Greater Rosemont:Remnants of Industry

First off let me be clear of the Boundaries of what I call "Greater Rosemont" North Avenue to the north, Monroe St. to the east, Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park to the West and Route 40/Franklin St. to the south.The 11 neighborhoods that make up this cluster were and still are a victim of suburban flight. It's almost as if no one has touched them since the 1970s and have been left there to rot. The questions one must ask themselves when confronted with a chunk of the city that needs so much attention is why and how? I can think of a big reason; Industry right smack dab in the middle of the neighborhood cluster are industrial ruins that had they not been present during the neighborhoods' initial decline would have stemmed the tide of urban decay.

What baffles me about this industrial anomaly is that it was built in the early 20th as were the residences that surround it. As early as World War I the push for suburban flight for the middle class was on and Greater Rosemont was west Baltimore's response. One thing the suburban dream promised was cleaner air and green lawns, something that's hard to come by when you live near an industrial area. The decentralization of jobs component of Suburbia didn't take effect until after World War II some 35 odd years later. By that time, the industrial revolution was over and the number of industrial jobs was diminishing and plants were not expanding.

This left Greater Rosemont flawed in its suburban appeal and vulnerable to blockbusting. From 1945-1955 the cluster had changed from all white to all black. In 1968 the MLK riots destroyed streets that bordered the clusters of neighborhoods (Edmondson Avenue, North Avenue, and Monroe St.) Neither the bordering streets or the neighborhoods that lie within them have recovered.Well now it's time these neighborhoods see some large scale recovery. Grassroots efforts done by a few of the neighborhoods have had a small positive effect but there hasn't been any large intervention. The most successful gentrification stories have the same beginning middle and end. It's a troubled area that borders on a neighborhood that just saw gentrification and the troubled neighborhood trys to capitalize on it. This has been a proven strategy in Baltimore and Cities across the Country. Unfortunately in the case of Greater Rosemont there aren't any neighborhoods nearby that are draws for it to latch onto. Greater Rosemont has to gentrify itself from within, a much more challenging method of gentrification but that's all we have to work with at the present time. There maybe some hope with the Fulton Avenue streetscape enhancements and the West Baltimore MARC Redevelopment on the eastern and southern borders respectively.The method I'm using is redeveloping the industrial wasteland that pollutes the middle of the neighborhood cluster. Sound crazy? Well it is but that's what they said to the developers of Charles Center, Harbor Place, and Silo Point. There is one untapped resource in the treasure chest of gentrification in Greater Rosemont and that is the Amtrak and MARC lines that run right through the industrial wasteland. As part of the Baltimore Regional Rail Plan there are two lines the Orange and the Purple which will share the right of way with MARC and Amtrak. The idea behind them was to localize those lines and help the neighborhoods they run through. The purple line is the line that runs through Greater Rosemont. The Rail Plan doesn't include a stop in Greater Rosemont for the purple line but I will include one instantly making it eligible for TOD. Both the MARC lines and the CSX lines that run through Greater Rosemont will be tunneled allowing more land to become available.
The new development will be high density apartments and condos in the mid market range with ground floor retail that will serve the community that already exists and the new community that will come into existence. Currently Greater Rosemont has very little retail. It was spread out through corner stores but those have mostly closed further contributing to the feeling of abandonment. The existing community will see some redevelopment depending on the block. Some blocks are in great shape while others are plagued with vacant boarded up homes and still others have been demolished awaiting redevelopment.
Greater Rosemont may have remnants of industry now but through unconventional methods of gentrification they will be a thing of the past.

Canton: Maritime Overlay and Mixed Use Development Living In Harmony

Let me make one thing clear before I begin this post, I don't want to kick out thriving industrial businesses and redevelop the land they sit on. I support the Maritime Overlay District but within it there is vacant land that probably won't attract additional industrial uses.
It's no secret that Baltimore's famed Inner Harbor was once an industrial port. In fact of you look closely enough in certain areas you can still see evidence that proves this. The Middle Branch is following this model of taking vacant and under utilized industrial land in Westport and Fairfield.

