La Supermarket Grande

I do most of my grocery shopping at the Giant by PG Plaza. I'm familiar with that location after living in Hyattsville for a year, and in addition to being a nice store, there aren't many other grocery stores in the area to take my business away from there. I shopped at the Giant in Riverdale Plaza occassionally before it closed, but mostly just for quick trips.
So when my wife needed a few ingredients for a recipe she was in the process of making, I decided I didn't want to deal with East-West highway during a high traffic time, and decided to check out the newly opened La Supermarket Grande where the Riverdale Giant was formerly located.

The store's name isn't exactly inviting to English speakers, but I figured my tiny spanish vocabulary would at least get me out of the store safely. It was an interesting visit. The staff at LSG seemed to be all Latin. The cashier who checked me out was able to greet me in English, but I don't think we could have had a deep conversation in my native language. The store's management/owners were asian. From the conversation I heard them having, their English wasn't exactly fluent either. I'm open to diversity, and don't have a problem with immigrants. However, I did get the feeling customer service might be an issue with the language difficulties. I don't think I would feel confident asking an employee for assistance finding an item.

While the store is obviously focused on providing services to our area's latin community, they did have signs for prices and items posted in English. While I wasn't confident in my ability to hold a conversation with LSG's employees, I didn't have trouble understanding how aisles and items were labeled.

The most positive thing I took away from my visit at the LSG was the meat department. Giant's base price for boneless, skinless chicken breasts is 3.99. This is a staple of my diet, but I usually wait until Giant has it on sale for 1.79 or 1.99 a pound. This happens maybe once a month, and often other Giant shoppers have snatched up everything in stock before I do my purchase. LSG's price for boneless, skinless breasts was 1.59 a pound. No discount marked...no bonus card. 1.59 a pound. I hope this isn't a temporary price, because I would love to have access to chicken breast at that price. I also noticed a beef tenderloin roast went for 5.99 a pound. Not sure of the Giant comparison, but it seemed like a good price to me.

The main drawback of this store is the one that was previously facing Giant. SIZE. The shopping experience at an older and smaller grocery store isn't as positive as with a contemporary grocery store. Now, I don't need a monstrous establishment like a Wegman's to enjoy grocery shopping. The Giant on East West Highway is just fine. LSG offers both traditional American items as well as merchandise that is aimed at the local Latin community. With the greater stock of Latin items, it seems like supply of different brands and in quantities is even less. I can't see myself making my usual weekly shopping trips at LSG, although it might be worth it to buy certain items.

The addition of La Supermarket Grande is interesting for the Riverdale area. On blogs about the area, I read a lot about the desire for local businesses. Our area is very diverse, and a successful business will likely have to corner all customers in its desired niche, or appeal to all ethnic and socioeconomic groups. It seems that many Riverdale residents work in government or businesses focused in Washington DC. Local entrepeneurs seem to me to more likely come from the increasing immigrant community in this area. There seem to be a good amount of Latin restaurants that have popped up in the area, especially on the Kenilworth corridor. I won't be surprised to see more Latin owned businesses in the area.

Christmas Season is Here

This weekend truly felt like the beginning of the Christmas season for my family. We drove out to the country and cut down our Christmas tree Saturday morning, and spent the afternoon decorating the tree and putting up lights outside. There are some houses in Riverdale that really get in the Christmas spirit and put up some great displays outside of their homes. However, I wish more of our neighbors would get involved in decorating. I don't expect every house to have elaborate Christmas decorations, but neighborhoods with lots of lights truly feel welcoming during an otherwise dreary winter season. With the early onset of darkness in winter, the lights have a great effect.

After we were satisfied with our day's worth of Christmas preparation, we headed over to the Holiday Festival at Town Center. Their was a very positive vibe at the festival, and it seemed like vendors, musicians, and attendees were all in a friendlier than usual mood. I guess there is something to the idea of holiday spirit! I was happy to see a good turnout, especially among children. There seemed to be plenty of activities to keep people entertained. I'm happy that Riverdale was able to put on a good event. Hopefully the Holiday Festival will become an annual tradition for my family and the rest of the town. I think organizing a fundraiser for a local charity or organization might be something that would fit well with the Holiday Festival. With such a good turnout of people, this would be a good time to try and promote positive citizenship in the community.

