Carole Highlands, Maryland
Encyclopedia
Carole Highlands, Maryland
, USA (zip code 20912) is an unincorporated community
partially overlapping the municipal boundaries of the City of Takoma Park
. The neighborhood is located inside the Capital Beltway
, about a mile from the District of Columbia (map). For statistical purposes, it is part of the Chillum
census-designated place
(CDP).
. Elevation
above sea level
(topo map here) reaches a maximum of 220 feet (67.1 m) at the water tower, and slopes downhill to its minimum of 95 feet (29 m) on Elson Street along Sligo Creek Park.
A 200 feet (61 m)-high dendritic ridge
runs north and south through the neighborhood just west of 16th Place. The ridgeline divides the Sligo Creek watershed from the Northwest Branch watershed. When the leaves are off the trees, from various points on the ridge there is a clear view of the Shepherd Park
and Brightwood
neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. (3 miles west); of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
(3 miles south-southwest); and of Carmody Hills, Maryland
(8 miles southeast).
The only direct road access into the neighborhood is via Erskine Street (from New Hampshire Avenue)or Drexel Street (from Riggs Road).
Elson Street and Sligo Parkway East give Carole Highlands two access points to Sligo Creek Trail, which was designated a National Recreation Trail in 2006 (external link here). The paved
and shade
d hiker-biker trail links directly to the Anacostia Trail System and thus to the American Discovery Trail
that crosses the United States
from Delaware
to California
. However, most Carole Highlands residents use Sligo Creek Trail less frequently as an access point for coast-to-coast tours than for bicycle
commuting
, family outings and jogging
.
The western boundary of the Carole Highlands neighborhood is the current border between Montgomery County, Maryland and Prince George's County, Maryland behind the backyards of the houses in Carole Highlands that face 15th Avenue. The legal Carole Highlands section consists of single family houses and ends on 17th Avenue before the "Riggs Hill" complex of multifamily condo apartment buildings, some of which front on Riggs Road. On maps, the neighborhood is east of the slight bulge east of the otherwise straight Montgomery County line north of DC along New Hampshire Avenue. Homes located east of New Hampshire Avenue but west of 15th Avenue are a ward of the City of Takoma Park in Montgomery County. The remainder of the residential section is an unincorporated area in Prince George's County.
s. For this reason, Carole Highlands appears as a dark green
patch on satellite images of the Washington area.
Many of the trees belong to species native to the local ecological region, the Piedmont region
of Maryland. Some of the local tree species are oak
, maple
, birch
, beech
, elm
, wild cherry, weeping cherry, spruce
, pine
, sassafras
and flowering dogwood
.
Mammals: Squirrels, raccoons and opossums are commonly seen and badgers
, foxes
and deer
are seen occasionally.
Some bird
species that have been spotted in local backyards are cardinals
, titmice
, robins
, osprey
s, crows, woodpeckers, flickers
, mockingbirds
, wood thrush
es, gray catbird
s, cowbird
s, chickadee
s, blue jay
s, mourning dove
s, towhee
s, summer tanager
s, goldfinches
, house
and purple finch
es and the ubiquitous species starling
and sparrow
. Kingfishers, heron
s and hawks are seen near Sligo Creek.
The house styles of the development included traditional two-story "brick colonial" and -story "Dutch colonial" models; the then-new "California Cottage home" designed by Carl Freeman himself as a "truly livable space" with a naturally flowing connection with the outdoors; one-story frame ranch houses and, at the edge of the formal Carole Highlands Section on 17th Avenue, a row of attached (double) family homes. Some of the detached Freeman houses were subsequently enlarged with dormer
s or one or two-story additions, while others are still in their pristine state to the current day.
In 1960, the neighborhood Citizen's Association successfully brought a legal case against the Board of County Commissioners of Prince George's County. As a result, the court prohibited the building of a gas station on lot C-2.
