Where We Live
An Island of Independence
Earle and Wanda Knott bought their split foyer with a garage in 1964.
(By Marianne Kyriakos For The Washington Post)
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Saturday, May 27, 2006
Let's get it straight: Allview Estates is not a part of Columbia, even though it has a Columbia mailing address.
"This is the community for those of us who do not want to live in Columbia," Arthur Williams said.
"Columbia asked us to join them and we have turned them down repeatedly," Linda Dunn said.
"If I want an orange door, I can have an orange door," Don Calp said, referring to Columbia's system of restrictive covenants.
In 1963, the Rouse Co. was secretly acquiring one-tenth of Howard County's total land area, about 14,000 acres, with visions of a new kind of city. Allview Estates was already being developed, a green island of independence as Columbia drew international publicity and exploded all around it.
To residents, Allview's best selling points are what it does not have: streetlights, curbs, sidewalks and the special assessment that Columbia property owners pay.
There has been talk about installing streetlights and sidewalks, but the issues polarized residents. "People wanted to preserve the country environment," Williams said. "It was becoming more and more suburban."
The first houses on Allview Drive were built in the late 1950s, with prices from $22,000 to $28,000. An article in Popular Mechanics magazine at the time called it "the best value in homes in the country."
In this eastern Howard County community, people give of themselves -- sometimes in the extreme, like Linda Dunn's husband, Bob. "He's the guy who lost a finger shoveling everybody's snow," said neighbor Wanda Knott.
The accident several winters ago has not stopped the retired electrical contractor from firing up the snow blower every time a storm blasts through. "That's what neighbors are supposed to do," he said. "And I can order 4 1/2 beers with one hand."
Wanda Knott's husband, Earle, cut down his boundary of prized peach trees for the people next door, he said, "because their sons were teenagers and they were athletic."
The boys were playing ball, running into the street, "and I thought, 'These kids are going to get run over.' "
