A Pimlico that Works For Everyone All the Time

Pimlico has been the subject of intense debate over the past several years and nothing has been resolved. The long time Baltimore Landmark that hosts the Preakness is as always in financial trouble and constantly changing Owners won't turn Pimlico into a money maker. The Park Heights Master Plan has offered a few options regarding Pimlico's future. There's one that leaves the Race Course as is and another that involves redevelopment of the Parking Lots and the Race Course as Mixed Use Office Retail and Residential. Neither plan satisfies 100% yet at the same time, Neither plan 100% dissatisfies me. It's time to get ultra creative and turn Pimlico into a year round Money Maker for all ages.

The woes of Pimlico are no surprise, not only is it grossly under utilized but Horse Racing has been dying a slow death for decades now. A good way that's helped the owners supplement income and generate revenue for the City has been using the Race Course as a venue for all day concert events such as Virgin Fest. Although they have breathed new into Pimlico for duration of the event it has failed to restore Pimlico as a busy year round attraction. This begs the question of slots operating in Pimlico, I will discuss that later in this post.

Allow me to side track you for a quick second. This will tie into Pimlico I promise. The Gym in Beverly Hills High School has a floor that splits in two to make way for a swimming pool underneath. The "Swim Gym" located here is perhaps the only one of its kind. This allows the Gym to serve multi purposes without wasted space. What does this have this have to do with Pimlico? Upon learning of this technology used in Beverly Hills High I had an epiphany. Why can't the Race Track in Pimlico part using this same technology? After all the Beverly Hills Swim Gym albeit much smaller than the Pimlico Race Track was built in the 1930s as a New Deal Project so I'm sure that technology can be used for a peice of land as large as Pimlico. If the Beverly Hills Swim Gym was a New Deal project maybe the Pimlico Project can get funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; the 21st Century New Deal. Of course this would be very expensive but you have to spend money to make money right? So, in short my plan is turn Pimlico into a Swimming Pool. Only it will be more than just a pool. It would be by far the largest in the City complete with water slides, a wave pool, hot tubs, a volley ball court, and lots of water park "mushrooms."

The Pool will be open from dawn to dusk seven days a week from Memorial Day to Labor Day which is the normal annual time span in this region for an Outdoor Pool. If an outdoor concert wishes to use Pimlico the Pool would be closed. Now I want to see Pimlico as a year round venue and an Outdoor Swimming Pool can only fit the bill for summer months. Now riddle me this; What happens to water when it freezes? Ice! So, from November to mid March Pimlico will serve as an Ice Rink for recreational Ice Skating and perhaps an Ice Hockey League.

Now this begs the question of money. I will answer said question regarding money. The renovation of Pimlico will be financed by any number of grants by both public and private entities. The City will then lease Pimlico from its owners and will share the cost of maintenance. Admission will be free. The revenue generator will come in the form of concessions. Local eateries in the surrounding Neighborhood can operate kiosk stands inside Pimlico.

Now I said that I will discuss slots and I've decided to keep that promise. Slots are bascially an unavoidable force and the only way to save Pimlico would be to let slots operate there. When the swimming pool closes for the night, the Slots Parlor will open. The same M.O. will be in effect during the Ice Rink months. There's still that period of time between mid March and Memorial Day, well that's Horse Racing Season! As long as Horse Racing is up and running Pimlico will serve as its primary function; a Race Track. The Preakness will always have a home at Pimlico as well.

Earlier I talked about options in the Park Heights Master Plan and my satisfaction or lack there of regarding its options for Pimlico. Redevelopment was discussed but that involved the demolition of Pimlico, at least in the Master Plan. With Pimlico alive and better than ever in my plan its acres of surface parking remain desolate. As part of Pimlico's renovation undergound parking will be put under the track. The mixed use development discussed in the Master Plan will still come to fruition except Pimlico won't hit the wrecking ball.

Pimlico has been a Baltimore Landmark since before the land was annexed by the City. With its fate up in the air drastic steps must be taken to save it and make it a Park that everyone of all ages can enjoy.

