Introduction

To many residents, Columbia is a town without a past. Before the Rouse Company developed the area, it was a patchwork of farms with pockets of real estate. Then in 1967, James Rouse unveiled his vision of what a town should be.

"Visions describe what best should be, could be - if and when mankind has the will to make them real." -James Rouse

This January, I had a vision of what could become an important conversation about Columbia through the voices of its residents. I decided to write this blog to capture those voices, and to create a conversation about the people who live in Columbia, all 97,000 of them.

I attended planning meetings for the new downtown, read through articles in Columbia Archives and spoke with residents. On February 1st, I began tracking down original residents with a copy of the 1969 phone book I obtained from the archives. Every resident with an e-mail address received a copy of this letter:
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Hello Resident,

My name is Jack Cole. We spoke earlier on the phone. First off, thank you for taking my call. As you can imagine, I really only have about thirty seconds to get my point across before people usually end hang up.

I'm a graduating senior of journalism at Towson University and a resident of Owen Brown. This semester, I'm taking an independent study in the form of journalism through blogging. I'm in the process of creating a comprehensive review of Columbia, in all of its facets. Currently, I'm trying to get to know Columbia's first residents: who they are, where they came from, what they were expecting and whether or not their expectations were met.

I would like to set up a date and time when you would be available for an interview. The only days I am not available are Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I can be reached through e-mail at this address: jcole9@towson.edu.

Thank you for your time and interest,
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