Do you know where Lake Arbor, MD is? Yeah, me either. It wasn’t until I looked up Largo Town Center on a map today that I realized that was its actual location. You’d think this station would be located in, well, Largo. But then again, you’d also think it would be adjacent to Largo Town Center. Which is also not the case.
The station is directly next to The Boulevard at the Capital Centre, an outdoor shopping pavilion that’s like a weird mall turned inside out. I’m guessing it’s supposed to be the PG County equivalent of Reston Town Center (Where Outside is In!), but with several major buildings sitting empty, it’s not exactly bustling with activity, even on a Saturday afternoon. Largo Town Center is actually up the road a bit, and – lest you confuse the two – is more of a standard-issue discount-store strip mall, with none of the pretensions and far fewer of the vacant store fronts than Cap Centre. The parking lot there was packed and there are upwards of a half dozen places to – in the immortal words of Missy Elliot – “get a pedicure, get your hair did.”
A friend had picked me up at the station, which is how I was able so quickly to check out the various and sundry shopping options nearby. We also took in the scenes at Woodmore Towne Centre at Glenarden (Ultimo! Wegmans! Unnecessary “e’s”!), Kettering/Largo Plaza Shopping Center (Giant! Target!), and the always popular Mitchellville Plaza (not actually that popular). For those of you playing along at home, that’s five shopping centers within about four miles of each other. Only in the suburbs!
We decided to drive directly back into the city, so my time at Largo Town Center (the Metro station, not the shopping center) was brief, but enlightening. I learned that you can never have too many cell phone stores in one shopping center (Two Sprint Stores at Cap Centre? Really?). I learned that between Wegman’s and Costco, a person would probably never need to go anywhere else to buy anything for the rest of their natural life. And I learned that sometimes it’s just darn handy to have a car and a million different shopping options on a Saturday afternoon. And for that reason, I might just make the trek out to Largo Town Center again.
This almost looks like a drawing, no?
Station: Largo Town Center Rating (1-10): 7
Ridership: Saturday’s are quiet at most of the outlying stations, and this one was no exception. By the time we got to the end of the line, I was one of three people remaining in my rail car. Almost everybody was carrying some sort of shopping bag, and if the rider was under 18, then that shopping bag was almost surely from Forever 21.
Pros: Lots of room in the station and on the platform, lots of parking for bikes and cars alike, and since it was finished in 2004, the elevators, escalators, and turnstiles were all in fine working condition. Plus there’s a sculpture on site!
Cons: Only one Metrobus line serves the station, with a couple of “The Bus” buses providing additional service.
Nearby & Noteworthy: One of only two remaining cineplexes to bear the name “Magic Johnson Theaters” is at The Boulevard at Capital Centre (the other is in Harlem). Judging from the Yelp reviews, however, this place isn’t doing its namesake any favors.
A friend recommended The Carolina Kitchen as a good place to grab a bite, plus it’s locally owned. The Yelp reviews for this place are pretty much the polar opposite of those for the theater. Clearly the owners are confident in their skills, too, judging from this quote from the “About” section on their website: “The Carolina Kitchen is the most amazing and popular southern cuisine restaurant group; it has a unique charm that appeals to everyone. From the moment one enters, they are transported to another world designed to stimulate the soul and indulge the senses. It was created to offer its guest taste buds an amazing journey through the South.” If that isn’t hyperbolic prose, I don’t know what is.
Latest Metro News: Not that this should come as any surprise, but you might want to figure out an alternate, non-Metrorail way of getting around over Columbus Day weekend, especially if you use the Green, Yellow, or Orange lines. Major track work (like, totally major) means the shuttle buses will be out in force. Metro is also doing some non-rush hour work on every line this week, which they claim won’t delay service. We’ll see how that goes.