Before 1997, the sliver between New Hampshire Avenue and 14th Avenue was both in Prince George's County and in Ward 6 of the municipality of Takoma Park. In 1997, residents of PG areas within its boundaries voted affirmatively to unify the City of Takoma Park under the jurisdiction of Montgomery County. The county line was shifted, changing Prince George's County's boundaries for the first time since 1791.
Home ownership in the neighborhood experienced turnover after the year 2000, as many long-term residents retired and sold their homes to younger newcomers. In 2004, Carole Highlands was featured as one of the best places to live in a local monthly magazine. The speculative real estate boom attracted "flippers" who expected to pocket a $100,000 profit in two years as housing prices spiraled. The subsequent real estate "bust" left many who bought at the top of the market under water with their mortgages however resulted in a default rate for the neighborhood amazingly lower (at 0.02% to date) than the prevailing default rates in Montgomery and Prince George's counties and the general rate in the state of Maryland. Most defaults involved over-leveraged speculators who never intended to settle and mis-timed the market. Residents still include some of Carole Highlands' now elderly "pioneers" who were the original or very early owners of their respective homes and three generations of their heirs and people who grew up in this family-friendly neighborhood and bought homes in the neighborhood where they now raise their own children. Today, many Carole Highlands residents work in nearby in Washington, D.C.or Silver Spring or College Park Maryland. Plumbers and professors live side by side.
.
See * Carole Highlands Elementary School
to Carole Highlands is the Takoma Park Library. This library is at Philadelphia and Maple Avenues, about one and a half miles west of Carole Highlands via bicycle path
s and residential streets. The Takoma Park Library is a department of the City of Takoma Park, and is the only independent (not county-run) municipal library in the state of Maryland. It has a children's book
room, an adults' book room and a periodicals reading area. Residents of the City of Takoma Park automatically have borrowing privileges, and Prince George's County residents may obtain full borrowing privileges for an annual fee of $10.
The second closest public library to Carole Highlands is the Hyattsville Library. This library is on Adelphi Road to the east of the Prince George's Plaza
shopping mall
, about two miles (3 km) east of Carole Highlands via MD-212 and MD-410. It has a children's book room, an adults' book room, a computer area and a periodicals reading area. The Hyattsville Library is also the site of the Maryland Room, decorated in the style of a parlor in a Colonial manor house
of the 18th century and housing a historical
and genealogical
collection that focuses on Maryland
.
Two Purple Line stations are planned nearby: the Takoma-Langley station at the intersection of MD-650 New Hampshire Ave x MD-193 University Boulevard East and the Riggs Road station at MD-212 Riggs Road x MD-193 University Bouleward. These two intersections are within less than a mile of the northwest and northeast corners of the Carole Highlands neighborhood. [To see the locations, click here for a map of the proposed Purple Line route, published by the Washington Post, May 31, 2007, and here for a street map with a pointer to Carole Highlands. To see the official planning maps, click on CFG-06-03 (Riggs Road Station) or CFG-06-02 (Takoma/Langley Station) at the Maryland Transit Authority website.]
The transit line would provide more commuting options to residents as a connection west to Bethesda and east to the New Carollton MARC and Metro stations. Because tall wrought-iron fences erected along the section's northern border block direct access from University Boulevard into Carole Highlands, the transit line itself is unlikely to alter the quiet character of the neighborhood.
However, the Planning Boards of Montgomery and Prince George's county for the Takoma Langley Crossroads (TLC) "transit-oriented development" envision vastly increased residential and commercial density around the two planned local stations that may impact the neighborhood—with or without the Purple Line.
In March 2007, the administration of recently inaugurated
Maryland Governor O'Malley
announced that the previous administration had underestimated likely ridership on this and two other potential new transit lines (e.g. this March 7, 2007 article from Gazette.Net). Accurate ridership estimates are important to secure federal funding for new transit projects. Costs of the Purple Line are estimated in the billions of dollars and the earliest year it may be operational is 2017.
at the intersection of Sligo Creek Parkway and New Hampshire Avenue may be further developed. According to the "Sligo Master Plan" article in the May 2007 issue of the Takoma Park Newsletter, nearby residents "enthusiastically" expressed desires for encouraging such business
es on the lots as a small neighborhood pub, a cafe
, a bicycle
shop and rental business and a hardware
store.
