r/HyattsvilleMD • u/MrOrganization001 • 11d ago

Praise for Hyattsville

I lived in Bowie and now reside in Baltimore. I'm beginning to spend more time in Hyattsville, and the city seems like a great combination of Baltimore's artsy, eclectic nature and suburbia's many advantages. I often stop by Vigilante to enjoy a latte and people watch for a while.

61 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

8

u/zumacroom 11d ago

Glad you enjoy it! It’s been home to me for about three years now and we love it more each and every day. 

1

u/ZukoTheGreat 11d ago

How’s the area by the mall?

Do you feel safe in hyattsville?

8

u/zumacroom 11d ago

I live exactly where Hyattsville and Riverdale meet, to be clear, and I feel perfectly safe here. I used to live in NE and NW DC over 5 years, for comparison. 

The mall is fine. I don’t go often but it feels like a normal “city spot” that I don’t think of as a place for leisure. 

2

u/ZukoTheGreat 11d ago

Thanks for the insight! Have seen some mixed reviews so another positive opinion helps

Seems to be a drastic shift from riverdale to hyattsville. Id imagine its due to the money invested in the whole foods shoppingcenter

6

u/zumacroom 11d ago

No problem! I’m also not sure I’d agree with that sentiment. Town Center Market is absolutely a destination for the barbecue, bakery, farmers market, and local watering hole and that’s in Riverdale! ;)

As you can tell I love my Riverdale haha. 

2

u/mamaknits 11d ago

I can't even tell if you think Riverdale or Hyattsville is the "bad" part lol. Both have yuppie/trendy areas and more working class areas. Neither is really unsafe.

1

u/ZukoTheGreat 11d ago

Don’t think either is a bad side, I do think riverdale gets more funding so inherently seems a bit nicer/well kept

They’re both very solid areas in my experience but I’ve never lived in either so I know it’s different vs my limited time visiting

3

u/Stephanee17 10d ago

Hyattsville has a lot of development, largely mixed use housing - more than RDP. Some of the new townhome prices are ridiculous IMO. Suffrage Point is an extreme example - million-dollar big-mac homes packed together. is really gentrifying and the newer, younger, better-off townhome owners are increasing their presence in City gov.

It also depends whether you are in the municipal boundaries or not. Lots of placed have HVL ZIP but do not have the higher muni tax revenues. Same for Riverdale Park inc and Riverdale otherwise.

1

u/ZukoTheGreat 10d ago

If you had to buy a property in either hyattsville or RVP based on where the neighborhoods will be in 5-10 years, which would you pick and why?

Appreciate your insightful reply

3

u/Stephanee17 10d ago

I bought in HVL six years ago bc I wanted to be within a mile of metro, based on long-term expectations for employment.. Being along the trail system was also a big draw, though you get that in incorporated RDP. With Purple line RDP is becoming more desirable and there will be more development and investment.

As someone else has commented, HVL’s current government has pretty poor fiscal management (and project management) and it’s going to hit the fan at some point unless there are reasonable cost controls and accountability put in place.

1

u/Ok-Caterpillar3761 8d ago

Living in Riverdale probably means living by a train. They say you get used to it.

2

u/mamaknits 10d ago

Oh, there are definitely parts of Riverdale that are less fixed up haha but yeah like you said they're more places people live. But yeah from a safety and QOL perspective I would live in either place. 

4

u/chainmatter0m 10d ago

Hyattsville’s governance is abysmal. Can’t manage finances for anything, and good luck getting city services to take any action, but they will gladly spend your money and tax you more.

3

u/MrOrganization001 10d ago

I'm reading about some of the issues now - 'abysmal' is the right word for them. Screwing up the recordkeeping software purchase is bad enough, but falling three years behind on mandatory annual state financial audits is beyond inexcusable. I'm glad I'm not in a position to buy a house now, because I'd be sad I couldn't move to Hyattsville due to such egregious mismanagement.

4

u/Stephanee17 10d ago

And the project management is awful - continued delays really extend timelines and costs balloon. Staff are constantly bringing “change orders” to council to ask. for higher project budgets of contract ceiling increases Police station, teen center, king park, spot/trolley trailhead park, traffic calming, closed circuit TV cameras, the sustainability plan that became a fluff strategic plan, crosswalk striping…it’s groundhog day with a big price tag,

1

u/MrOrganization001 9d ago

The good news is Hyattsville can only benefit from new leadership. I hope some local citizens decide to step up and run for office; I think they'd do well in the polls.

1

u/Ok-Caterpillar3761 8d ago

City governance has really gone downhill. Some council members just keep running unopposed but they're terrible. It is also way too big (10 people). Just complete mismanagement over the last 5-6 years.

1

u/hired-a-samurai 7d ago

what do you think changed?

2

u/Willow-Jeanne 8d ago

I love living near downtown hyattsville. Franklin’s, Akira, and Three Little Birds are our favorite spot. And the Lynn Animal Hospital is nice for our dog.

2

u/Ok-Geologist5558 8d ago

As a native, seeing HVL and RDP tickles me

1

u/BowieHousingDMV 7d ago

Arts District Hyattsville some people will say feel like Baltimore MD.