A Planned Community

Columbia, Maryland is a planned community that is located in Howard County. The community is made up of ten independent villages. Columbia is a suburb of Baltimore and Washington, DC. The city was created to enhance the quality of life of its residents. The concept was to create a small town feel that was free of income, racial, and religious segregation. The city has a population of approximately 97,200 people. It has a total area of 71.6 square kilometers (27.7 square miles) with 71.4 square kilometers (27.6 square miles) of land and 0.3 square kilometers (0.1 square miles) of water. Columbia is situated in the Piedmont region of Maryland. The climate is characterized by hot and humid summers and cold and wet winters. There are stream valleys and rolling hills in the city. The Little Patuxent River and Middle Patuxent River and three artificial lakes (Lake Elkholm, Lake Kittamaqundi, and Wilde Lake) are located in the city.

Each village includes many neighborhoods, a community center, recreational facilities, shopping centers, schools, and walking/bike paths. Some of the villages have interfaith centers. The villages are Dorsey's Search, Harper's Choice, Hickory Ridge, Kings Contrivance, Long Reach, Oakland Mills, Owen Brown, River Hill, Town Center, and Wilde Lake. The street names are named after famous art and literature works.

Money Magazine ranked Columbia forth out of the hundred "Best Places to Live" in the United States in 2006. Columbia was ranked number eight in 2008.

The Howard County Public School System manages the public schools.

The Mall of Columbia is the biggest shopping mall in the region. It has five anchor stores, over 200 hundred stores and restaurants, and a large movie theater with 14 screens. The mall is located in the village of Town Center.
The shopping centers in each village are situated so that the stores are not easily seen from the road.

Recreation is an important aspect of Columbia. The recreational facilities are maintained and operated by the homeowners association, the Columbia Association or CA. There are six indoor swimming pools, twenty-three outdoor swimming pools, two water slides, an equestrian center, ice and roller skating rinks, a skateboard park, picnic pavilions, a sports park with miniature golf, many indoor and outdoor tennis, batting cages, running tracks, clubhouse and playground, basketball, volleyball, squash and racquetball courts, and three athletic clubs including the 24/7 Supreme Sports Club. Lifetime Fitness was recently opened. There are many activities around the lakes such as biking, boating, fishing, jogging, sailing, and strolling. There are also children's play areas.

Many celebrations and fairs occur throughout the year such as the Columbia Festival of the Arts, and the summer lakeside entertainment on Lake Kittamaqundi.

There are many famous people from Columbia. Edward Norton, an actor who has been nominated for many Academy Awards made his professional debut when he was 8 years old at Toby's Dinner Theatre in the village of Town Center. Edward Norton is also the grandson of Columbia's founder, James W. Rouse. Michael Chabon, D'Monroe, volleyball drills Hunter, JJ Kincaid, Elise Ray, and Sir Frank Whittle are also famous Columbians.

For more information on Columbia, Maryland visit http://columbiamicroblog.com and http://marylandmicroblog.com