PS...I'm happy with the early Christmas gift from Prince George's county. The new recycling bins will be great for promoting a more environmentally conscious town.

Do Not Enter

Queensbury Road westbound has been changed from Do Not Enter during morning rush hour, into a full time Do Not Enter in front of the firehouse. I see how people want to ensure there isn't traffic in the way when the fire department is dispatched. However, it truly will be a nuisance for local drivers. While walking the neighborhood yesterday I noticed an officer had pulled over one vehicle for proceeding through the signs, and many others were turning down side streets onto Riverdale Rd. when they saw this. The result was a very noticeable increase in the amount of cars on Riverdale Rd. There was a lot more traffic out in front of Dumm's, which is a major pedestrian area in the town. The intersection in front of Dumm's isn't great, and doesn't need more traffic. It is a one way stop, which drivers really aren't used to seeing much. I've seen several near accidents where drivers don't realize that vehicles turning on and off of Riverdale Rd. do not have a stop sign, and therefore don't have to cede the right of way.
There is also likely to be a lot of confusion at the left hand turn getting back onto Queensbury for the railroad crossing. That is also a potentially dangerous intersection, and more left hand turns doesn't sound like a great idea. Maybe more measures could be taken to improve safety in this high traffic area for both automobiles and pedestrians.

Stolen Car

After less than a year of living in Riverdale Park, I have had my first incident of crime against my property. I set out Wednesday morning to run an errand, only to find the car I intended on driving missing from outside of my house. I was hoping to myself that the car was towed, although I could think of no valid reason why, and the dispatcher from the Riverdale Park police department confirmed to me that it was not towed. This was a huge letdown.

An officer from the town police came, and was helpful in explaining what happened. Apparently there were people breaking into cars along our street and taking stereos. Our car was supposedly a good car to get away in, because its make is known as an easy car to pop the ignition.

So several hours later while I was at work, the police department left me a message that the car was found, on 55th Pl. The good news was that contents of the car remained, including my kid's car seat. The car was towed and I am now responsible for going through the process of having it released from impound. I'll have to pay my insurance deductible and probably be without the car a little longer while it is being repaired. Its a hassle on my end, and the criminals will likely never be found for it.

Its frustrating to consider that the criminals probably lived just across Kenilworth, near where the car was dumped. I feel safe in my neighborhood, but a moderate distance away there appears to be plenty of problems. This past month a 19 year old man of latin descent was killed in the 5400 block of Riverdale Rd. Thats only a few minute walk from my house. While I don't head over to that area on foot because I have no reason to, it isn't reassuring to read about that in the news. This personal incident I had reminds me that although my immediate street appears quiet and friendly, that I don't live that far from people who are willing to travel here to damange and steal the property of others. I know it is unlikely to happen, but I would really love to see the area transform so that no part of Riverdale appears crime ridden.

Commuting on the Anacostia?

My wife showed me an article about a guy in Cheverly who rows his way to work on the Anacostia. http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/wayoflife/07/30/rowing.commuter.ap/

Its a great idea to forget about the traffic that bothers us all, and use a more natural route that is surely better for your health and your mind. Living near the Northeast Branch trail, I see a lot of bikers in the morning who I assume are commuters. However, I've never heard of anybody else using the river as a way to get into the city.

This idea seems very appealing to me, because I love the outdoors and work fairly close to the river down in DC. It would be great if the Northeast Branch near my house was deep enough for rowing. Its disappointing that the river is too shallow at this point for any recreation. However, the Bladensburg Waterfront Park is a fairly easy bike or walk from Riverdale. The difficutly though would be the amount of time it would take to commit to this. An hour and a half like this guy describes certainly is a lot to commit, when my commute into DC can be done in 20 to 25 minutes on most days. Who knows...maybe one day I'll find a canoe or kayak and try it out. For now though the traditional commute will have to do.

