For years I have been pestering first Mayor Martin O'Malley and then Sheila Dixon with the slogan "Baltimore 850,000", a much more ambitious goal than 10,000 families in 10 years, but still. The Comprehensive Plan, the guiding planning document of the city, stated growth as a goal and includes a capacity analysis indicating that Baltimore has the infrastructure to support tens of thousands of new residents. Then a list of projects surfaced how Baltimore wants to attract growth expected from BRAC (the national base realignment that is supposed to bring 40,000 additional residents to Maryland) but was soon forgotten. Then the city started a new zoning code and a strategy towards growth in TOD zones (Transit oriented development).
But it took until now, that this become a banner goal stated by the Mayor for everyone to see.
See Dan Rodricks' column in the SUN:
Growing Baltimore, the only way!
I posted the following comment under his column online:
Rodricks is right, the forever naysayers and pessimists repeating the same old litany of Baltimore's ills over and over have no vision and not the one who lays out the goal of growth. The closest thing to a "silver bullet" which can solve urban decay is adding population and new demographics to the City. More people will makebetter schools, result in less crime and will allow to lower taxes. Those who think that this is impossible not only ignore the progress that the city has made in many areas but ignore also the demographic and cultural shifts out there, the stagnation in suburbs and the desire to live in urban and vital places which have begun to revitalize cities all across the nation. Progress is made not only around the harbor but also in many neighborhoods. Witness the communities around Patterson Park, along Eastern Avenue or go to Druid Heights and Reservoir Hill or Remington. That a depopulated city in decline can fill its vacant houses and become vital again has been proven. Look at Boston and compare it to the early seventies, or more recently, look how our neighbor DC has righted itself. Nobody says this is easy. But snide comments from those who prefer to sit in their armchairs and watch are of no help.
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| Hamden in its holiday glory |
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| Baltimore Inner Harbor on a recent rainy night |
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| Brandnew townhomes in Druid Heights, just completed in spite of the recession |
The best way to keep a poor community down is to strip it of it amenties, no markets, no banks, no schools. Who is going to move into that type of community but people with no other choice.
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