Baltimore Skyline

December 31, 2010. Today is the last day of 2010 for tomorrow begins a new year: 2011. 2010 has been an interesting year for Baltimore, and honestly a lot has happened. The Charm City Circulator began running and the Poe Toaster never showed up. Mayor Dixon resigned and Stephanie Rawlings-Blake took over the reigns. The city was dumped on by the Snowpocalypse. The Orioles got a new lively manager in the form of Buck Showalter. The summer brought us one of the worst heat waves with record days above 90 and 100. Downtown streets became a mess with first broken water mains, and then reconstruction for the Grand Prix. The CharmCard went into operation, finally. Someone crashed into the fencing at the Washington Monument. Four hotels opened this year including the complete restoration of the Hotel Brexton. A few major construction projects began, housing at Johns Hopkins East Baltimore Campus, the new Law School building at UB, and the new Shock Trauma expansion to name a few.  M...

While we didn't get exactly a White Christmas this year, it looks like we're going to get socked with 6-10 inches of snow tomorrow! A storm is brewing up the northeast corridor with Winter Storm Warnings from DC to Boston. Snow is expected to start overnight and continue all day tomorrow,just in time for all the people wanting to get on the road. Anyway, Merry Christmas, Baltimore we hope you got everything you wanted!

While we wont be getting a lot of the white stuff on Christmas day, there is still a chance for some afternoon snow showers tomorrow, and through the weekend. This is a best case scenerio - the kids are happy because they get the White Christmas, and the parents (and everyone else) are happy that we don't have to drive in it.

screen shot from ubalt.edu The construction crane for the new Law Center at the University of Baltimore went up at the corner of N. Charles St and Mt Royal Ave today. This is the second crane to go up in recent months in the city, which can only be great news. Feel free to follow the link in the caption to the construction camera on UB's website.

The latest news swirling around is that the fire on the Block was reportedly arson. While no official word has been given, the ATF and Fire Marshal will have a news conference at 3pm today to deliver their findings. What does this mean for the future of the block? If the buildings are losses, do we wind up with a third of a block that remains an empty lot? Would anyone even want to develop that property anyway?

Another work week in Baltimore starts tomorrow after a rainy Sunday with the potential of snow showers during the morning commute, albeit very slight. We could be looking at some snow for next Sunday, so watch out. The Terps lost to BC tonight in men's basketball, but Loyola stomped Mount St. Mary's by 23 points yesterday on the Evergreen campus. The Holiday Festival of trains is steaming along at the B&O Railroad Museum as they contemplate purchasing one of their old buildings back on Pratt Street from Baltimore Behavioral Health. At UB the foundations for the construction crane are set, and it is expected that the crane will go up sometime this week. It's only a matter of time until the concrete starts rising. Meanwhile in East Baltimore, the JHU grad tower has two floors of concrete up, and is moving skyward. Downtown, the 400 block of E. Baltimore Street is still closed, but up in Mount Vernon scaffolding has already gone up around the burned out building wh...

The MTA Maryland website was redesigned a couple years ago in order for it to be more user friendly and accessible, but even with the newer site it neither more user friendly, nor accessible. Below are just a few  other city transit agencies, and their much better sites. MTA Maryland should take some good notes from these other agencies and do a total restructuring of their own site. SEPTA - Philadelphia, PA PATCO - New Jersey/Philadelphia TriMet  - Portland, OR WMATA - Washington, DC Metro Transit - Minneapolis, MN MBTA  - Boston, MA Information on each page is very limiting, and some is wrong, or doesnt look like it's been updated in a while. For instance the pages for the Light Rail and Subway tell a potential rider nothing regarding how frequently trains run unless one digs into the schedule. The "General Information" for the Light Rail doesn't give you much at all, it doesn't even tell riders where it goes. The website has to be more useful, i...

Another 5-alarm fire started in Mt Vernon Place around 1:30am in the buildings that house Donna's, My Thai, and Indigma. Many of the same firefighters who had battled the fire on the Block just hours before were called out again to tackle the blaze on N. Charles Street. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-mount-vernon-fire,0,6793282.story

There is currently a multi-alarm fire in the 400 block of E. Baltimore Street, aka "The Block". This is a terrible time for this to happen, right before rush hour. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bal-city-fire1206,0,3043698.story http://www.wbaltv.com/slideshow/news/26037691/detail.html UPDATE: Fire now at 5 alarms. Shot Tower-Market Place Metro station is temporarily closed, and city buses are on detour, see http://www.mta.maryland.gov/ .

Looks like the new Sleep Inn next to the Holiday Inn Express on Fallsway is finally open. Saw the lights on, sign lit up, and cars in the parking lot while driving past today. This is another great addition to downtown, especially along Fallsway where any new development is a positive. The far side of I-83 has its troubles since the highway cuts it off from the rest of downtown and the Harbor. At the lower end, there seems to be better success where the separation isn't as complete. The hotels make that stretch a lot less lonely and barren, and the addition of foot traffic is an improvement. This also shows a willingness to develop properties that are adjacent to I-83. On the west side there are a few vacant properties next to the highway, especially on Guilford. If the hotels are successful, it could be an incentive to build on lots and redevelop properties along Guilford, Holliday, and Gay. Let's see what happens.