New Local Tourist Attraction

My wife's desire to bake led me to the 7-11 on Kenilworth Avenue in Bladensburg recently. I had heard about the promotional change to make this location look like a Kwik-E-Mart from the Simpsons. When I got there it seemed to be working well for the 7-11 atleast.

My first sight when I drove into the parking lot was somebody who was probably a local, taking a picture of a father and son sporting the uniform of the tourist, "I love DC" T-shirts. They made sure they were smiling as they cozied up to Marge and her bag of groceries. Now maybe they were in the area for other reasons, but it seemed to me like they had made a detour from the usual DC attractions to see the Kwik-E-Mart. It was funny to me that an ordinary 7-11 in a not very touristy part of the the DC area was drawing in people just to see the sight.

Inside there was a busier than normal line. While there appeared to be the local blue collar workers picking up coffee, doughnuts, and the other essentials for the work day, there were also several people who only had the promotional items such as Buzz Cola or Krusty-O's. It seems the draw of the Kwik-E-Mart is great. I would have taken pictures of the store to share, but I wouldn't want to look like a tourist or a crazy Simpson's fanatic.

Farmer's Market

One of the things I've enjoyed about Spring and Summer in Riverdale has been the weekly farmer's market. It gives me an opportunity to walk around the neighborhood, purchase some fruits and vegetables, and support some local farmers. Its definitely a great way to promote a healthy community.

While there is a great variety of produce vendors, a farm that sold meat was definitely missing. This past week there was a couple from Pennsylvania who were selling their antibiotic-free pork and beef products. They were friendly people who talked as if they would be back again. I bought a sirloin, for a reasonable price, and grilled it up that night for dinner. The meat was great quality and turned into a delicious meal for my wife and I. So I will likely be buying from them again when they return to the market, and I'll be sure to let them know how much I enjoyed their product.

Northeast Branch Pictures

One of the reasons I enjoy living in Riverdale is having the Northeast Branch of the Anacostia River running right through the town. It certainly isn't the most impressive body of water, but it does offer a small break from the roads, homes, and general confusion of our society. With the trail system that runs along the river, it provides a quick dose of outdoor recreation that would otherwise be hard to fit in with my life. Sunday I was able to put together an hour long walk down the trail through Edmonston and into Bladensburg.
The picture above was taken in Bladensburg where the Northeast Branch Trail ends, and the Anacostia River trail begins. It looked like a pair of ducks in the distance and a heron of some sort in the foreground.

To the left is a lone duck that was ducking its head under water. This shot was also taken in Bladensburg.

The picture below is a bird I spotted along a drainage ditch next to the Northeast Branch Trail in Riverdale. I believe the bird in the photo is a Black Crowned Night Heron. I'm an amateur at bird spotting, so I could be off. But it looks similar to a description I saw of a juvenile of that species.



While looking for information about the Anacostia River, I came across a website for Friends of Sligo Creek. On one of their pages they also mentioned a website for Neighbors of the Northwest Branch. I couldn't find anything online about any groups dedicated to the Northeast Branch of the Anacostia. I would love to hear from anybody who knows anything about any such group.
http://www.fosc.org/fosc.htm
http://www.neighborsnwb.org/

Cafritz Property

http://route1growth.wordpress.com/2007/06/04/summary-of-june-2nd-cafritz-community-input-meeting/

http://rpcoffeehouse.blogspot.com/2007/06/cafritz-property.html

While searching for blogs about Riverdale Park, I came across these two above that gave me a much better idea about what the Cafritz property is and what the plans may be for it. Although the property is somewhat isolated from the rest of the town, the potential benefits of developing this property could be great for Riverdale and the surrounding areas.

