Eastern Avenue: The All Around Better Alternative

Historically Eastern Avenue held the title of East Baltimore's Main Street. Given that North Avenue was the northern border for much of the City's history that wasn't as large of a stretch as it is today. The way I think of Eastern Avenue is as a diverse high density Main Street that acts as the northern border to gentrified Neighborhoods like Inner Harbor East, Fells Point, and Canton. In addition, it acts as a southern border to more traditional East Baltimore like Upper Fells Point, Little Italy, Patterson Park, and Highlandtown. Given that Eastern Avenue plays host to Retail, Residential, and Community Uses it seems natural that the eastern end of the Red Line be located on Eastern Avenue but guess what? It isn't.

Although I have spent a considerable amount of time bad mouthing the Red Line being at surface level along Edmondson Avenue and that the stops Downtown are lack luster at best, I haven't dedicated much time to the Red Line in East Baltimore. Option 4C, which is the preferred option for the City although I hear of more people who hate it rather than like it. 

Option 4C calls for the Red Line to go down President St. for a few blocks to Fleet St. where the proposed Harbor East stop is to be located. It will then travel down Fleet St. until it meets Boston St. where it will travel at surface level until roughly the location of the new Canton Crossing development. There they go again with surface level, people think that because it's the cheapest alternative that it's also the most effective. Sometimes you may have to spend more money in order to make more money. When something makes more money yet had cost more to pland and build wouldn't IT be more cost effective than something that was cheap but has low ridership due to its poor location?

 Although Boston St. is very wide considering its location just east of Downtown, it isn't dense by any stretch of the imagination. Its housing stock is new and mirrors that of its suburbs. There is also a suburban style shopping center with a Safeway. The only dense area will be Canton Crossing although funding woes haven't yielded many finished products except for the 1st Mariner Tower. Also keep in mind that Boston St. now has more residences as its waterfront once hosted industrial uses that have been redeveloped. Also keep in mind that to the south of Boston St. it's water and nobody but the fishes lives there and fish don't ride mass transit.

Eastern Avenue on the other hand is much more Retail and Community oriented with much more of an urban feel. The road itself is much narrower with parallel parking. There are older "cookie cutter" row homes with ground floor Retail as well as taller row homes that have since been converted into Apartments. In short, when traveling on Eastern Avenue you will know that you're in the City. There are also plenty of City Bus Stops where Residents who don't have regular access to a car take advantage of. On Boston St. the amount of Bus Stops and Riders at said stops is much smaller than what is found on Eastern Avenue. In short, Eastern Avenue is very dense and Boston St. is very sparse.

I'm sure now you can see that Eastern Avenue being the preferred location for the Red Line east of Downtown so why isn't it? It's very true that tunneled Light Rail under a narrow street is more expensive and disruptive than surface level Light Rail on a wide street that comparatively doesn't get much traffic. Could this entire issue be boiled down to the MTA being cheap? I think so, Although the Red Line will cost more than other rail lines in DC simply because the other lines are older and the cost of the Red Line is adjusted to inflation. Given that the Red Line cost is adjusted to inflation, the MTA still doesn't want to spend more money to make the Red Line comparable to its DC brethren. 

So it's all about money? That's what has been keeping the Red Line from being all it can be? Yes that seems to be the problem. At the same time, the Mayor, the Governor, and the MTA are hell bent on building just to say that they have. Unfortunately end result of just "building something" will not improve the area in fact it will detrimental because the money spent would then be wated due to low ridership. Why will ridership be low? Given that Boston St. is a lower density higher income area than Eastern Avenue there are simply more options for them. Residents there have more access to personal vehicles. Along Eastern Avenue, Residents are less likely to own a car, not only that there are simply many more of them both north and south of the road itself. This all adds up to higher ridership.

The reasons above make Eastern Avenue a better choice but consider this one; Eastern Avenue is narrow so it can't support surface level transit therefore it would have to be underground. Underground or tunneled transit is uninterrupted by vehicular traffic which makes for shorter trip times. A big reason riders would choose Rail Transit over their cars would be that it takes less time to get to their destination. A surface level Rail Car is a big obstruction to traffic and it has to compete with any and all other traffic. How often have trip times been delayed on Howard St. due to the Rail Cars competing in rush hour traffic? It will be just the same on Boston St. Boston St. may be wide now but it isn't wide enough to accommodate two tracks of Light Rail in addition to two way traffic and dedicated turn lanes.

