Residents of College Park’s Hollywood neighborhood told county planners on May 9 they would like to see more public art, new gathering spaces and safer streets in their community.
Twenty residents voted on ways the county could improve public spaces during the first-ever Hollywood Placemaking Initiative Community Vision Walk.
The event brought together residents, planners, officials and community leaders to walk through the Hollywood neighborhood and discuss ideas for development projects up and down Rhode Island Avenue.
“We look at residents as the experts of their community, so they know best,” David Moore, a planner for the Prince George’s County Planning Department, said. “We don’t live here, so it’s really important that we incorporate feedback from people who use these spaces every day, to make sure that their voices are accounted for and heard.”
During the two-hour walk, participants stopped at areas the county has named “opportunity sites,” which included bus stops, parking lots, crosswalks and plazas from the intersection of Rhode Island Avenue and Muskogee Street to Rhode Island Avenue and Edgewood Road.
Residents filled out packets with their ideas and notes for each spot and used stickers to vote for three types of improvements they most want to see. Their options were: public art, enhanced gathering spaces, green infrastructure, traffic calming, branding and wayfinding, and programming.
The top vote-getters were traffic calming, enhanced gathering spaces and green infrastructure.
College Park Mayor Fazlul Kabir attended the walk to hear ideas and discuss the future of the neighborhood.
“The walk created a collaborative environment where neighbors could exchange perspectives while directly observing opportunities and challenges within the area,” Kabir said.
Marim Kamel, a College Park resident of two years, said she wants more spaces that bring people together. She voted for programming, enhanced gathering spaces and traffic calming.
“I just want to see people get out of their homes and come together,” she said. “I want to see community members that I’ve just never met in my life. I want to see them out and about.”
Another resident, Nora Eidelman, has lived in College Park since 2013 and voted for public art, enhanced gathering spaces and programming. She said gathering places can make a neighborhood feel more connected.
“It creates community, a place where you can go with your family, but you can also meet your neighbors,” she said.
Kendra McAbee, the communications and outreach manager for the College Park City-University Partnership, said the community should prioritize art. She also voted for enhanced gathering spaces and traffic calming.
“I love public art. I can’t get enough of it,” she said. “I really would love to see the spaces in the Hollywood streetscape activated with people.”
Some voiced concerns about pedestrian and transit safety during the walk, especially when it comes to crosswalks and bus stops. McAbee said some drivers failed to notice pedestrians and cyclists during the event itself.
“I think that just showed us there’s a little bit more work to do,” she said.
Kabir said the city already put $3 million into the Hollywood Streetscape Project from 2021 to 2023, but noted that the area still needs upgrades.
According to county planners Moore and Sam McCrory, this walk was the first step of a larger community engagement process that will continue throughout the summer and could produce a development plan for Hollywood by fall.
“We plan on being involved in the community over the summer at the Hollywood Farmers Market, being at the North College Park Community Association meetings, doing some online engagement … [going to] Trolley Trail Day,” McCrory said.