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For Monica Mische, the walkability of a city is everything.
Mische, a mother of five, never got a driver's license because she's always lived in metropolitan areas like New York City, where owning a car wasn't necessary. Now Mische, who moved to Maryland 15 years ago, said her home in Old Greenbelt puts her in proximity of nearly everywhere she needs to go. "Everything we need as a family — the pool, library, doctor's office and ball fields — are all accessible by walking," Mische said.
For example, center city residents who live near the municipal building located at 25 Crescent Road have a walkability score of 77. However, for Greenbelt residents who live near the Springhill Lake Elementary School, located at 6060 in West Greenbelt, the score decreases to 55. The score isn't much better in Greenbelt East — near the post office located at 7600 Ora Glen Drive — where the score is 58. The city of Laurel, which has a similar population to Greenbelt according to 2008 US Census data, scored only 43 at City Hall, located at 8103 Sandy Spring Road. The score increases to 77 near the post office in Laurel, located at 324 Main St.
Residents who live near the College Park City Hall have a score of 77, and those residents who live near the Cherry Hill Neighborhood Park have an even lower score of 54.
"I think walkability is one thing that attracts people to Greenbelt, and the fact that [center city] has a high score is because it was planned that way," said Greenbelt Mayor Judith Davis.
A byproduct of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal Era, Greenbelt was founded in 1937 as a cooperative community for federal government workers. The center city is filled with interior walkways, courtyards and underpasses to promote walkability.
"Greenbelt is designed so that all the sidewalks and walkways are in a core area and all the services are centrally located," said lifetime Greenbelt resident Mark Opsanick. "But the walkability is limited to old Greenbelt only. It's distinct and separate from the outlying areas."
Though Opsanick said he used to walk everywhere when he was younger, he now relies more heavily on his car.
Malin Kennedy has also lived in Greenbelt his whole life, and walks to Roosevelt Center a couple of times a week. However, Kennedy does enjoy driving his 1958 Impala. On Friday, Kennedy was on his way to the Centerway Mini Market.
"In old Greenbelt, everything is accessible by foot. No matter what part of town you live in, the stores are accessible by foot," Kennedy said.
E-mail Jordan Attebury at jattebury@gazette.net.