Speaking of dedicated turn lanes, with the Rail Cars at surface level on Boston St. there's a good chance that a lot of side streets would be forbidden to make left turns onto and off of Boston St. This is proposed to happen on Edmondson Avenue where the Rail Cars are slated to be surface level. Like Boston St. this needs to be tunneled as well. Given that Edmondson Avenue is not as well to do as Boston St., there has been significantly less coverage by the News Media on it. If tunneled under Eastern Avenue, these problems will of course be null and void.

It's very clear that for the Red Line in southeast Baltimore, Eastern Avenue is all around the better option. Although there is currently a Community Compact on the record for Option 4C, there has been some wiggle room in the form of Cooks Lane double tracking. Hopefully if the pressure is put on the MTA they will change their mind and pony up the funds to make the Red Line under Eastern Avenue a reality as well as Edmondson Avenue.

Cardinal Gibbons Shopping Center

 

  As my long awaited conclusion to my Wilkens Avenue series comes to a conclusion, this post I'm sure will garner much controversy and or criticism. Trust me when I say I don't enjoy igniting people's feelings of ill will towards me, I do however enjoy the freedom of sharing my ideas to the community as a whole whether or not they agree with me. So with that little tidbit out of the way hows about we get down to business?

In 2010 after years of rumors, Cardinal Gibbons School closed. Cardinal Gibbons, located at the southeastern corner of Wilkens Avenue and Caton Avenue was a community staple all throughout the Greater Baltimore Community with students coming near and far for a fully integrated Roman Catholic Education since 1962. Although Baltimore and surrounding Counties remain a Catholic strong hold, the numbers of said families who could afford a Private School Education has been dwindling. With Cardinal Gibbons and Schools like it losing population Cardinal Gibbons closed in 2010.

This closure was not taken with a grain of salt. Alumni young and old took it upon themselves to save Cardinal Gibbons and given that Social Networking was already popular, their was heard far and near. What was I doing at that time? I was doing the same thing I am today, looking for new ideas to provide population and job growth for Baltimore City. My ideas for Wilkens Avenue differed back then but the goal remains the same; population and job growth which will allow for a higher quality of life and lower occurrence of crime and drug use that has had a grip on the Community for far too long.

Back then I had thought and in some cases still do think that massive redevelopment and gentrification is the only way to breathe new life into Communities that are struggling. Like I said before there are still Neighborhoods where I believe that to be true, I believed it to be true for Wilkens Avenue but not anymore. Seeing as how that was the case in Baltimore with the Harbor and the Biotech Parks. With the closing of Cardinal Gibbons becoming more and more of a Reality I developed a redevelopment plan for the area that involved the site of the School, the adjacent St. Agnes Hospital and nearby struggling Neighborhoods such as Mill Hill and Carrolton Ridge. A third Biotech Park in Baltimore this time developed by St. Agnes was to be located across Caton Avenue from the Hospital and would have the same sweeping redevelopment efforts currently taking place in East Baltimore as a result of the Hopkins Biotech Park.

After I wrote and published that post, critics and supporters alike rejected the idea inserting reality into the picture such as the fact that St. Agnes doesn't have the financial resources that Hopkins does, there are better uses for the now vacant Cardinal Gibbons School, and that gentrifying Wilkens Avenue in that respect would price out those living in the Community I was trying to "help." Sometimes criticism of what I write doesn't phase but this time it did so I challenged myself to go back to the drawing board and come up with a better plan that would make Wilkens Avenue a better version of what it already is; A diverse working class Community for affordable housing. Instead of running away from that notion I decided to celebrate it.

With that came this series of posts, one that focused on how the Neighborhood of Gwynns Falls has fared quite well compared to its Neighbors such as Mill Hill, Carrolton Ridge and Mount Clare, another that established "Districts" of affordable for purchase housing with each district being for a different working class trade such as Hospitality, Retail, Emergency Services, Education etc. Finally I decided to pilot a green building program in for Wilkens Avenue that would eventually sweep across the City as a whole.

Now comes the issue of Cardinal Gibbons, it does have to be put back to productive use just like the rest of Wilkens Avenue. Just like when I had envisioned it as a Biotech Park the School Building must be preserved along with its impressive facade. So what does the Wilkens Avenue Community lack? Retail and Apartments. The closure of the Mount Clare Junction Safeway and the failure of that Shopping Center as a whole has left Wilkens Avenue looking for a good Neighborhood Shopping Center ever since. As a result, Residents have had to leave the City and shop at the Giant on Wilkens Avenue in Arbutus near I-695.

I have proposed that the Gwynns Falls Community Center be expanded to mirror the amenities of a regional park so keep that in mind when I say that the athletic fields of the now defunct Cardinal Gibbons School are a surplus and aren't good fit for the Community. A big reason this is true is because it's located on Caton Avenue which is very busy between Wilkens Avenue and I-95. A more centralized Shopping Center than Mount Clare Junction should be the crown and jewel of Wilkens Avenue. The intersection of Wilkens Avenue is probably one of the heaviest traveled intersections in SoWeoBo which is something Retailers look for selecting a site to operate their business.

