A More Walkable College Town

In addition to being a City of 622,000 Residents, Baltimore is also what I call a College Town. Granted a College or University isn't all Baltimore has to offer like a traditional College Town ie Salsbury, Frostburg, etc. However Baltimore is home to numerous Colleges and Universities and that particular attribute of the City is not lost on me. Therefore, I have decided to end my series on walkability by purposing a new line on the Charm City Circulator that connects a good number of the City Colleges and plenty of other landmarks along the way not only to each other, but to Downtown, other circulator lines, as well as both the Light Rail and Metro and eventually the Red Line, Yellow Line, and Charles St. Trolley once they're built. So without further ado, I give you a more walkable College Town.

As I have done in previous posts regarding additional Charm City Circulator Lines, I have started their route Downtown. This time the "College Route" as I have named it, will start at Paca St. and Lombard St. Here it will connect to the Orange Line of the Circulator which runs from Hollins Market to Inner Harbor East. Paca and Lombard  is also the stop to be used for University of Maryland Baltimore, University of Maryland Medical Center, Camden Yards, M&T Bank Stadium, and the Horseshoe Casino. 

Traveling up Paca St. the Circulator will then stop at Lexington Market which is set to receive Millions in renovation dollars. This stop will also be a quick walk to both the Metro and the Light Rail. Heading up Paca St. the line will stop at St. Mary's Park in Baltimore's Historic Seton Hill Neighborhood. Rather than continue to where Paca St. becomes McColloh St., it will turn up Madison St. and make a left on Howard St. for a stop at Univeristy of Maryland Midtown Medical Center (nee Maryland General Hospital.) When the Circulator is following Howard St. it will use the same stops that the Light Rail has (Cultural Center and Mount Royal) for easy transfers.

At Mount Royal Avenue the line will turn left for a stop at East Bolton Hill/MICA. Since Mount Royal Avenue stops at North Avenue, it will turn left and follow North Avenue until it stops at Eutaw Place for a North Bolton Hill/ Reservoir Hill Stop. It will continue northbound up Eutaw Place for Reservoir Hill which is quickly becoming Baltimore's next up and comer. Like I have said in the past, a component of walkability is how welcoming your environment is. With a stop along this new Charm City Circulator Line, I think this will improve Reservoir Hill's walkability not only by offering connectibility but I believe it will lead to further enhancements that will continue to improve the welcoming environment that is Reservoir Hill.

Eutaw Place ends at Druid Park Lake Drive at which point there will be a stop for Druid Hill Park. This will also serve the northern portion of Reservoir Hill. The circualtor will then cross over the JFX where Druid Park Lake Drive becomes W. 28th St. in the heart of Remington. Remington, like Reservoir Hill, is an up & comer and is experiencing a rebirth with several promising development plans in the pipeline. It is here that I ask the Hampden-Woodberry Shuttle Bug to extend itself to connect to the College Route of the Charm City Circulator by including a new stop at 28th and Sisson St. 

Once in Remington, the line will follow Sisson St and will then make a right at Wyman Park Drive. Here it will follow Wyman Park Drive to Johns Hopkins University. The line will then follow Art Museum Drive until it empties out onto Charles St. where at 32nd St. it will have a Charles Village Stop. This could be a future transfer point for the Charles St. Trolley when it funded and built. Once on 32nd St. the line will pick up St. Paul St.

It will follow St. Paul St. for a few blocks and then will turn back onto 29th St. It will follow 29th St. until it picks up Maryland Avenue. It will then follow Maryland Avenue through the Old Goucher, Charles North, and Station North Neighborhoods stopping at all Neighborhoods as well as Penn Station. 

It will continue to follow Maryland Avenue where it will have a University of Baltimore Stop (different from University of Maryland Baltimore) whose stop will also include the Lyric Opera House and the Fitzgerald Apartments. The line will follow Maryland Avenue until it blends with Cathedral St. for a stop at the Washington Monument in the heart of Mount Vernon also serving the Walters Art Museum. Continuing down Cathedral St. there will be stops at the derelict Lexington Mall which would also serve Charles Center and the ill-fated Super-block.  

 

Finally the line will follow Liberty St. with a stop at First Mariner Arena before turning onto Lombard St. The First Mariner Arena is just one block from the Charles Center Metro Station. The line will follow Lombard St. until its terminus at Paca St.

As my series on walkability comes to a close, I would like to remind you that I've only scratched the surface on walkability. There are several more areas throughout the City where walkability can be improved upon. However, given how long that would take I decided on targeting areas that would benefit from the action plans that I have proposed.