SILVER SPRING, MD – More than 100 residents
from the Langley Park area told the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning
Commission on Wednesday night that they are eager to participate in a process
that will culminate with a plan that strengthens the Takoma/Langley Crossroads community.
The public meeting, held to kick off an 18-month
study to unify and improve the Takoma/Langley area, drew a large crowd of
residents, many of whom spoke about the need for the Commission to address
issues like pedestrian safety, crime, access to information and job scarcity.
The Crossroads, extending in a roughly half-mile radius
around University Boulevard and New Hampshire Avenue in Montgomery and Prince
George’s counties, comes under the jurisdiction of both county Planning Boards.
Meeting together as the full commission, the boards approved staff’s recommended
goals
for a sector plan, a 15-year vision that will set land uses and enhance the
character of the community.
As part of the plan, the commission approved staff’s
recommended strategies for encouraging broad community participation. Some of
those strategies were on display Wednesday, as many in the audience received
audio devices for simultaneous translation of the meeting, held at the Langley
Park Community Center to involve the community as much as possible.
The Takoma/Langley Sector Plan comes at an opportune
time, as the community is poised for major public projects that will change how
people travel in the Crossroads. The Purple Line, a transit route slated to run
from New Carrollton to Bethesda through Takoma/Langley, and the planned
construction of a bus transit center by the Maryland Transit Administration
will become major assets for a community where about half of the employed
residents take public transportation.
The planned transit improvements provide a great
opportunity for planners to shape development that emphasizes walking,
bicycling and public transit use at the Crossroads. In the sector plan, staff
will develop plans for outdoor gathering places, recreational opportunities,
mixed residential and retail, and new jobs for the community’s multi-cultural
population, which numbers about 29,000, many immigrating from Central America,
South America, the Far East and West Africa.