Takoma DC - Washington, DC Area Guide

In 1883, Benjamin Franklin Gilbert designed Takoma as a suburban community on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad line, promoting it as a healthy alternative to downtown. Much of the neighborhood's continuing focus on health and wellness derives from the early 20th-century establishment of the Seventh Day Adventist Church headquarters, hospital, publishing house, and college in Takoma and Takoma Park.

The Meditation Museum, just 2,000 feet to the north in bordering Silver Spring, Maryland, serves as an appropriate destination for Takomans, renowned for its focus on physical and spiritual health. The museum features workshops and classes designed, in the words of the museum, "to help you remember who you really are."

Takoma hosts the annual Old Takoma Art Hop, a fun-filled weekend devoted to local art and artists, including photographers, acrobats, wood carvers, sculptors, and much more.

Vegetarians and vegans often find limited options when they go out to eat, while their carnivorous cronies have a vast selection from which to choose, but the tables somewhat turn in Takoma. All the tempting food selections at Senbeb Cafe remain vegan, including the popular steak and cheese sandwich, made with imitation meat and cheese. Senbeb serves mostly cooked food, but also caters to raw food enthusiasts, with offerings such as the chia seed pudding. For those who want healthy vegan or raw foods for their own gatherings and parties, Senbeb provides catering services.

Even more vegan options await at Evolve Vegan Restaurant, but the meat-eaters don't leave hungry. The soy-based mock meats such as the fried chick-un with barbecue sauce fool even the most sensitive palates and discerning eyes. The tofu-based drumsticks look almost like the real thing, with a taste to match.

Residents on the Maryland side in Takoma eagerly cross the line into D.C. to enjoy live music and DJs spinning groovy tunes at Takoma Station Tavern. Jazz jam sessions on Tuesdays and Saturday night soul guarantee a good time at this chic urban club. The menu features dishes named for legendary jazz musicians, such as the Miles High club sandwich, the Donald Byrd turkey burger, and the Wes Montgomery grilled chicken.

While Takoma Station Tavern has a dress code and a cover charge, Charlie's Bar and Grill provides locals with a more relaxed environment to grab a drink and feel at home. Area residents know Charlie's for its homey, everybody-knows-your-name atmosphere. This genial ambiance is largely facilitated by the beloved proprietor and culinary wizard, Judy, whose crab cakes, grits, mac and cheese, and other simple down-home specialties keep customers coming back.

The Takoma Metro Station lies on the busy red metro line, running from Shady Grove to Glenmont. From the red line, travelers can transfer to the orange or blue lines at Metro Center or to the yellow or green lines at the Gallery Place/Chinatown station. Takoma is biker- and pedestrian-friendly. The streets don't have bike lanes, but motor vehicle traffic remains relatively light and motorists readily share the road.

Uber, the College Park Taxi Service, and Sun Cab all serve the entire District of Columbia and surrounding regions. Washington Airports Taxi & Sedan also serves the area, but only for pickup and drop-off at one of D.C.'s three airports.

The community gathers for fun and recreation at the much-loved Takoma Recreation Center. The outdoor facilities include a skate park, tennis and basketball courts, and a playground. The center welcomes leashed dogs as long as owners clean up after them, and it also includes indoor exercise facilities with an aquatic center that contains both a competition pool and a leisure pool. The center hosts annual swim meets and other aquatic events, including the Black History Invitational Swim Meet every February. Outdoor park facilities stand available to the public without charge, though use of the aquatic center and indoor facilities requires a small fee.

Sitting directly on the border between Takoma and Takoma Park, Upper Portal Park, also known as Piney Branch Portal Park, has in in the past provided the jumping-off point for the annual Takoma Park House and Garden Tour, which showcases history, architecture, and horticulture in Takoma and Takoma Park.

The cost of living in the District of Columbia sits about 34 percent higher than the national average. Apartments in Tacoma average about $1,674. If you decide to buy a home in Takoma, some homes can still be found for around $300,000, but as more residents discover this area, prices are trending upward and $500,000-$600,000 is more common. Gas costs up to 15 percent higher than the national average. Metro fare to downtown Washington, D.C. costs $2.35.

The area near the Metro station has the heaviest concentration of commercial real estate on both the Takoma and Takoma Park side. While this residential neighborhood has relatively few shops and boutiques, shops that do exist tend to reflect residents' tastes in simple elegance. When residents of the area need furniture, they don't think Ikea, they think Modern Mobler, a shop consistently voted among the best in the city for vintage furniture by the Washington City Paper. Proprietor Doug Meyers specializes in Danish Modern pieces, with most of his stock coming from the '50s through the '70s, though he keeps pieces from the '80s on hand as well. In addition to his passion for well-made furniture designed to last for generations, Meyers remains committed to the surrounding tight-knit community, crediting much of his business's success to neighborhood support.

For big grocery runs, Takoma has a Safeway and a Walmart. When Takomans want fresher fare, they hop across the city line to Takoma Park for one of the best farmer's markets in the entire D.C. area. Open year-round on Sundays, the Takoma Park Farmer's Market convenes on Laurel Avenue, just under 200 feet outside the city limits in Takoma Park. Healthy, locally-sourced food abounds, and the market provides outlets for nonprofit organizations to organize, fundraise, and promote social causes and issues. Unsold but still edible perishable food gets donated to local programs that feed the hungry and homeless in the region.