Owner-occupants of Carole Highlands homes filed a class action suit in Circuit Court less than a month after the County Council "initiated" (began) the SMA process of rezoning land use. The plaintiff class is currently expanding and reaching out to affected homeowners in other areas within the Takoma Langley Crossroad sectors of Prince George's and Montgomery County to prevent the rezoning of their properties and the intrusion of commercial activities into residential neighborhoods. The class may potentially expand to include owner occupants of the three spacious garden-style condominium communities, two of which the PG plan targets for demolition and conversion to multiuse and the third of which it targets for rebuilding into a higher density apartment complexes and the single family homes PG plan targets for demolition and redevelopment as dense apartment buildings.
The Montgomery County Council will hold a hearing on its county's Takoma Langley Sector plan in May 2011. As of March 2011, no timetable has been set for publication or a hearing on the proposed rezoning within the SMA of Prince George's County's TLC plan.
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, USA (zip code 20912) is an unincorporated community
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
partially overlapping the municipal boundaries of the City of Takoma Park
Takoma Park, Maryland
Takoma Park is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Washington, D.C., and part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. Founded in 1883 and incorporated in 1890, Takoma Park, informally called "Azalea City," is a Tree City USA and a nuclear-free zone...
. The neighborhood is located inside the Capital Beltway
Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway)
Interstate 495 is a Interstate Highway that surrounds the United States' capital of Washington, D.C., and its inner suburbs in adjacent Maryland and Virginia. I-495 is widely known as the Capital Beltway or simply the Beltway, especially when the context of Washington, D.C., is clear...
, about a mile from the District of Columbia (map). For statistical purposes, it is part of the Chillum
Chillum, Maryland
Chillum is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 34,252 at the 2000 census...
census-designated place
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
(CDP).
Physical geography
Carole Highlands also includes single family houses with the postal address ADELPHI (or HYATTSVILLE) 20783. The planned community was named for the developer's daughter, Carole, and because much of it is literally on "high land." At the very top of the neighborhood is a water towerWater tower
A water tower or elevated water tower is a large elevated drinking water storage container constructed to hold a water supply at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system....
. Elevation
Elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
(topo map here) reaches a maximum of 220 feet (67.1 m) at the water tower, and slopes downhill to its minimum of 95 feet (29 m) on Elson Street along Sligo Creek Park.
A 200 feet (61 m)-high dendritic ridge
Ridge
A ridge is a geological feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for some distance. Ridges are usually termed hills or mountains as well, depending on size. There are several main types of ridges:...
runs north and south through the neighborhood just west of 16th Place. The ridgeline divides the Sligo Creek watershed from the Northwest Branch watershed. When the leaves are off the trees, from various points on the ridge there is a clear view of the Shepherd Park
Shepherd Park
Shepherd Park is a neighborhood in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. In the years following World War II, restrictive covenants which had prevented Jews and African Americans from purchasing homes in the neighborhood were no longer enforced, and the neighborhood became largely Jewish and...
and Brightwood
Brightwood, Washington, D.C.
Brightwood is a neighborhood located in the northwestern quadrant of Washington, D.C. Brightwood and the rest of Ward 4 are represented in the Council of the District of Columbia by Muriel Bowser.- Geography :...
neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. (3 miles west); of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is a prominent Latin Rite Catholic basilica located in Washington, D.C., honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary as Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, the Patroness of the United States...
(3 miles south-southwest); and of Carmody Hills, Maryland
Carmody Hills, Maryland
Carmody Hills is an unincorporated community in Prince George's County in the State of Maryland in the United States of America. Because it is not formally incorporated, it has no official boundaries, but the United States Census Bureau has defined a census-designated place consisting of Carmody...
(8 miles southeast).
