The Missing Village

The continuing saga of invisible villages…

You probably know that Columbia has ten villages. Nine of them have central shopping/activity areas called Village Centers. Town Center does not - - I’m guessing that is because they have the Mall.

As a newbie back in the early oughts, I was so proud of myself for familiarizing myself with information and lore about my new home in Columbia.This is why I was especially puzzled by ads claiming to represent Columbia’s Village Centers - - that didn’t include all of them.

That irked me. Here’s a recent one.

The answer I got was that these particular Village Centers are owned and managed by one company: Kimco. The others aren’t. It wasn’t going to be as straightforward as I wanted it to be.

I still think you shouldn’t bill yourself as “Columbia’s Village Centers” if you don’t include all of them. It’s misleading if not downright factually incorrect. Oh, well.

I delved into a recent article about Columbia’s Village Centers in the Business Monthly with genuine interest. Alas, it left me with more questions than answers.

“Inconsistent results as Columbia's aging village centers adapt to modern pressures” George Berkheimer, The Business Monthly

I’d give you a link but I can’t find one. Here’s the hard copy:

You’ll notice the yellow marking on the newsprint. That’s me trying to be absolutely sure I hadn’t missed a mention of my own village: Oakland Mills.

To review: Columbia has ten Villages. Nine of them have Village Centers. Six are owned by Kimco.

This article includes eight.

What’s the rationale for that? They omitted one and give no explanation whatsoever. Possible explanations:

They forgot
They don’t think it’s important enough to mention

Ideas?

I promise you that I’d be just as annoyed if this article covered everything except one of the other Villages. It just doesn’t make any sense.

From time to time I have struggled with that old Rodney Dangerfield feeling about Oakland Mills’ reputation in Columbia. You know - - “I can’t get no respect.” Still, I try not to let that color my entire worldview. And now The Business Monthing comes along and just plain disappears us.

Oakland Mills Village Center has all the same 21st century challenges as the others. It has had its ups and downs over the years and has continued to evolve to meet the needs of the community.

Why is that story not worth telling?

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