Takoma Park, Maryland
Encyclopedia
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
. A planned commuter suburb, it is situated along the Metropolitan Branch of the historic Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
, just northeast of Washington. It is governed by an elected mayor and six elected councilmembers, who form the city council, and an appointed city manager
, under a council-manager style of government
. The city's population was 16,715 at the 2010 national census.
in 1883 and incorporated in 1890. It was one of the first planned Victorian
commuter suburb
s, centered on the B&O
railroad station in Takoma, D.C., and bore aspects of a spa
and trolley park
. For many decades it was the world headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
, which maintains a regional hospital, college, radio station and several churches and other local facilities in the city.
In 1964, an inside-the-Capital-Beltway extension of Interstate 70
S, also known as the North Central Freeway, was proposed via a route known as "Option #11 Railroad Sligo East," up to 1/4 mile parallel to the B&O railroad upon a swath of land displacing 471 houses, that would have cut the city in two. In the mid-to-late 1960s, the future Mayor and civil rights
activist Sam Abbott led a campaign to halt freeway construction and replace it with a Metrorail line
to the site of the former train station, and worked with other neighborhood groups to halt plans for a wider system of freeways going into and out of DC.
This controversy also raised the profile of Takoma Park at a time in the late 1960s and 1970s when it was becoming noted regionally and nationally for political activism outside the Nation's capital, with newspaper commentators describing it as "The People's Republic of Takoma Park" or "The Berkeley of the East", also "Tacky Park".
Also dividing the community is the boundary line of the District of Columbia, which contains part of the original Gilbert tract. This area is now known as Takoma, D.C. While politically separate from Takoma Park, Maryland, it shares its history and much of its culture.
Much of the old town Takoma Park was incorporated into the Takoma Park Historic District
; listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1976.
Before 1995, the eastern boundary of the city of Takoma Park was in Prince George's County
, Maryland, causing the community to be divided across two counties and the Maryland/D.C. line (where the original downtown area is located). For several years, Takoma Park lobbied the State of Maryland for legislation allowing county boundaries to be adjusted. The State finally agreed to this change, with the stipulation that cross-county municipalities would no longer be allowed; the new municipal boundary would forever remain within the county of its choosing. In August 1995, after passage of the law, the city held a public referendum asking registered voters living in three Prince George's County neighborhoods north of New Hampshire Avenue
whether they wanted to be annexed to the city of Takoma Park. There was a majority of votes, 211 out of 304, in favor of annexation to the city.
In November 1995, the State-sponsored referendum was held asking whether the portions of the city in Prince George's County should be annexed to Montgomery County, or vice versa. The majority of votes in the referendum were in favor of unification of the entire city in Montgomery County. Following subsequent approval by both counties' councils and the Maryland General Assembly
, the county line was moved to include the entire city into Montgomery County (including territory in Prince George's County newly annexed by the city) on July 1, 1997. This process became known as Unification.
The city has experienced substantial gentrification
in the 1990s and early 2000s, with many group houses containing accessory apartments being converted back into single-family homes. This process was encouraged by an M-NCPPC "phase back", effectively eliminating scattered-site multifamily housing and implementing single-use zoning
citywide, which prompted calls by some residents for the city to have its own planning authority. The majority of the city's population remain tenants, many of whom live in a cluster of high-rise and mid-rise apartment buildings surrounding Sligo Creek
, which cuts a deep valley through the community.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 2.36 square miles (6.1 km²), all land. Sligo Creek
and Long Branch (both tributaries of the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia River
) flow through the area. Sligo Creek Park and the 9 miles (14 km) Sligo Creek Trail
bisect the area. The main street
, Carroll Avenue, and the main state highway
, Route 410/East West Highway, narrow to two lanes within city limits. Takoma park has an extensive hardwood
tree canopy which is protected by local ordinance.
Takoma Park sits on the edge of the Mid-Atlantic fall line
and is thus quite hilly, with many narrow, gridded streets.
Takoma Park is bounded by downtown Silver Spring, Maryland
, a major urban center to the northwest, by Montgomery College
campus; East Silver Spring, a community of houses, apartments and small shops, along Flower Avenue and Piney Branch Road, to the north; Langley Park, Maryland
, a community of apartments and shopping centers, along University Boulevard to the northeast; Chillum, Maryland
, in Prince George's County to the southeast, bounded by New Hampshire Avenue
, a state highway; and Takoma, Washington, D.C. to the southwest, separated by Eastern Avenue, which follows the District of Columbia line.
The corner of Eastern and Carroll Avenues roughly marks the center of the old commercial district. Other town centers include: "Takoma Junction", the corner of Carroll Avenue and Route 410 in the geographic center of town, home to the city's large food co-op
; Takoma-Langley Crossroads in downtown Langley Park
, and the Flower shopping district, both of which are home to many immigrant-owned establishments. Takoma Park's municipal center is located at the corner of Maple Avenue and Route 410. Washington Adventist University marks the corner of Carroll and Flower Avenues.
of 2000, there were 17,299 people, 6,893 households, and 3,949 families residing in the city. The population density
was 8152.4 PD/sqmi. There were 7,187 housing units at an average density of 3387 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 48.79% White, 33.97% African American, 0.44% Native American, 4.36% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 7.44% from other races
, and 4.97% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14.42% of the population.
There were 6,893 households out of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.5% were married couples
living together, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.7% were non-families. Approximately 4.5% of all couples were unmarried same sex couples. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.13.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.6% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 35.9% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 8.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 89.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $48,490, and the median income for a family was $63,434. Males had a median income of $40,668 versus $35,073 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $26,437. About 8.4% of families and 10.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.5% of those under age 18 and 20.5% of those age 65 or over.
The Takoma Park Folk Festival is a music festival held annually in the city. It has been in existence since 1978, founded by Sam Abbott, former Mayor of the city and civil-rights activist. In addition to hosting concerts on several stages by musicians from around the world, the festival also celebrates cultural diversity of the region, with a wide variety of ethnic food and crafts.
The festival features numerous varieties of music from local and national artists, including blues, klezmer, bluegrass, Celtic, and hip-hop, and traditional music and dance from around the world. Other performers specialize in traditional and progressive folk music. In addition to music and dance, the festival features traditional storytellers from around the world.
