Carole Highlands is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

located in

Prince George's County ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrook ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, United States. Carole Highlands is contained between East West Highway (MD 410) to the south, University Boulevard (MD 193) to the north, Larch Avenue, Hopewell Avenue, and 15th Avenue to the west, and Riggs Road (MD 212) to the east. Carole Highlands borders the adjacent neighborhoods of Chillum, Green Meadows, Lewisdale, and Langley Park in Prince George's County, while bordering the city of

Takoma Park Takoma Park is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Washington, and part of the Washington metropolitan area. Founded in 1883 and incorporated in 1890, Takoma Park, informally called " Azalea City", is a Tree ...

Montgomery County, MD Montgomery County is the most populous county in the state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat and largest municipality is Rockville, although the census-design ...

. For statistical purposes, it is part of the Chillum

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP).

Physical geography

Carole Highlands mainly includes single-family houses as well as the Riggs Hill Condominium Complex. Since Carole Highlands is an unincorporated community in Prince George's County, Maryland, Carole Highlands lacks its own neighborhood address and zipcode. As a result, most of the businesses and residences located within Carole Highlands, are assigned Hyattsville addresses, containing the Hyattsville/Adelphi zipcode of 20783 while a few business and residences located on the far western boundary of Carole Highlands, next to the Prince George's County/ Montgomery County Line, are assigned Takoma Park addresses, containing the Takoma Park zipcode of 20912. Carole Highlands was a planned community was named for the developer's daughter, Carole, and because much of it is literally on "high land." At the very top of the neighborhood is a

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

Elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

(topo ma
here
reaches a maximum of at the water tower, and slopes downhill to its minimum of on Elson Street along

Sligo Creek Park Sligo Creek is a free-flowing tributary of the Northwest Branch Anacostia River, Northwest Branch of the Anacostia River in Maryland. (The Anacostia, in turn, feeds into the Potomac River and eventually empties into the Atlantic Ocean via Chesapea ...

. A -high dendritic ridge runs north and south through the neighborhood just west of 16th Place. The ridgeline divides th
Sligo Creek watershed
from th

When the leaves are off the trees, from various points on the ridge there is a clear view of the

Shepherd Park Shepherd Park is a neighborhood in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. In the years following World War II, restrictive covenants which had prevented Jews and African Americans from purchasing homes in the neighborhood were no longer enfo ...

and Brightwood neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. (3 miles west); of the

Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is a large minor Catholic basilica and national shrine in the United States in Washington, D.C., located at 400 Michigan Avenue Northeast, adjacent to Catholic University. ...

(3 miles south-southwest); and of

Carmody Hills, Maryland Carmody Hills is an unincorporated community in Prince George's County in the U.S. state of Maryland. Because it is not formally incorporated, it has no official boundaries, but the United States Census Bureau has defined a census-designated place ...

(8 miles southeast).

Roads, hiker-biker trails, and political geography

Carole Highlands is located within a residential section east of 15th Avenue, northeast of Sligo Creek Park and MD-410 (East-West Highway), west of MD-212 (Riggs Road) and south of MD-193 (University Boulevard). The only direct road access into the neighborhood is via Erskine Street (from New Hampshire Avenue) or Drexel Street (from Riggs Road). Elson Street and Sligo Parkway East give Carole Highlands two access points to Sligo Creek Trail, which was designated a National Recreation Trail in 2006 (external lin
here
. The

paved Pavement may refer to: * Pavement (architecture), an outdoor floor or superficial surface covering * Road surface, the durable surfacing of roads and walkways ** Asphalt concrete, a common form of road surface * Sidewalk or pavement, a walkway ...

and shaded hiker-biker trail links directly to the Anacostia Trail System and thus to the

American Discovery Trail The American Discovery Trail is a system of recreational trails and roads that collectively form a coast-to-coast hiking and biking trail across the mid-tier of the United States. Horses can also be ridden on most of this trail. The coastal tra ...

that crosses the United States from

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. However, most Carole Highlands residents use Sligo Creek Trail less frequently as an access point for coast-to-coast tours than for

Bicycle commuting Bicycle commuting is the use of a bicycle to travel from home to a place of work or study — in contrast to the use of a bicycle for sport, recreation or touring. Commuting especially lends itself to areas with relatively flat terrain and ar ...