My wife brought up the possibility of a Whole Foods store going up in this location. This link gave an interesting take on what Whole Foods may look like based on other regional stores.

http://rpcoffeehouse.blogspot.com/2007/06/how-many-whole-foods-can-you-fit-in-vw.html

My wife and I have shopped at the Whole Foods in Silver Spring, and it is a huge store. Their food selection appears superior in terms of quality and health conscious options to a standard Giant, Safeway, Shoppers, etc. However, the prices are high, and I know some residents would be turned off by this. I still think that there would be enough interest though to justify a store. I would really hope that environmental concerns are taken seriously with a development so close to the Anacostia River. I've read a lot about how the vast amount of impervious surface at PG Plaza has really hurt the local tributaries of the Anacostia. A garage would be ideal in order to keep as much green space as possible.

Since the Cafritz Property is located conveniently between College Park, Riverdale, and University Park, I think it will help to bring the neighboring communities together. Hopefully the Hiker-Biker trail would be an important aspect of this development in order to promote foot traffic between towns. I know a walk with the family to Whole Foods would be a much more enjoyable grocery experience than jumping in a car and dealing with East West Highway or Rte. 1. A little bit of night life in the form of quality restaurants would also be ideal.

Since the trend in the metro area seems to be smart growth/high density residential developments, I would hope the idea of combining ground level retail and restaurants with apartment/condo living would be implemented. To truly make this a livable community, I would like to see a combination of undeveloped and landscaped, recreational land. If single family housing was part of the plan, I hope they would build similar sized and designed houses and lots to what is currently seen in University Park and Riverdale Park. McMansions might bring in the high end consumers that the developers want, but it surely wouldn't fit the vibe of the area.

My Life in Riverdale Park

I've been a lifelong resident of Maryland, but recently moved to Riverdale Park in Prince George's County in the past year. I grew up in Montgomery County and then Baltimore County. I first lived in PG several years ago when I was in grad school. My wife and I lived in an apartment complex in Hyattsville, and really loved the area. She is from NY, but loves the DC area. After getting a job in DC, we decided we wanted to buy a home in PG county near where we had rented. With an entry level salary and while beginning a family, there weren't a lot of options for us. We would drive around the area, but most places were financially out of the question. I remember one day about 2 years ago, driving past Hyattsville into Riverdale. I remember thinking it would be a nice neighborhood to live in. It was a nice looking neighborhood, and I loved the welcome feeling that came from driving past the town center. I remember calling a realtor about the cost of one home, realized it was reasonable. While my wife and I weren't quite ready to buy, I remember saying to her that Riverdale was the place I would really like to live.

Fast forward a year or so, and my wife and I still didn't own a home. We were saving up money, but in no particular hurry to buy. My mother in law was in town from NY, and wanted to drive through some neighborhoods to yard sale and potentially look at open houses...a hobby of hers. We ended up in Riverdale, and my memory of the home I liked led me to turn down the road it was on. I pointed out the home that had been on the market a year earlier, and as we round the corner, we see another home for sale on that street. It was a great location...right across from the Anacostia River Trail and a park. A phone call to the realtor led to a viewing of the house the next day, an offer the following day, and a purchase contract within 4 days.

While the home buying process went fast for us, it took us a while to get moved in. Once we were settled with the improvements we wanted to make before moving in, everything was great. With our first spring almost behind us, I am truly happy to have made the decision to move to Riverdale. Its convenient to my job in DC, while it still feels like a town...not just a suburb. Taking a walk in Riverdale is always pleasant...whether down to the farmers market on Thursday, to Riversdale Mansion, or along the Anacostia River. Monday evening I took a walk with my son on the Anacostia River Trail. Just a short walk from our house, I was able to stop for a few minutes and watch a couple of beavers in the river. While I was watching them, an Oriole flew by me. Spotting that bird(2nd time this spring) which I know is so rare to see, certainly was special. Living in an area so near the nation's capital, but where you get that feeling like you could be far away is not available to many people.

So why create a blog about my life in Riverdale, which is just getting started. I enjoy living here and want to share that with others. I enjoy how the Gazette, the town crier, and some other blogs I've found report on local issues. I want a place to be able to share my views about Riverdale Park and the surrounding areas.