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50 YEARS OF
GROUNDBREAKING
SINCE ITS FIRST RESIDENTS MOVED
INTO BRYANT WOODS IN JULY 1967,
COLUMBIA, MARYLAND, HAS PROVIDED
INSPIRATION AND PROOF THAT THERE ARE
DIFFERENT, BETTER WAYS TO APPROACH
THE BUILDING OF MODERN COMMUNITIES.
By carefully considering everything
from the value of a strong community
association to the best ways to address
important
topics such
as education,
religion,
recreation and
transportation,
Columbia’s
planners and
designers were
largely successful
in achieving their
four original
guiding principles:
Half a century after its forefathers
penned those revolutionary priorities,
Columbia’s ten villages are now home
to more than 100,000 residents.
Those residents—just like the city’s
countless annual visitors—are lured
by, among other things, the
community’s signature lakes,
abundant pathways, and
bountiful open spaces.
In so many ways, Columbia’s
visionaries achieved their lofty
goals of creating a new, improved
community, and there’s every
reason to believe that the next
fifty years in Columbia will be just as
innovative and successful as the first fifty.
Planned from the outset to not
only be inclusive and diverse—
neither of which were buzzwords
in the 1960s—but also to address
traditional urban population
issues like overcrowding, Columbia
has remained a model for well
planned, well sustained, and well
managed growth for fifty years.
One of the ways Columbia has
been able to achieve these goals
is through the steady hand of
the Columbia Association (CA),
which was first incorporated in
December 1965, when the city
was still just an idea. Originally
named the Columbia Parks and
Recreation Association, CA oversees
not only Columbia’s assets but,
in many ways, its personality.
Provide for the
growth of people
Build a complete city
Respect the land
Make a profit
Columbia
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