, family outings and

jogging Jogging is a form of trotting or running at a slow or leisurely pace. The main intention is to increase physical fitness with less stress on the body than from faster running but more than walking, or to maintain a steady speed for longer periods ...

. The western boundary of the Carole Highlands neighborhood is the current border between Montgomery County, Maryland and Prince George's County, Maryland, behind the backyards of the houses in Carole Highlands that face 15th Avenue. The section of Carole Highlands consists of single-family houses, starts at the Prince George's County/ Montgomery County Line and ends on East-West Highway (MD 410), the portion of Riggs Road (MD 212) south of Drexel Street, and 17th Avenue. Between portion of Carole Highlands, where Drexel Street/ Erskine Street east of 17th Avenue, and where Riggs Road intersects Drexel Street, north of East-West Highway (MD 410), near University Boulevard (MD 193), is where the "Riggs Hill Condominium Complex, which is the only condominium complex in Carole Highlands, is located. There are absolutely no apartment complexes located within the community of Carole Highlands whatsoever. On maps, the neighborhood is east of Hopewell Avenue, Larch Avenue, and 15th Avenue but north of East-West Highway (MD 410), south of University Boulevard East (MD 193), and west of Riggs Road (MD 212). Homes located east of New Hampshire Avenue (MD 650), but west of 15th Avenue are part of the City of Takoma Park's Ward 6 in Montgomery County.

Plants and animals

The neighborhood is lined with a canopy of mature

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s. For this reason, Carole Highlands appears as a dark

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

patch o
satellite images
of the Washington area. Many of the trees belong to species

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to the local ecological region, the

Piedmont region it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

of Maryland. Some of the local tree species are

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...

, weeping cherry,

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

sassafras ''Sassafras'' is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.Wolfe, Jack A. & Wehr, Wesley C. 1987. The sassafras is an ornamental tree. "Middle Eoc ...

and

flowering dogwood ''Cornus florida'', the flowering dogwood, is a species of flowering tree in the family Cornaceae native to eastern North America and northern Mexico. An endemic population once spanned from southernmost coastal Maine south to northern Florida ...

Mammals Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

Squirrels Squirrels are members of the family (biology), family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flyi ...

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...

s and

opossums Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North A ...

are commonly seen and

badgers Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by the ...

foxes Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

and

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

are seen occasionally. Some

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

species that have been spotted in local backyards are

cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

titmice ''Baeolophus'' is a genus of birds in the family Paridae. Its members are commonly known as titmice. All the species are native to North America. In the past, most authorities retained ''Baeolophus'' as a subgenus within the genus ''Parus'', b ...

robins Robins may refer to: Places United States *Robins, Iowa, a small city * Robins, Ohio, an unincorporated community * Robins Township, Fall River County, South Dakota * Robins Island, of the coast of New York state *Robins Air Force Base, Georgia *R ...

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

crows The Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) is a series of remote weapon stations used by the US military on its armored vehicles and ships. It allows weapon operators to engage targets without leaving the protection of their vehicle. T ...

woodpeckers Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. ...

, flickers, mockingbirds, wood thrushes,

gray catbird The gray catbird (''Dumetella carolinensis''), also spelled grey catbird, is a medium-sized North American and Central American perching bird of the mimid family. It is the only member of the "catbird" genus ''Dumetella''. Like the black catbir ...

cowbird Cowbirds are birds belonging to the genus ''Molothrus'' in the family Icteridae. They are of New World origin, and are obligate brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other species. The genus was introduced by English naturalist Will ...

chickadee The chickadees are a group of North American birds in the tit family included in the genus '' Poecile''. Species found in North America are referred to as chickadees, while other species in the genus are called tits. They are small-sized bird ...

blue jay The blue jay (''Cyanocitta cristata'') is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to eastern North America. It lives in most of the eastern and central United States; some eastern populations may be migratory. Resident populations are a ...

