Old West Baltimore: A Series of Reinvestment and Growth

Old West Baltimore (Harlem Park, Upton, Sandtown Winchester, Madison Park, and Druid Heights) must be the bygone and left behind area of the City. Yet at the same time, it's one of the most history packed and potential packed areas of the City. Somebody just has to remind everybody how great this area was and how great it could be. Obviously one post can't cover all of Old West Baltimore which is why I'm going to do a series highlighting certain areas and how they can be reinvested in which will bring down the crime rate and bring Population Growth to an area of the City that has been losing Population for close to half a century.

Recently, before I had the idea to do this series I wrote a post on Harlem Park, below is that post and there will be more to come concerning Old West Baltimore. Enjoy!

Harlem Park: Don't Wait for the Red Line

There are some parts of Old West Baltimore that have seen lots of reinvestment and redevelopment on both the public and private sectors. They include Upton's Marble Hill District, Druid Heights, and the eastern edge of Sandtown Winchester, and Heritage Crossing. On the flip side there are areas that have not seen much in the way investment including the western edge of Sandtown Winchester, Upton that isn't the Marble Hill District, and Harlem Park. Although Upton and western Sandtown do require a lot of work I will discuss them in the future, today is all about Harlem Park.

 Harlem Park's biggest problem is population loss. It seems as though if Residents want to live somewhere else they simply move away rather than try to put down roots and improve the Neighborhood. As of the 2010 census Harlem Park is about 45% vacant. When I say that vacancy and population loss is the biggest problem that Harlem Park faces I open a HUGE can of worms as to why the population has dropped so dramatically but how can Harlem Park begin to experience growth if we don't get to the root of the problem?

 There may be a small glimmer of hope for Harlem Park. The redevelopment of the West Baltimore MARC Station shows the southern border of Harlem Park slated for redevelopment as the Red Line construction begins TOD make eventually take Harlem Park by storm but that could take years, personally I think Harlem Park should a draw on its own.

 As I'm sure you're aware, Harlem Park wasn't always in bad shape, in fact it was once one of Baltimore's finest Gentlemen's Communities housing some of Baltimore's business elite most of the year except for the summer when a large portion of Residents left the City for their summer homes. At the turn of the 19th/20th century, the mostly White German Neighborhood of Harlem Park began to see White Flight both to the west where Neighborhoods such as Easterwood Park and Rosemont were in their infancy or to the north where the Roland Park Company was building large estate homes in what would eventually be Guilford, Homeland, Original Northwood, and the titular Roland Park. 

 Although White Flight was in full swing before the start of World War I, Harlem Park was still thought of as an elite Gentlemen's Community only now it was becoming home to Baltimore's Black elite. Although new Black Residents were paying a pretty penny for their new homes perhaps more than a comparable home in a White Neighborhood would fetch, I wouldn't call this "blockbusting" since there were no corrupt Realtors trying to make a quick buck off of White fears and the lack of housing options in the Black Community. 

 By the roaring 20s Harlem Park (as did all of old West Baltimore) had turned into a mixed income Black Community with wealthier Residents living in the grand row house mansions while Residents who were more working class took residence in the "alley homes." Pennsylvania Avenue served as a Downtown Area for Old West Baltimore as a whole featuring the City's best Jazz Clubs and Movie Houses. 

 By the 1930s the Great Depression had taken its toll on Harlem Park, there were fewer and fewer well to do Residents as they had either moved west beyond Fulton Avenue into the Easterwood Park and Rosemont Area (white Residents from there were moving to Edmondson Village) or the depression had taken its toll and Residents who used to be more well to do had become poor. 

 After World War II, the White flight to the suburbs and the subsequent Black repopulating of White Neighborhoods on the outskirts of the City was in full force. Since Harlem Park is not and hasn't been on the outskirts of the City for decades, its population was beginning to thin out as there was no real source in which a new population influx could be found. Another blow for the Neighborhood was what was then called "slum elimination" which was actually the erection of the notorious public housing high rises of Murphy Homes and Lexington Terrace.

 Slum elimination can come in many forms, in the 1950s and 60s it came in the form of Interstate Construction. I feel bad calling it "slum elimination" because to construct the "interstate" that effects Harlem Park it wasn't slums that were eliminated. It was working class and middle class homes between Franklin and Mulberry Sts. The Home Owners who lived where the proposed interstate was going were given very little for their homes and given that so many people's net worth is wrapped up in their homes, the once middle class Residents became poor thanks to this supposed "miracle interstate."