The new MARC Transfer Station

So far all I've done in Southwestern Baltimore County is close down two MARC Stations and put in their place localized stops and stations with lots TOD and redvelopment. So far I've done nothing to address the MARC Stations that were closed in the wake of my Master Plan. Now it's high time I shared with you what it is plan to do address the Commuter Rail that will eventually share its tracks with the localized Orange and Purples Lines aka the MARC Camden and Penn Lines respectively.

Although the Relay MARC Station is one of historical signifigance, the amount of traffic that a true MARC Stop generates would severely disrupt the quiet residential Community so I decided that it should close both as a MARC Station and any possibility of it being an Orange Line Stop. Orange Line Stops in Elkridge and Lansdowne Station are in my final plan.

Unlike Relay, the Halethorpe MARC Station on the Penn Line has a large Commuter Base and the Station to support it. So I'm sure it came as a surprise to all who read the post that I want to close. I put a Purple Line Stop about quarter mile away in Arbutus that will serve UMBC Students and Arbutus Residents alike. That plan also calls for massive redevelopment between the stop on Southwestern Boulevard and the UMBC Campus.

Now let me give an overview of the MARC Rail. I think of it as an "All Roads lead to DC" Commuter Rail that serves those who work bankers hours. It has three lines all together (the third line called the Brunswick doesn't go anywhere near Baltimore) and their starting point is in DC. Now the other two lines, the Camden and the Penn both lead to Baltimore. the Camden Line, as the name suggests ends at Camden Yards. The Penn Line contrary to the name does not end at Penn Station. It does stop there but it continues on to Harford County.

In southwestern Baltimore County, there is a large missed opportunity, the two lines actually cross paths. The fact that the MTA has ignored this potential has left me baffled. The need for the two MARC Lines to cross paths and act as transfer points to one another has been the center point of my Southwestern Baltimore County Posts. I have left this pivotal part out to see how many people would pick up on that fact. The new MARC Station located at the criss cross of the tracks would also be an additional stop on both the localized Purple and Orange Lines.

As I draw my series of posts regarding Southwest Baltimore County Rail Transit to a close I'd like to bring this up, when planning transit lines it's always best to have as many transfer points throughout the system as possible. The more convenient the service, the higher the ridership, which would in turn lead to less congestion on roads all across the board. It's time the two MARC Lines met their ultimate destiny in Baltimore by taking advantage of an existing meeting point and turning it into a transfer point.

Arbutus/UMBC TOD and Redevelopment

Despite having one of America's most "Up & Coming" Universities at its door step, Arbutus may as well be worlds away from UMBC. I give Arbutus credit for maintaining its Small Town feel in the middle of suburbia and at the City's southwestern border. Although the Small Town feel is welcoming, Arbutus seems to have gone stagnant. There hasn't been much on the development front nor has there been any population influx to speak of like that of pretty much all other "inner ring suburbs." Like the City, Arbutus has lost population during the last few decades but Arbutus has an untapped Jewel hidden behind Southwestern Boulevard that needs to be unearthed and with will come new development and population gains.

Arbutus was never meant to be a rich man's suburb. As the flight to the suburbs was in full swing the suburbs built catered to the income of where they were fleeing the City from. It's not hard to trace who went where, If you lived in SoWeBo, you went to Arbutus if you lived in Park Heights you went Pikesville or Randallstown, If you lived in Edmondson Village you went to Catonsville, and if you lived in Highlandtown you went to Dundalk. In some cases, especially in Arbutus, the housing stock mirrored that of the City everyone was fleeing. In Arbutus, it wasn't a housing upgrade, just a demographically homogenized version of the City so it's no surprise that Arbutus contains lots of row homes and small single family homes.

The opening of UMBC did little to chnage the suburban landscape of Arbutus. There are several large Apartment Complexes nearby and although Students have moved into some, it's doesn't have as high of a Student population as one would think. UMBC is almost completely a Commuter School despite the housing stock available both on and off campus. Arbutus is what I like to call a "Generations Community", which is when houses are passed down to Children and Grandchildren of long time owners and/or said Children have settled elsewhere in Arbutus. What has resulted is a close knit Community that appears closed off to change.