The most recent complete makeover was Inner Harbor East, Locust Point is in the process of having old industrial land redeveloped into mixed use (Tide Point and Silo Point), and soon to come is Harbor Point on the Western edge of the Fels Point and that's it, the Inner Harbor's built out right? Wrong!
Now there are two Cantons, there's the neighborhood of Canton which is almost built out but then there's the Canton Industrial Area which has lots of land available for redevelopment. With better economic circumstances would developers have been savvy enough to venture here? Well I guess we'll find out once the economy turns around and the housing market is privy to risk takers.Now when looks at the Canton Industrial Area today he or she may be perplexed by why this would be good land for high density mixed development. After all, there are CSX lines running throughout and I-895 cutting through it. Well, my last two posts discuss these issues one talks about the MTA, Amtrak, and CSX lines tunneling their above ground lines and in the other it discusses the elimination of I-895 north of the Harbor Tunnel and funneling its traffic onto I-95 right then and there rather than at the city/county line.
Ok, that frees up some land but not all of it, and didn't I say at the beginning of this post that I didn't want to disrupt the Maritime Overlay District and kick out industrial uses that are working well? Yes I did, although there are thriving industries in the Canton Industrial Area there is lots of vacant and under utilized land as well even with I-895 and the CSX lines in existence. Some industrial businesses that are still successful have had to make massive lay offs over the past 50 years due to workers being replaced by machines and computers yet their parking lots remain large enough to accommodate a much larger work force that just sit there. Would these businesses be interested in selling off their now over sized parking lots to put a little extra coin in their pocket? Sounds reasonable to me
I'm getting a little ahead of my self here, our economy is in no shape for what I'm proposing but, the tunneling of the CSX lines and the demolition of I-895 might be better for the short term to free up even more land for when the market becomes favorable for building of any kind.
Now comes the question of mixing industrial uses with upscale residential, retail, hotel, and offices. The gentrification of all neighborhoods around the Harbor have done it from Fels Point to South Baltimore to Locust Point to Inner Harbor East and even the neighborhood of Canton. The Middle Branch neighborhoods of Westport, Brooklyn, and Curtis Bay will be rebuilt under the same formula. Further away from the harbor once the Red Line is built there will be TOD in Orangeville where the East Baltimore MARC Station is proposed. Like Canton Orangeville is a mix of thriving and dead industry and the dead land will be redeveloped.

Redveloping Industrial Canton, it's almost too easy it's been proven time and time again in Baltimore that Maritime Overlay and Mixed Use Devlelopment can live in Harmony.

I-895: So Long!

I-895, Baltimore's oldest interstate! was never meant to be a long road according to interstate standards. It was, however a crucial connecting point for I-95 travelers for close to 30 years.

It's not secret that I-95 was built in stages, even stronger evidence of this can be seen in DC where it was supposed to cut through the city rather than joining I-495 to journey around the city.

Now back to I-895 it opened in November 1957 almost 51 years ago. It traveled from Route 1 to Route 40. It provided the first of three Harbor Crossings dubbing it the "Harbor Tunnel Throughway" and from city traffic eliminating through traffic from negotiating upwards of 50 traffic lights. It also connected to the BW Parkway ( MD 295) which was completed three years earlier in 1954. This connected Baltimore to DC without traffic lights and was labeled "Temp I-95."I-95 in Maryland's construction was staggered to say the least. This made the existence of I-895 all the more crucial. The first part of I-95 to be completed was the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway in 1963 northeast of Baltimore to the Delaware line. JFK himself dedicated this highway eight days before his November 1963 assassination. It's not surprising that this stretch of highway would bare his namesake. I-895 was extended from Route 40 to meet this newly completed stretch of I-95 as part of the project.In 1971 I-95 was completed "between the Beltways" going from I-495 to I-695. In 1973 I-895 was extended southbound to meet the this new portion of I-95. I-895 for the next 12 years would serve as I-95's entry and exit points in and out of Baltimore.