Takoma Park is notable for being the home of Takoma Records
, a nationally-known blues label started by blues guitarist John Fahey
, who (together with other local music institutions) popularized the city as a haven for folk musicians. Mary Chapin Carpenter
, Al Petteway
(composer of Sligo Creek
) and many other prominent local and national artists have made their home in and around Takoma Park. Root Boy Slim
and Goldie Hawn
are from Takoma Park.
Other annual festivals include the mildly countercultural Takoma Park Street Festival, the Takoma Jazz Fest, the Takoma Park Independent Film Festival, and the Takoma Park Fourth of July Parade, which is attended by residents and neighboring politicians from across the metropolitan region. The parade typically includes ethnic musical troupes representing a wide variety of global cultures, neighborhood performance troupes, and groups supporting causes, such as LGBTQ and fair trade
, reflecting Takoma Park's historic reputation for activism.
Immediately adjacent to the downtown, Takoma, D.C. is home to the A.Salon Building, a large art studio warehouse and former printing plant, which is home to the backstage office and rehearsal center for the Washington Opera. Two (currently vacant) freestanding theaters, the Takoma Theater and the Flower Theater, anchor either end of town. Takoma Park is also home to the Liz Lerman
Dance Exchange and the Institute of Musical Traditions, a performance society founded by the House of Musical Traditions. Kinetic Artistry, a notable theatre supplier for the Washington area, is also located in Takoma Park. A Historic Takoma Museum is under construction by the local historic society. The Takoma Theatre Conservancy is an organization attempting to renovate the 500-seat Takoma Theatre for multiuse purposes.
Takoma Park has been home to a variety of local characters who have contributed to the city's sense of identity and culture, including "Catman" and Motor Cat, Roscoe the Rooster, The Banjo Man, and "Fox Man", a local animal rights activist and founder of the city's Tool Library. Takoma Park also has a year round farmer's market and two other farmers markets which sell local produce and free range meats.
Underground filmmaker Nick Zedd
grew up in in Takoma Park and and made his first movies there.
, the NBA basketball player, who grew up in Takoma Park; but funding was not identified.
In 2010, the Seventh-Day Adventist Church received authorization to relocate the regional Washington Adventist Hospital from the center of town to an outlying area of nearby Silver Spring, Maryland
, alongside its international headquarters and the Adventist Book and Health Food Store, which had also been located within city limits. This had followed an effort by county officials to close or relocate the city's fire station, located on the side of a steep hill. Due to resulting controversy, the City Council lobbied to retain the old Hospital facility as a "health campus". The hospital had been in operation for over a century, having been founded as the Washington Sanitarium overlooking Sligo Creek, shortly after the church's relocation from Battle Creek, Michigan
. Officials also successfully lobbied to retain a university located on the same campus, which has been renamed Washington Adventist University.
In the 1970s
, the city experienced controversy over plans to expand or relocate Montgomery College
, which has a campus located in the historic district of North Takoma, an area of large old homes adjacent to downtown Silver Spring. This debate was subsequently resolved when the County agreed to preserve the existing campus, and expand in the direction of downtown Silver Spring by building a bridge across the B&O railroad tracks. It was renamed the "Takoma Park-Silver Spring Campus", focused on health, nursing and the arts. The expanded campus included a major new arts center located in South Silver Spring, near the boundary between the three jurisdictions.
The Takoma Park-Silver Spring Food Co-op is one of the Washington area's largest food co-op
s.
In the late 2000s, regional and national debate occurred over the decision to close Walter Reed Army Medical Center
in Takoma, D.C., and relocate its operations to the Bethesda Naval Medical Center.
Takoma Park Soccer Club is the sponsor of many youth soccer teams in the Takoma Park area; such as the TAPK United, coached by professional Brazilian coach Manilton Santos. They are a team who have won many games and earned thhe affectionate nickname Tapioca United.
. The city was also forbidden, by statute, from doing business with any entity having commercial ties with the government of Burma (Myanmar), though after a United States Supreme Court
decision struck down a similar Massachusetts provision, enforcement of the provision was suspended in the year 2000. As of 2007, the Free Burma Committee is inactive. Takoma Park is also forbidden from purchasing any World Bank financial instruments.. In 2008, the city unanimously approved a resolution to oppose foie gras. It is widely believed that Takoma Park prohibits national chain stores from operating within the city, but although such a law would accord with Takoma Park values, it does not actually exist.
Takoma Park is noted for being a "Nuclear Free Zone" along with cities including Berkeley, California
, Cleveland Heights, Ohio
, and Madison, Wisconsin
. It has an active Nuclear Free Zone Committee which advocates for nuclear disarmament and is entrusted with making purchasing recommendations to the city. Since Takoma Park is a certified Tree City, its residents must obtain a permit to cut down any tree on their property measuring more than 8 inches in diameter. This has contributed to the preservation of second-growth hardwood forest which covers much of the city, as is visible in satellite photos.
For these and other policies, the city is affectionately nicknamed the "People's Republic of Takoma Park" by its residents.
Takoma Park is chartered with its own police force, public works department, housing department, and recreation department. It has also historically maintained its own Volunteer Fire Department and Municipal Library. Until 2007, the city operated a Tool Library as well, and continues to operate its own compost recycling program and silo for corn-burning stoves. As one of the most urbanized areas outside Washington, D.C., Takoma Park is densely developed with narrow houses on deep lots, often featuring mid-block developments and a mix of apartments and homes which are no longer permitted under regional suburban zoning laws, under which many apartments were de-zoned in 1989. Development and reconstruction of the fire station and other public facilities have been highly controversial, with some advocating that facilities be closed and moved to outlying, automobile-friendly areas.
Former mayors are:
elected by wards. Council members serve terms of two years, and are elected in the odd-numbered years. Non-U.S. citizens may register and vote in the municipal election. The members of the council elected in 2011 are:
, Burlington, Vermont
and, more recently, Ferndale, Michigan
.
In the 2009 election, Takoma Park used the Scantegrity
voting system. This marked the first time an open source
voting system was used in a public sector election in the United States, as well as the first time a system with end-to-end verifiability
was used.
sits in the heart of the old downtown area, at the terminus of Carroll Street, Takoma Park's main street
(Carroll Avenue in Maryland) on the D.C. side two blocks from the Maryland line. The Takoma Metro station is noted for having one of the highest pedestrian
mode shares of any non-central business district
station in the Washington Metrorail system.