Most of the Retail in Arbutus has been there for quite some time. This goes along with the Close Knit "Generations Community" theory I'm using to describe Arbutus. Now since I've described the quintessential Small Town America, why is Arbutus losing population? Well like I've said before it's not a Rich Man's Suburb and some of the problems that have hurt the City have crossed the County Line into Arbutus. Another reason is the aging housing stock. With Arbutus not being very well to do, Home Owners and Landlords alike haven't invested in the housing stock like they have in other wealthier Communities. The Real Estate bubble didn't inflate the Market which allowed for home equity loans either. Arbutus today is an aging suburb with a shrinking population and limited quality housing choices.

The County has answered back by introducing a Main Street themed Retail Town Centre around the intersection of East Drive and Sulphur Spring Road. This has spruced up the landscape of Arbutus with streetscape enhancements and adequate lighting. It hasn't done much to improve the appearance of the businesses themselves.

In order for Arbutus to move forward, it must take a good hard look at what it's lacking (I just did that) and then see if there's a way it can be improved upon by either using an existing resource or bringing them in from the outside. Just like the rest of Southwestern Baltimore, Arbutus has the gift of having train tracks running right through it. No this won't be the replacement MARC Station but it will be a stop on the Purple Line which will share tracks with the MARC Penn Line and Amtrak.

Locating the Arbutus Station across from the Southwestern Boulevard intersection with Linden Avenue will be the optimal location. Linden Avenue serves as an entrance point for the Arbutus Community and the enchanced "Town Centre." With a Rail Stop Arbutus can redevelop its tired old Retail Buildings into High Density TOD Buildings. This hopefully will have a domino effect with either reinveting in or redeveloping some of the old Row Homes nearby. The sprawling Westland Gardens Apartment Complext is due for redevelopment which may bring better Retail to the Wilkens Avenue/Maiden Choice Lane Area.

The old Single Family Homes can't really be changed much because they aren't part of a Complex. It would be great to eventually redevelop the Single Family Homes to expand the TOD District all the way to UMBC but Banks could make available Low Interest Loans to residents to fix up their homes in the mean time. Speaking of UMBC the MTA would have to make a "shuttle bug" route like those found in Hampden in Mondawmin for Arbutus to allow UMBC and Westland Gardens access to the new Station.

The TOD Distrcist will extend east of Southwestern Boulevard into Lansdowne where it will undergo a radical transformation for its new Station along the Orage Line. A pedestrian bridge across Southwestern Boulevard will for now connect Arbutus to its new Station. I'm looking into long range goals to make a more Pedestrian friendly Southwestern Boulevard but that will have to wait for a different post.

Arbutus has been stagnant for too long, it's time some life was pumped into it by way of Rail Transit. Just put a Rail Station somewhere and watch the Neighborhood transform! That is, if it's done correctly.

Lansdowne Station On The Orange

Back to the southwestern Baltimore County posts. Now we focus on the new Big Box Center known as Lansdowne Station. Lansdwone Station turns its back on the Orange Line and the MARC Camden Line. Luckily things can change and Lansdowne Station although facing Washington Boulevard has TOD written all over it. It may be hard to fathom but I see it.
Walmart is always labeled the antithesis of TOD density but in this case I think the two can coexist side by side. The big surface level parking lot can excavated into a multi level underground parking garage for both residents living above and as a Park & Ride Lot for the train Station. I'm sure you're wondering where the MARC system fits in because last time we kept score, I had shut down two stations, one on each line and all I have come up with as replacements are localized routes where MARC trains won't stop. By patient, there's plenty of time for me to explain that next year. Lansdowne Station is no stranger to either parking garages or multi level structures. Since the Retail portion of the Shopping Center faces Washington Boulevard, the new Apartments o er top of it will face the train tracks directly behind it. Moves like this are the backbone of TOD by making a development cater to transit riders rather than commuters by car. Redevelopment will cross Washington Boulevard into the Office/Industrial Flex area. The Home Depot will simply its location west of Washington Boulevard to.......right here! This is a vacant store front in Lansdowne Station which I'm sure will fit the needs of a Home Depot just fine. I'd also like to point out that this building is "above" the rest of the shopping Center. This empty parking lot is actually level two to an existing parking garage. The strip with famous footwear (see above picture) is at level with the first level of the parking garage.
The Home Depot won't be the only businesses currently west of Washington Boulevard that will cross over into Lansdowne Station. This strip,(it's fully occupied, there's a First Mariner Bank here that faces the road) located next to the Home Depot will land next to the Home Depot againThis row of stores is located next to the future Home Depot and will fit the occupied stores across the street like a glove, wow! Lansdowne Station has room for everything!
To connect new development west of Wshington Boulevard will be a pedestrian only bridge not unlike the Southwestern Boulevard/Francis Avenue Bridge except this one won't allow cars again emphasizing the importance of transit and making this true TOD. Now don't forget that the train tracks and therefore the new station will be behind Lansdowne Station Shopping Center. That's why I'm putting the residential portion's front entrance behind it. This is what the resident's front door will overlook. It doesn't look like much now, that's because the Train Station hasn't been built yet. When built there will be multiple connections between here and there in the form of promenade style walkways. The walkways will feature benches, brick sidewalks, ample lighting, video surveillance, bike lockers, and handicap services.
Seem like too much to stomach that this, the epitome of sprawl can in fact foster TOD if you look hard enough? Well, to be completely honest, pretty much anything can be made into TOD as long as it's close to train tracks. In this case building residences above the Retail, adding more parking underground, and a promenade leading to the new Station and Bam! It's TOD!