In 1977 another Harbor Crossing opened in the form of an above grade bridge as part of I-695. It was dubbed the Francis Scot Key Memorial Bridge but if you're from the area you will call it the "Key Bridge."

In 1985 I-95 as we know was completed and with came I-395 ,the nation's shortest interstate and the third and final harbor crossing the "Fort McHenry Tunnel." Other features of note include "ghost ramps" to I-70 was canceled and I-83 which was also canceled. This launched the career of Senator Barb and the gentrification of Fels Point and Canton.

This left I-895 playing second fiddle to I-95 and for me at least it raises the question of whether or not it's needed. One critical thing the completion of I-95 in Baltimore includes that I failed to mention in the previous post was the fact that there's an interchange with I-95 and I-895 at the northern end of both tunnels. I-895 continues for another five miles where it ultimately ends at you guessed it I-95. It's this little stretch that's the focus of this post.I think it's time we reexamined the validity of these five miles and whether they can be better suited serving another function. The end of I-895 needs to end at the middle intersection of I-95 just north of the Harbor Tunnel. At this point I-895 will have served its function and with the closure of this portion of I-895 this lower the price tag of the $1 Billion interchange update of the northeastern I-95/I-695 interchange, the I-95 toll lanes, and the update of the final I-95/I-895 interchange which under my plan will be dismantled.

The only real upgrades of I-895 were the extensions as I-95 was built and the little known "spur" that connects I-895 to I-97 that opened in 1993. Other than that I-895 exists exactly as it did in 1957. The tubes of the tunnel were not widened during its 1986 renovation but additional lighting and cosmetic work was done. Improvements would include an upgraded and expanded Harbor Tunnel with wider tubes to carry six lanes of traffic as would I-895 south of the tunnel. An upgraded "middle interchange" with I-95 which would be the road's new northern terminus. The I-97 spur would be eliminated having I-97 end at I-695.

The demolition of this five mile section of I-895 will reunite the neighborhoods of Greektown, Bayview, O'Donnell Heights to the neighborhoods of Canton, Highlandtown, and Brewer's Hill. It will free up land for development and encourage development of unsed land zoned for industrial use. So long I-895! and yes the double entendre is very much intended.

MTA, CSX and Amtrak:An Underground Partnership

Kresson Maps From Google Earth

There is another source that blights Charm City that's not vacant housing, vacant lots, boarded up retail, or industrial wastelands. This source of blight is provided by something, oddly enough functions relatively well. It's at or above grade train lines. The guilty parties, as the title suggests are the MTA, Amtrak, and CSX.

With the Burial of tracks in certain areas of the city where industry has subsided and/or the tracks are for commuter rails it will free up land for TOD. Here are some examples.
The Greater Rosemont Area.KressonOrangeville25th St.
Madison Square/Johns Hopkins Biotech Park and Berea.And Wabash Avenue/Mondawmin

This post is more pictoral than oral because the pictures tell the whole story.