Roads, hiker-biker trails, and political geography
Carole Highlands is located within a residential section east of MD-650 (New Hampshire Avenue), northeast of Sligo Creek Park and MD-410 (East-West Highway), west of MD-212 (Riggs Road) and south of MD-193 (University Boulevard).The only direct road access into the neighborhood is via Erskine Street (from New Hampshire Avenue)or Drexel Street (from Riggs Road).
Elson Street and Sligo Parkway East give Carole Highlands two access points to Sligo Creek Trail, which was designated a National Recreation Trail in 2006 (external link here). The paved
Pavement (material)
Road surface or pavement is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past cobblestones and granite setts were extensively used, but these surfaces have mostly been replaced by asphalt or concrete. Such...
and shade
Shade
Shade is the blocking of sunlight by any object, and also the shadow created by that object. Shade also consists of the colors grey, black, white, etc...
d hiker-biker trail links directly to the Anacostia Trail System and thus to the American Discovery Trail
American Discovery Trail
The American Discovery Trail is a coast-to-coast hiking and biking trail across the mid-tier of the United States. It starts on the Delmarva Peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean and ends on the northern California coast on the Pacific Ocean, and is signed on over of trail. This includes the doubled...
that crosses the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. However, most Carole Highlands residents use Sligo Creek Trail less frequently as an access point for coast-to-coast tours than for bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
commuting
Commuting
Commuting is regular travel between one's place of residence and place of work or full time study. It sometimes refers to any regular or often repeated traveling between locations when not work related.- History :...
, family outings and jogging
Jogging
Jogging is a form of trotting or running at a slow or leisurely pace. The main intention is to increase fitness with less stress on the body than from faster running.-Definition:...
.
The western boundary of the Carole Highlands neighborhood is the current border between Montgomery County, Maryland and Prince George's County, Maryland behind the backyards of the houses in Carole Highlands that face 15th Avenue. The legal Carole Highlands section consists of single family houses and ends on 17th Avenue before the "Riggs Hill" complex of multifamily condo apartment buildings, some of which front on Riggs Road. On maps, the neighborhood is east of the slight bulge east of the otherwise straight Montgomery County line north of DC along New Hampshire Avenue. Homes located east of New Hampshire Avenue but west of 15th Avenue are a ward of the City of Takoma Park in Montgomery County. The remainder of the residential section is an unincorporated area in Prince George's County.
Plants and animals
The neighborhood is lined with a canopy of mature treeTree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s. For this reason, Carole Highlands appears as a dark green
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
patch on satellite images of the Washington area.
Many of the trees belong to species native to the local ecological region, the Piedmont region
Piedmont (United States)
The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division...
of Maryland. Some of the local tree species are oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
, maple
Maple
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
, birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
, beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
, elm
Elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...
, wild cherry, weeping cherry, spruce
Spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...
, pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
, sassafras
Sassafras
Sassafras is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.-Overview:...
and flowering dogwood
Dogwood
The genus Cornus is a group of about 30-60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods. Most dogwoods are deciduous trees or shrubs, but a few species are nearly herbaceous perennial subshrubs, and a few of the woody species are evergreen...
.
Mammals: Squirrels, raccoons and opossums are commonly seen and badgers
American Badger
The American badger is a North American badger, somewhat similar in appearance to the European badger. It is found in the western and central United States, northern Mexico and central Canada, as well as in certain areas of southwestern British Columbia.Their habitat is typified by open...
, foxes
Red Fox
The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...
and deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
are seen occasionally.
Some bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
species that have been spotted in local backyards are cardinals
Cardinal (bird)
The Cardinals or Cardinalidae are a family of passerine birds found in North and South America. The South American cardinals in the genus Paroaria are placed in another family, the Thraupidae ....
, titmice
Titmouse
The tits, chickadees, and titmice constitute Paridae, a large family of small passerine birds which occur in the northern hemisphere and Africa...
