Living Here

The University of Maryland is located just outside of Washington D.C., four miles from the northeastern border and nine from the National Mall. Some of our students and faculty live downtown and commute by Metro (subway) to the College Park Green Line station, a ride of only 15-20 minutes. Popular neighborhoods near the Green Line include Petworth, Columbia Heights, Mount Pleasant, U Street and Adams Morgan.
 
The capital city provides a rich cultural life, with the Kennedy Center, National Symphony Orchestra and the National Opera alongside many casual venues for theater and popular music. At the heart of it are the many world-class (but free!) museums of the Smithsonian Institution, including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Gallery of Art.
 
Nearby outdoor activities include the many attractions of the National Mall (satellite)–including the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial – as well as the National Zoo, hiking at Great Falls National Park and biking in Rock Creek Park. Slightly further away is the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.
 
Washington is one of only seven U.S. cities to host five major league sports teams: the Commanders (football), the Wizards (basketball), the Nationals (baseball), the Capitals (hockey) and DC United (soccer).

The University of Maryland is located in College Park, a close suburb of Washington, D.C. Many graduate students choose to live in College Park or in nearby areas such as Hyattsville, University Park, Riverdale, Greenbelt, Takoma Park or Silver Spring. Many areas close to the university are served by the ShuttleUM bus service, which covers popular routes and is free to students.

The City of College Park is primarily a college town, but it is increasingly attracting a diverse and highly educated population, due to nearby centers such as the National Archives at College Park, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the new headquarters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as the many expanding cultural, sporting and recreational activities available in and around the University of Maryland.
 
Cultural and sporting activities in College Park are dominated by the University of Maryland. The university's The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center hosts an expansive program of theatrical, musical and dance productions by nationally renowned performers (free tickets for students). Thanks to its proximity to Washington, D.C., the university regularly hosts events involving prominent national political and cultural figures. Maryland's sports teams in football, men's and women's basketball, soccer and lacrosse are hugely popular, and on game days the 18,000 seat Comcast Center or 55,000 seat Capitol One Field at Maryland Stadium are filled to capacity. The Campus Recreation Center houses outstanding facilities for competitive and recreational sports, including world-class swimming facilities (venue for multiple world record swims). The University of Maryland even has an on-campus 18-hole golf course.
 
Recreational opportunities in and around College Park include an extensive network of biking and running trails, Lake Artemesia, ice skating, duckpin and 10-pin bowling and the superb AFI Silver Theater in nearby Silver Spring. College Park is also home to the College Park Aviation Museum, which focuses on the early days of aviation when College Park Airport, now the oldest continuously operated airport in the world, was an important flight center.
 
From the spring through the fall, there are several nearby farmers markets that sell local produce: on campus on Wednesdays; in Riverdale on Thursdays; in Silver Spring and College Park on Saturdays; and in Greenbelt, Takoma Park, and again College Park on Sundays.

Retail in College Park has long been overshadowed by nearby centers such as Washington, D.C., Silver Spring and Bethesda. But College Park and the surrounding area are changing. Several new developments – many of which anticipate completion of the DC Metro's Purple Line running straight through the campus from Bethesda to New Carrolton – are transforming the area, with the addition of new graduate housing, restaurants, retail, hotels and upscale supermarkets. Other substantial urban renewal projects are underway in nearby towns, especially within the thriving Arts District Hyattsville initiative just to the south of College Park.

By car, College Park is 45 minutes from both Baltimore to the north and Annapolis to the east; two hours from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to the northeast and Richmond, Virginia, to the south; three hours from the Delaware beaches to the northeast or Shenandoah National Park to the west; and four hours from Pittsburgh to the northwest or New York City to the northeast. The major cities can also be accessed easily by bus, or more rapidly by train. Our location makes it easy for students to attend conferences and workshops at universities all along the East Coast.