Red Line - It Lives!

After months of no news out of the Red Line, aside from the fact that a "Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA)" decision would be made in the summer (after the public comment period ended in January), today there is finally some news!

Today Governor Martin O'Malley announced the LPA for the Red Line and it is 4C! If you have read any of my previous post on the Red Line, you know that this is the one that pretty much everyone wants. There is a vocal minority of people from Edmondson Village and Canton that are basically saying "Not In My Backyard", but it looks like O'Malley has picked 4C anyway since it's the most popular and likely to be funded by the federal government's New Starts program. This is key because if they'd waited much longer we would have missed this New Starts program and would have had to wait years for the next one.

Anyway, read the press release here. Go public transit!

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PS - Don't get me wrong, I think it's very important to address the concerns of residents in Canton and Edmondson Village, but they really haven't been able to provide a reasonable alternative that would have a price tag that anyone could afford. So compromises have been made, but effective public transit is really too important to our environment and future to not do this project. Some day I'll post a better description of the issue here, but no time today!

Quietly Awesome

One of the most under-appreciated things about Baltimore is out park system.  Baltimore was on the leading edge of the urban parks movement in the 19th century and it shows today. However, many of these beautiful parks were a little too “urban” for the middle class at the beginning part of this decade.  The gentrification in Canton led to the rediscovery of Patterson Park as “Baltimore's Backyard.” In South Baltimore, Riverside Park is now a popular dog-walking location in the evenings – a far cry from the drugs and crime that troubled the South Baltimore area 10-15 years ago.  Still, if your world revolves around communities that border on the harbor, you're only seeing a fraction of the green space that Baltimore has to offer.

I think that most people have noticed that Baltimore has some pretty big parks.  However, I also think that a lot of people don't spend a lot of time exploring in Baltimore.  Yes, it's a slightly dangerous city, but large swathes are safe for exploring.  I recommend bicycling around the city more, it's a great way to learn where streets go and explore neighborhoods.

Still, I didn't realize how much Baltimore doesn't suck at public parks until I spent some time on the website of The Trust for Public Land.  They have a lot of facts and reports about the state of public parks in America.  What I found interesting is that for cities with a high population density, Baltimore ranks #3 in acres of parkland per resident. Here's the top ten list:

Park Acres per 1,000 Residents
(City Population Density: High)
#1 – Washington, DC – 13.1
#2 – Boston, MA – 8.5
#3 – Baltimore, MD – 7.7
#4 – Philadelphia, PA – 7.6
#5 – San Francisco, CA – 7.2
#6 – Jersey City, NJ – 6.8
#7 – Los Angeles, CA – 6.2
#8 – Long Beach, CA – 6.1
#9 – New York City, NY – 4.6
#10 – Chicago, IL – 4.2

Now, obviously, there are two factors in this equation. The total number of park acres and the total number of city residents. In Baltimore, park acres are fairly constant (except for when some vacant lot is deeded over to the Department of Parks & Recreation by another city agency). The fact that Baltimore has lost a lot of city residents over the last couple of decades really helps bring that number up. I might be crazy, but I am anticipating that the population of Baltimore is about to stabilize and turn around. If we want to stay ahead of Philadelphia we might want to consider building some new parks. Next time we redevelop something like Harbor East, let's set aside a few acres for a park.

One factor that I think is good is that Baltimore gets on the list of park acres per 1,000 residents with a lot of smaller parks, not one large park. Baltimore barely cracks the top 100 on largest city parks (#89 – Gwynn Falls / Leakin Park). That's good because it means that the city parks are spread across the city and more people therefore have access.

Finally, Baltimore has two of the oldest city-run parks in America:

23rd Oldest Public Park – Patterson Park, 1827
55th Oldest Public Park – Druid Hill Park, 1860

So, if you haven't checked out some of these parks, I highly recommend that you do some exploring.   There are some really great parks in parts of the city that you normally don't go. Carroll Park, Lake Montibello (with a great bike loop around the lake), and even Middle Branch Park are great places to go and just be outside on a nice summer day.

