Submitted by Appropriate-Algae-82 t3_ztx9qe in baltimore
lavazzalove t1_j1fyxbr wrote
Where in DC does your partner work? Perhaps they could commute from the Greenbelt station? Laurel or Columbia could be good potential spots.
Appropriate-Algae-82 OP t1_j1g5637 wrote
He will be working in capital hill. What are Laurel and Columbia like? Are they more family oriented or there are also young people?
lavazzalove t1_j1gj489 wrote
Pretty messed up for him to make you commute all the way to Baltimore.
starryeyed9 t1_j1pv9ec wrote
Well he's the man, so...
Appropriate-Algae-82 OP t1_j1ry707 wrote
We're moving for my job, so hes definitely making the bigger compromise here
TerranceBaggz t1_j1g9uid wrote
Both Laurel and Columbia car-centric stroad infested towns. Particularly Laurel.
moderndukes t1_j1gk5wg wrote
Columbia isn’t stroady at all. Columbia has very good road hierarchy.
TerranceBaggz t1_j1oumsp wrote
Little pawtuxent parkway, broken land parkway, governor warfield parkway, Snowden river parkway… you can’t get from one development to another without crossing a winding stroad with no sidewalks. It’s not a walkable town. It wasn’t designed to be one. It was built when car centric design was king. Sure is has meandering walking paths, but they don’t get you from point a to point b without winding around a neighborhood and tripling the distance a pedestrian would have to walk.
moderndukes t1_j1qsepw wrote
None of those are stroads. A stroad would have sidewalks, constant businesses directly off it, billboards, etc. All of those are roads.
TerranceBaggz t1_j204a8t wrote
I don’t think you understand what constitutes a stroad. Stroads definitely don’t have sidewalks off of them in many cases, including in MD. Houston and FLA are notorious for this type of stroad. The only thing most of the Stroads in Columbia don’t have is constant driveways intercepting the roadway. Everything else they have. They have high speeds, the areas around them aren’t accessible via anything but a car, wide,highway sized lanes, long turn lanes, large signs meant to be seen from speeding cars, constant traffic lights, and even destinations just off of them with massive parking lots between. All of these are “features” of stroads and all of them are things found in the major thruways in Columbia. It’s a suburb built around cars and Stroads. Sorry.
moderndukes t1_j20eq0c wrote
Yes, I watch a number of urbanist channels on YouTube too. (I prefer City Nerd’s video more though.) Columbia does not have stroads.
> They have high speeds, the areas around them aren’t accessible via anything but a car, wide,highway sized lanes, long turn lanes, large signs meant to be seen from speeding cars
You’ve described a road or a highway - and in the video you linked to, those are the descriptors has had for roads and highways. It’s in the first like two minutes.
> constant traffic lights
Debatable for Columbia’s distances, and for the purpose of those lights primarily being for collectors intersections.
> and even destinations just off of them with massive parking lots between.
They don’t directly load onto the main parkways of Columbia, though. Nearly every one of the big box strip malls loads onto a side-road which then meets up with the parkways. Thus, that’s proper traffic hierarchy and not a stroad. If it was a stroad, all of the big boxes would load directly onto the parkways. See: your video.
Like really, the video you linked to has footage from undeniable stroads and nothing in and around Columbia looks like them. The closest is Town Center around the Mall, but that’s not even as clear cut as being “stroady.” Columbia could be called auto-oriented (although that does a slight disservice to the model for the villages being walkable), but it’s not stroady like Laurel, Silver Spring, College Park, Towson, etc.
TerranceBaggz t1_j24im31 wrote
The side roads are Stroads. Keep watching the video, not just the first 2 minutes. You chop up my reply to try to fit your narrative, high speed roads with traffic lights is stroad. Highways and roads don’t have traffic lights. I don’t know why you defend Columbia to a fault, but one trip to it will show you’re wrong.
moderndukes t1_j24slk9 wrote
You know what, after you’ve now changed what you were even calling a stroad from the beginning and ignored me saying I watched the entire video (even referring to such to say the sorts of things featured in the latter half don’t look anything like Columbia) just to quip that I’m defending “Columbia to a fault” (never was) - I really don’t have any more spoons for you.
TerranceBaggz t1_j25wdqi wrote
Dude, Columbia is Stroads all over the place. If you watched that entire video and still think you’re right, I suggest you read Strong Towns’ book because you’re wrong.
OcelotControl78 t1_j1gnu97 wrote
Y'all should live in Baltimore and he can take the MARC down to Union Station, which is in walking distance of Capitol Hill.
But, if living in/near DC is a must, you could look at Silver Spring, or any of the neighborhoods on the east side of DC. You want it to be easy to get on the BWP or 495/95.
jimmyjams_ t1_j1gzvrt wrote
Comparing Columbia vs Laurel: Living in the newer apartments near Columbia mall will probably have a younger crowd than Laurel. They have definitely been trying to build up Laurel more, but I’d say Columbia would be closer to “city living.” I lived in Laurel for 3 years as a mid/upper 20s and thoroughly enjoyed it, but I prefer living in the suburbs and traveling to the city for fun as opposed to living directly in the city. I did commute from Laurel to Hampden 5 days a week pre-covid and hated the commute though lol (35 mins with 0 traffic, but 55-75 mins in rush hour).
sxswnxnw t1_j1hg6qc wrote
Agree, I lived in some of the first new apartments over by the mall. It wasn't horrible and could still walk to many things. It is still suburbs but superior to Laurel living imo.
tommykaye t1_j1iruga wrote
Columbia’s trying to attract younger professional crowds. They’ve built so many damn apartment buildings there for the last ten years. They’ve got the renovated live music venue, some bars, lots of restaurants, the all important Whole Foods 🙄 and a very good shopping mall with a movie theater. even through malls should all be dead, this one is thriving.
And it’s rather equidistant from both cities. There’s a MARC train station near Columbia that can take you to DC and Baltimore. And each one is like a 30 minute drive on the highways.
[deleted] t1_j1giftr wrote
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