Talk:Columbia, Maryland

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In the opening paragraph it says "town" but in later paragraphs it says "city". Columbia has a "town center" but technically it is a city. Comments.

In the eyes of the Howard County and State of Maryland governments, I believe Columbia is technically a town, not a city, despite the fact that it has near 100,000 inhabitants. Columbia is not its own municipality, nor does it govern itself (though the Columbia Association itself has its own governing body). -user:bmortimer

I'm not sure that I agree with Amitparikh's recent changes. Here are my thoughts.

• Does it matter that the hospital was recently renovated? Will it have been "recently renovated" for a person reading ten years from now? Perhaps a date of renovation would be more useful.
• Ditto for listing the anchor stores in the mall - those are not the same stores that anchored the mall when I grew up in Columbia, so there's a history of change (as at all malls).
• Style nitpicks: I think "dramatically" might be preferable to "drastically," which has a negative connotation. When I was a kid we always called it "CA" and 'not' "the CA." What's up with calling the Supreme Sports club "24/7" - does that matter?
• What source said that many Columbia residents work for the government and nearby DOD facilities? Plenty of people around DC work for those entities, but I haven't heard any specific citation of percentage so I don't think this is appropriate to say.
• Columbia is nowhere near a metro station. Public transportation to DC requires a car to get you to the metro, or a series of bus rides.

-Etoile 15:19, 18 May 2005 (UTC)

I guess it is late, but I'll respond:

• Agree with date on hospital renovation.
• Agree with date on mall anchors.
• CA = "Columbia Association". I think all I was trying to say was "the Columbia Association".
• Supreme being 24/7 was a major change. CA did it to compete with the new gym in town, Lifetime Fitness. There has been a lot of money spent by CA in recent months/years to improve the gym facilities in preparation for competition with Lifetime Fitness.
• I don't have a source for DOD and government workers... I guess I just threw that in to inform people reading the article who are not from Columbia that government employment is a big thing in the DC Metropolitan Area, including Columbia.
• Agree about public transportation.

Amit 15:04, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

Contents 1 Census-designated place 2 population 3 more high schools 4 revert 5 Columbia: the Pike and the town 6 Macy's vs. Hecht's @ the Mall

[edit] Census-designated place

Anyone know the Census-designated place area for Columbia since it would include about 5 zip codes. Or how do you find out? --Noitall 05:32, August 18, 2005 (UTC)

• • One very good source is the The Census Bureau website. Here, you will find more indepth information on Columbia and other CDPs across the country. Other great pages within the site include:

• • 1990 Census Profile of Columbia CDP
  • 1970 Census Profile for Places and Counties in Maryland (PDF file)
  • 1980 Census Profile for Places and Counties in Maryland (PDF file)
  • Detailed profile of Columbia.

-- Moreau36 1153, 29 August 2005

Thank you. That was extremely useful for additional research. I can find the CDP for Columbia on the fact finder portion of the Census page, but I still can not find where the CDP area is defined. I assumed it was by area code, but I am not certain. Any idea? --Noitall 05:30, August 31, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] population

I think the population is 88,254 according to the Cenus Bureau 2000

And, yes I'm pretty sure it's a town not a city

[edit] more high schools

Mariotts Ridge high school info and more Resevoir High School info

[edit] revert

1. "Eastablished" is not a word, and opened is more accurate 2. Big box and suburb were already linked in the article. 3. automobile is a common noun that does not require a link.

dml 13:36, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

I admit, I didn't catch the mispelling, but I don't think you can argue that opened is more accurate. It makes it sound like an amusement park. -James Howard (talk/web) 14:04, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Columbia: the Pike and the town

Which came first, Columbia Pike, or Columbia, Maryland? If it's the latter, then how old are the portions called "Old Columbia Pike?" Or was there a Columbia, MD before the Rouse Co. built it into the town we know today? (A third, perhaps unlikely, scenario is the town was named as such to take advantage of the fact that the road was already named that way.) I assumed Columbia Pike actually referred to "Disctrict of Columbia", but those using the road may in fact be travelling to Columbia, MD. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 16:55, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

The Pike does in fact refer to the District of Columbia, it has that name in Montgomery County as well as Howard County. It dates from the early 19th century I believe. I recall reading Columbia was the name of a post office on Columbia Pike in the general vicinity of the current new town, and the subdivision of Columbia Hills, just northeast of the intersection of US 29 and MD 108 predates the new town of Columbia. dml 17:22, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

Various sources, notably Creating a New City, state that the project name was Columbia, as the area had previously been known as Columbia. When the it came time to pick a final name Columbia stuck. -James Howard (talk/web) 17:29, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Macy's vs. Hecht's @ the Mall

Hecht's was acquired by Macy's in 2006, and they have officially transitioned all Hecht's stores to Macy's stores. Although the sign at the mall may still say Hecht's, I believe it is prudent to reflect the recent change and acquisition. Amit 14:53, 3 November 2006 (UTC)