Among the larger incorporated cities of Maryland - Frederick, Gaithersburg, Bowie and Rockville - Bowie is unique in that it is, and has pretty much always been, a primarily residential suburb. More people work in Gaithersburg and Rockville than live there, and though in recent years Frederick has taken on somewhat of a residential character, historically it’s an independent industrial city. Bowie, on the other hand, started off as a railroad suburb and never really developed much of a commercial base. Even today there’s not much there beyond the service retail one would expect to see in any town.
Downtown Bowie, if a tiny historic district can be called that, isn’t the center of town. Rather it’s on the extreme north end, connected to the main part of town via a tiny neck. Much more important to the city is Bowie Town Center, a pseudo-new urbanist outdoor mall near the middle of the newer part of town. BeyondDC isn’t sure what to make of the Town Center. It looks urban and inviting, but is essentially just a traditional suburban mall that happens to be missing its roof.