Once you visit those parks, you'll probably ask yourself the same question I did - “How did we not screw this up?”  The answer actually lies pretty far back in history.  In 1859 the mayor of Baltimore decreed that no railroad would be given franchise to operate in Baltimore unless they paid 20% of gross income to the city for park building.  That's an incredibly high tax, but railroads paid it because Baltimore was such an important port at the time.  So from 1859 until the 1940's, the parks had this incredible source of income for operating costs and capital improvements.

All that history can be found in a really interesting report from the Baltimore Parks and People organization.  It's called "Discovering Baltimore's Parks" - if you're at all curious about parks in the city of Baltimore and their histories (collective and individual), then you should check out that report.

Guess Who's Going to the Gym This Weekend?

I've been meaning to use those stationary bikes that overlook the basketball courts...

Comment on the Red Line

If you have ever visited a major metropolitan area with great public transit (such as Washington DC, Boston, or New York City) you probably returned to Baltimore thinking "Why can't my city have efficient, convenient mass transit?"  The ridiculous mish-mash of transit modes is a joke to almost anyone who looks at it.  We have heavy rail, light rail, commuter rail, buses, express buses, and commuter buses.  Nothing connects to anything else (unless you count the stunted offshoot of the light rail that takes you to Penn Station, which I don't - see below).

In the next 6-8 years, however, Baltimore will build the Red Line.  It's actually a really good idea.  Basically it's a transit corridor stretching from Woodlawn, down Security Blvd., along the US 40 corridor through West Baltimore, cuts across downtown, Fells Point, and Canton before reaching the JHU Bayview campus.  Along the way it will have legitimate interchanges with the MARC Penn Line (in 2 places!) and the existing light rail.  Finally, Baltimore is going to invest in some transit that will connect areas where people live to area where they work and wish to go for entertainment!  It's a revolutionary concept, but let's give Baltimore the credit it deserves, as the City Paper recently pointed out, "the Red Line is, remarkably, on schedule."

In fact, this is where you, the blog-reading public, come in.  Right now we are in the public comment phase of the AA/DEIS phase of the project.  I forget what DEIS means, but AA = Analysis of Alternatives.  This is where they do a super in-depth study of the alternatives for this transit corridor.  Then they solicit community input.  Then they decide which option they will propose for Federal funding.  So right now (until January 5th, 2009), is your big chance to help campaign for a good choice.

They considered 12 different options, which I have conveniently summarized for you.  The format is "Alternative #: Title = My Interpretation"

Alternative 1:  No Build = No one wants this, but you have to do it as part of the process for getting Federal funding

Alternative 2: TSM = Don't build anything, but time the stop-lights better.

Alternative 3A-F: BRT = Bus Rapid Transit, because what we really need is yet ANOTHER mode of transit in Baltimore.

Alternative 4A-D: LRT = Light Rail; the best option

It is imperative that you go to the Baltimore Red Line website and submit a comment endorsing Light Rail, preferably Option 4C.

Pretty much everyone in their right mind realizes that 4C is the best compromise.  1 and 2 are only included for completeness as part of the Federal funding process.  Alternative 3 is included because, apparently, the Maryland Secretary of Transportation was a big fan of bus rapid transit (source is wikipedia for that).  Let's face it, buses just seem cheaper and crappier than light rail.  I don't think any upwardly mobile urban professionals have ever thought "I like this apartment because it's near a bus stop!"  But how many people do you know who live in a certain part of DC because it's close to a Metro stop?  Light rail is not as cool as a functioning subway network, but it's a hell of a lot better than some funny looking buses.

Here's a list of the organizations that endorse Option 4C:

• The Greater Baltimore Committee (a business consortium)
• The Central Maryland Transportation Alliance
• The University of Maryland, Baltimore
• Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center
• Mercy Hospital
• Baltimore City Community College
• Sojourner-Douglas College

It's pretty much the only option that is both reasonably affordable and will actually change the way people travel across the city.  It's not a completely done deal though, there is a lot of concern among community residents about how this transit corridor will work out.  However, in my view, the most important thing is that this transit corridor happens at all.  Sure, construction won't begin until 2013, but there is no way to make something this expensive go any faster.

