Why Riverdale? – Part 1 of 5

There are five major reasons we went with the Towns at Riverdale Park Station over all of the other options we looked at in the previous post. 

This post is VERY long so I will write and post it in five separate parts over the next few days and then add the entire thing to the “Why Riverdale?” tab/page of this blog when I am finished.

I have ordered these items in the order of importance to us with the first post item being the most important.

Item #1:   Overall design/layout of community and location, location, location:

I thought the overall site plan of this community looked great.  (see the “Riverdale Park Station Info” tab of this blog: http://riverdaleparkstation.blogspot.com/p/riverdale-park-station.html).  

There is going to be a “tot lot” just two buildings down from the one we will be in.   Village Green looks like it will be a nice park-like space just a few blocks away.

See the video on the developer’s website for a good idea of what this will all look like when it is done:

http://riverdaleparkstation.com/video

Calvert Park and Riverdale Community Park are also in very short walking distance directly bordering the development which add even more green space if Village Green isn’t enough.

Another huge positive is the hiker biker trail right through center of community.  Once this is opened the trail will go from College Park all the way into DC.  You can take this trail to the Hyattsville Arts District in minutes.   One thing I love about living in DC now is when it is nice outside I can bike to work and get there in minutes and even from Riverdale I think I should still be able to do it in 30 minutes or so.

Read more about the trail here:

http://www.thewashcycle.com/college_park_trolley_trail/

Also this development is:

Less than 1 mile to the University of Maryland campus.

Located in the new Discovery District.  (NOAA, ESSIC, IARPA, etc)

Read about it here:

http://umd.edu/greatercollegepark/discovery-district.html

Nestled right in the middle of a great neighborhood.  (Calvert Hills/University Park/Riverdale Park)

Less than 1 mile and easy walking distance to College Park Tennis Club (JTCC), one of the best tennis clubs in the nation with 32 courts and 15 indoor courts.  I am a USTA 4.0 tennis player who has been a member of this club since I moved to DC and when I realized how close Riverdale Park Station was to College Park Tennis Club it was just the icing on the cake for this decision.

In addition, I realize when you even mention the Purple Line at this point folks roll their eyes because they believe it will never happen but SOMEDAY the Purple Line will be built.   They have planned a stop near the community at 201 and River Rd…  Even if that doesn’t happen until 2022 whenever it does happen it will also help Riverdale.