The Midtown Donut is Filling In

Mount Vernon and Bolton Hill, it seems like they're worlds apart. In actuality they border on each other with Howard St. serving as Bolton Hill's eastern edge and Mount Vernon's western edge. The reason one would think they're not close together is because of the no man's land that expands east to west from Charles St. to Dolphin St. This expanse of land I have called the "Midtown Donut" why that name? I call it that because it's surrounded by gentrification and stately old Gentlemen's Communities that have taken on a Collegetown vibe and this expanse of land is in the middle hence the Donut reference. Luckily after decades of just talk about what to do with the Donut there are signs of life appearing and the Donut may be finally filling in.

The Donut could be traced as far back as when Johns Hopkins University moved to its Homewood Campus a few blocks Uptown. I contribute the real loss of population and vitality to the area came post World War II during the flight to the suburbs. Both Mount Vernon and Bolton Hill defined their boundaries in which they would "weather the storm of urban decay and blight" which they were successful in however, neither Neighborhood nor the development of the equally closed off Charles Center included the Donut. Decay and blight did not encroach on the Donut but it's remained stagnant and poised for change for quite some time. This change has been all too prevalent in Bolton Hill and Mount Vernon thereby making the contrast in the Donut all the more obvious.

I consider the southern border of the Donut to be Centre St. which is the northern border of Downtown's struggling Westside. Reinvestment and redevelopment of Downtown's Westside has constricted to its southern edge with few projects going north of Baltimore St.
The pedestrian only "Lexington Mall" is however slated for demolition and there have been plans to build luxury condos over top of a parking garage across from Lexington Market. These plans have been shelved due to our current economic crisis. I have always thought that the best way to continue the Westside's renewal would be to continue from the north i.e. the Donut and have the success of the south ( Camden Yards Hilton) push towards each other instead of stubbornly pushing the Westside north. Luckily one project in the Donut is nearing completion and another bigger one has been green lit.
The first project, (completed picture at the top of the post) is known as the Fitzgerald. It doesn't compare in size to say Patrick Turner's Westport but it's more the symbol that a developer and a major bookstore chain (Barnes & Noble) have committed to the area. As part of the Fitzgerald, there is space for additional ground floor Retail and Apartments above and an attached parking garage. It's only two blocks away from Penn Station on the stub known as W. Oliver St.

I'm not the first person to pitch this next idea but I agree with it and I'm going to write about it because it's relevant. Another project like the Fitzgreald could go in the block in between the Fitzgreald and Penn Station. What needs to be done is to have the ramp from the JFX to Maryland Avenue made into a narrower ramp instead of the loop around that it currently does. This would free up much needed space for development and truly connect the Fitzgerald and therefore the Donut to Penn Station. Speakng of Maryland Avenue, for a one way street with so many lanes, it's under utilized when compared to St. Paul St. just two blocks to the east.

