Baltimore Skyline

Loyola University Maryland, for the longest time known as Loyola College, was founded in 1852 and moved to it's present North Baltimore campus in 1921. The view of the corner of N. Charles Street and Cold Spring Lane has changed a lot over 93 years, just take a look at the signage on the corner.  circa 1920s 2006 2009 2014

We had a lot of fun in 2013. The Ravens won the Super Bowl, Canton Crossing opened, old offices downtown started to be turned into apartments, weekend MARC service, and a whole lot more.  With 2014 the Orioles will be soon back at Camden Yards, 10 Light Street will turn from offices to apartments, Harbor Point should break ground, the city will celebrate the bicentennial of the Star Spangled Banner, and hopefully be one year closer to construction of the Red Line. As you can see there is a lot to look forward to. Here's to a great year for Baltimore and a continued renaissance in 2014. 

Have you ever been downtown and left a 7-Eleven forgetting something that you needed to go to another 7-Eleven for and thought to yourself "This is an outrage, there really needs to be a 7-Eleven every couple of blocks." Well you're in luck! A new one is opening at 300 N Charles Street, only 3 blocks from a location at 100 West Lexington Street and 4 blocks from one at 529 N. Charles Street. Luckily there is that one on Lexington Street or you would have to walk all the way like a schmuck from the 7-Eleven at 301 N. Howard St. 6 whole blocks to the location at 300 E. Baltimore St, but that one is a midway point. I know what you're thinking, three blocks that's a ridiculously long walk when you need to be at a 7-Eleven immediately. No fear, because if you happen to be at the 7-Eleven at 10. N Calvert St  you don't need to walk the 2/10's of a mile to the 7-Eleven at 22 Light Street, no buddy, you're only 580 feet away from the next closest 7-Eleven...

One of the major concerns I have noticed in many residential neighborhoods is the lack of awareness around intersections, especially in regards to obeying stop signs. Too often drivers view stop signs as a suggestion rather than traffic code. For instance, recently in Hampden, stop signs were added at 36th St. and Elm Ave. and at 34th St. and Chestnut Ave. While many looked at this as a great example of traffic calming, many resident complained because it interfered with long standing driving patterns. Clearly it's hard to win. Now this brings me to my point: raised crosswalks. Baltimore has already invest in speed humps, which are effective at traffic calming, but can still be abused since one can run a car over them above the posted speed with little inconvenience.  However, as far as I know, Baltimore has not taken the next step of integrating this at crosswalks. stepping stones in Pompeii  The concept of these go as far back as Roman antiquity. Where stepping stone...

When Chase Brexton moved to their new location, they added a nice flashy sign denoting their location. However they didn't exactly get it right. First it advertised "1111 Charles" forgetting that there is actually a difference between North and South Charles streets. 1111 South Charles is an empty lot in Federal Hill 2 miles away. Strike One.  I guess they realized their error and got a new sign. This one now advertises the address of the former Monumental Life annex but says "1125 Charles North".  Now they are either trying to make a connection with the growing neighborhood above Penn Station, or they didn't hire a good sign company. Strike Two.

Fryeburg Fair, in Fryeburg, ME since 1851. In October we took a little road trip to Maine for some autumn action. First stop was Fryeburg, where their agricultural fair has been going strong since 1851, and is the largest in the state of Maine. This is a real fair folks, not what you get at the Timonium Fairgrounds in September.  LL Bean, making boots Freeport, ME since 1912. No trip to Maine would be complete without a stop at the LL Bean flagship store in Freeport. Making boots and other outdoor equipment since 1912, this store never closes. In fact there aren't even locks on the front doors. If you need a pair of bean boots or a canvas boat bag on Christmas morning for a last minute gift? They have you covered. When you leave the LL Bean store there are plenty of other outlet stores and shops all around Freeport; its a nice walk-able community. Plus Amtrak goes there now so you can ride the rails from Boston North Station all the way downeast. 

Alright Baltimore, let's jump on this. What better way to spur better bike infrastructure in the city. Check out The Green Lane Project for more information. In their pilot year six cities were granted funding, including DC. DC seems to have it right when it comes to improving infrastructure, mode-share, and complete streets while Baltimore lags behind due to the lack of political will. Look at what DC is doing: streetcars, silver line extension, protected bike lanes and bike signals. Let's get serious here.