Baltimore has a well-deserved reputation for stubborn adherence to tradition, and like anything, that's both good and bad. Good: Creation of distinct regional culture unlike that of anywhere else in the world. Bad: A chronic inability/unwillingness to embrace and pro-actively plan for change.
My vision for Baltimore is thus:
- Dense city development: While preserving historical structures, encourage the redevelopment of under-utilized parcels with higher-density, Green, walkable development, centered around transit.
- More efficient and reliable transit: Finish the Green Line, Red Line and Light Rail system; improve MARC service; provide better connections between existing infrastructure. Pay for it using commuter taxes, increased Federal funding and an explicit regional preference for transit over new roads, all of which will require an increased political alliance with the suburbs.
- A smaller and more efficient City and State government: Turn over certain services - the City forestry department is but one example - to community volunteers. Cut the property tax rate for resident homeowners (but not for landlords). Make it easier for small investors to obtain and renovate City-owned houses.
- An ethic of sustainability. This is one area in which Baltimore already does very well, car-based culture notwithstanding. Farmers' Markets, thrift stores and building materials re-use centers are established parts of our culture, and that's something to be proud of and build on.
- Be (literally) Greener. Again, more walkability and transit options are much-needed, but our development should strive to be as environmentally benign as possible. More trees. Fewer impermeable surfaces. More community gardens and green space, as long as they're managed properly. I also have a pipe dream of one day tearing down I-83 south of Northern Parkway and rescuing the Jones Falls from the sewer pipe it's been passing through for the past 40 years. But that's a long way off!
There's more. Lots more. But I wanted to share some links to get this baby started.
- This is a Sun editorial lamenting the exclusion of the Green Line from the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board's (BRTB) recently adopted Transportation Outlook 2035. Thanks to the Sun for writing about this; I will flatter myself by assuming that one of my numerous Strongly Worded Letters inspired them.
Juicy tidbit: But the 12-mile Red Line is expected to be under construction within the next six years. What happens during the following 22? The transportation board would have us believe nothing (aside from upgrades to MARC commuter train lines), and that's not acceptable. - Here's a post from the Sun's Bay & Environment blog about a recent Brookings study on the top-30 most walkable metropolitan regions. Whither Baltimore? The answer, apparently: We're #15! (D.C. is #1, which seems plausible; I'm a little skeptical of Brookings' methodology here, but it's food for thought.)
Juicy tidbit: Without walkability, he argues, metro areas are going to lose their young people to areas with walkability, particularly those with good transit systems. And it's those Gen-Xers and young adults, he says, who are starting businesses and supporting culture and commerce.......The hopeful news for Baltimore, he concludes, is that we've already got two (or maybe three) major walkable areas, a few other areas that could be made walkable, and at least the rudiments of a rail transit system.
"You've got the backbone," he says. "It's now a matter of political will."
- Sun architecture critic (and noted real estate investor) Edward Gunts reports on Mayor Sheila Dixon's approach to City development. So far, all I see from Sheila is old Baltimore machine politics at work, but let's see what she does. I'm not thrilled that she voted for the BRTB plan, which didn't even include funding for the Green Line in the next 28 years.
Juicy Tidbit: Dixon says her greatest impact is most likely to be seen in areas that weren't touched much by previous mayors but are ripe for attention now - frontiers beyond the Inner Harbor such as the Park Heights Avenue corridor, Uplands and Edmondson Avenue, the area around the old American Brewery in East Baltimore.
She would like to see Poppleton take advantage of its proximity to the University of Maryland's biopark and become "another Georgetown." She's eager to see transformation begin in Westport and other portions of the Middle Branch shoreline. She believes the area around Mondawmin Mall will benefit from the $70 million investment its owner is making there. - MARC will add three new daily Penn Line trains to and from D.C. (Monday through Friday). No weekend service yet, but I've been told that's close behind on the agenda. It's a step in the right direction, but the fundamental problem remains that Amtrak, and not the State, owns the tracks on which the Penn Line runs; until the State can build its own tracks, the system will not reach its full potential.
- The Maryland Department of Transportation is updating its 2009 Maryland Transportation Plan, and they want your input. Tell 'em to build more transit, for Godsakes.
- And finally, an interesting article comparing America's love of cars to its now-waning love of smoking. Never thought of the parallels there, but it's a pretty solid comparison.
Hasta luego.