New Hampshire Avenue
is the only six-lane thoroughfare running through city limits, continuing into central Washington, D.C. and primarily serving through-traffic to the east of the city. Other major roads narrow to two lanes within city limits, including Route 410/East West Highway, a major state thoroughfare, and Piney Branch Road, which was narrowed from four lanes to two within city limits as a result of a traffic calming
measure. The primary route into D.C. is Georgia Avenue
, the main turnpike through downtown Silver Spring
, and Blair Road, a two-lane road (formerly part of the Montgomery Blair
estate) which becomes North Capitol Street
, a six-lane boulevard to the south. University Boulevard, the major suburban shopping strip, skirts the area to the northeast. Carroll Avenue ends two miles short of the Washington Beltway/I95 interchange.
While the 9 miles (14 km) Sligo Creek Trail
is primarily used for recreation by bicyclists and pedestrians, the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
is sponsoring efforts to construct the Metropolitan Branch Trail
, a rail trail
in D.C. parallel to the Red Line
, to connect Washington Union Station to Silver Spring and Bethesda, Maryland
by way of the 12 miles (19 km) Capital Crescent Trail
for bicycle commuting purposes.
Ward 2:
Ward 3:
Ward 4:
Ward 5:
Ward 6:
Elementary schools that serve the city include:
Most Takoma Park residents are zoned to Takoma Park ES and Piney Branch.
Middle schools that serve the city include:
All of the city is served by Montgomery Blair High School
.
Takoma Academy
, a private high-school, is located in Takoma Park and is part of the Adventist Educational System.
With the Downcounty Consortium
, students have limited opportunity to enroll in one of four other schools, including Kennedy
, Northwood
, Einstein
, and Wheaton
.
Montgomery County, Maryland
Montgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of Maryland, situated just to the north of Washington, D.C., and southwest of the city of Baltimore. It is one of the most affluent counties in the United States, and has the highest percentage of residents over 25 years of age who hold post-graduate...
, 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...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is a suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and part of the Washington Metropolitan Area
Washington Metropolitan Area
The Washington Metropolitan Area is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The area includes all of the federal district and parts of the U.S...
. Founded in 1883 and incorporated in 1890, Takoma Park, informally called "Azalea
Azalea
Azaleas are flowering shrubs comprising two of the eight subgenera of the genus Rhododendron, Pentanthera and Tsutsuji . Azaleas bloom in spring, their flowers often lasting several weeks...
City," is a Tree City USA
Tree City USA
Tree City USA is a tree planting and tree care program sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation for cities and towns in the United States.- Requirements :...
and a nuclear-free zone
Nuclear-free zone
A nuclear-free zone is an area where nuclear weapons and nuclear power are banned. The specific ramifications of these depend on the locale in question....
. A planned commuter suburb, it is situated along the Metropolitan Branch of the historic Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
, just northeast of Washington. It is governed by an elected mayor and six elected councilmembers, who form the city council, and an appointed city manager
City manager
A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a council-manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief executive officer or chief administrative officer in some municipalities...
, under a council-manager style of government
Council-manager government
The council–manager government form is one of two predominant forms of municipal government in the United States; the other common form of local government is the mayor-council government form, which characteristically occurs in large cities...
. The city's population was 16,715 at the 2010 national census.
History
Takoma Park was founded by Benjamin Franklin GilbertBenjamin Franklin Gilbert
Benjamin Franklin Gilbert , an American real estate developer, was the founder of Takoma Park, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C., and the city's first mayor. Gilbert was born in DeRuyter , New York, Madison County, New York....
in 1883 and incorporated in 1890. It was one of the first planned Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
commuter suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
s, centered on the B&O
B&O
B&O may refer to:*Baltimore and Ohio Railroad*Bang & Olufsen, an electronics company*Business and occupation tax*Bullets And Octane...
railroad station in Takoma, D.C., and bore aspects of a spa
Thermal bath
A thermal bath is a warm body of water. It is often referred to as a spa, which is traditionally used to mean a place where the water is believed to have special health-giving properties, though note that many spas offer cold water or mineral water treatments.A thermal bath may be part of a...
and trolley park
Trolley park
In the United States, trolley parks, which started in the 19th century, were picnic and recreation areas along or at the ends of streetcar lines in most of the larger cities. These were precursors to amusement parks. These trolley parks were created by the streetcar companies to give people a...
. For many decades it was the world headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
, which maintains a regional hospital, college, radio station and several churches and other local facilities in the city.
In 1964, an inside-the-Capital-Beltway extension of Interstate 70
Interstate 70
Interstate 70 is an Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a Park and Ride near Baltimore, Maryland. It was the first Interstate Highway project in the United States. I-70 approximately traces the path of U.S. Route 40 east of the Rocky...
S, also known as the North Central Freeway, was proposed via a route known as "Option #11 Railroad Sligo East," up to 1/4 mile parallel to the B&O railroad upon a swath of land displacing 471 houses, that would have cut the city in two. In the mid-to-late 1960s, the future Mayor and civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
activist Sam Abbott led a campaign to halt freeway construction and replace it with a Metrorail line
Takoma (Washington Metro)
Takoma is a Washington Metro station in Washington, D.C. on the Red Line. It is the last station within the District of Columbia on the eastern end of the line....
to the site of the former train station, and worked with other neighborhood groups to halt plans for a wider system of freeways going into and out of DC.
This controversy also raised the profile of Takoma Park at a time in the late 1960s and 1970s when it was becoming noted regionally and nationally for political activism outside the Nation's capital, with newspaper commentators describing it as "The People's Republic of Takoma Park" or "The Berkeley of the East", also "Tacky Park".
Also dividing the community is the boundary line of the District of Columbia, which contains part of the original Gilbert tract. This area is now known as Takoma, D.C. While politically separate from Takoma Park, Maryland, it shares its history and much of its culture.
Much of the old town Takoma Park was incorporated into the Takoma Park Historic District
Takoma Park Historic District (Takoma Park, Maryland)
The Takoma Park Historic District is a national historic district located at Takoma Park, Montgomery County, Maryland. The district area was platted in 1883 by developer Benjamin Franklin Gilbert, and promoted for its natural environment and healthy setting. Originally an early railroad suburb, the...
; listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1976.
Before 1995, the eastern boundary of the city of Takoma Park was in Prince George's County
Prince George's County, Maryland
Prince George's County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland, immediately north, east, and south of Washington, DC. As of 2010, it has a population of 863,420 and is the wealthiest African-American majority county in the nation....
