My mother and I had an argument Tuesday night. She didn't want me going biking from our house on the edge of the lake to Supreme Sports Club at 9:30 p.m. Owen Brown isn't safe she said. You don't walk around the village I retorted, you drive to Giant and back for groceries. I ended up staying home and reading, but not because of our argument. The hot tub closes at nine. Lift weights and soak, its a tie in deal.Our argument got me thinking though, is Owen Brown safe? Safety in Columbia is a relative subject. You generally don't see many people out walking or biking on a week night, even the bike guy is home by then. Is Owen Brown any less safe at night than it is during the day? The police still make rounds when they get around to it and the police helicopter can be heard and seen whizzing above the houses around Homespun lane.
Ask any Howard Transit bus driver, the brown route is no joke. I myself was almost mugged getting off the brown bus at the Owen Brown village center. Its a shame to have to carry pepper spray everywhere I go but it beats a beating.
For every person that reads, studies or walks out of the East Columbia branch library with a book, there's another from the housing ringing the school and village center walking in to check their Myspace page or chill.
The graffiti along the back wall of the Head Start building adds a nice touch and I especially like the Keno and scratch-off receipts that litter the school property. If you're lucky, you can find empty dime bags by the neighborhood pool and cop cars parked at the library and village center. To avoid armed robbery, Giant Food and the convenience store close early and Bank of America has a hired gun.
The village center isn't terrible but I'm sick and tired of the hoods that hang out in front of Jerry's, Owen Brown liquors and Giant Food playing the street game. The game works like this, hassle passers by for food, money or cigarettes. If you manage to intimidate a resident into giving you what you should get yourself, you win!
So who's right, my mother or I? Is Owen Brown safe or isn't it?
4 comments:
More often than not I would have to say that Owen Brown is safe. However, I live on the other side of the lake away from the Owen Brown Village Center.
We have had our recent share of graffiti problems within the neighborhood, but this issue seems to have been somewhat isolated.
All in all I would probably have to say that Owen Brown safety walks a fine line. I'm sure there a places that are safer than other, it's just a matter of being in the safe places at the right time.
You could always become a hermit and never visit the Owen Brown Village Center. Just get all of your groceries from Peapod. It's the best invention since sliced bread!!!!!
If you're carrying pepper spray then I think that you and your mother are pretty much in agreement already.
Personally, I think that Owen Brown is pretty darn safe.
For the last couple of years I've walked and biked all over and have yet to see anything that really worries me.
Honestly, most of what you cited doesn't exactly fall into the "oh no!" category. Scratch off tickets? Light graffiti? Bank security? Not exactly a war-zone.
And I have to ask: what exactly were you trying to say about people at the library? I think I really missed something there.
I live in Owen Brown right off of Cradlerock and I will admit that I will NOT walk around at night. I am female, so walking anywhere after dark may not be smart regardless of where you are, but I especially do not feel safe in my own neighborhood...read the paper!! By the way, this is all very sad considering I paid over 300K for a townhome in Columbia! I agree with the comment that the village center is sometimes crowded with so-called hoodlums and loud teenagers. My belief is that Columbia is slowly going downhill, Owen Brown is just first on the list. The apartments in my particular development are very sketchy and if you ask me, there should be no rental properties mixed in with housing that costs over 200K! I wish I had paid more attention when looking for a home.
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