, robins
American Robin
The American Robin or North American Robin is a migratory songbird of the thrush family. It is named after the European Robin because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not closely related, with the European robin belonging to the flycatcher family...
, osprey
Osprey
The Osprey , sometimes known as the sea hawk or fish eagle, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and across the wings...
s, crows, woodpeckers, flickers
Northern Flicker
The Northern Flicker is a medium-sized member of the woodpecker family. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and is one of the few woodpecker species that migrate. There are over 100 common names for the Northern Flicker...
, mockingbirds
Northern Mockingbird
The Northern Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos, is the only mockingbird commonly found in North America. This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Turdus polyglottos....
, wood thrush
Wood Thrush
The Wood Thrush, Hylocichla mustelina, is a North American passerine bird. It is closely related to other thrushes such as the American Robin and is widely distributed across North America, wintering in Central America and southern Mexico...
es, gray catbird
Gray Catbird
The Gray Catbird , also spelled Grey Catbird, is a medium-sized northern American perching bird of the mimid family. It is the only member of the "catbird" genus Dumetella...
s, cowbird
Cowbird
Cowbirds are birds belonging to the genus Molothrus in the family Icteridae. They are brood parasitic New World birds which are unrelated to the Old World cuckoos, one of which, the Common Cuckoo, is the best-known brood parasitic bird....
s, chickadee
Chickadee
Chickadee is a group of birds in the Paridae familyChickadee may also refer to:* USS Chickadee , a minesweeper in the United States Navy* Chickadee , a Canadian children's magazine-See also:* Black-capped Chickadee...
s, blue jay
Blue Jay
The Blue Jay is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to North America. It is resident through most of eastern and central United States and southern Canada, although western populations may be migratory. It breeds in both deciduous and coniferous forests, and is common near and in...
s, mourning dove
Mourning Dove
The Mourning Dove is a member of the dove family . The bird is also called the Turtle Dove or the American Mourning Dove or Rain Dove, and formerly was known as the Carolina Pigeon or Carolina Turtledove. It is one of the most abundant and widespread of all North American birds...
s, towhee
Towhee
A towhee is any one of a number of species of birds in the genus Pipilo or Melozone within the family Emberizidae ....
s, summer tanager
Summer Tanager
The Summer Tanager, Piranga rubra, is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family , it and other members of its genus are now classified in the cardinal family...
s, goldfinches
American Goldfinch
The American Goldfinch , also known as the Eastern Goldfinch and Wild Canary, is a small North American bird in the finch family...
, house
House Finch
The House Finch is a bird in the finch family Fringillidae, which is found in North America. This species and the other "American rosefinches" are usually placed in the rosefinch genus Carpodacus...
and purple finch
Purple Finch
The Purple Finch, Carpodacus purpureus, is a bird in the finch family Fringillidae.-Taxonomy:The Purple Finch is one of 24 birds in the genus Carpodacus and is included in the finch...
es and the ubiquitous species starling
Starling
Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae. The name "Sturnidae" comes from the Latin word for starling, sturnus. Many Asian species, particularly the larger ones, are called mynas, and many African species are known as glossy starlings because of their iridescent...
and sparrow
Sparrow
The sparrows are a family of small passerine birds, Passeridae. They are also known as true sparrows, or Old World sparrows, names also used for a genus of the family, Passer...
. Kingfishers, heron
Heron
The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called "egrets" or "bitterns" instead of "heron"....
s and hawks are seen near Sligo Creek.
