The Prince George’s Plaza Metro Station will be renamed to Hyattsville Crossing, and many people hate the new name.
The proposal was approved in a Nov. 19, 2020, vote by Metro’s board of directors. Along with Hyattsville Crossing, Tysons Corner will be renamed to simply “Tysons.” With the significant caveat that it’s not a scientific survey, survey data collected from the public before the name change vote showed only 33 percent of respondents like the new Hyattsville Crossing name, 48 percent did not like the name (with 35 percent saying they “strongly” disliked the name).
The move is the culmination of a years-long effort by city economic development officials to develop a more cohesive identity for the neighborhood anchored by the Metro station.
In a June vote, Hyattsville City Council approved a measure directing city staff to request the name be changed on official Metro maps in advance of the planned opening of Phase II of the Silver Line, which will require all Metro maps to be reprinted.
The Metro station derives it name from the former Prince George’s Plaza mall, known today as the Mall at Prince George’s and branded as simply MPG by its owners REIT.
Since the Metro station opened, the surrounding area has changed dramatically. In the past two decades, thousands of new housing units, split between townhomes and multi-family properties, have been built on the periphery of the mall, and more than 1,000 more units are planned to be built in areas to the northeast of the mall.
The rebranding process for the Prince George’s Plaza area began in June 2016, and was led by the city of Hyattsville, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and the Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation. The name was officially adopted in 2017. The name has popped up in planning documents, but many references to the area. Hyattsville City Council, in a 2019 vote, directed city economic development staff to use the name Hyattsville Crossing when promoting the area around the Prince George’s Plaza Metro Station.