants, and street life. These don’t happen by themselves--it takes work and planning to create space where businesses want to invest and create new jobs. Now, many residents take their money and their business elsewhere because there is not enough space to meet the demand. Having more opportunities to shop locally can also help our City’s tax base, funding valuable programs that benefit our diverse residents. And let’s not forget, if that shopping is walkable, all the better!
2. Transit-oriented development – We are lucky to live at a crossroads with amazing Metro, bus, walking and biking access. We believe in transit, we believe in taking cars off the road, we believe in giving everyone – not just the wealthiest – the opportunity to access Takoma Park’s amazing assets. This location is walking distance to the Metro and is served by 4 bus lines. We think we have an obligation to share this excellent transit access. Let’s walk more and drive less. Let’s reduce our carbon footprint.
3. Environmental sustainability – This developer has proposed replacing the non-permeable, heat-island parking lot with a LEED-certified building. This means the building is particularly energy efficient and produces less waste. Also, this parking lot served as a dump for many years, and building this building will involve doing an environmental assessment and cleanup of this. Further, this developer has agreed to keep the woods behind the parking lot (48% of the site) and clean it up so the public can better enjoy it. The building may also have a green roof with live plants that everyone can access.
4. We should hang out more – This is an opportunity to have more places to run errands, break bread, share meals, and bump into each other. Many of us leave Takoma Park for errands and eating, and we think we should be able to stay close to home to do this, where we can make new friends. In addition to restaurants and stores, the City intends for this development to have public space, perhaps with a public art display space, for everyone to relax.
This plan is the result of years of our City leaders engaging the community through transparent processes and working with a minority-owned, small local developer to make these ideas a reality. We think it’s important to move this plan forward because it supports:
1. Shopping locally – Let’s face it. One of the things that makes Takoma Park special is our unique shops, restaurants, and street life. These don’t happen by themselves--it takes work and planning to create space where businesses want to invest and create new jobs. Now, many residents take their money and their business elsewhere because there is not enough space to meet the demand. Having more opportunities to shop locally can also help our City’s tax base, funding valuable programs that benefit our diverse residents. And let’s not forget, if that shopping is walkable, all the better!
2. Transit-oriented development – We are lucky to live at a crossroads with amazing Metro, bus, walking and biking access. We believe in transit, we believe in taking cars off the road, we believe in giving everyone – not just the wealthiest – the opportunity to access Takoma Park’s amazing assets. This location is walking distance to the Metro and is served by 4 bus lines. We think we have an obligation to share this excellent transit access. Let’s walk more and drive less. Let’s reduce our carbon footprint.
3. Environmental sustainability – This developer has proposed replacing the non-permeable, heat-island parking lot with a LEED-certified building. This means the building is particularly energy efficient and produces less waste. Also, this parking lot served as a dump for many years, and building this building will involve doing an environmental assessment and cleanup of this. Further, this developer has agreed to keep the woods behind the parking lot (48% of the site) and clean it up so the public can better enjoy it. The building may also have a green roof with live plants that everyone can access.
4. We should hang out more – This is an opportunity to have more places to run errands, break bread, share meals, and bump into each other. Many of us leave Takoma Park for errands and eating, and we think we should be able to stay close to home to do this, where we can make new friends. In addition to restaurants and stores, the City intends for this development to have public space, perhaps with a public art display space, for everyone to relax.