« Enhance City Neighborhoods

One of the basic concepts of COP is that disorder leads to crime. The neighborhoods that make up our community must not be allowed to decay.

Many of the residents are concerned about the diminishing quality of some of the City's residential neighborhoods. Specific concern was expressed about Lee Avenue. Since disorderly neighborhoods lead to increased fear of crime, and potentially higher rates of crime, the City should determine the cause of this deterioration. The City should contract with an independent housing specialist to develop a report on the condition of housing in Takoma Park. This report should include recommendations for resolving any problems identified during the study.

Many City residents note the decline in most of the City's business areas. This degradation affects not only the immediate area, but it creeps into the surrounding neighborhoods. As the business areas decay, people feel more and more unsafe shopping there. Obviously, this lowers profits for the businesses, eventually leading to more declines. Less business leads to lower property values resulting in less tax income for the City.

Most of the City's business areas need upgrading. Citizens raised concern about most of them. The gateway corridors are of particular concern. These areas are:

• Along the New Hampshire Avenue Corridor, especially near the intersections of Eastern Avenue, Ethan Allen Avenue, and Larch Avenue.
• Along the Takoma Park section of the International Corridor, running down University Boulevard from New Hampshire Avenue to Piney Branch Road, and along Piney Branch Road from University Avenue to Flower Avenue.
• Flower Avenue near Piney Branch Road.
• Downtown Takoma Park running from Takoma Junction through Old Town past the DC Metro into Takoma, DC.

The fact that multiple jurisdictions share these areas exacerbates coordinated economic development efforts.

The quality of these business areas greatly effects public safety. Obviously, the economic viability of the City is likewise dependent on these areas, and thereby the vitality of Takoma Park requires that these areas be upgraded.

The remainder of this section contains specific recommendations toward improving our commercial districts. Some of the following is extracted from recommendations that were previously presented to the City Council, by other groups. Although many of the recommendations focus on physical appearance, it is equally important for the City to develop a plan that works to attract businesses and customers to the community.