If you're going to assume that I next propose to close off the JFX St. Paul st. ramp you're absolutely right. With some of that extra traffic diverted from St. Paul St. to Maryland Avenue, the Donut will receive more vehicular traffic and therefore get the attention of developers in the future. Meanwhile, the Fitzgerald with its Barnes and Noble will create life among the Colleges that flank the area.

The Fitzgerald isn't the only project for the Donut. Although construction won't be for another few years, the State has committed funds to redeveloping the State Center. This has been long discussed and was ready to go when the economy fell through the cash strapped State of Maryland put this on the back burner unsure if it would ever get the needed funding. Fortunately, the State has loosened its purse strings and has decided to fund the redevelopment knowing that it would pay off in the long run. This past summer the decision was made to go ahead with it. The original State Center project included McCulloh Homes, a troubled Public Housing Development next to the State Center. This was scraped early on in the planning process but I do think that McCulloh Homes' time has since past.

To completely fill in the Donut not only will McCulloh Homes have to be redeveloped but the behemoth Social Security Building and its equally intruting parking garage. This will not only fill in the Donut but will provide the Westside of Downtown with a large redvelopment project that will act as a catalyst for its future projects.

Preston Gardens:Planted on Seeds of Racism

When one thinks of Preston Gardens they think of beauty, elegance, class, charm, and old world style planning. And why shouldn't they? After all, just take a look at the place and it's obviously true. When one looks at this diamond in the urban rough, one must ask themselves how it got here and why it stayed. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful piece of land and I wouldn't change a thing about it but its inception was a sad one, one that if learned about would at least want to change the name. I will put it bluntly; Preston Gardens is a product of racism and segregation. Plain and Simple
Most of what I write about is factual with my opinion thrown in, this time it's all facts, Preston Gardens came about during a period of extreme prejudice and White Supremacy were at an all time high in Baltimore, thanks in part to the Mayor at the time James H. Preston.Up until 1911, there was a thriving Neighborhood east of Mount Vernon, west of the Jones Falls, and north of City Hall and the Courthouses known as Gallows Hill. Gallows Hill had the same beautiful stately Row Homes as its neighbor to the west only there was one problem; the Residents were black. Mayor James H. Preston made no effort in hiding his hatred for anyone not English, German, or Scandinavian. Despite the residents of Gallows Hill being among the wealthiest Blacks in the City most holding College and Post College degrees, it was declared a slum for the mere fact Blacks lived there. Being just above City Hall didn't help the case for preserving Gallows Hill either. In that time it didn't look dignified to have your City Hall surrounded by a Black Neighborhood rich or poor.
Also placating into the fears of Mayor Preston was move of Johns Hopkins University from the center of Mount Vernon to its current Homewood Campus. Preston and his colleagues thought this was the final straw. Centre St. and Madison Ave were Downtown extensions of Druid Hill Avenue and McCollough Sts respectively. These two streets were making head lines as new Black settlement areas of West Baltimore. With Hopkins vacating its buildings in between West Baltimore and Gallows Hill it would just be matter of time before the blocks of Mount Vernon and the Washington Monument would become Black and therefore slums. It was all too clear to Mayor Preston and Confederate loving Cronies; Gallows Hill had to go. And just like that it was gone. Block after block of Black occupied Homes, Businesses, and Churches were reduced to rubble. It left behind Residents whose only crime was living in the wrong place at the wrong time. Had they been White Mayor Preston would never have gotten away with this. Since Blacks at the time were denied conventional mortgages (it would be a good 55 years until the Fair Housing Act granted them this right) the now former Gallows Hill residents didn't have a foot to stand on.It's been almost 100 years since the Gallows Hill destruction and race relations have come a long way but nowhere near perfect. I'm writing this post as if it were a tragedy which it was and it should be considered that way as we approach 2011. But this was 1911 "tragedy" was hardly the term dubbed for the demise of Gallows Hill. Baltimore, which still considered itself a "White Man's City" was glad to be rid of the "slums" bordering City Hall and Mount Vernon. Mayor Preston was a hero of sorts, stopping the spread of Blockbusting before that phrase was coined.
Now what did the Honorable James H. Preston do with the Neighborhood he destroyed? Well for starters the name Gallows Hill can only be found in History Books and Maps that predate 1911. It's as if it was never there, and I'm sure there are those who convinced themselves it never was there. St. Paul St., the "Main Street" of Gallows Hill had become congested with traffic going Downtown (some things never change.) As the first Ford Model Ts rolled off the factory lines, they went straight to St. Paul St. After widening the road Mayor Preston decided against rebuilding Gallows Hill as a restricted White Neighborhood. He instead had a lush Park built and named after himself called "Preston Gardens" I mean hey, we have to pay homage to our "heroes" don't we? After the 1917 dedication of Preston Gardens it has remained a Community Center Piece whose history has been all but erased. Preston Gardens did do its job, Mount Vernon is still a majority White Neighborhood and City Hall wasn't surrounded by Slums. Mercy Hospital expanded and has continued to do so on land that was once Gallows Hill. Funny, Mercy wasn't shown to the residents of Gallows Hill and perhaps the largest institution built on its grounds bares its namesake.
As much as I've bashed the creation of Preston Gardens, I still think it's a beautiful place and I would like to see it expanded. The congested St. Paul St. splits into two "super boulevards" that only make traffic worse. By extending Preston Gardens to engulf the lower St. Paul St. and moving the front doors to Mercy Hospital to Calvert St. the St. Paul St. traffic can be stream lined to one narrowed route that can be repaved with tracks to accommodate the Charles St. Trolley.
Writing about Preston Gardens and its predecessor Gallows Hill was not easy, I like Preston Gardens but not what it represents, upon learning about Gallows Hill and its destruction, I will never look at Preston Gardens the same.

