Virtual Walk-A-Bout #1 - The Village Center Proper

The next few posts will highlight various areas of our community.  These are areas that we do not necessarily want to change, but are areas of interest.  If you have any thoughts in regards to these areas, or the comments made about them, please comment away!

Remember, while reading this virtual walk-a-bout, to think about 4 topics:
1. Economic Viability
2. Connectivity and Circulation
3. Visibility and Signage
4. Design and Land Use Issues

Here you see one of the main access points into the Village Center off of Great Star Drive.  Notice the painted crosswalk and the crosswalk warning bumps.  The River Hill Traffic and Safety Committee recently won "Volunteers of the Year" in River Hill, due to their hard work making River Hill safer.  The Committee, along with the Village Board, the staff of River Hill, and the Howard County Department of Public Works have worked hard to put in numerous improvements to our community, including the area directly around the Village Center.  Pedestrians in the area now have the advantage of walking across Great Star Drive on newly painted crosswalks, kept safe by a variety of new safety features.

You are looking at the road directly "behind" the Village Center, Daylong Lane, looking north.  Claret Hall is on the left of the photo.  At the top left of the photo is the Columbia Gym.  Daylong Lane is often utilized as a through street, or as a "short-cut" from Great Star Drive to Linden Linthicum Lane.  Kimco, the owner of this part of the Village Center, put in traffic calming features, such as stop signs, and speed bumps/humps.  The speed bumps, until recently, were quite high, and many complained about damage to cars.  Recently, after discussing the issue with the Village Board, Kimco agreed to flatten out the speed bumps, and convert them into speed humps.

You are looking behind the Columbia Gym, at the north end of the Village Center.  Directly in the middle of the photo is a storm water management pond.  When this photo was taken, in early November, the area looks quite aesthetically pleasing.  In summer, though, the pond often becomes overrun with green algae.

We are fortunate to have a Columbia Association amenity in River Hill, the Columbia Gym.  This gym is heavily used, and the north parking lot of the Village Center is often quite full.

This photo highlights the courtyard in the middle of the Village Center.  It is a lightly used gathering place.  Currently, the Village Center has no retail vacancies.  A few questions to think about: Do you feel safe in the Village Center at night?  Is there any changes that would make you shop in the Village Center more or less?  Are you happy with the Village Center the way it currently is?  Is there anything you'd like to see changed about the Village Center?

You are looking at a patch of undeveloped land between Giant supermarket and Ruby Tuesday's restaurant.  Most of the land the comprises the Village Center is owned by Kimco.  This undeveloped tract of land, and Giant itself, are owned by Giant.  Would you like to see changes to this patch of land to make it more pedestrian friendly?  If it ever was developed, what would you like to see there?


Thanks for reading the first Virtual Walk-A-Bout.  In the next installments, we will be looking further north and south along Route 108, and across Route 108, around the former Gateway School Site.