, Maryland, causing the community to be divided across two counties and the Maryland/D.C. line (where the original downtown area is located). For several years, Takoma Park lobbied the State of Maryland for legislation allowing county boundaries to be adjusted. The State finally agreed to this change, with the stipulation that cross-county municipalities would no longer be allowed; the new municipal boundary would forever remain within the county of its choosing. In August 1995, after passage of the law, the city held a public referendum asking registered voters living in three Prince George's County neighborhoods north of New Hampshire Avenue
Maryland Route 650
Maryland Route 650 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as New Hampshire Avenue for most of its length, the state highway runs from Eastern Avenue at the Washington, D.C. border north to MD 108 in Etchison...
whether they wanted to be annexed to the city of Takoma Park. There was a majority of votes, 211 out of 304, in favor of annexation to the city.
In November 1995, the State-sponsored referendum was held asking whether the portions of the city in Prince George's County should be annexed to Montgomery County, or vice versa. The majority of votes in the referendum were in favor of unification of the entire city in Montgomery County. Following subsequent approval by both counties' councils and the Maryland General Assembly
Maryland General Assembly
The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is a bicameral body. The upper chamber, the Maryland State Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber, the Maryland House of Delegates, has 141 representatives...
, the county line was moved to include the entire city into Montgomery County (including territory in Prince George's County newly annexed by the city) on July 1, 1997. This process became known as Unification.
The city has experienced substantial gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
in the 1990s and early 2000s, with many group houses containing accessory apartments being converted back into single-family homes. This process was encouraged by an M-NCPPC "phase back", effectively eliminating scattered-site multifamily housing and implementing single-use zoning
Single-use zoning
Single-use zoning, also known as Euclidean zoning, is a practice of urban planning where everyday uses are separated from each other and where land uses of the same type are grouped together. Shops are concentrated in one area, housing in another area, industry in another...
citywide, which prompted calls by some residents for the city to have its own planning authority. The majority of the city's population remain tenants, many of whom live in a cluster of high-rise and mid-rise apartment buildings surrounding Sligo Creek
Sligo Creek
Sligo Creek is a free-flowing tributary of the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia River in Maryland. The creek is approximately long, with a drainage area of about .- Geography :The creek rises in the Kemp Mill section of Silver Spring in Montgomery County and...
, which cuts a deep valley through the community.
Geography
Takoma Park is located just northeast of Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 2.36 square miles (6.1 km²), all land. Sligo Creek
Sligo Creek
Sligo Creek is a free-flowing tributary of the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia River in Maryland. The creek is approximately long, with a drainage area of about .- Geography :The creek rises in the Kemp Mill section of Silver Spring in Montgomery County and...
and Long Branch (both tributaries of the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia River
Anacostia River
The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Channel to empty into the Potomac River at Buzzard Point. It is approximately long...
) flow through the area. Sligo Creek Park and the 9 miles (14 km) Sligo Creek Trail
Sligo Creek Trail
Sligo Creek Trail is a paved hiker-biker trail running along Sligo Creek in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Most of the trail passes through tree-filled parkland. The trail and surrounding park is a popular place for locals to jog, walk, bicycle, roller-skate, and take their children to the...
bisect the area. The main street
Main Street
Main Street is the metonym for a generic street name of the primary retail street of a village, town, or small city in many parts of the world...
, Carroll Avenue, and the main state highway
State highway
State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...
, Route 410/East West Highway, narrow to two lanes within city limits. Takoma park has an extensive hardwood
Hardwood
Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...
tree canopy which is protected by local ordinance.
Takoma Park sits on the edge of the Mid-Atlantic fall line
Fall line
A fall line is a geomorphologic unconformity between an upland region of relatively hard crystalline basement rock and a coastal plain of softer sedimentary rock. A fall line is typically prominent when crossed by a river, for there will often be rapids or waterfalls...
and is thus quite hilly, with many narrow, gridded streets.
Takoma Park is bounded by downtown Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...
, a major urban center to the northwest, by Montgomery College
Montgomery College
Montgomery College is a public, open access community college located in Montgomery County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. in the United States. The college has three campuses, the largest of which is in Rockville; the other campuses are in Takoma Park/Silver Spring and Germantown...
campus; East Silver Spring, a community of houses, apartments and small shops, along Flower Avenue and Piney Branch Road, to the north; Langley Park, Maryland
Langley Park, Maryland
Langley Park is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in the Washington, D.C. metro area. It is located inside the Capital Beltway, on the northwest edge of Prince George's County, Maryland, bordering Montgomery County, Maryland....
, a community of apartments and shopping centers, along University Boulevard to the northeast; Chillum, Maryland
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...
, in Prince George's County to the southeast, bounded by New Hampshire Avenue
New Hampshire Avenue
New Hampshire Avenue is a diagonal street in Washington, D.C., beginning at the Kennedy Center and extending northeast for about 5 miles and then continuing into Maryland where it is designated Maryland Route 650. New Hampshire Avenue, however, is not contiguous...
, a state highway; and Takoma, Washington, D.C. to the southwest, separated by Eastern Avenue, which follows the District of Columbia line.
The corner of Eastern and Carroll Avenues roughly marks the center of the old commercial district. Other town centers include: "Takoma Junction", the corner of Carroll Avenue and Route 410 in the geographic center of town, home to the city's large food co-op
Food co-op
A food cooperative or food co-op is a grocery store organized as a cooperative. Food cooperatives are usually consumers' cooperatives and are owned by their members. Food cooperatives follow the 7 Cooperative Principles and typically offer natural foods...
; Takoma-Langley Crossroads in downtown Langley Park
Langley Park
Langley Park can refer to as:LANGLEY* Langley Park, County Durham, England* Langley Park, Maryland, United States** Langley Park , an estate listed on the National Register of Historic Places...
, and the Flower shopping district, both of which are home to many immigrant-owned establishments. Takoma Park's municipal center is located at the corner of Maple Avenue and Route 410. Washington Adventist University marks the corner of Carroll and Flower Avenues.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 17,299 people, 6,893 households, and 3,949 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 8152.4 PD/sqmi. There were 7,187 housing units at an average density of 3387 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 48.79% White, 33.97% African American, 0.44% Native American, 4.36% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 7.44% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 4.97% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14.42% of the population.