Edmondson Village: Master Planning at Work

Community Master Plans are tools that are used to implement change in a neighborhood that is experiencing problems. Master plans are very comprehensive while at the same time looking at issues with a microscope. Master plans in Baltimore still have a long way to go in achieving their goals. There's nothing wrong with that, after all it takes a long time to spur development interest and allocate funds to make improvements. That's what makes Edmondson Village such an anomaly.Edmondson Village is the first but far from the last Community Master Plan for Sheila Dixon to put out as Mayor. I'm writing this as a follow up to one of my very first posts nearly two years ago. It was called Edmondson Village: This Could Get Worse Before it Gets Better. In early 2007 Edmondson Village was showing signs of slipping into the same urban wasteland that encompasses its neighbors to the east. Edmondson Village is in between the blighted neighborhoods surrounding the MARC Station and the peaceful neighborhoods that are just over the City/County line. The Edmondosn Village Master Plan has taken off at a break neck speed unlike any I've ever seen. I toke ride down to Edmondson Village with my trusty camera and before I got there I drove through Forest Park through Garrison Boulevard. Forest Park has always been thought of as one of Baltimore's better neighborhoods while Edmondson Village hasn't. Garrison Boulevard is plagued with vacant and blighted housing that needs redevelopment and a decaying commercial corridor. Forest Park also has a Master Plan that's been on the books much longer than Edmondson Village's. If I had to choose which was the better neighborhood I'd have to say Edmondson Village.
Operation Orange Cone, an effort launched by the Dixon Administration to make much needed street repairs is at work in Edmondson Village's side streets which were in a state of disrepair. Exterior facades are being improved a landscaped median has been planted along Edmondson Avenue.
Edmondson Avenue is the only liability here. Everything bad perception of the neighborhood is located here.Yes there has been improvement along Edmondson Avenue but when one drives along Edmondson Avenue they don't know what's in Edmondson Village and it must reflect the neighborhood as a whole.
First lets talk the Village Center, once the ash from the fire clears and once it's rebuilt lets talk a revamp of tenants. The combination of the influx of home owners from Uplands and the Shopping Center's historical significance, a better tenant selection to make the center more of a destination than a neighborhood center it makes perfect sense especially since Edmondson Village residents have wanted better tenants in their Village Center. New tenants should include a Trader Joe's, Marshalls, a Bank, Sit down restaurants, such as Outback Steakhouse, Pizzeria Unos, a Sit down Chinese Restaurant, Gold's Gym, Barnes & Noble with a Starbucks Coffee, Friendly's and an AT&T. Next, the housing stock, I think that row homes are no longer fit in the Edmondson Avenue corridor. I think mid rise elevator condos with underground parking should replace the row houses that now dominate Edmondson Avenue.
Well, we just saw a Master Plan get off to a great start and great way to keep it going.

West Baltimore MARC Redvelopment

This one's a no brainer, residents, commuters, planners, and elected officials all agree that the West Baltimore MARC Station is a major commuter route and will continue to be so in the coming years with projected BRAC growth and the continuation of soaring gas prices. MARC ridership has increased dramatically and the TOD near stations will only make this trend continue.The West Baltimore MARC Station needs to be redeveloped whether the red line is built or not and/or whether the purple lune shares tracks with the line in question. The afore mentioned lines will increase the status of this station as a multi modal hub but the MTA and City Officials must proceed no matter how localized transit unfolds or doesn't. Equally important if not more important is the addition of an East Baltimore MARC Station. The speculated locations are either Bayview or Orangeville. I prefer Orangeville, Bayview has enough development coming its way already and Orangeville has been aching for TOD.

Now it's no secret that the West Baltimore MARC Station is in a bad part of town. The neighborhoods surrounding it Mosher, Midtown Edmondson and Penrose/Fayette St. are in state of disrepair. Decades of disinvestment have taken their toll. In addition to the residential urban decay there's an idustrial wasteland southwest of the station. This general area was where I-70 was to be extended to meet I-95 but never came to fruition. It was also at this point that I-70 would meet its Downtown spur known at the time as I-170. I-170 was built and when I-70 was killed at Cooks Lane I-170 was rebranded as Route 40 which was Franklin and Mulberry Streets. Locals call this highway "the road to no where" the planners of the West Baltimore MARC redevelopment plan knew this and will call the revitalized highway "the road to some where."

This is the only part of the plan that I take issue with. What ever's done with this stretch of highway should be shelved until the red line's a sure thing. When that time comes (hopefully sooner rather than later) here's what I think needs to be done. The highway should be demolished and all vehicular traffic should be rerouted to Franklin and Mulberry Streets. The highway is underground and will serve as a great tunnel for that stretch of the red line. Above ground, the land above the highway will be brought back to street level and high density TOD will occupy it. It will spur the redevelopment of the highly distressed Franklin Square and Harlem Park neighborhoods.Well that's all for this one, short and sweet. It's much easier to publish posts quicker when you actually agree with what people are doing.