 This "interstate" turned out to be a curse, it was supposed to connect to I-70 when it was extended into Leakin Park to meet I-95, the spur near Harlem Park would connect I-70 to Downtown. Harlem Park at the time was hanging on a delicate balance between minimal blight and turning into a major slum. This "interstate" was the final nail in the coffin not only for Harlem Park but Old West Baltimore as a whole. To add insult to injury, the connection was never completed thus making what was built complete useless, this "I-170" is what's known as today's "Road to Nowhere."     

 Today the damage done by generations of poverty and poor policy planning have taken their toll. Harlem Park's vacancy rate as of the 2010 census is 45% which doesn't include all the vacant lots providing eye sores and a hot bed for trash. It's no secret that Harlem Park is suffering and the City is letting it go to the dogs as a Neighborhood that can't be saved. Me? I have yet to find a Neighborhood that isn't worth saving. It's time for Harlem Park to see its day in the sun.

 Lets keep in mind that as part of the Red Line construction there is a proposal for redevelopment of the Neighborhood's southern borders with high density Apartments or Condos or TOD if you will. Given how often the Red Line is tweaked and with funding and construction dates constantly being delayed, I'm not holding my breath for progress on that front. Even so, Harlem Park is an entire Neighborhood that needs help, and doesn't start and stop at the Red Line. I would also like to point out that as the title suggests, I want Harlem Park to be a draw on its own.

 When creating a Master Plan the first thing to do is draw on the Neighborhood's strengths. Other than the obvious (close to the proposed Red Line) I can think of two others; first the "block parks" and the new Senior Apartments recently built. Most if not all square blocks in Harlem Park have parks behind the Row Homes. Although they've become a liability as they've become littered with trash and drug litter. I think that these block parks can be an asset once again. Neighborhood Residents can reclaim control by planting flower gardens and vegetable gardens that could be sold at Farmers Markets. Also there have been two brand new Senior Apartment developments known as Edmondson Commons and Harlem Park Gardens. These two developments have been a great help in Seniors in the area on fixed income find clean affordable housing that meets their needs. These two success stories can be used as building blocks for reinvestment and redevelopment in the Neighborhood. Properties around these development should be first thus allowing new housing and rehabbed housing to spread like wildfires.

 I can't describe the strengths of Harlem Park without discussing its weaknesses too. Harlem Park has a fleeting population, problems with drug addiction, high crime, high unemployment, lack of quality retail, and a lack of constant City Services. I think a decent portion of these problems can be reduced if not solved by investing in the Neighborhood's housing stock a la Sandtown Winchester. Sandtown has seen a good amount of redevelopment and reinvestment in its housing stock with help from the Enterprise Foundation. The benefits are contained only within the effected areas. It hasn't had the domino effect people would have liked but that just means that other areas need that same intervention.

 Harlem Park is due for that very same attention and I think it will spur growth by all stretches of the imagination. One great thing about the Enterprise Foundation is that it employed existing Residents to build the new homes which provided jobs to the Community. Baltimore has a large amount of unemployed construction worker, an issue I came head to head with while helping a gentlemen run for City Council last summer. Sure, there are lots of development projects in the works across the City but they have snubbed the local Construction Unions by bringing in outside workers. This will not be allowed when rebuilding Harlem Park, Harlem Park will be a local grass roots efforts from start to finish. This will also allow for Job Training for those looking to learn the construction trade. New and rehabbed homes and the jobs they bring may solve other problems that Harlem Park suffers. Crime and drug addiction thrive in poor Neighborhoods where there are a lot of vacants and a lot of Residents are unemployed. With Residents at work and new Residents moving in who are also employed, the drug trade and the crime it comes with be dealt a major blow.

 We've seen how Sandtown & Marble Hill can benefit from large investments in the housing stock which in return brings jobs to the Neighborhood, Improves the appearance of the Neighborhood, and can help erode crime from the rehabbed and redeveloped blocks. Now it's time for Harlem Park to benefit the same way, everybody knows it's overdue.