There were 6,893 households out of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.5% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.7% were non-families. Approximately 4.5% of all couples were unmarried same sex couples. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.13.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.6% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 35.9% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 8.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 89.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $48,490, and the median income for a family was $63,434. Males had a median income of $40,668 versus $35,073 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $26,437. About 8.4% of families and 10.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.5% of those under age 18 and 20.5% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
According to the City's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:| # | Employer | # of Employees |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington Adventist Hospital Washington Adventist Hospital Washington Adventist Hospital is a 281-licensed bed acute care facility located in Takoma Park, Maryland. Washington Adventist Hospital provides a range of health services to the community such as cardiac & vascular care, maternity services, cancer care, surgical services and orthopedics and... |
1,660 |
| 2 | Montgomery College Montgomery College Montgomery College is a public, open access community college located in Montgomery County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. in the United States. The college has three campuses, the largest of which is in Rockville; the other campuses are in Takoma Park/Silver Spring and Germantown... |
300 |
| 3 | Montgomery County Public Schools Montgomery County Public Schools Montgomery County Public Schools ' is a school district that serves Montgomery County, Maryland, USA. It is the largest school district in Maryland. As of the 2009–2010 school year, the district had 11,500 FTE teachers serving 141,777 students at 200 schools.Students in the district score among the... -Elementary Schools |
235 |
| 4 | Adventist HealthCare | 150 |
| 5 | Wackenhut Wackenhut G4S Secure Solutions is a private security company. It was founded as The Wackenhut Corporation in 1954, in Coral Gables, Florida, by George Wackenhut and three partners .... |
120 |
| 6 | Washington Adventist University | 119 |
| 7 | City of Takoma Park | 105 |
| 8 | Takoma Park Symphony Orchestra | 75 |
| 9 | Montgomery County Public Schools Montgomery County Public Schools Montgomery County Public Schools ' is a school district that serves Montgomery County, Maryland, USA. It is the largest school district in Maryland. As of the 2009–2010 school year, the district had 11,500 FTE teachers serving 141,777 students at 200 schools.Students in the district score among the... -Prmd |
280 |
| 10 | Aspen Temporary Services |
Culture
Takoma Park is known for a variety of cultural events, most notable of which is the Takoma Park Folk Festival, which attracts an audience from across the Mid-Atlantic region.The Takoma Park Folk Festival is a music festival held annually in the city. It has been in existence since 1978, founded by Sam Abbott, former Mayor of the city and civil-rights activist. In addition to hosting concerts on several stages by musicians from around the world, the festival also celebrates cultural diversity of the region, with a wide variety of ethnic food and crafts.
The festival features numerous varieties of music from local and national artists, including blues, klezmer, bluegrass, Celtic, and hip-hop, and traditional music and dance from around the world. Other performers specialize in traditional and progressive folk music. In addition to music and dance, the festival features traditional storytellers from around the world.
Takoma Park is notable for being the home of Takoma Records
Takoma Records
Takoma Records was a small but influential record label founded by John Fahey in the late 1950s.. It was named after Fahey's hometown, the Washington, D.C. suburb of Takoma Park, Maryland.-History:...
, a nationally-known blues label started by blues guitarist John Fahey
John Fahey (musician)
John Fahey was an American fingerstyle guitarist and composer who pioneered the steel-string acoustic guitar as a solo instrument. His style has been greatly influential and has been described as the foundation of American Primitivism, a term borrowed from painting and referring mainly to the...
, who (together with other local music institutions) popularized the city as a haven for folk musicians. Mary Chapin Carpenter
Mary Chapin Carpenter
Mary Chapin Carpenter is an American folk and country music artist. Carpenter spent several years singing in Washington, D.C. clubs before signing in the late 1980s with Columbia Records, who marketed her as a country singer...
, Al Petteway
Al Petteway
Al Petteway is an American guitarist known primarily for his acoustic fingerstyle work. He won a Grammy award in 2005 for his rendition of "The Thornbirds".-Biography:...
(composer of Sligo Creek
The National Parks: America's Best Idea
The National Parks: America's Best Idea is a 2009 documentary film for television, DVD and companion book by director/producer Ken Burns and producer/writer Dayton Duncan which features the United States National Park system and traces the system's history...
) and many other prominent local and national artists have made their home in and around Takoma Park. Root Boy Slim
Root Boy Slim
Root Boy Slim was the stage name assumed by American musician, Foster MacKenzie III. Born in Asheville, North Carolina, he was raised in suburban Maryland, a few minutes from D.C. after his family relocated there...
and Goldie Hawn
Goldie Hawn
Goldie Jeanne Hawn is an American actress, film director, producer, and occasional singer. Hawn is known for her roles in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Private Benjamin, Foul Play, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and Cactus Flower, for which she won the 1969...
are from Takoma Park.
Other annual festivals include the mildly countercultural Takoma Park Street Festival, the Takoma Jazz Fest, the Takoma Park Independent Film Festival, and the Takoma Park Fourth of July Parade, which is attended by residents and neighboring politicians from across the metropolitan region. The parade typically includes ethnic musical troupes representing a wide variety of global cultures, neighborhood performance troupes, and groups supporting causes, such as LGBTQ and fair trade
Fair trade
Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries make better trading conditions and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a higher price to producers as well as higher social and environmental standards...
, reflecting Takoma Park's historic reputation for activism.
Immediately adjacent to the downtown, Takoma, D.C. is home to the A.Salon Building, a large art studio warehouse and former printing plant, which is home to the backstage office and rehearsal center for the Washington Opera. Two (currently vacant) freestanding theaters, the Takoma Theater and the Flower Theater, anchor either end of town. Takoma Park is also home to the Liz Lerman
Liz Lerman
Liz Lerman is an American choreographer and founder of Liz Lerman Dance Exchange.They have appeared at the National Cathedral, Kennedy Center Opera House, and Millennium Stage, Lansburgh Theater, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center,and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.She plans to retire...
Dance Exchange and the Institute of Musical Traditions, a performance society founded by the House of Musical Traditions. Kinetic Artistry, a notable theatre supplier for the Washington area, is also located in Takoma Park. A Historic Takoma Museum is under construction by the local historic society. The Takoma Theatre Conservancy is an organization attempting to renovate the 500-seat Takoma Theatre for multiuse purposes.
Takoma Park has been home to a variety of local characters who have contributed to the city's sense of identity and culture, including "Catman" and Motor Cat, Roscoe the Rooster, The Banjo Man, and "Fox Man", a local animal rights activist and founder of the city's Tool Library. Takoma Park also has a year round farmer's market and two other farmers markets which sell local produce and free range meats.
