Population Dip? Swell

On the Urban Discoveries Blog, Matt Smith highlights a recent article showing Baltimore’s population is plunging by some 3000 people every year. He proposes 6 highly sensible ways to increase the population. Here are a few more, coming at you from the New York City Department of City Planning.
According to the census, the City of [...]

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On Deck at the Weekend

Celebrate… And Have a Good Time. No, really, take a hint from Kool and the Gang, and enjoy this weekend. It’s for all the ladies and gents taking a breather from the back-to-back nuptials of wedding season.
DON’T get tipsy before noon, wear spike heels in grass, smear cake on your face, or freaky dance with [...]

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My East Side is Maybe Actively Revitalizing

800 houses were gobbled up last week by the East Baltimore Development Inc (EBDI). As the Urban Discoveries blog notes the initiative is actually taking off, after countless cleared blocks, lots and fields have laid fallow for years (EBDI was established in 2003).
The $1.8 billion program is gearing up to establish an 88-acre mixed use [...]

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The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

The sun may emerge Thursday, so the weatherman says. The new issue of Urbanite offers  a few reasons he should show up for the weekend(s):
1. Sundays 9am-3pm, Arabbers sell produce from local farms in Legends Park at Fremont Avenue and Laurens Street. These wooden wagon-toting sellers are an endangered species.
2. Live Baltimore’s Buying into Baltimore [...]

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Ritz Residences in Charm City

Readers hunting for features within The New Yorker are accustomed to paging through glossy ads for earth-friendly ski resorts, humanist hedge funds and environmentalist oil companies. The latest marketing contradiction puts the spotlight on Baltimore, a destination normally unheralded in The New Yorker’s pages for parties or much else (with a few exceptions). The ad [...]

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Civic Duty

“With a strong work ethic and a focus on education and skills training, Civic works continues to kindle positive change in the lives of Baltimore’s young adults and in our communities.”
-Former Mayor Martin O’Malley, City of Baltimore
A delegation from the block inaugurated the spanking-new hot weather by digging in the dirt with the Civic Works [...]

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Welcome to Kingston, Maryland

At 7pm tonight the water spigots in my apartment ran dry. I wasn’t too surprised. It’s happened before, and my neighbor tipped me off earlier that she had no water this morning. Tonight I will make a run to the Mount Vernon Mart for jugged water, like we’re living through a natural disaster.

There’s no hurricane. [...]

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Old is New, and Messy, again

The Baltimore Brew newspaper blog notes that Lombard street is often under construction, and will be again soon if the Red Line goes forward (which we hope it does–anyone who has driven with me can attest that alternative transportation is a much better option).
Lombard street is god-awfully unattractive, especially in the Inner Harbor segment [...]

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Web Logs A Flurry

The malls may be shut but the bloggery is booming in Baltimore.
Baltimore Slumlord Watch points to an entire block decrepit enough to make Bubbs weep. You don’t look impressed, but the 1500 block of Brentwood is located only a few steps north and west of our hood (like, spitting distance from Midtown yoga). Not that [...]

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The Block Burned

Everything but the roof was on fire at 905 Calvert Street. It was 5pm on Monday afternoon and red trucks jammed into the street, while yellow FIRE LINE DO NOT CROSS tape criss-crossed the side walk. Onlookers had assembled under umbrellas at the corner of Calvert and Read streets, opposite Iggie’s pizza, to speculate on [...]

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