A new clean Grocery Store must anchor the new Center that will take its  name from Cardinal Gibbons, the School whose ball fields once stood at this very site. Although not a bargain store like Stop Shop & Save Murray's a new Grocer coming to Wilkens Avenue must pay careful attention to the financial constraints of the Neighborhood as well. In short that means high end Grocers like Trader Joe's might be out of most people's budget. Shop Rite, Food Lion, and Weis are a better fit. Other Retailers should include a Dry Cleaner, Bank, Restaurants, a Senior Center, and other convenience based Retailers that will serve the Community without being trashy.

 As for the School building that has been the namesake for Cardinal Gibbons? I think it should still be used for Archdiocese of Baltimore. I've never done a faith based idea before and given that Cardinal Gibbions School has been near and dear to Baltimore for so many years, it shouldn't be sold or converted to something else or demolished. I'm proposing perhaps Catholic Housing (for those in need) or a School for those looking to join the Priesthood. The Building whatever use the Archdiocese has in mind it should still bare the name Cardinal Gibbons.

 Wilkens Avenue needs to go through a large transformation to be the affordable housing magnet it needs to be. Cardinal Gibbons was always a landmark for Wilkens Avenue in its heyday and I think a revitalized Wilkens Avenue calls for an equally revitalized Cardinal Gibbons School in whatever capacity must be its crown & jewel. It's been a real treat focusing on Wilkens Avenue and writing this series. Stay tuned!   

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.

A Cleaner Greener Wilkens Avenue

Lately a certain cluster of Neighborhoods will have my undivided attention and that's what I will write about until I have exhausted them. Right now that cluster of Neighborhoods is the Wilkens Avenue area.

 I've told you about how Gwynns Falls is a diamond in the rough and how its successes can be used on Neighborhoods that haven't fared so well. I also brought forth a very bold plan to include "Districts" that
include workers from various professions who lack affordable housing opportunities to fill vacated Neighborhoods and bring a sense of long term investment. Now it's time that I brought forth yet another plan
for Wilkens Avenue, a Pilot Program that if successful can help transform the City into a cleaner greener area.

A sure fire sign that a Neighborhood suffers from disinvestment is the presence of trash. Trash ridden streets and alleys are commonplace even in Gwynns Falls which is one of the best Neighborhoods along Wilkens Avenue. A good way to combat this would be to increase trash and recycling pickup, enforce fines for littering and putting trash on your curb before designated pickup times, and additional street sweepers with both trucks and individuals sweeping sidewalks and alleys.

Now Greening up a Neighborhood is more than just trash removal. It involves shrinking the carbon foot print and reducing the overall pollution generated by cars and buildings. Given that Wilkens Avenue has a high concentration of vacant homes a lot of redevelopment and rehabbing will have to take place before the area can experience the major population growth it so desperately needs.

By reducing the carbon footprint of the Neighborhood, not only will you be green by keeping the air quality clean but you will save green (money) by reduced utility costs, something that workers living in the Wilkens Avenue Districts will appreciate. Now how does one make a home greener? Well there are several ways in which to do so and I will explain how in the following paragraphs.

First there's the roof, when replacing the roof it will be beneficial to have a vegetative green roof. This reduces storm water run off by having the rooftop plants watered by rain and will also cool the air by reducing the amount of tar and gravel which create an "urban heat island" These green roofs also reduce cooling costs in the summer.

Next there's geothermal in ground heating. This is obtained by using the warmth of the earth whose temperature doesn't change much during the seasons. In the winter this will drive down heating costs and
reduce HVAC pollution. A way to accomplish this is through geothermal fields that provide this heat to adjacent buildings.

I think in the case of Baltimore row homes this can be achieved by turning under utilized alleys in to grass covered fields that summon the heat of the earth to heat homes.

The roof and the in-ground heating and the green vegetative roof are the most expensive things that would green up Wilkens Avenue but there are less invasive ways to save on energy bills and reduce your carbon
footprint. As renovations and redevelopment of the area becomes reality it would be beneficial to use energy saving appliances as a rule. These include but aren't limited to; high efficiency washers and dryers, tank-less water heaters, and low gallon per flush toilets.

 

It's well known that Wilkens Avenue is currently very dirty with trash all over the streets, alleys, and sidewalks, and homes that aren't vacant are probably not very energy efficient costing Residents a fortune. I think if a plan like the one I just put forth were implemented I believe we will see a cleaner greener Wilkens Avenue.