Underground filmmaker Nick Zedd
Nick Zedd
Nick Zedd is an American filmmaker and author based in New York City. He coined the term Cinema of Transgression in 1985 to describe a loose-knit group of like-minded filmmakers and artists using shock value and black humor in their work...
grew up in in Takoma Park and and made his first movies there.
Institutions
The Sam Abbott Citizens Center, Takoma Park's former city auditorium, has been refurbished as a community theater and gallery. The municipal center, which includes the Takoma Park City Hall, Citizens Center and the Takoma Park Maryland Library, was expanded into a community center from 2003-2007. A gymnasium was requested by the city's youth sports leagues after lobbying from Steve FrancisSteve Francis
Steven D'Shawn Francis is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association. He had also played for the Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic, and New York Knicks...
, the NBA basketball player, who grew up in Takoma Park; but funding was not identified.
In 2010, the Seventh-Day Adventist Church received authorization to relocate the regional Washington Adventist Hospital from the center of town to an outlying area of nearby Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...
, alongside its international headquarters and the Adventist Book and Health Food Store, which had also been located within city limits. This had followed an effort by county officials to close or relocate the city's fire station, located on the side of a steep hill. Due to resulting controversy, the City Council lobbied to retain the old Hospital facility as a "health campus". The hospital had been in operation for over a century, having been founded as the Washington Sanitarium overlooking Sligo Creek, shortly after the church's relocation from Battle Creek, Michigan
Battle Creek, Michigan
Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek Rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area , which encompasses all of Calhoun county...
. Officials also successfully lobbied to retain a university located on the same campus, which has been renamed Washington Adventist University.
In the 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
, the city experienced controversy over plans to expand or relocate Montgomery College
Montgomery College
Montgomery College is a public, open access community college located in Montgomery County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. in the United States. The college has three campuses, the largest of which is in Rockville; the other campuses are in Takoma Park/Silver Spring and Germantown...
, which has a campus located in the historic district of North Takoma, an area of large old homes adjacent to downtown Silver Spring. This debate was subsequently resolved when the County agreed to preserve the existing campus, and expand in the direction of downtown Silver Spring by building a bridge across the B&O railroad tracks. It was renamed the "Takoma Park-Silver Spring Campus", focused on health, nursing and the arts. The expanded campus included a major new arts center located in South Silver Spring, near the boundary between the three jurisdictions.
The Takoma Park-Silver Spring Food Co-op is one of the Washington area's largest food co-op
Food co-op
A food cooperative or food co-op is a grocery store organized as a cooperative. Food cooperatives are usually consumers' cooperatives and are owned by their members. Food cooperatives follow the 7 Cooperative Principles and typically offer natural foods...
s.
In the late 2000s, regional and national debate occurred over the decision to close Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
The Walter Reed Army Medical Center was the United States Army's flagship medical center until 2011. Located on 113 acres in Washington, D.C., it served more than 150,000 active and retired personnel from all branches of the military...
in Takoma, D.C., and relocate its operations to the Bethesda Naval Medical Center.
Takoma Park Soccer Club is the sponsor of many youth soccer teams in the Takoma Park area; such as the TAPK United, coached by professional Brazilian coach Manilton Santos. They are a team who have won many games and earned thhe affectionate nickname Tapioca United.
Law and government
Takoma Park's electorate and its elected officials are known for their liberal and left-of-liberal values, which have led to the enactment of several unusual municipal laws. For instance, Takoma Park allows non-U.S.-citizen residents to vote in its own municipal electionsRight of foreigners to vote in the United States
The right of foreigners to vote in the United States has historically been a contentious issue. A foreigner, in this context, is a person who is not citizen of the United States....
. The city was also forbidden, by statute, from doing business with any entity having commercial ties with the government of Burma (Myanmar), though after a United States Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
decision struck down a similar Massachusetts provision, enforcement of the provision was suspended in the year 2000. As of 2007, the Free Burma Committee is inactive. Takoma Park is also forbidden from purchasing any World Bank financial instruments.. In 2008, the city unanimously approved a resolution to oppose foie gras. It is widely believed that Takoma Park prohibits national chain stores from operating within the city, but although such a law would accord with Takoma Park values, it does not actually exist.
Takoma Park is noted for being a "Nuclear Free Zone" along with cities including Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Cleveland Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, a suburb of Cleveland. The city's population was 46,121 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Cleveland Heights is located at ....
, and Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
. It has an active Nuclear Free Zone Committee which advocates for nuclear disarmament and is entrusted with making purchasing recommendations to the city. Since Takoma Park is a certified Tree City, its residents must obtain a permit to cut down any tree on their property measuring more than 8 inches in diameter. This has contributed to the preservation of second-growth hardwood forest which covers much of the city, as is visible in satellite photos.
For these and other policies, the city is affectionately nicknamed the "People's Republic of Takoma Park" by its residents.
Takoma Park is chartered with its own police force, public works department, housing department, and recreation department. It has also historically maintained its own Volunteer Fire Department and Municipal Library. Until 2007, the city operated a Tool Library as well, and continues to operate its own compost recycling program and silo for corn-burning stoves. As one of the most urbanized areas outside Washington, D.C., Takoma Park is densely developed with narrow houses on deep lots, often featuring mid-block developments and a mix of apartments and homes which are no longer permitted under regional suburban zoning laws, under which many apartments were de-zoned in 1989. Development and reconstruction of the fire station and other public facilities have been highly controversial, with some advocating that facilities be closed and moved to outlying, automobile-friendly areas.
Mayor
Takoma Park is governed by a city council composed of a mayor and council members for each of six wards. The city administration is run by a City Manager, since 2004, Barbara Burns Matthews. The current Mayor of Takoma Park is Bruce Williams (since 2007).Former mayors are:
- Benjamin Franklin GilbertBenjamin Franklin GilbertBenjamin Franklin Gilbert , an American real estate developer, was the founder of Takoma Park, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C., and the city's first mayor. Gilbert was born in DeRuyter , New York, Madison County, New York....
