Baltimore Living
Best Reason to Live Here
To keep it from being taken over
Now, we totally recognize the inherent value of any effort to bring residents back to the city--people being the instrument of change and all that--but we have the sneaking suspicion we don't figure in as the proper kind of citizen the city envisions as it heads into its future. The usual powers that be--those who stand the most to gain from immediately successful new urban development--have conspired to advertise Baltimore as the East Coast's bargain city: you know, all the perks of the Northeast corridor, a fraction of the price. Now, getting over the insult is easy, but we're having a harder time getting used to the idea that we might not count. Why? The Baltimore City Department of Planning issued its Master Plan for the city in June, and though we haven't pored through the entire thing, some of it gives us pause. Organized into four sections--live, earn, play, learn--it states that "live creates the plan that will guide Baltimore as it readjusts its residential land use to account for the changing population, the growing commuter market, the expanding market for condominiums, the impending regional growth over the next 15 years, and the aging housing stock." Best as we can tell, we--and, like, everybody we know, live next to, go to work with, ride the bus with, etc.--don't fit into category No. 1, 2, or 3 of that future. Don't fret, though--if you pop over to LiveBaltimore.com and click on "Hot New Neighborhood Developments," you can find out all you need to know about the condos and mixed-use residential properties that the Telesis Corp.; LH Zenith LLC; W.L. Blair Development; Hekemian and Co.; Bacon/Stonington Developers; Tower Hill Development and Consulting LLC; the DSF Group; La Cite Development; CIMG, Doracon, and Harrison Development; Consolidated Investment and Management Group; Metro Ventures; and, of course, Struever Bros. Eccles and Rouse have planned for us in the coming years. The Master Plan web site asks, "Are you part of the plan?" at the top of its home page. At the moment, we don't know.
Other Awards for Best Reason to Live Here:
You're already prepared for the collapse of society, 9/16/2009
The Eternal Return, 9/17/2008
Crime, 9/19/2007
We Can’t Wait To See What Happens Next, 9/21/2005
Because of What We’re Not, 9/22/2004
Baltimore Needs You, 9/17/2003
It's Cheap, 9/18/2002
We're So Cool, 9/19/2001
Neighborhoods, 9/13/2000
It's cheap, 9/15/1999
One degree of separation, 9/17/1997
The architecture, 9/18/1996