In case you want to be more informed before you submit an online comment, there are 4 different light rail options:

A - Dedicated Surface

B - Downtown Tunnel and Dedicated Surface

C - Downtown Tunnel and Cooks Lane Tunnel and Dedicated Surface

D - Maximum Tunnel and Dedicated Surface

Here's my take on each of these:

A - Can you imagine if Baltimore and Lombard Streets had light rail tracks like Howard Street?  This is a BAD idea.

B - This is a good idea, unless you have ever been down Cooks Lane in West Baltimore, then you realize that...

C - Is the best option.  Light rail is what you want, it has tunnels to get it past bottlenecks, but is not out-of-this-world expensive.

D - Probably too expensive to get Federal help.

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Idiocy of Light Rail Connection to Penn Station

So it is technically possible to get from Penn Station to other places using the light rail, but my question is "Why would you?"  It's impossibly inconvenient.  It is only effective if you are at Penn Station and want to go to one of a few light rail stops along Howard Street.  Otherwise you will have to get off the light rail train you're on and wait for another train that actually goes somewhere useful.  It's design flaws like this that make Baltimore public transit a case study in how NOT to design transit.

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This is how the opening message on Mayor Sheila Dixon's Red Line Website:

Baltimore... We Got Next... The Next Generation of Light Rail that is.  The Red Line... OMG!

Generally I think Sheila Dixon's doing an all right job, but I think that's just embarrassing.

Homeless Shelters for Muslim Women

This morning WYPR had a really interesting story about homeless shelters in Baltimore for Muslim women.  It sounds like a very under-served population, at least from the fact that they are always full and always have a waiting list.  I wanted to find out some more about the shelter (and the other two small shelters in Baltimore), but it seems like they don't have much of a web-presence.  I suppose that's not surprising considering that they have to sell food on the streets to make the monthly rent on their shelter.

I did find an older Washington Post article that mentions this shelter, an article from something called the Muslim Link from when the shelter opened in 2007, and a blog post that basically calls Muslims big whiners for feeling uncomfortable in Christian-run shelters.  The blog post does raise a valid question about the possible hypocrisy of a Muslim-based shelter.  Basically, the blogger's argument is that if the problem is that Christian-run shelters proselytize too much and make women of other faiths uncomfortable, the solution is not creating a different sort of faith-based shelter.  Well, that's the blogger's argument stated in a less frenzied and rational tone - overall they're very upset that a minority group wants to be treated differently.  Either way, I don't think it is very good criticism.

I would, instead, approach the problem as follows: you have devout Muslim women who feel that the policies and standards of most homeless shelters violate tenets of their faith.  These women have nowhere to go, they may not be legal residents, and there may be children involved.  I think that anyone can agree that the first priority should be to help these women get back on their feet, recover from the emotional trauma they've experienced, and become productive members of society.  Because, and here's the great part, anyone and everyone can become an American.  That's what's great about this place.  America is what you make it, literally.  Every generation we get to reinvent ourselves, every American has just as much right as any other American to contribute to the "American Culture."  

So these women are Americans who need help, I say you have to keep your eye on the ball here - help women get into a stable situation THEN you can worry about "freeing" them from what you judge to be an out-dated belief system and adopt fully "Western" values.  Don't get me wrong, I'm as big on blind religious faith being detrimental to society as the next east coast, liberal-leaning, over-educated blogger, but if these women only feel comfortable going to a shelter that is run by a mosque or Islamic organization, then I think we should encourage that.

Anyway, I'm thinking I might try to find a way to help out these shelters.  Yes, I know that Muslim organizations make a lot of people uncomfortable; worries about radicalization, trouble with integration into Western society, blah, blah, blah.  All the more reason for some mainstream American charities to get involved.  The more integrated into the larger charity structure these organizations are, the more transparent their leadership and financing must become.  Plus, I imagine that knowing that the shelter is supported by the larger society would make these women feel more accepted by society.  Or not.  I would still measure it a success if my donation helped a battered woman get out of an abusive situation.

Advances in Medical Science

As any dedicated reader of this blog knows, I often use this blog as a vehicle to promote products that have made a significant contribution to society (see this post for example).  This is such an instance.