mourning dove The mourning dove (''Zenaida macroura'') is a member of the dove family, Columbidae. The bird is also known as the American mourning dove, the rain dove, and colloquially as the turtle dove, and was once known as the Carolina pigeon and Caroli ...

towhee A towhee is any one of a number of species of birds in the genus ''Pipilo'' or ''Melozone'' within the family Passerellidae (which also includes American sparrows, and juncos). Towhees typically have longer tails than other Passerellidae. Most ...

summer tanager The summer tanager (''Piranga rubra'') is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), it and other members of its genus are now classified in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species's plumage and ...

s, goldfinches,

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

and

purple finch The purple finch (''Haemorhous purpureus'') is a bird in the finch family, Fringillidae. Taxonomy This species and the other "American rosefinches" were formerly included with the rosefinches of Eurasia in the genus ''Carpodacus''; however, the ...

es and the ubiquitous species

starling Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae. The Sturnidae are named for the genus ''Sturnus'', which in turn comes from the Latin word for starling, ''sturnus''. Many Asian species, particularly the larger ones, ...

and sparrow.

Kingfishers Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

s and

hawks Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily ...

are seen near Sligo Creek.

History

The largest section of the neighborhood was developed as a planned community by Carl M. Freeman Associates, Inc. (now the Carl M. Freeman Companies) beginning in 1947. The development maximized the preservation of oak trees hundred of years old by arranging houses on large (6000-12,000 square foot) lots contoured to respect the section's ridges and slopes. According to the company's website
here
, the development won an award. Carole Highlands was the first and only suburban housing developed after World War II in the entire Washington, D.C. metro area which sold homes to all comers WITHOUT discriminatory covenants. Carole Highlands takes pride in having been an integrated community from its beginning and continues to shelter and celebrate its diversity. The community is integrated in every way possible. The house styles of the development included traditional two-story "brick colonial" and -story "Dutch colonial" models; the then-new "California Cottage home" designed by Carl Freeman himself as a "truly livable space" with a naturally flowing connection with the outdoors; one-story frame ranch houses and, at the edge of the formal Carole Highlands Section on 17th Avenue, a row of attached (double) family homes. Some of the detached Freeman houses were subsequently enlarged with

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...

s or one or two-story additions, while others are still in their pristine state to the current day. In 1960, the neighborhood Citizen's Association successfully brought a legal case against the Board of County Commissioners of Prince George's County. As a result, the court prohibited the building of a

gas station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasoline ...

on lot C-2. The portion of Takoma Park located west of 15th Avenue, but east of Prince George's Avenue, Merrimac Drive, and Carroll Avenue, was originally located in Prince George's County, Maryland, from up until July 1, 1997. Earlier in 1997, residents living within the portion of Takoma Park located within Prince George's County, voted affirmatively to unify the City of Takoma Park under the jurisdiction of Montgomery County. The county line was shifted, changing Prince George's County's boundaries for the first time since 1791. Home ownership in the neighborhood experienced turnover after the year 2000, as many long-term residents retired and sold their homes to younger newcomers. In 2004, Carole Highlands was featured as one of the best places to live in a local monthly magazine. The speculative real estate boom attracted "flippers" who expected to pocket a $100,000 profit in two years as housing prices spiraled. The subsequent real estate "bust" left many who bought at the top of the market under water with their mortgages however resulted in a default rate for the neighborhood amazingly lower (at 0.02% to date) than the prevailing default rates in Montgomery and Prince George's counties and the general rate in the state of Maryland. Most defaults involved over-leveraged speculators who never intended to settle and mis-timed the market. Residents still include some of Carole Highlands' now elderly "pioneers" who were the original or very early owners of their respective homes and three generations of their heirs and people who grew up in this family-friendly neighborhood and bought homes in the neighborhood where they now raise their own children. Today, many Carole Highlands residents work in nearby in Washington, D.C.or Silver Spring or College Park Maryland. Plumbers and professors live side by side.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

Students from Carole Highlands Section in Prince George's County are currently assigned to Carole Highlands Elementary School—located within the section, Buck Lodge Middle School and High Point High School.

