Are Takoma Park's Hippie Days Over?

• July 9th 2012

by Shilpi Paul

Is Takoma Park losing its hippie cred? According to a recent article in The Washington Post, the neighborhood’s days as “The People’s Republic” may be coming to an end.

In earlier decades, Takoma Park was known for its revolutionary verve, with the Free Burma Committee, a community tool chest and for being the first municipality in Maryland to legalize gay marriage.

Now, the rambling bungalows (which have much higher price tags these days) are attracting younger, more affluent residents with no memory of the protests and movements that motivated early residents. And, the early rabble-rousers are getting older and engaging less with social justice issues.

From the Post:

“The younger folks, who weren’t here, who weren’t even alive, should appreciate what had happened,” Kohn said. “But it is a challenge to bridge the gap between the new arriving families and the old folks.”

Michael Robinson and Donna Dietz moved into their two-floor house on Flower Avenue two weeks ago. They have three boys — 6 and younger — and moved to the area because they were hired to teach math at American University. When they looked at homes in Takoma Park and Silver Spring, they felt the communities were indistinguishable. As they searched, Robinson looked up Takoma Park’s history on Wikipedia and learned about the protests, the activism. But that didn’t figure into their final decision. Dietz, 40, said they just liked the proximity to Metro, the “cute” neighborhood, the large back yard of their new home and its kitchen.

Takoma Park still feels much more progressive than many other neighborhoods in the DC area. But if the above trend continues, what will become the new mecca for city activists?

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/are_takoma_parks_hippie_days_over/5739.