(1890–1892) - Enoch Maris (1892–1894)
- Samuel S. Shedd (1894–1902)
- John B. Kinnear (1902–1906)
- Wilmer G. Platt (1906–1912)
- Stephens W. Williams (1912–1917)
- Wilmer G. Platt (1917–1920)
- James L. Wilmeth (1920–1923)
- Henry D. Thizzle (1923–1926)
- Ben G. Davis (1926–1932)
- Frederick L. Lewton (1932–1936)
- John R. Adams (1936–1940)
- Oliver W. Youngblood (1940–1948)
- John C. Post (1948–1950)
- Ross H. Beville (1950–1954)
- George M. Miller (1954–1972)
- John D. Roth (1972–1980)
- Sammie A. Abbott (1980–1985)
- Stephen J. Del Giudice (1985–1990)
- Edward F. Sharp (1990–1997)
- Kathy Porter (1997–2007)
- Bruce Williams (since 2007)
Representative body
Takoma Park has a non-partisan City CouncilCity council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
elected by wards. Council members serve terms of two years, and are elected in the odd-numbered years. Non-U.S. citizens may register and vote in the municipal election. The members of the council elected in 2011 are:
- Ward 1: Seth Grimes
- Ward 2: Tim Male
- Ward 3: Kay Daniels-Cohen
- Ward 4: Terry Seamens
- Ward 5: Reuben Snipper
- Ward 6: Fred Schultz
Voting methods
In the 2005 election, an advisory referendum on the institution of Instant-Runoff Voting (IRV) for municipal elections passed with 84% approval.[17] In 2006, the City Council amended the City Charter to incorporate IRV. With this, Takoma Park joins a small but growing number of municipalities across the nation who have chosen IRV, such as San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, Burlington, Vermont
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
and, more recently, Ferndale, Michigan
Ferndale, Michigan
Ferndale is adjacent to the cities of Detroit to the south, Oak Park to the west, Hazel Park to the east, Pleasant Ridge to the north, Royal Oak Township to the southwest, and Royal Oak to the north....
.
In the 2009 election, Takoma Park used the Scantegrity
Scantegrity
Scantegrity is a security enhancement for optical scan voting systems, providing such systems with end-to-end verifiability of election results. It uses confirmation codes to allow a voter to prove to themselves that their ballot is included unmodified in the final tally. The codes are...
voting system. This marked the first time an open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
voting system was used in a public sector election in the United States, as well as the first time a system with end-to-end verifiability
End-to-end auditable voting systems
End-to-end auditable or end-to-end voter verifiable systems are voting systems with stringent integrity properties and strong tamper-resistance. E2E systems often employ cryptographic methods to craft receipts that allow voters to verify that their votes were not modified, without revealing which...
was used.
Transportation
Takoma Park's Metrorail stationTakoma (Washington Metro)
Takoma is a Washington Metro station in Washington, D.C. on the Red Line. It is the last station within the District of Columbia on the eastern end of the line....
sits in the heart of the old downtown area, at the terminus of Carroll Street, Takoma Park's main street
Main Street
Main Street is the metonym for a generic street name of the primary retail street of a village, town, or small city in many parts of the world...
(Carroll Avenue in Maryland) on the D.C. side two blocks from the Maryland line. The Takoma Metro station is noted for having one of the highest pedestrian
Pedestrian
A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In some communities, those traveling using roller skates or skateboards are also considered to be pedestrians. In modern times, the term mostly refers to someone walking on a road or footpath, but this was not the case...
mode shares of any non-central business district
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
station in the Washington Metrorail system.
New Hampshire Avenue
New Hampshire Avenue
New Hampshire Avenue is a diagonal street in Washington, D.C., beginning at the Kennedy Center and extending northeast for about 5 miles and then continuing into Maryland where it is designated Maryland Route 650. New Hampshire Avenue, however, is not contiguous...
is the only six-lane thoroughfare running through city limits, continuing into central Washington, D.C. and primarily serving through-traffic to the east of the city. Other major roads narrow to two lanes within city limits, including Route 410/East West Highway, a major state thoroughfare, and Piney Branch Road, which was narrowed from four lanes to two within city limits as a result of a traffic calming
Traffic calming
Traffic calming is intended to slow or reduce motor-vehicle traffic in order to improve the living conditions for residents as well as to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists. Urban planners and traffic engineers have many strategies for traffic calming...
measure. The primary route into D.C. is Georgia Avenue
Georgia Avenue
Georgia Avenue is a major north-south artery in Northwest Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland. Within the District of Columbia and a short distance in Silver Spring, Maryland, Georgia Avenue is also U.S. Route 29...
, the main turnpike through downtown Silver Spring
Silver Spring
-Places:* Silver Spring, Maryland, USA** Silver Spring * Silver Spring, Pennsylvania, USA...
, and Blair Road, a two-lane road (formerly part of the Montgomery Blair
Montgomery Blair
Montgomery Blair , the son of Francis Preston Blair, elder brother of Francis Preston Blair, Jr. and cousin of B. Gratz Brown, was a politician and lawyer from Maryland...
estate) which becomes North Capitol Street
North Capitol Street
North Capitol Street is a street in Washington, D.C. that separates the Northwest and Northeast quadrants of the city. The street begins at D Street due north of the United States Capitol and continues northward 4½ miles to Nicholson Street where it is interrupted by Fort Slocum Park and the...
, a six-lane boulevard to the south. University Boulevard, the major suburban shopping strip, skirts the area to the northeast. Carroll Avenue ends two miles short of the Washington Beltway/I95 interchange.
While the 9 miles (14 km) Sligo Creek Trail
Sligo Creek Trail
Sligo Creek Trail is a paved hiker-biker trail running along Sligo Creek in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Most of the trail passes through tree-filled parkland. The trail and surrounding park is a popular place for locals to jog, walk, bicycle, roller-skate, and take their children to the...
is primarily used for recreation by bicyclists and pedestrians, the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is an American nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that works with communities to preserve unused rail corridors by transforming them into rail trails within the United States of America...
is sponsoring efforts to construct the Metropolitan Branch Trail
Metropolitan Branch Trail
The Metropolitan Branch Trail, also called the Met Branch Trail, is an shared-use trail that, when complete, will run from the Silver Spring, Maryland Transit Center to Union Station in the District of Columbia. It serves to extend the Capital Crescent Trail where it merges with the active...
, a rail trail
Rail trail
A rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...
in D.C. parallel to the Red Line
Red Line (Washington Metro)
The Red Line of the Washington Metro is a rail rapid transit service operating between 27 stations in Montgomery County, Maryland and the District of Columbia, United States. It is a primary line through downtown Washington, and the oldest and busiest line in the system...