Walther Avenue Streetscape Enhancements

  In the City's northeastern corner, one will find Walther Avenue. Walther Avenue holds significance as one of Baltimore's first roads designed as a "grand suburban Boulevard" with wide expansive lanes and a large median dividing each direction of traffic. When annexed by the City in 1918 Walther Avenue was just beginning to be developed and when it reached build out it didn't and doesn't look any different from the Suburbs in the County everybody was moving to. Today Walther Avenue, though located in the City is all suburb. The road itself and the infrastructure is showing its age and this post will be dedicated to making Walther Avenue streetscape as beautiful and eye popping as the show case homes located on it.

There has been a nationwide trend of repopulating suburbs that are on the edge of a City. Walther Avenue is no different. Most of the Neighborhoods locating along it have experienced population growth in the past decade. Considering that Baltimore as a whole lost between 25,000 and 30,000 Residents in that same time period for Walther Aveune to post population growth shows that area is sought after. The though behind areas like Walther Avenue gaining population is due to the fact that they're very close to highways and Downtown but the Neighborhood itself is very green, quiet, and expansive.

The majority of homes along Walther Avenue are Single Family Detached with some duplexes and few Row Homes and Apartments mostly located on the northern end of the street. The homes on Walther Avenue have fared much better than those in say, Forest Park which was built around the same time for a variety of reasons. First, the homes on Walther Avenue are smaller which makes them less expensive to maintain and that makes it less feasible for them to be turned into group homes which tends to have a blighting influence on the Neighborhood. Home Owners are looking for a Neighborhood with Single Family Dwellings that are owner occupied, something that Walther Avenue has and Forest Park is losing out on. Also the homes on Walther Avenue although compact have a lot of the character and design details found on sprawling Estate Mansions.    

As Neighborhoods age, home owners take great care to keep their homes in great shape both inside and out, if they don't the Neighborhood becomes blighted and that leads to a slew of problems that over time become harder and harder to solve. In addition

to private home owners having to step up to the plate, so does the City. In a City that's as financially strapped as Baltimore that's easier said than done. This is where Walther Avenue could use some help. The road itself needs to be repaved and striped, the sidewalks need to be retrofitted, the median could use more flowers and shruberry,  there aren't enough street lights and the traffic signals look old and weathered.

In recent years wider roads like Walther Avenue have gotten streetscape enhancements or money has been budgeted for roads to get them in the future. These include roads include but aren't limited to; Charles St. in Mount Vernon and Station North (pictured above), Northern Parkway between Reisterstown Road and Roland Avenue, Reisterstown Road and Park Heights Avenue above Northern Parkway and Harford Road in the Lauraville and Hamilton Commercial Districts (pictured below). It should be noted that Harford Road is the Commercial Drag that serves Walther Avenue as well.

Walther Avenue is a long road so doing the streetscape enhancements all at once would be a bit daunting. That's why I have decided to break up the work into four phases the first of which will stretch from Harford Road to Moravia Road. This will go through the historic Neighborhoods of Arcadia and Beverly Hills. The traffic signals at Parkside Drive and Moravia Road will be replaced with  moder ones that feature "count down" pedestrian signals and brick crosswalks. Once above Herring Run Park Walther Avenue should be narrowed down to one lane in each direction with the extra lane reserved for on street parking and a dedicated bike lane. In every phase, the street lights will be replaced with newer modern looking ones. 

The second phase goes through the Neighborhoods of Moravia Walther and Waltherson. Waltherson percentage wise was one of the City's largest gainers in population outside of Downtown. The boundaries of Phase II will be from Moravia Road to Frankford Avenue. Between Echodale and Frankford Avenues, Walther Avenue widens to three lanes. This will be narrowed down to two lanes as part of the goal to make room for more on street parking and dedicated bike lanes. The traffic signals at Echodale Avenue and Frankford Avenues will be replaced in this face. The median will also be enhanced with additional flowers and shruberry. This may be a good place to encourage Residents to plant vegetable gardens of their own. 

The third phase runs between Frankford and Glenmore Avenues in the Glenham Blehar Neighborhood which also reported a loarge population gain. This part of Walther Avenue is where the pavement is in the worst shape and in come parts, the median has no landscaping whatsoever. Obviously this will be remedied by the streetscape enhancement project. The traffic signals at Hamilton, White, and Glenmore Avenues will be replaced in this phase. Also given that this section of Walther Avenue has Glenmount Elementary/Middle and Brudick Park, care should be taken to reduce speed given the high pedestrian activity here. Traffic calming such as "chokers" at crosswalks can help in Drivers reducing speed.

