Bloggers ‘rethink College Park’ downtown area

City officials encourage online forum for residents, students

Thursday, Sept. 28, 2006

by Dennis Carter

Staff Writer

Hoping to encourage development in downtown College Park, two University of Maryland students have engaged in cyberspace activism that city and community leaders are optimistic will attract the attention of concerned residents.

UMCP students Rob Godspeed and David Daddio began a web-based log, called ‘‘Rethink College Park,” of downtown development news in July. The blog shares information about new retail or housing, and is looking to better inform College Park communities about city and university plans in the campus area.

Community activists said the blog (www.rethinkcollegepark.net⁄blog⁄), which invites people to comment on posted items – or offer opinions on development-related stories in The Gazette or the Diamondback newspapers – could encourage more citizen involvement in the city’s efforts to revitalize downtown. Daddio said the blog gets about 80 to 100 hits a day.

Goodspeed, who is seeking his masters degree in urban development, and Daddio, a senior environmental science policy major, said they started ‘‘Rethink College Park” after a Spring design charrete attended by students, residents and university and city officials.

Goodspeed said that with daily posts on the site, he hopes to ‘‘bridge the gap between public policy lingo” and residents’ and students’ desire for a more pedestrian-friendly community with a better variety of shops and restaurants.

‘‘In regard to development, much of the information is public, but it is not clearly available to the public,” said Goodspeed, who, along with Daddio, call local officials to obtain documents and sketches of potential development. ‘‘We wanted to create a unique place to connect [locals’] opinions with people in power.”

Daddio said Route 1 improvements would be crucial for the long-term success of College Park.

With ‘‘Rethink College Park,” Daddio said, city residents could post their opinions for all to see, perhaps lending more support for the City Council’s preference for the direction of downtown redevelopment.

‘‘The university just completely overwhelms the area and has a lot more political say [than the city],” said Daddio, 21. ‘‘But there’s clearly a common goal for residents and students for a vibrant downtown.”

Daddio and Goodspeed said they would like to see the city take steps to create a more hospitable atmosphere for bikers and walkers.

‘‘A great college town is a resoundingly pedestrian place” with easy access to mass transit, Goodspeed said.

City Councilman Eric Olson (Dist. 3), who represents the downtown area, said he supports outlets for residents to keep track of new housing and retail development entering or exiting the city.

‘‘It will help as we try to attract more stores and create more of a college town feel with more shopping options,” Olson said. ‘‘I think you need a better mix of [national and independent] retail to get the type of college town we’re looking for.”

Stephanie Stullich, president of the Old Town Citizens Association, said it was refreshing to see Maryland students investing their time in shaping a more family-friendly downtown.

Goodspeed is originally from Maine and Daddio is a native of Columbia, Md.

‘‘It’s nice to see students care so much about the larger community in which the university is in,” she said, adding that downtown variety should include chain retailers, which can ‘‘anchor a commercial area.”

‘‘They’re obviously thinking about the long-term future of the community,” she said.

E-mail Dennis Carter at dcarter@gazette.net.