, to connect Washington Union Station to Silver Spring and Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
by way of the 12 miles (19 km) Capital Crescent Trail
Capital Crescent Trail
The Capital Crescent Trail is an long, shared-use rail trail that runs from Georgetown in Washington, D.C., to Silver Spring, Maryland. The portion from Bethesda to Silver Spring is also called the Georgetown Branch Trail but is recognized as the Future Capital Crescent Trail.The Capital Crescent...
for bicycle commuting purposes.
Neighborhoods and neighborhood associations by ward
Ward 1:- Hodges Heights
- North Takoma
- PEN (Philadelphia-Eastern Neighborhood), served by the Old Town Residents' Association (OTRA)
Ward 2:
- B.F. Gilbert
- Long Branch-Sligo
- South of Sligo Citizens Association (SOSCA)
Ward 3:
- Pinecrest (formerly and affectionately known as "Hells Bottom")
- Westmoreland Area Community Organization (WACO)
- SS Carroll ("The Generals" streets: Grant Ave, Lee Ave, Sherman Ave, Sheridan Ave)
- Circle Woods Community Association
Ward 4:
- Ritchie Citizens Association
- Maple Ave. Apartment District
Ward 5:
- Between the Creeks
- Flower Avenue (East Silver Spring)
Ward 6:
- Hillwood Manor
- New Hampshire Gardens Citizens Association
Elementary
Elementary schools that serve the city include:
- Piney Branch Elementary School (3-5)
- Rolling Terrace Elementary School (PK-5)
- Sligo Creek Elementary School (K-5)
- Takoma Park Elementary School (PK-2)
Most Takoma Park residents are zoned to Takoma Park ES and Piney Branch.
Middle
Middle schools that serve the city include:
- Silver Spring International Middle School
- Takoma Park Middle SchoolTakoma Park Middle SchoolTakoma Park Middle School is a public middle school in Takoma Park in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. TPMS contains a total of 18 academic departments, as well as a specialized magnet program...
(most Takoma Park residents are zoned to Takoma Park MS)
High
All of the city is served by Montgomery Blair High School
Montgomery Blair High School
Montgomery Blair High School is a public high school located in unincorporated Silver Spring in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States...
.
Takoma Academy
Takoma Academy
Takoma Academy is a parochial, co-educational high school located in Takoma Park, Maryland operated by the Potomac Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.-History:...
, a private high-school, is located in Takoma Park and is part of the Adventist Educational System.
With the Downcounty Consortium
Downcounty Consortium
The Downcounty Consortium is a group of five high schools that rising middle-schoolers in a select part of Montgomery County, Maryland choose from to attend for high school education. These high schools are Albert Einstein High School, John F. Kennedy High School, Montgomery Blair High School,...
, students have limited opportunity to enroll in one of four other schools, including Kennedy
John F. Kennedy High School (Montgomery County, Maryland)
John F. Kennedy High School is a public high school located in unincorporated Silver Spring in Montgomery County, Maryland.The school is a part of Montgomery County Public Schools.Over 1,550 students are enrolled at Kennedy...
, Northwood
Northwood High School (Silver Spring, Maryland)
Northwood High School is located in Silver Spring, Maryland, and is part of Montgomery County Public Schools. Northwood originally opened in 1956. In 1985 it was closed in a contested decision by the Montgomery County School Board in an effort to alleviate the concentration of minorities enrolling...
, Einstein
Albert Einstein High School
Albert Einstein High School, named after the German-American physicist, Albert Einstein, is a four-year high school located at 11135 Newport Mill Road, near Kensington in unincorporated Montgomery County, Maryland. The principal is James G. Fernandez, and the assistant principals are Linda Jasper,...
, and Wheaton
Wheaton High School
Wheaton High School is an American four-year public high school in Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located in the unincorporated Wheaton/Glenmont section of Silver Spring, about 5 miles north of Washington, D.C.....
.
Colleges and universities
- Washington Adventist University, a private liberal arts university
- Montgomery CollegeMontgomery CollegeMontgomery College is a public, open access community college located in Montgomery County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. in the United States. The college has three campuses, the largest of which is in Rockville; the other campuses are in Takoma Park/Silver Spring and Germantown...
(Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus) (a 2-year institution) - Strayer UniversityStrayer UniversityStrayer University, formerly Strayer College of Baltimore, Maryland, is a private, for-profit educational institution. The Strayer University campuses are owned by Strayer Education, Inc. , headquartered in Herndon, Virginia....
(Takoma Park Campus), just across the state line in Takoma, DC - Washington Theological UnionWashington Theological UnionWashington Theological Union is a Roman Catholic graduate school of theology and ministry in Washington, D.C., with a mission of educating and forming candidates for the priesthood and other church ministries. WTU is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada...
, just across the state line in Takoma, DC
Libraries
- Takoma Park Maryland Library is one of the few municipal libraries in suburban Maryland.
- Takoma Park Library, part of the District of Columbia Public LibraryDistrict of Columbia Public LibraryThe District of Columbia Public Library is the public library system for residents of Washington, D.C. The system includes 25 individual libraries including Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library .-History:...
system, was the first neighborhood library in Washington, D.C. and a Carnegie library. - Long Branch Library in Silver Spring is part of the Montgomery CountyMontgomery County, MarylandMontgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of Maryland, situated just to the north of Washington, D.C., and southwest of the city of Baltimore. It is one of the most affluent counties in the United States, and has the highest percentage of residents over 25 years of age who hold post-graduate...
Public Libraries.
See also
- Takoma, Washington, D.C.
- Benjamin Franklin GilbertBenjamin Franklin GilbertBenjamin Franklin Gilbert , an American real estate developer, was the founder of Takoma Park, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C., and the city's first mayor. Gilbert was born in DeRuyter , New York, Madison County, New York....
- List of Famous People from the Washington Metropolitan Area
- List of cities in Maryland
- Sammie A. Abbott
- Silver Spring, MarylandSilver Spring, MarylandSilver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...
- Takoma RecordsTakoma RecordsTakoma Records was a small but influential record label founded by John Fahey in the late 1950s.. It was named after Fahey's hometown, the Washington, D.C. suburb of Takoma Park, Maryland.-History:...
- Washington Metropolitan AreaWashington Metropolitan AreaThe Washington Metropolitan Area is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The area includes all of the federal district and parts of the U.S...