The fourth and final phase of the Walther Avenue streetscape enhancements runs from Glenmore Avenue to Northern Parkway in the Rosemont East Neighborhood. This is the part of Walther Avenue that has the highest amount of Apartments and Row Homes. This also has the only Commercial Building along Walther Avenue which is a Family Dollar. The traffic signal at Northern Parkway will be replaced during this phase. Again Walther Avenue will be narrowed to two lanes in each direction from three in order to provide on street parking and a dedicated bike lane. Walther Avenue ends at Northern Parkway in the Overlea and North Harford Road Neighborhoods both of which gained population in the last 10 years.

In the far northeastern corner of Baltimore lies Walther Avenue, a grand suburban boulevard with beautifully maintained homes and lawns. If given a streetscape enhancements, Walther Avenue will truly be eye popping. 

Cherry Hill: A Development Oriented Master Plan

Photo from the New York Times

 In 2008 Baltimore released the long awaited Master Plan for the Cherry Hill Community. It addressed issues such as Youth Groups, Education, Senior Services, Shopping at the Town Center, Public Health, and Voter Turnout. One thing that isn't discussed in great detail is the pressing need to redevelop parts of the Neighborhood to help integrate it into the urban fabric of Baltimore. It's mentioned a little bit, just glossed over a little bit. It does mention crime a little bit but it doesn't talk about how Cherry Hill's distressed Public Housing and lack of Home Ownership are at the forefront of crime. Although every issue that I mentioned above is very important to the overall health of Cherry Hill, redevelopment in certain areas is crucial and I would like to take this time present a Master Plan of my own to address redevelopment and hopefully eradicate crime and poverty.

Photo From Cherry Hill Master Plan

Now there has been some great reinvestment in Cherry Hill that is right on par with how I would to proceed further with redevelopment plans. The Landex Company at the turn of the century took the original 320 World War II Barracks which were in a state of disrepair, demolished 68 of them and then took the remaining 252 apartments and made them into 126 three and four bedroom Town Homes. These Town Homes are great way to build personal equity and wealth because those who qualify can rent to own. The plan I will be putting forth is very big on converting qualified renters who are existing Cherry Hill Residents into home owners. 

Photo From Google Earth

The land on which the demolished Barracks once stood, new Town Homes with garages were built as market rate Home Ownership Units. The only issue I take with this development is that the home ownership and rentals are clearly differentiated which in a true mixed income Community the circumstances of the Residents are shown by the type of home they live in.

Photo From Google Earth

Now there is some confusion regarding Cherry Hill that I would like to clear up. Cherry Hill and Cherry Hill Homes are not the same thing. Cherry Hill Homes is a Public Housing Development that skirts the edge of the Neighborhood and is easy accessible to the Light Rail Station and as a result Patapsco Avenue. Much of the crime in Cherry Hill appears to be associated with Cherry Hill Homes. There are currently 1394 units of this sprawling development which is a mixture of Garden Apartments and Town Homes. I believe that Cherry Hill as a whole can make a turn around if a significant portion of Cherry Hill Homes were redeveloped.

Photo From Cherry Hill Master Plan

The rest of Cherry Hill is a mixture of Apartment Complexes (Cherrydale, The Communities of Middle Branch Manor) the revitalized Barracks (River Front Town Homes) and privately owned "classic" Baltimore Row Homes. This is the Cherry Hill that doesn't make head lines because it's relatively safe and isn't poverty stricken and in distressed condition like the Cherry Hill Homes development.  

Photo From Cherry Hill Master Plan

Also in Cherry Hill there are a good number of amenities such as the Aquatic Center and Splash Park, South Baltimore Health Center, Harbor Hospital, The Gwynns Falls Trail, Light Rail Access, Middle Branch Park, a Town Center, Cherry Hill Park, Southern Community Action Center, Baltimore Rowing Club, Middle Branch Marina, as well as great views of Downtown. A community with amenities such as these should be a magnet for Young Professionals, and Families of all ages and income levels. The rents should mirror that of Inner Harbor East while the price of a Row Home should mirror that of Fells Point. Obviously this is not the case and I believe Cherry Hill Homes is the primary factor holding the Neighborhood back.

