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Its Name Lacks a 'Park,' but Not Its Vibe
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Lynn and Larry Hailes moved into a Victorian house two blocks from the Metro station in 1996. Before that, they lived about five blocks away for seven years.
In the dozen years they have lived on their block, only two houses have turned over.
"It's a diverse neighborhood, and close-knit," Lynn said.
"There are a lot of potluck dinners during the holidays," Larry said.
Recent figures on the ethnic and racial mix of Takoma aren't available, but in both 1990 and 2000, the census reported that the area was roughly 75 percent black. The part of the neighborhood east of Piney Branch Road is about equally divided between renters and owners, and was about 10 percent Hispanic and about 10 percent white in 2000. The section west of Piney Branch was almost 20 percent white, and was 70 percent owners.
Christy Hartless, who is white, arrived in 2001 with her husband from Fairfax County. "People were very welcoming to us," she said. Over the past seven years, she said, more houses have turned over to families with young children, like her own.
She loves the neighborhood atmosphere. And the revival of nearby downtown Silver Spring since their move "has been a huge bonus that we never banked on."
David Arthur chose Takoma for its diversity and convenience. He lived in Dupont Circle before buying a house in 2000; his wife moved from Silver Spring.
They paid $364,000 for a house a five-minute walk from Metro, and they have stayed true to their goal of having only one car. Arthur said his commute downtown to his lobbying job takes 30 minutes door-to-door.
"We knew we wanted to start a family, and we wanted to make sure they were exposed to as much diversity as possible -- ethnic diversity, racial diversity, gay-lesbian-bisexual diversity," Arthur said.
"There's a sense of community here," he said, with monthly potlucks among families with young children. "There's a real activist spirit in Takoma D.C. you don't find in every neighborhood."
One of the downsides of Takoma, he said, is that the neighborhood schools are not up to his family's standards. Maya, 6, and Zoe, who will be 3 in September, go to a bilingual Montessori charter school in the District that runs through eighth grade.