Humans have been getting and coping with blisters for literally millions of years, but only recently have I discovered the ultimate blister treatment.  I couldn't have done this without my medical-student roommate (who is like 99% of a doctor; I mean, he's already matched to his residency so it's pretty much just a formality now, right?).  My roommate introduced me to:

Band-Aid brand "Advanced Healing Blister"

Now aside from the deficiencies in product naming ("Advanced Healing Blister" sounds like a blister that is in the final healing stages, not an advanced treatment for healing blisters), this is a fantastic product.  Eureka!  Further, in-depth, research has taught me that these are "Advanced Healing Blister Cushions."  Still not a very good product name... maybe that's why I've never heard of them, I just can't imagine an marketing jingle based on that phrase.

Anyway, let me contrast this treatment with historical blister treatment:

In the past, when you got a blister, you'd pop it, put some Neosporin on it, and put a regular band-aid on it.  After a couple hundred yards of vigorous walking the band-aid comes off and sticks to your sock.  Your foot continues to hurt... a lot if you're wearing the same shoes that caused the blister.

With this product?  You pop the blister, stick one of these bad boys on it, and you're good to go.  I ran 10 miles with one of these cushions over a blister, it not only stayed in place, but the blister didn't hurt or get worse!!  It's this kind of innovation (or, since I don't know who invented these cushions, this kind of large corporate theft of a small company's idea) that made this country great in the first place!  Thank you corporate America for allowing me to run without pain.

These adhesive cushion things cost more than your average Band-Aids, but they work infinitely better.  If you're any sort of athlete or just someone who has uncomfortable shoes, you owe it to yourself to stock up on these "Advanced Healing Blister Cushions" immediately.

A Great Local Establishment

This post is a thank you to Pete, the owner of J&P Carryout of 1538-40 Light St. If you live in South Baltimore anywhere near J&P, you probably know Pete. He's a friendly guy, always willing to stop and have a conversation with you. Plus, he makes a damn good cheesesteak.



One of Pete's greatest business decisions was to close at 3 AM on Fridays and Saturdays, because bars in Baltimore close at 2 AM. It was just such an occasion last weekend that I happened into Pete's establishment. Now, I had just come from a marathon "Round the World" party that had lasted something like 8 hours. And I had my brand-new, extra-expensive camera with me. It had made it with me through 6 house parties and 3 bars, but the second my pizza fries were ready, my attention was elsewhere.

About half an hour later, with my late-night junk food craving sated, I prepared for bed and thought "Wait? Where's my camera?!?" I sprinted back to J&P and was lucky enough to catch one of the cooks closing up. She informed me that they were closed and I shouted in a panic "I left my camera here a little bit ago!" I could tell by the look on her face that not only did she know what I was talking about, but that they might even have my camera. Sure enough, not only had they noticed that I'd left an expensive camera in their establishment, Pete had locked the camera up in the safe, figuring that I'd be back for it in the morning.

So here's to Pete, honest and friendly proprietor of a great local business. I completely recommend them to anyone in need of some late-night snacks.

Good While it Lasted

Well folks, it was good while it lasted. From September 28th through October 5th, no one was murdered in Baltimore. That's right, for the first time in two years the city went a full week without a homicide. That ended on Friday night, as homicide number 232 was logged on Eutaw Place.

So, based on the latest information, 234 murders (as of 10/7) in 291 days is 0.8 murders/day (or 4 murders every 5 days). But from that point on, there are only 76 days left in the year, which puts us on pace for 293 to 294 murders. Sadly, that's good news, as Baltimore was widely predicted to reach 300 murders this year.

The acting police commissioner and the mayor have been jumping all over the lull in the violence (see video from WJZ story), claiming that their new policies are having an effect. Personally, I'll believe it when I see it. Actually, I lead a very charmed life for Baltimore, so I don't really see it. There's been 1 murder in my neighborhood (researched using this website) in the last two years and that was on the other side of the neighborhood at that. There are blocks in Baltimore with multiple homicides this year!

