This is My Prince George’s

Envision Prince George’s has been asking a lot of questions lately:

• What do YOU like most about living in Prince George’s County?
• What do YOU want the county to be like in 10 or 20 years?
• What do WE need to do in order to have the future we want?

During the past year, more than a thousand Prince Georgians from every sector, age, race and ethnicity talked about these and other questions in Envision Prince George’s Community Forums and other meetings. They sat at tables and talked together, reviewed information on issues and then expressed their visions about the quality of life they want to see in the future..

The THOUSANDS of ideas generated at the forums gave us a good look at our county—and what we want it to be like in 10 or 20 years. These personal answers from our friends, neighbors and coworkers make up a portrait of our community that we call “This Is My Prince George’s”. Below are the 11 most commonly mentioned themes of what people like most about living in Prince George’s County.

1. Diversity of People—The people of the county are highly diverse—racially, economically, and culturally.
2. Location, Location, Location—The county has great proximity to Washington, D.C., Virginia, Baltimore, Annapolis, Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the countryside, etc.
3. Parks and Recreation—The county has an impressive array of parks and recreation facilities, including neighborhood and community centers.
4. Diverse Geography—The county has a very wide range of settings from urban to rural within a short drive.
5. Open and Green Space—The county has ample open and green space and in many places a “country” or rural feeling. The county also possesses a great network of biking and hiking trails.
6. Great Transportation Network—The county has great transportation assets—in particular, road, rail, and access to three major airports.
7. Great Communities, Great Neighbors—The county has a wonderful complement of close-knit communities and neighborhoods.
8. A Wealth of Historic Sites—The county has a large number of impressive historic sites, many of which are not well known.
9. Potential for Growth—Given the enormous growth the rest of the region has experienced in recent decades, the county has real untapped potential for intelligent growth and development in the wake of that regional growth.
10. Affordability—Cost of housing and cost of living in the county are more affordable than in the rest of the region.
11. Tremendous Higher Education Assets—The county has excellent higher education institutions. The flagship campus of the University of Maryland system was mentioned frequently as was Bowie State University and Prince George’s Community College.

Which on this list are most important to you? What would you add to this list?

We hope you will share your point of view on the Envision Prince George’s Online Forum: What We Love About Prince George’s.