Baltimore Skyline

(photo credit flickr, Indie Photo ) What a wonderful day for a walk on the water in Baltimore today. The sun is out, there is a little bit of a breeze, all-in-all the weather is fantastic. Walking through Fells Point I noticed an interesting thing, the sidewalk eating spaces have multiplied! The newest edition, that I actually noticed the other day, was the outside seating area out Miss Irene's. Along South Ann Street they put out tables, umbrellas, and nice planters. On Thames Street they put small bar tables and umbrellas. This was a nice addition to an empty street corner . Moving along Thames Street it seems like everyone has moved some of their tables on the sidewalk, Koopers and Slainte both have outside seating now. Thames is always a busy sidewalk with people walking dogs, getting coffee, going in-and-out of the bars, but now the sounds of dinnertime chatter, cutlery scraping plates, and beer glasses clinking permeate the air. More and more, with initiatives likes this, ...

This weekend Baltimore is celebrating its Maryland athletes with two events on Saturday. First up is a parade in Michael Phelps' old stomping grounds of Towson. Most of the Towson streets will be shut down for the procession. The parade steps off at 3pm along York Rd at Burke Ave. The parade is then to be followed by a Star Spangled Extravaganza at Fort McHenry. There will be a ceremonious reenacting of Phelps receiving his Gold Medals...Hey, like Defenders Day but without the British. I really like this part, reenactment of receiving Gold Medals, seriously? Didn't this just happen back in August. I'm sure it's on YouTube. Anyway, the connection is clear: American wins a Gold Medal, they play the Star Spangled Banner, the Star Spangled Banner was written in Baltimore during the attack on Fort McHenry, Phelps is from Baltimore, therefore have the Phelps celebration at Fort McHenry...brilliant! The festivities start at 3pm at the Fort with food and entertainment. The main...

Finally we have some major support for the LRT alternative for the Red Line. The Baltimore Sun reported today that The Greater Baltimore Committee, a regional action group made up of Baltimore business and civic leaders, is backing light rail option because they see it as the best option. Donald Fry the president of GBC said in a post on their website that this is exactly what Baltimore needs: “A quality east-west light rail route that connects with our existing Metro, MARC, and light rail would transform Baltimore’s current transit hodge-podge into an integrated regional rail system.” The GBC is specifically backing the 4C alternative (details at http://www.baltimoreredline.com/ ), which would include a tunnel under Cooks Lane in West Baltimore and a tunnel under downtown and Fells Point. It would be integrated to the Light Rail at Lexington Market and the Metro Subway at Charles Center. I've been promoting this idea for a long time now, ever since I first heard about the Red Line...

What's the deal with the Red Line? After the hype about Mayor Dixon's Red Line Summit at the Convention Center back in May there seems to be a lack of reporting on the issue. The website for the project hasn't been updated since April when the proposed alignment was shifted to include Johns Hopkins Bayview and Canton Crossing. http://www.baltimoreregiontransitplan.com/ As a Fells Point resident I am deeply interested in the progress of this transit project. I think the prospect of being able to get downtown, or to Canton, by way of something other than driving, cabbing, or walking would be great. The Metro Subway can get you atleast downtown, but for us in Fells Point we have to walk up to Hopkins Hospital to grab it. For those living in Canton it's not an option. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of this and public transit in general, we all know Baltimore needs a fire lit under it for better, more effective, and more diverse transit option. Seriously, the MTA an...