History
The largest section of the neighborhood was developed as a planned community by Carl M. Freeman Associates, Inc. (now the Carl M. Freeman Companies) beginning in 1947. The development maximized the preservation of oak trees hundred of years old by arranging houses on large (6000-12,000 square foot) lots contoured to respect the section's ridges and slopes. According to the company's website (here), the development won an award. Carole Highlands was the first and only suburban housing developed after World War II in the entire Washington, D.C. metro area which sold homes to all comers WITHOUT discriminatory covenants. Carole Highlands takes pride in having been an integrated community from its beginning and continues to shelter and celebrate its diversity. The community is integrated in every way possible.The house styles of the development included traditional two-story "brick colonial" and -story "Dutch colonial" models; the then-new "California Cottage home" designed by Carl Freeman himself as a "truly livable space" with a naturally flowing connection with the outdoors; one-story frame ranch houses and, at the edge of the formal Carole Highlands Section on 17th Avenue, a row of attached (double) family homes. Some of the detached Freeman houses were subsequently enlarged with dormer
Dormer
A dormer is a structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a sloping roof surface. Dormers are used, either in original construction or as later additions, to create usable space in the roof of a building by adding headroom and usually also by enabling addition of windows.Often...
s or one or two-story additions, while others are still in their pristine state to the current day.
In 1960, the neighborhood Citizen's Association successfully brought a legal case against the Board of County Commissioners of Prince George's County. As a result, the court prohibited the building of a gas station on lot C-2.
Before 1997, the sliver between New Hampshire Avenue and 14th Avenue was both in Prince George's County and in Ward 6 of the municipality of Takoma Park. In 1997, residents of PG areas within its boundaries voted affirmatively to unify the City of Takoma Park under the jurisdiction of Montgomery County. The county line was shifted, changing Prince George's County's boundaries for the first time since 1791.
Home ownership in the neighborhood experienced turnover after the year 2000, as many long-term residents retired and sold their homes to younger newcomers. In 2004, Carole Highlands was featured as one of the best places to live in a local monthly magazine. The speculative real estate boom attracted "flippers" who expected to pocket a $100,000 profit in two years as housing prices spiraled. The subsequent real estate "bust" left many who bought at the top of the market under water with their mortgages however resulted in a default rate for the neighborhood amazingly lower (at 0.02% to date) than the prevailing default rates in Montgomery and Prince George's counties and the general rate in the state of Maryland. Most defaults involved over-leveraged speculators who never intended to settle and mis-timed the market. Residents still include some of Carole Highlands' now elderly "pioneers" who were the original or very early owners of their respective homes and three generations of their heirs and people who grew up in this family-friendly neighborhood and bought homes in the neighborhood where they now raise their own children. Today, many Carole Highlands residents work in nearby in Washington, D.C.or Silver Spring or College Park Maryland. Plumbers and professors live side by side.
Public schools
Students from Carole Highlands Section in Prince George's County are currently assigned to Carole Highlands Elementary School—located within the section, Buck Lodge Middle School and High Point High School. Prince George's County Public SchoolsPrince George's County Public Schools
The Prince George's County Public Schools system is a large school district administered by the government of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States and is overseen by the Maryland State Department of Education...
.
See * Carole Highlands Elementary School
- Buck Lodge Middle School
- High Point High SchoolHigh Point High SchoolHigh Point High School is a high school located in Beltsville, an unincorporated section of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States of America, and built on the highest point in Prince George's County....
Places of Worship
In 2003, the Turner Memorial AME congregation purchased the large church building within the section from the Wallace Memorial Presbyterian congregation that formerly occupied its multiple lots. Two Protestant and one Roman Catholic churches are located within easy walking distance on near-by New Hampshire Avenue.Public libraries
The closest public libraryLibrary
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
to Carole Highlands is the Takoma Park Library. This library is at Philadelphia and Maple Avenues, about one and a half miles west of Carole Highlands via bicycle path
Bicycle Path
Bicycle Path is a historic road in Central Suffolk County on Long Island, New York, built in the late 19th Century in order to capitalize on the bicycle craze of that period...
s and residential streets. The Takoma Park Library is a department of the City of Takoma Park, and is the only independent (not county-run) municipal library in the state of Maryland. It has a children's book
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
room, an adults' book room and a periodicals reading area. Residents of the City of Takoma Park automatically have borrowing privileges, and Prince George's County residents may obtain full borrowing privileges for an annual fee of $10.