Photo From Google Earth

That being said, it's time to redevelop Cherry Hill Homes. Now the newer section located near Carver Road and Bridgeview Road (pictured above) will be spared and will remain a Public Housing Family Development. Now one thing that be done with caution and care is to provide public housing for Seniors who would be displaced by the redevelopment of Cherry Hill Homes.

These new Senior buildings will be located next to Harbor Hospital on what is now surface parking. This will have an effect on security around the Hospital because visitors and employees alike will now have to park in a garage that will be built on site. With the new Senior Development located here Residents will be closer to the Town Center as well as the Health Center.

The Senior Buildings will be amenity filled and will cater to Seniors with all different needs such as Independent Living, Assisted Living, and Nursing Residents. All Seniors in Cherry Hill Homes will be guaranteed a place in the new Senior Development and if there are any left over, Seniors on a Public Housing waiting list would fill the rest of the Apartments up. 

The section of Cherry Hill Home to be redeveloped will be on the outskirts of the Neighborhood located behind the Patapsco Avenue Light Rail Station. In the place of Cherry Hill Homes will be high density TOD Apartments, Condos, and Town Homes most of which will be Market Rate Home Ownership and Rentals (70%) They will expand from Seagull Avenue to Berea Road. This new TOD Community will integrate Cherry Hill with the Light Rail Stop with a lighted promenade from Seagull Avenue to Berea Road. The following road will be extended to meet Patapsco Avenue; Seagull Avebue, Bethune Road, Bridgeview Road, and Sethlow Road. This will allow Patapsco Avenue as well the Light Rail Station to be integrated into the fabric of Cherry Hill. 

Photo From Baltimore Housing.org

Also when redeveloping Cherry Hill Homes, great care must be taken not to displace Residents who are upwardly mobile. There are Residents who are gainfully employed and/or are in School. A good portion (30%) will be set aside for current Cherry Hill Homes Residents who meet the upwardly mobile criteria above which will allow them to "rent to own" their homes. These new homes will be similar in concept to the successful River Front Town Homes that were the original Barracks. This will increase Home Ownership in Cherry Hill and allow Residents to build equity in their homes. Unlike River Front Town Homes, the redeveloped Cherry Hill Homes will be only new construction.

On the opposite side of Cherry Hill sits what was once to be Waterview Overlook, this was supposed to be an upscale condo and Town Home Development. Land along Waterview Avenue had been cleared for development but the housing market went bust and so did the developers of Waterview Overlook. Since this land is zoned for exactly the number of units that the original Waterview Overlook was supposed to have, I would like to see this project resurrected. Also along Waterview Avenue there is great opportunity to integrate the road with the existing Cherry Hill Community. It would involve redeveloping part of the Middle Branch Manor Apartments. The redeveloped part of Middle Branch Manor would be similar to Waterview Overlook in appearance and will have Waterview Avenue frontage.

In the inner ring of Cherry Hill, there are some plats of land that are vacant. Those plats of land will be developed as Town Homes which are what's already in that part of the Neighborhood. Also the existing Neighborhood is very dark. Street lights are very rare and I think invites crime. The redeveloped part of the Neighborhood will obviously have more street lights but they also have to be added to the existing Neighborhood. I'm surprised that this issue wasn't addressed long ago. Streets will be repaved and sidewalks repaired and retrofitted.  

Photo From Cherry Hill Master Plan

Now we come to the Schools. Cherry Hill has 4 Elementary Schools and 2 High Small High Schools. School Construction is something that Baltimore City is way behind on and I think that new Schools in Cherry Hill are crucial to its success. Combining the four Elementary Schools into two both in brand new buildings one at the current Arundel Elementary/Middle site and the other at the Patapsco Elementary/Middle. The two High Schools, New Era Academy and Southside Academy co-exist together in the former Arnett J. Brown Middle School Building. Since this building's use was that of a Middle School, the site outside is inadequate  for a High School let alone two. Things that are lacking include a running track, football field, tennis courts, and baseball diamonds. All that this School has is a blacktop. In order to keep this building's site adequate, all of those things will have to be added.

Photo From Cherry Hill Master Plan

In 2008 the City of Baltimore released a Master Plan for Cherry Hill. It barely brushed upon the subject of development and redevelopment. I think to achieve the results set forth in the original Plan a second Master Plan that was development oriented had to be created. Hopefully this plan that I have set forth will take off and Cherry Hill will be among Baltimore's most sought after addresses.   

