Diamondback Online - The University of Maryland's Independent Daily Student Newspaper

Issue date: 5/10/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Seyed Jazayeri

Take a drive to the east of College Park on Kenilworth Avenue, and it's difficult to go even a few blocks without seeing an ethnic eatery, a foreign food market or a business offering money transfer services to Latin America.

Cross over to University Boulevard, on the west side of College Park, and roll down the windows, and visitors are likely to be greeted with the smells of cooking pupusas (an El Salvadoran staple food), or the latest bachata tune to grace FM Spanish-language radio. Turn onto Riggs Road, and drivers can find more than 15 mobile kitchens offering everything from Jamaican patties to plantain snacks.

Welcome to Maryland's International Corridor, one of the biggest immigrant hubs this side of the Potomac River. It's all within arm's reach of College Park, and has largely sprung up only in the last 15 years, about the same period the university began its transformation as a top-50 national research institution. Although the areas have become vibrant ones, they've also become challenges to county officials and older, more established neighborhoods, including ones in College Park.

In such a small area like College Park, and the much smaller campus, it's difficult not to notice the impact. Although the university and College Park's demographics remained largely stagnant during the 1990s, the four areas surrounding the university increased in foreign-born residents by an average of 13 percent. In the western region, known as the incorporated area of Langley Park, nearly 65 percent of residents were born outside of U.S., according to the 2000 Census.

But the same neighborhood has drawn attention for its high crime rates, drug trafficking and prostitution rings. It's a vibrant, high-density area with about the same number of residents as College Park, but it's also indicative of the challenges the nation faces as a whole.

"I think the immigrant community in Prince George's is absolutely our most vulnerable population," said Maj. Kevin Davis, who commands the police district where many of the immigrant communities and College Park lie. "I think they're a huge asset to the workforce, to the culture, to the churches. They're very family-oriented people, and they're new to this country just like the Italian and Irish were at the turn of the 20th century."

Davis said North College Park neighborhoods are beginning to see some of the changes seen in surrounding areas, which sometimes can cause friction between some older, established black and white neighborhoods. In areas surrounding College Park, Davis said day laborers who often loiter on corners, overcrowded housing and sometimes gang issues can put residents at loggerheads.

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