The second closest public library to Carole Highlands is the Hyattsville Library. This library is on Adelphi Road to the east of the Prince George's Plaza
The Mall at Prince George's
The Mall at Prince Georges is an enclosed regional shopping mall located in Hyattsville, Maryland, at the intersection of Belcrest Road and East-West Highway . It is served by a Washington Metro station that goes by the name Prince George's Plaza, which is the Mall's former name. This station is on...
shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
, about two miles (3 km) east of Carole Highlands via MD-212 and MD-410. It has a children's book room, an adults' book room, a computer area and a periodicals reading area. The Hyattsville Library is also the site of the Maryland Room, decorated in the style of a parlor in a Colonial manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
of the 18th century and housing a historical
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and genealogical
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
collection that focuses on Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
.
Purple Line and associated development
One issue of interest to Carole Highlands residents is the status of the Purple Line transit project.Two Purple Line stations are planned nearby: the Takoma-Langley station at the intersection of MD-650 New Hampshire Ave x MD-193 University Boulevard East and the Riggs Road station at MD-212 Riggs Road x MD-193 University Bouleward. These two intersections are within less than a mile of the northwest and northeast corners of the Carole Highlands neighborhood. [To see the locations, click here for a map of the proposed Purple Line route, published by the Washington Post, May 31, 2007, and here for a street map with a pointer to Carole Highlands. To see the official planning maps, click on CFG-06-03 (Riggs Road Station) or CFG-06-02 (Takoma/Langley Station) at the Maryland Transit Authority website.]
The transit line would provide more commuting options to residents as a connection west to Bethesda and east to the New Carollton MARC and Metro stations. Because tall wrought-iron fences erected along the section's northern border block direct access from University Boulevard into Carole Highlands, the transit line itself is unlikely to alter the quiet character of the neighborhood.
However, the Planning Boards of Montgomery and Prince George's county for the Takoma Langley Crossroads (TLC) "transit-oriented development" envision vastly increased residential and commercial density around the two planned local stations that may impact the neighborhood—with or without the Purple Line.
In March 2007, the administration of recently inaugurated
Inauguration
An inauguration is a formal ceremony to mark the beginning of a leader's term of office. An example is the ceremony in which the President of the United States officially takes the oath of office....
Maryland Governor O'Malley
Martin O'Malley
Martin Joseph O'Malley is an American Democratic politician who is currently serving as the 61st Governor of Maryland. Previously, he served as the mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007. He is currently the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association.-Early life, education and career:O'Malley...
announced that the previous administration had underestimated likely ridership on this and two other potential new transit lines (e.g. this March 7, 2007 article from Gazette.Net). Accurate ridership estimates are important to secure federal funding for new transit projects. Costs of the Purple Line are estimated in the billions of dollars and the earliest year it may be operational is 2017.
Sligo Master Plan
Under the plan proposed by the Montgomery County Planning Board in May 2010 to rezone and redevelop its section of the Takoma Langley Crossroads sector and the City of Takoma Park's consistent plan to revitalize commercial uses along New Hampshire Avenue, land lots zoned commercialCommerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
at the intersection of Sligo Creek Parkway and New Hampshire Avenue may be further developed. According to the "Sligo Master Plan" article in the May 2007 issue of the Takoma Park Newsletter, nearby residents "enthusiastically" expressed desires for encouraging such business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
es on the lots as a small neighborhood pub, a cafe
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
, a bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
shop and rental business and a hardware
Hardware
Hardware is a general term for equipment such as keys, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, plumbing supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores....
store.