When you look at that Sun article, the most amazing thing is the list of murder-free streaks for 2006 and 2007. Twice we've gone six days, and 8 times we've gone five days. That's it, in the last 21 months, 630+ days, there have been only 11 periods of five or more days without a murder. I can't imagine what it's like living in the rougher neighborhoods of this city, imagine the stress of knowing that a shooting could take place any minute. How much longer can people live like that? What's the next step?

A Short Post Gone Long

Lately I haven't had a lot to say about much of anything, but I do have a few short things to say, so I've gathered them all into one post:

1) Wikimapia is about 6,000 times as much fun to edit as wikipedia. I'm quite proud of the fact that I have made a significant contribution to the world's knowledge of southeastern Wyoming geography.

2) If a recipe ever advises you to "wrap the cinnamon sticks, cloves, and the remaining bay leave in cheesecloth and tie it with a string to create a spice bag," ignore it. Who's got cheesecloth and string in their kitchen? Now, if you're like me, you've probably got coffee filters and a stapler. Yeah, it totally works.

3) According to my little sister (who is a manager at a 2700-sow commercial hog farm) there is a foolproof way for spotting the illegal aliens. 1) They have a really, really Anglophone a name but barely speak English and 2) they frequently misspell their name. This actually happens. (Alternative method: they tell you about walking from Guatemala and going three days without water.) She says that HR sends them the workers and the managers are just expected to manage and not question their workers' status. That's some courageous corporate leadership - "We can't compete because everyone else uses illegals; so the corporate strategy committee has come up with a plan we call 'taking the low road.'"

It's not that I dislike immigration. I actually think that we need to liberalize immigration AND step up enforcement at the same time. It's not fair to companies that actually care about not contributing to organized identity thefts rings.

Corporation - "We need these workers! No Americans will take these jobs because they're hard/dangerous/mind-numbingly boring/in rural Oklahoma!"
Rational Individual - "Actually, what you mean is that no American will take that job for the wages you offer, the problem is that you need to raise wages."
Corporation - "We pay a competitive wage compared to our industry."
Rational Individual - "But you admit your entire industry can't find enough legal employees. Maybe you all need to raise wages."
Corporation - "That would raise expenses! We're in a low-margin business!"
Rational Individual - "Then perhaps you need to raise prices or become more efficient."
Corporation - "We can't raise prices! We're a commodity item! And we've already pressed efficiency as far as we can!"
Rational Individual - "Well, then here's what I suggest you do: go out of business. You're a net welfare loss to society. You're missing the point of capitalism - crappy enterprises fail. If you can't succeed within the rules, then admit that you suck and get on with life."
Corporation - "But think of the workers that would lose their jobs!"

The conversation ends there because the Rational Individual has given up on the Corporation and is off to efficiently allocate some capital.

Let's be clear here, I don't hate corporations. I hate whiny corporations that won't admit that they're bad at their business and instead of spending money fixing their problems, they spend money on lobbying politicians to tilt the playing field towards them.

Here's a handy reminder for business people out there thinking about investing in lobbyists: government is society's overhead cost. You hate overhead costs, right? So stop giving money to lobbyists and political action committees. Just because it's an industry standard doesn't make it a good idea.

4) Paolo Nutini is pretty good. My roommate discovered him through iTunes free song of the day. Paolo Nutini is not Italian. He is not related to Nutella. He's actually Scottish and a pretty good singer. I'm a big fan of the title track of his debut album - "these streets." I am kind of freaked out by the fact that he was only 19 when this album was recorded, but I'll still recommend it.

5) And finally, an item that I know my friend is probably already complaining about in his blog - Baltimore passed a city-wide smoking ban in public places! I, on the other hand, am psyched. I love breathing non-carcinogenic air and yes, I do believe that it jives with a libertarian/classic liberal viewpoint. It's okay to have the government regulate to keep people from hurting other people. Second-hand smoke hurts other people. Only 10 months until the ban takes effect!

Big Up Yourself

I'd like to publicly recognize, or in the parlance of our times, "shout-out" to my friend Greg. Greg has just been accepted to Johns Hopkins University's Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Med program. Here's to a man willing to give up a comfortable lifestyle in pursuit of a higher calling.