Prince George's County Public Schools Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS) is a large public school district administered by the government of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and is overseen by the Maryland State Department of Education. The school system is ...

. See
Carole Highlands Elementary School

Buck Lodge Middle School
*

High Point High School High Point High School (HPHS) is a Public school (government funded), public high school located in Beltsville, Maryland, Beltsville, an unincorporated area, unincorporated section of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The school, ...

Places of Worship

In 2003, the Turner Memorial AME congregation purchased the large church building within the section from the Wallace Memorial Presbyterian congregation that formerly occupied its multiple lots. Two Protestant and one Roman Catholic churches are located within easy walking distance on near-by New Hampshire Avenue.

Public libraries

The closest public

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

to Carole Highlands is th
Takoma Park Library
This library is at Philadelphia and Maple Avenues, about one and a half miles west of Carole Highlands via

bicycle path Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except whe ...

s and residential streets. The Takoma Park Library is a department of the City of Takoma Park, and is the only independent (not county-run) municipal library in the state of Maryland. It has a

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

room, an adults' book room and a periodicals reading area. Residents of the City of Takoma Park automatically have borrowing privileges, and Prince George's County residents may obtain full borrowing privileges for an annual fee of $10. The second closest public library to Carole Highlands is th
Hyattsville Library
This library is on Adelphi Road to the east of the Prince George's Plaza

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

, about two miles (3 km) east of Carole Highlands via MD-212 and MD-410. It has a children's book room, an adults' book room, a computer area and a periodicals reading area. The Hyattsville Library is also the site of th
Maryland Room
decorated in the style of a

parlor A parlour (or parlor) is a reception room or public space. In medieval Christian Europe, the "outer parlour" was the room where the monks or nuns conducted business with those outside the monastery and the "inner parlour" was used for necessar ...

in a

Colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

of the 18th century and housing a

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

and

genealogical Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinsh ...

collection that focuses on

Current issues of interest to residents

Purple Line and associated development

One issue of interest to Carole Highlands residents is the status of th
Purple Line
transit project. Two Purple Line stations are planned nearby: the Takoma-Langley station at the intersection of MD-650 New Hampshire Ave x MD-193 University Boulevard East and the Riggs Road station at MD-212 Riggs Road x MD-193 University Bouleward. These two intersections are within less than a mile of the northwest and northeast corners of the Carole Highlands neighborhood. [To see the locations, clic
here
for a map of the proposed Purple Line route, published by the Washington Post, May 31, 2007, an
here
for a street map with a pointer to Carole Highlands. To see the official planning maps, click on CFG-06-03 (Riggs Road Station) or CFG-06-02 (Takoma/Langley Station) at th

website.] The transit line would provide more commuting options to residents as a connection west to Bethesda and east to the New Carollton MARC and Metro stations. Because tall wrought-iron fences erected along the section's northern border block direct access from University Boulevard into Carole Highlands, the transit line itself is unlikely to alter the quiet character of the neighborhood. However, the Planning Boards of Montgomery and Prince George's county for the Takoma Langley Crossroads (TLC) "transit-oriented development" envision vastly increased residential and commercial density around the two planned local stations that may impact the neighborhood—with or without the Purple Line. In March 2007, the administration of recently

inaugurated In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugu ...

Maryland Governor O'Malley announced that the previous administration had underestimated likely

ridership In public transportation, patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and ...

on this and two other potential new transit lines (e.g. thi
March 7, 2007 article
from Gazette.Net). Accurate ridership estimates are important to secure federal funding for new transit projects. Costs of the Purple Line are estimated in the billions of dollars and the earliest year it may be operational is 2017.

Sligo Master Plan

Under the plan proposed by the Montgomery County Planning Board in May 2010 to rezone and redevelop its section of the Takoma Langley Crossroads sector and the City of Takoma Park's consistent plan to revitalize commercial uses along New Hampshire Avenue, land lots zoned

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

at the intersection of Sligo Creek Parkway and New Hampshire Avenue may be further developed. According to the "Sligo Master Plan" article in the May 2007 issue of th
Takoma Park Newsletter
nearby residents "enthusiastically" expressed desires for encouraging such

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...

es on the lots as a small neighborhood

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, a

cafe A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

, a

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

shop and rental business and a

hardware store Hardware stores (in a number of countries, "shops"), sometimes known as DIY stores, sell household hardware for home improvement including: fasteners, building materials, hand tools, power tools, keys, locks, hinges, chains, plumbing suppli ...

