It may take a village to raise a booming local economy, but for Columbia residents, it takes 10.
Howard County wants each of Columbia?s village centers to once again be the focal point of village life, but it will take time, said Marsha McLaughlin, director of the county?s Department of Planning and Zoning.
“There has clearly been a lot of discussion about how you keep evolving the village centers so they stay both current and central to the life of the village,” she said.
Recently, there has been a call from Columbia residents and urban experts to update the centers.
In a lecture about Columbia last week, Robert W. Burchell, the co-director of the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University said the development of downtown Columbia must go hand-in-hand with improvements in village centers, said Barbara Nicklas, a spokeswoman for General Growth Properties.
“Basically you are looking at Columbia as a whole. How will the village centers be affected by Town Center?s development?” she said.
Revamping the village centers is a priority for the county, McLaughlin said. But it?s unrealistic to plan for all 10 at this point, she said.
Some villages ? such as Oakland Mills ? have driven their own revitalization in partnership with the Department of Planning and Zoning, McLaughlin said. The efforts have paid off, since Baltimore development firm Metroventures U.S.A. recently announced plans to build a four-story office and commercial building in Oakland Mills?s village center.
“We have a new administration ? they have lots on their plate right now in terms of deciding how their budget is going to be right away,” McLaughlin said. “We haven?t had a chance to talk to [County Executive Ken Ulman] yet about the timing of work with any other villages.”
