Baltimore Skyline

This is an oldie, but a goodie from Streetfilms  that showcases pedestrian controlled crosswalks in Seattle. These have foot activated pads on the street corner that turn the yellow warning lights in the street on. This is meant to give drivers a better warning to stop for pedestrians, especially at night. It's also deterrent against the "I swear I didn't see him/her, officer" defense. Shopping around for potential sites in Baltimore is easier. There are many pedestrian crossings in downtown that would benefit from this technology. One spot would be on Key Highway across from the Science Center at William Street. Another would be at N. Charles Street at Oliver Street next to Penn Station. Although plans are to put in a pedestrian activated red light, I think this option is better. If anyone else out there can think of other places, let us know! More importantly let the city know!

 "Passage Through Baltimore" Adalbert J. Volck, 1863  No, President Obama is not in Baltimore today, you can stop panicking about closed off streets and traffic tie-ups. The 16th President, Abraham Lincoln is in Baltimore today, or rather, someone who looks a lot like him. Fritz Klein, looks a lot like President Lincoln, and that's the point, he's been playing the role for decades. As a commemoration of the 150% anniversary of his inauguration, Klein (I mean Lincoln) with the help of the National Park Service is retracing the route the Lincoln took from Springfield, Illinois to Washington, DC. Historically, Lincoln took most of the journey by train visiting 16 cities along the way. Today, some of the train routes he took no longer exist, so most of the trip was done by car with the last leg, Baltimore to Washington to be done via Amtrak. Klein, like Lincoln, left Springfield on February 11th, and this morning he arrived in Baltimore at Camden Station to mu...

There's a new MARC schedule for the Penn Line in town, or at least there will be on March 14th. The changes that the MTA made are in an attempt to ease crowding and give riders more options on their commute. I haven't had the chance to dive into it yet, but I will be soon, and will report back. At first glance though, it doesn't seem that it's improved the ability to commute more easily into Baltimore, since the MARC train is still DC centric in its thinking. If anyone out there who reads this rides the MARC Penn Line, we'd like to hear what you think about this new schedule.

photo by me: Pleasant Street at N. Charles St. This was taken Monday at around 5:20pm when most people are on their way out of downtown to head home after the work day. The Charmulator NextBus shows the next arrival times of 20 mins and 71 mins! The poor schlubs who missed the first bus would have to wait nearly an hour for the next to arrive. How can this happen during rush hour, there should be more buses on the route, that's no excuse.

If anyone caught the Baltimore Sun on January 23rd there was an article on the argument for Baltimore City to lower it's property taxes. Jamie Hopkins from the Sun interviewed Loyola University Maryland (nee Loyola College) economics professor Dr. Steve Walters about his plan. I won't go into too much detail, because it's best to read what is said, but the basis of the plan is for the city to slash its property tax over the next 4 years. The result, Walters says, would encourage residents and businesses to move into the city, because the surrounding counties wouldn't be as cheap to live/work in as they once were. Additionally, the added population and commerce would offset (over time), any loss in revenue from dropping the tax rate. Currently, Baltimore City has the highest property tax rate in the state of Maryland , at 2.268%. No other county in the state has a rate higher than 2% with the next highest in Baltimore County at 1.1%. With the upcoming Mayoral election ...

I received this email from a reader the other day: Hello, I read your blog! I love the skyline painting. Where is that from? I'd love to use it as my computer desktop-wallpaper. Thanks, Lauren Thanks for reading, Lauren! I found this picture a while back when the blog began in 2007. I was searching through google images for a wallpaper and I stumbled across this one and instantly loved it. It shows an early picture of Baltimore from Federal Hill, sometime after the Baltimore Trust Building was built (1929), but before Federal Hill was terraced by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. It shows a realistic view of a Baltimore that doesn't really exist anymore. For as much as Baltimore has stayed the same, so much has changed and is gone that cannot be replicated or replaced. The harbor today looks much different; gone are the warehouses and wharfs. The sounds of the harbor as much different, and less lively. Even though it's a view that isn't here anymore, ...

For the past few days the Charmulator website has been listing "major delays" along both routes, even after most of the snow and ice has gone away. Nextbus is reporting 20-30 minute headways between buses for the past few days as well. Are they having bus issues, or has Veolia told their drivers to take it easy in the winter weather. Their alerts and news releases have not been very descriptive. Another incident, which I got straight from a colleague of mine who takes the Charmulator everyday, involves drivers. On Tuesday, my colleague reported that she had hit the "stop request" button which triggered the sign and announcement, only to see the driver blow past the Hamilton Street stop. Other riders were confused as well, but said nothing. On approach to the Mt Vernon stop, my colleague hit the button, as well as another rider with the same result. As the driver began to drive past the monument another rider asked "are you going to stop?" The response f...