Takoma Langley Crossroads Plan

The plan approved in 2009 for the Takoma Langley Crossroads Section in Prince George's County, however, envisions massive redevelopment (=demolition and rebuilding). Approximately half the homes in the Carole Highlands Section (206 houses north of Erskine Avenue) were included in the Sectional Map Amendment (SMA) area of that PG plan. In the first phase (5–10 years), redevelopment would come up to the very boundary of the community as PG planners seek to demolish most buildings of the Riggs Hill Condominium between 18th Avenue and Riggs Road to convert them to multi-use: 3-4 floors of apartments above retail stores. In the third phase (15 to 25 years hence), the PG county plan calls for the "redevelopment" of the area of Carole Highlands included in the SMA into far more intense "medium density" land use—a term which is not associated with the existing zoning for single-family homes on spacious lots. Owner-occupants of Carole Highlands homes filed a class action suit in Circuit Court less than a month after the County Council "initiated" (began) the SMA process of rezoning land use. The plaintiff class is currently expanding and reaching out to affected homeowners in other areas within the Takoma Langley Crossroad sectors of Prince George's and Montgomery County to prevent the rezoning of their properties and the intrusion of commercial activities into residential neighborhoods. The class may potentially expand to include owner occupants of the three spacious garden-style condominium communities, two of which the PG plan targets for demolition and conversion to multiuse and the third of which it targets for rebuilding into a higher density apartment complexes and the single-family homes PG plan targets for demolition and redevelopment as dense apartment buildings. The Montgomery County Council will hold a hearing on its county's Takoma Langley Sector plan in May 2011. As of March 2011, no timetable has been set for publication or a hearing on the proposed rezoning within the SMA of Prince George's County's TLC plan.

Statistics and elected officials

Latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

: 38.98139 N *

Longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east–west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek letter l ...

: 76.98361 W *

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

: :For current Montgomery County councilmembers, check MC District 5''
externally
:For current Prince George's County councilmembers, check PG District 2''
externally
*

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...

: :District 20 (Montgomery County) :District 47 (Prince George's County) :For current Maryland state delegates, check district on this list o
externally
* Maryland State Senate: :District 20 (Montgomery County) :District 47 (Prince George's County) :For current Maryland state senators, check district on this list o
externally
*

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

: :Maryland District 8 (both counties) :

Chris Van Hollen Christopher Van Hollen Jr. (born January 10, 1959) is an American attorney and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Maryland since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Van Hollen served as the U.S. representative for ...

, current U.S. representative. *

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

: : Barbara A. Mikulski and

Ben Cardin Benjamin Louis Cardin (born October 5, 1943) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maryland, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was the U.S. representati ...

, current U.S. senators. *

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

: :

Larry Hogan Lawrence Joseph Hogan Jr. (born May 25, 1956) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 62nd governor of Maryland since 2015. A moderate member of the Republican Party, he was secretary of appointments under Maryland governor Bo ...

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

: :

Boyd Rutherford Boyd Kevin Rutherford (born April 1, 1957) is an American politician, businessman and attorney serving as the ninth lieutenant governor of Maryland since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Rutherford was nominated by President George W. Bu ...

References

External links

Location in the DC Metro areaMap of proposed Purple Line route
, published by the Washington Post, May 31, 2007
Topo map with streets, elevation contours and landmarksMap of the Carole Highlands Elementary School DistrictGazette.net article 01/11/2007
"At Carole Highlands lementary School small groups spell success on MSA"
The original builders, Carl M. Freeman AssociatesSligo Creek Trailthe nearby International Corridor/Gateway Arts District
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Montgomery County, Maryland Unincorporated communities in Prince George's County, Maryland Washington metropolitan area Unincorporated communities in Maryland