Columbia, MD is a planned community located in Howard County, between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. It was founded by visionary developer, urban planner, civic activist, and philanthropist, James Rouse. The story of Columbia began in 1962 when several mysterious organizations began quietly buying thousands of acres in rural Howard County, Maryland. Rumors spread throughout the region that the government was building something secretive or Volkswagen was building a factory. However, it was all Rouse who was behind it as he was able to buy more that 15,000 acres of farmland to build his new city. Columbia officially opened on June 21, 1967.
Rouse’s Vision
Columbia would be different kind of city. As Rouse said, it would be “garden for the growing of people.” At a time when racial tensions were running high, Columbia was Rouse’s ideal vision of the country’s future: a culturally diverse, integrated city where kids walked to school and the office was just a quick bus ride away. He promised that every single person who works in Columbia could afford to live there. To that end, Rouse fought to ensure that subsidized housing and apartments were built alongside larger single-family homes. To achieve these goals, Rouse hired a team of scholars, government officials, and sociologists as well as talented planners and designers. This group of men and women became known as the “Work Group”. They were the masterminds behind the true innovation in creating Columbia which was the development of social planning alongside urban planning. They studied American cities, religious practices, and social behavior to create new integration strategies, public transportation options, and more efficient urban design.
Fun Fact: Rouse received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award, for his lifetime achievements from President Bill Clinton in 1995.
Villages and Neighborhoods
The master plan set forth by the Work Group would be to create a series of ten self-contained villages around which day-to-day life would revolve. Each village would be comprised of several neighborhoods. All villages would have a shopping center, recreational facilities, a community center, a system of bike/walking paths, and homes. The hope was that these small villages would cultivate a sense of social responsibility among its residents.
Fun Fact: If you’ve ever been to Columbia, you may have noticed that many of the villages and streets have quirky names. The reason for this is most of the names are derived from the works of poets, authors and artists! The Columbia Archives website has a search function to lookup the origin of any street name in Columbia. I live on Folded Leaf Square which comes from the work of Poet James Whitcomb Riley!