Takoma Park, MD | FULL EPISODE | If You Lived Here

The hosts join realtor Anna Mackler to tour historic Takoma Park, Maryland, and visit a variety of properties. Known as “Azalea City,” this close-knit, quiet suburb shares a border with D.C. and is renowned for its art and activism. The hosts make time for some history at the Cady-Lee house; a bit of local news at community radio station WOWD; and the story behind the community’s official mascot.
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Takoma Park History and Culture: • Takoma Park, MD | Mar...
House 1: • A Starter Home in Tako...
House 2: • A True American Foursq...
House 3: • This Expanded Craftsma...
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Watch more segments about the neighborhoods of Washington DC: • DC Neighborhoods
This video is part of WETA's house-hunting series IF YOU LIVED HERE, which spotlights a wide array of neighborhoods and properties throughout the DMV. Hosts, best friends and longtime Washingtonians Christine Louise and John Begeny tour homes and communities with local realtors, exploring the DC region one neighborhood at a time.
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[@ChantalA489]

In the early 2000s when I had relatives living in TP, that first house would have been no more than probably $250K. Nearly $600K is RIDICULOUS! Takoma Park was meant to be a working class community, not one that caters to the yuppy, mostly white, upper middle class. There are many different income levels, including middle class, in the area but this is egregious!

[@akitadog01]

I live in TKPK, and, while the city is technically diverse, most non-whites are gathered together as renters in the few apartment buildings that exist in very specific zones (I believe the technical term is "ghetto"). And if you own an apartment and want to rent it out, the rent control laws are draconian. But if you want to rent out your single-family house basement apartment, the world is your oyster. Charge anything you want! Tell me that disparity in laws doesn't end up allowing the "ghettos" to persist... TKPK is known as an EXTREMELY liberal town, politically, which means that sometimes it steps on its own toes (Nuclear-free? Good luck enforcing that). The attempts to bring green energy to the city run up against the strict laws in place regarding what can be done with your own and with city trees. Why would one buy solar panels if trees are covering everything, and it takes a special dispensation from God himself to remove one's own trees from one's own yard? Speaking of your own yard, as an owner, the property taxes are through the roof (I mean, absurdly high), because the city doesn't seem to know how else to raise money. It is extremely anti-business (that socialist leaning dies hard), and if you have been paying attention the past 10 years, it is the DC side of "downtown TKPK" that has brought in the lion's share of economic development. All TKPK knows how to do is replace restaurants with other restaurants. Hint: that doesn't grow the tax base. On the good side, the schools are excellent, thanks to higher-than-normal parental involvement, and that is why we are here. Family-friendliness is a high point. You can access Sligo Park and the extended trail system fairly easily from most points of the city. It is easy to get to inner DC, but also far enough away to escape it, and the beltway isn't too far in the other direction. Also, the purple line Metro is coming to the northern side of the city in a few years. Even with all that convenience, I can't see us staying here for the duration of our working lives. I think once the kids are done with school, we will have less of an incentive to stay.

[@robkimberlin959]

You somehow missed the malicious gossips and the thought police who go around giving dirty looks to people they suspect have opinions different from theirs. They would be offensive if they weren’t comical. As for the houses, in summer you can smell the wood rot and I don’t want to think about the fungus growing behind the stucco. And I suspect TP has the highest percentage of Metro riders because the residents can’t afford cars. And one final thought, surely you know that in the larger DC metro area, Takoma Park is considered pretty much a joke. Unfortunately it’s not a very funny one.