The Two Takoma Parks

At a bar on Connecticut Avenue in Friendship Heights, a bartender asked me what there was to cover in Takoma Park.

"Corruption at the local food co-op?" she said, laughing.

The general perception of Takoma Park as a liberal, granola-chewing community is widespread and not entirely wrong.

But there are two Takoma Parks. The first is the one everyone in the Washington metropolitan region knows. To many, it is the liberal city with a nuclear ban that allows immigrants to vote and at one point refused to do business with any corporation with ties to Burma. It was the home to some of the most well-known folk musicians, including John Fahey, Al Petteway and Mary Chapin Carpenter.

It is a Tree City. It is the People's Republic of Takoma Park. It is Azalea City.

And azaleas represent the liberal stereotype pretty well. The flowering shrubs tend to love the company of trees, much like residents of Takoma Park. Azaleas were immortalized in the Chinese writing of the Tang Dynasty by a poet named Tu Fu, whose name sounds strikingly similar to the coagulated soy milk product that many city residents enjoy eating.

The upper-middle class lifestyle is manifested in boutique clothing stores, a Neopolitan pizza joint with an extensive wine list and a posh downtown farmers market.

Census data from 2000 showed that Takoma Park has a median household income of just over $63,000, which is about $6,000 higher than the average in our region. Residents, on average, are well off, but certainly not rich.

Yet there is another Takoma Park that is equally as cultured, but rarely recognized for giving the city as much character as the historic downtown area.

It's the Takoma Park that is, according to the 2000 census, roughly 14 percent Hispanic. In the neighborhoods near Piney Branch and Flower avenues, the Latino population flourishes. And one of the best ways to immerse oneself in another culture is through that culture's food.

Food from almost any region of Central and South America can be found here, and most of it is homemade and light on the wallet.

Peruvian chicken with crispy skin and juices that spill onto the plate can be smelled from blocks away as it is slow-roasted over coals. Salvadorian pupusas, masa dough filled with pork and cheese, are sold off street trucks and at pupuserias for about $1.25 all around the city. Argentine empanadas are plentiful in the area and are reminiscent of a Jamaican beef patty or Italian calzone with its dough folded into a half-moon shape and stuffed with just about whatever you want.

Spanish is the dominant language in some stores in Takoma Park, such as the Bestway supermarket. Bestway was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1970 and is now one of the largest independent Hispanic food retailers on the East Coast, according to its website. La Casita, housed in a small building fronted by a neon sign on Piney Branch Road, serves as both a market and a Salvadoran restaurant. The eatery offers nine types of pupusas, five of which are designated vegetarian. Pupuseria Dona Azucena, just down the street, offers a rival to La Casita with a more take-out feel.

Takoma Park prides itself on its ability to accept many cultures — exemplified perfectly by its law allowing immigrants to vote in citywide elections. But in my many years here, I've found that it's rare to see the same people who shop downtown also ordering up the Latin American delicacies in these small, family-run restaurants and street carts. 

Maybe if we take the time to understand the other side of the city, Takoma Park can truly see an integration of all kinds in all wards.