Harford Road: Going Green

The latest hype regarding new building is to make everything "Green" and LEED Certified. I agree this is the correct way to build anything and everything but in this post I will use the term "Green" in a whole new way. Harford Road has become a Main St. Village but the density is low. So when I say "Green" I mean the Green Line. So in order to keep the Green Line Extension in the conversation, It's time that Harford Road went Green.

From the onset of development in the Harford Road area, it was meant to be an auto oriented suburb. Granted, a streetcar line did run down Harford Road but the time for streetcars was running out back then. As Lauraville, Hamilton, Waltherson, and Woodhome Heights were built, the flight to the suburbs was on. Mostly Single Family Homes and Duplexes were built and a few Garden Apartment Complexes are what constituted the suburbs of Northeast Baltimore.

Harford Road was and is the Neighborhood Retail Drag for the Communities it served. Today more than ever, residents living near Harford Road use their cars to shop at the new Safeway and eat at the new Restaurants that are popping up throughout the corridor. With Belair Road, a lot of its Retail was Car Dealerships that have closed so TOD Redevelopment along there will be a lot easier for several reasons.

On the other hand, Harford Road caters more to its immediate Communities than Belair Road does. In East Baltimore, where services that readily are available in Northeast Baltimore aren't for East Baltimore, residents use buses to travel up to Harford Road for the better selection of Retail Options.

Since the density of Harford Road isn't there to support the Green Line the best thing to do is to bring it there. There is a density gap between Morgan State and White Marsh which both need the Green Line but it won't be feasible because of the low denisty of Harford Road and Belair Road won't make extending the Green Line to White Marsh feasible because it will have low "rider catch" areas in Northeast Baltimore.
It's ironic that the suburb of White Marsh is of a higher density than the Lauraville/Hamilton area in the City. White Marsh however, is a new and growing Community that was designated as a high denisty development zone by the County. Harford Road was built at a time when City's Population was draining and new development was catering to the suburban flight.

Harford Road is a great area but urbanization would great to bring Rail Transit there for both current residents looking to save gas, and future residents who would move into new housing from new TOD I'm seeking to have built.
It will be a phased transition but an easy one. Vacant storefronts will be demolished to make way for Apartment/Condo Buildings with ground floor Retail. The Retail, will be existing businesses that make for old vacant storefronts that will then be dmolished until Harford Road has made its transistion into a TOD Village. The new Buildings, in addition to ground floor Retail will be about four or five stories high and the second floor of some of them will house Offices. Garden Apartment Complexes throughout the Community will also be redeveloped.

If Harford Road and Belair Road, the Main Streets of Northeast Baltimore don't have the TOD and density to support the Green Line, we'll have to bring it there, and bring it we will