Takoma Langley Crossroads Plan
The plan approved in 2009 for the Takoma Langley Crossroads Section in Prince George's County, however, envisions massive redevelopment (=demolition and rebuilding). Approximately half the homes in the Carole Highlands Section (206 houses north of Erskine Avenue) were included in the Sectional Map Amendment (SMA) area of that PG plan. In the first phase (5–10 years), redevelopment would come up to the very boundary of the community as PG planners seek to demolish most buildings of the Riggs Hill Condominium between 18th Avenue and Riggs Road to convert them to multi-use: 3-4 floors of apartments above retail stores. In the third phase (15 to 25 years hence), the PG county plan calls for the "redevelopment" of the area of Carole Highlands included in the SMA into far more intense "medium density" land use—a term which is not associated with the existing zoning for single family homes on spacious lots.Owner-occupants of Carole Highlands homes filed a class action suit in Circuit Court less than a month after the County Council "initiated" (began) the SMA process of rezoning land use. The plaintiff class is currently expanding and reaching out to affected homeowners in other areas within the Takoma Langley Crossroad sectors of Prince George's and Montgomery County to prevent the rezoning of their properties and the intrusion of commercial activities into residential neighborhoods. The class may potentially expand to include owner occupants of the three spacious garden-style condominium communities, two of which the PG plan targets for demolition and conversion to multiuse and the third of which it targets for rebuilding into a higher density apartment complexes and the single family homes PG plan targets for demolition and redevelopment as dense apartment buildings.
The Montgomery County Council will hold a hearing on its county's Takoma Langley Sector plan in May 2011. As of March 2011, no timetable has been set for publication or a hearing on the proposed rezoning within the SMA of Prince George's County's TLC plan.
Statistics and elected officials
- LatitudeLatitudeIn geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
: 38.98139 N - LongitudeLongitudeLongitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....
: 76.98361 W - County CouncilCounty councilA county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.-United Kingdom:...
:
- For current Montgomery County councilmembers, check MC District 5 externally.
- For current Prince George's County councilmembers, check PG District 2 externally.
- Maryland House of DelegatesMaryland House of DelegatesThe Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland, and is composed of 141 Delegates elected from 47 districts. The House chamber is located in the state capitol building on State Circle in Annapolis...
:
- Maryland House of Delegates
- District 20 (Montgomery County)
- District 47 (Prince George's County)
- For current Maryland state delegates, check district on this list or externally.
- Maryland State SenateMaryland State SenateThe Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland...
:
- Maryland State Senate
- District 20 (Montgomery County)
- District 47 (Prince George's County)
- For current Maryland state senators, check district on this list or externally.
- United States House of RepresentativesUnited States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
:
- United States House of Representatives
- Maryland District 8 (both counties)
- Chris Van HollenChris Van HollenChristopher "Chris" Van Hollen, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
, current U.S. representative.- United States SenateUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
:
- United States Senate
- Barbara A. Mikulski and Ben CardinBen CardinBenjamin Louis "Ben" Cardin is the junior United States Senator from Maryland and a member of the Democratic Party. Before his election to the Senate, Cardin was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing from 1987 to 2007.Cardin was elected to succeed Paul Sarbanes in...
, current U.S. senators.- GovernorGovernorA governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of MarylandMarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
:
- Governor
- Martin O'MalleyMartin O'MalleyMartin Joseph O'Malley is an American Democratic politician who is currently serving as the 61st Governor of Maryland. Previously, he served as the mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007. He is currently the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association.-Early life, education and career:O'Malley...
- Lieutenant GovernorLieutenant governorA lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
of MarylandMarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
:
- Lieutenant Governor
- Anthony G. BrownAnthony G. BrownAnthony G. Brown is a Democratic Party politician from the State of Maryland and is the current Lieutenant Governor of Maryland. He was elected as Maryland’s eighth Lieutenant Governor in 2006 on a ticket with Governor Martin O'Malley. Both were reelected in 2010. He is the second African...
External links
- Location in the DC Metro area
- Map of proposed Purple Line route, published by the Washington Post, May 31, 2007
- Topo map with streets, elevation contours and landmarks
- Map of the Carole Highlands Elementary School District
- Gazette.net article 01/11/2007 "At Carole Highlands [Elementary School], small groups spell success on MSA"
- The original builders, Carl M. Freeman Associates
- Sligo Creek Trail
- Friends of Sligo Creek
- the nearby International Corridor/Gateway Arts District