Reisterstwon Station: A Promise Delivered 28 Years Later is just the Beginning

TOD in Baltimore as a whole has been something of a broken promise, then again how could TOD be warranted when Rail Transit hasn't taken off the way it has in other Cities. When Baltimore's Green Line was built there were sketches of Mixed Use TOD at Reisterstown Station at the City/County line. Finally 28 years later (the sketches were from 1984) the land surrounding Reisterstown Station and a few other stations along the Green Line are ready for development at long last. But can TOD be warranted when parts of the City and County are still in the midst of a Rail Transit Desert?

In the far Northwest corner of the City one can easily forget that they are still in the City. This due to the fact that this area was built at the same and in some after its suburban counterparts. That means that homes have expansive lawns, garages, and roads are wide to accommodate vehicular traffic as the mass production of the automobile had become the norm for American households.

Despite Baltimore's population loss, Planners wanted to build a massive Heavy Rail Transit System to serve the City and surrounding areas and had come up with a Master Plan by 1968. Funding difficulties and lack of cooperation kept construction of any kind on the back burner for more than a decade to come. 

By the time the late 1970s rolled around as was the case in most Metropolitan Areas, there had been a lot of population loss in the Cities but many suburb dwellers were still commuting back and forth to the City day in and day out. With streetcars long gone it was time to reintroduce Rail Transit into Baltimore's landscape to ease commutes. With other Cities losing population like Baltimore, Rail Transit has helped curb the population loss and have been responsible for population growth in the City proper. Could Rail Transit do this Baltimore?

Early renderings of a comprehensive Rail Transit show a north south line (Today's Light Rail or "Blue Line"),  an east west line (Future Red Line) and U shaped line that would run from Owings Mills to Martin State Airport (Today's Green Line) with the MARC Camden and Penn Lines acting as regional lines.

This got off to a very slow start with the Green Line opening in 1983 from Reisterstown Station to Charles Center. Planners had still envisioned a much larger and comprehensive Rail Plan as shown in the Charles Center stop which includes a stop for a future line built into it.

In 1987 an extension from Reisterstown Station to Owings Mills opened.

In 1994 the extension from Charles Center to Johns Hopkins Hospital opened.

Rail Transit in Baltimore has been under intense criticism for its entire existence, it has been to blame for "bringing the criminal element from the City into the County." Personally I think that claim is false and if Rail Transit has been successful in almost every other large City in the world then it should also work in Baltimore as well. So this begs the question; What's wrong?

What's wrong is that the existing Rails Line weren't built near anything. They're very out of the way, usually a Transit Line is in the middle of it all to catch high ridership. In a lot of cases TOD shouldn't even have to be built because the ridership is already so high and the area that it serves is built. This provides a sharp contrast to Baltimore's Light Rail and Metro Subway whose only populated stops are Lexington Market and State Center.

So what's the solution? More lines and more development. Rail Transit is one of those weird anomalies where adding more of the "problem" is the solution. The problem with Baltimore is that new lines will have to be re thought and not built along the outskirts of Downtown and the Harbor and into the very epicenter of Baltimore's population. This means rerouting the Red Line Downtown and points east for starters.

But what about lines that are already in assistance? Well that's where TOD comes in. They had it right 28 years ago when they showed a drawing of a fully developed Reisterstown Station and why they strayed away from that method of thinking is beyond me. TOD makes an otherwise under utilized Transit Stop and puts enough housing, retail, there that it becomes a destination in and of itself. Its density is so high that you HAVE to take the Transit Line serving the Neighborhood because using your car is just plain futile.

So what now? Well, developers should continue pursuing vacant sites around existing Stations and building high density mixed use TOD. Reisterstown Station should just be the beginning and wouldn't know it? It's beginning to catch on. Just south of the Reisterstown Station is the Rogers Avenue Station where 400 Market Rate Apartments will be built on surface level parking lots.

After that there are endless possibilities such as Coldspring, Mondawmin, and Penn North along the Green Line on the Light Rail there's Cherry Hill, Patapsco Avenue, and Mount Washington. This will put pressure on the MTA to build a comprehensive Rail Transit Plan including the Yellow Line from BWI to Towson, The Green Line from Hopkins to Martin State Airport via Harford and Belair Roads and the localization of the MARC Lines which will make for the Orange and Purple Lines. Believe me when I say that delivering the promise of TOD at Reisterstown Station 28 years later is just the beginning.