Maryland
Commentary: Baltimore could learn a few lessons on redevelopment from Cleveland – Maryland Matters
By David Plymyer
The writer is a former county attorney in Anne Arundel County. He can be reached at [email protected] or on X: @dplymyer.
Baltimore and Cleveland face similar challenges caused by the loss of jobs and decreases in population. Those challenges include a surplus of office space in the downtown business districts and a large inventory of vacant and abandoned properties. Cleveland, however, has done a far better job than Baltimore in meeting those challenges.
Cleveland leads the nation in office-to-residential conversions. It has a successful land bank that has been demolishing abandoned and neglected houses and returning the properties to constructive use for 14 years. Cleveland also is implementing an ambitious master plan to reconfigure the Lake Erie waterfront, returning substantial sections to park-like open spaces.
The reason for Cleveland’s edge? A thoughtful, methodical approach to problem solving that relies on facts, demonstrable expertise and experience. That approach has proven more successful than Baltimore’s tendency to jump from one ill-conceived “game changing” idea to the next.
Revitalizing downtown
A recent Washington Post editorial touted Cleveland as “America’s best example of turning around a dying downtown.” The editorial attributed the city’s success in transforming the downtown into an inviting residential neighborhood to the city’s concentration on a relatively compact area. That strategy includes focusing the use of tax incentives on its downtown district.
Baltimore, in contrast, has used various forms of tax incentives to promote development of new neighborhoods outside of the downtown area that compete with it for businesses and residents, including Harbor East and Harbor Point. The city gave developers of Port Covington, now known as Baltimore Peninsula, a whopping $660 million tax break to build office buildings that remain mostly empty.
Residents are moving into the apartment buildings at Baltimore Peninsula. While that offers some comfort to Baltimore Peninsula investors, it could be further bad news for downtown. Add the 900 apartments that the mayor wants to allow developer P. David Bramble to build on city park property along Light Street as part of his redevelopment of Harborplace, and competition with new apartments could slow the pace of office-to-residential conversions downtown.
Stated another way, Cleveland has a strategy for the judicious use of tax incentives. Baltimore hands out tax breaks to developers like candy, a practice that results in a grossly inequitable property tax system and an oppressively high tax rate that discourages reinvestment elsewhere in the city, especially in poorer neighborhoods.
Eliminating blight
Cleveland, with a population of about 368,000, is part of Cuyahoga County. Together the city and county have employed a proven, systematic approach to eliminating blight. The Cuyahoga County Land Bank was established in 2009 and is considered one of the most successful in the country. By 2019, it had completed nearly 2,000 home renovations and 8,000 demolitions in Cleveland and its inner suburbs.
Working with the Cleveland Land Bank, a smaller land bank that operates within city limits, the Cuyahoga Land Bank has made steady progress eliminating blight. A 2015 survey showed that there were about 12,000 vacant properties in Cleveland. The number is now estimated to be between 1,000 and 3,000.
Baltimore, with a population of about 570,000, has the third highest rate of vacant and abandoned properties in the country. Exact numbers are hard to come by, but current estimates are that there are around 15,000 vacant properties, or between 7% and 8% of all city properties, resulting in an annual revenue loss to the city estimated to be at least $100 million.
Eliminating vacant and abandoned properties is a difficult, long-term process, which is one reason why many Rust Belt cities turned to the concept of quasi-public land banks for continuity. Baltimore has had state enabling authority for a land bank since 2008 but has not implemented it.
Mayor Brandon Scott, who does not support a city land bank, announced last month that the city will combat blight through the combined efforts of the Department of Housing and Community Development and BUILD, a faith-based organization with considerable political influence. The mayor never fully explained why he chose BUILD for a partner. He did, however, emphasize the ambitiousness of the undertaking: “We can’t gloss over how big this is. With our plan, Baltimore will be on the cutting edge of housing policy for the entire country.”
The editorial board of the Baltimore Sun had a different take, describing the plan released by the mayor as “overly complicated” and having “the feel of a hastily written undergraduate term paper.” I agree with that observation, adding that it is so devoid of detail that it is more like a press release than an actual plan.
Enhancing the waterfront
Cleveland is nearing completion of its North Coast Master Plan, intended to turn Cleveland into a true lakefront city by “reconnecting” the city to Lake Erie. It will create a green and sunlit buffer between the built environment and the water’s edge that is accessible from city neighborhoods, an idea embraced by the visionary 1967 master plan for Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.
James Corner Field Operations, the lead design consultant for Baltimore’s Reimagine Middle Branch Plan, was selected from a field of 18 applicants to design the North Coast Master Plan. Baltimore, on the other hand, turned planning for the redevelopment of Harborplace over to a single developer, Bramble.
Despite a virtual Who’s Who of prominent architects, planners and responsible developers writing letters to the editor, taking to social media and attending hearings to warn city leaders that they are headed in a direction that could destroy what makes Baltimore’s Inner Harbor such a cherished amenity, the city is charging ahead with Bramble’s plan. The casual manner in which expertise and the history of the Inner Harbor are being ignored is stunning.
Why the difference?
Cleveland has demonstrated the importance of careful planning and thoughtful, workable processes for getting things done. Its leaders listened to urban economists and planners and understood that real estate development alone cannot revitalize a city that struggles to retain its existing population, let alone attract more residents.
Consequently, it did not award hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to encourage the construction of new office and apartment buildings. Baltimore did exactly that, and it accomplished little more than shifting jobs and people from one part of the city to another.
Above all, Cleveland’s leaders do not allow the interests of a relatively small handful of rich, powerful and politically influential persons to supersede the best interests of the city as a whole. Baltimore’s leaders make a practice of it.
Baltimore may be under an extreme heat alert, but residents can dream about autumn, as tickets are now on sale for the Maryland Fall Home & Garden + Craft Show returning to the Maryland State Fairgrounds in October.
This three-day celebration of home and garden takes place from Friday, Oct. 16 through Sunday, Oct. 18 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. Expect hundreds of exhibitors, local makers, home improvement experts, family-friendly experiences and celebrity guests. The show offers everyone the chance to explore the very latest in home improvement, landscaping, outdoor living and decor, the chance to take part in hands-on experiences, and do some holiday shopping all under one roof.
This year’s show will have more than 300 exhibitors, including more than 100 crafters from around Maryland in the Makers Market. There will be unique exhibits, stage presentations and a special appearance by Chase Morrill, Ashley Morrill-Eldridge and Ryan Eldridge from Magnolia Network’s hit series “Maine Cabin Masters.” The three will have two Main Stage appearances, one on Friday, Oct. 16 at 4 p.m. and the second on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 12 p.m.
“As temperatures start to drop and the holiday season comes into view, the Maryland Fall Home & Garden + Craft Show is a place to gather ideas, meet local experts and get inspired before the busy season begins,” said Dave Paul, show manager, in a statement. “Whether attendees are planning a home project, looking for outdoor living ideas or getting a head start on holiday shopping, the show brings together resources and experiences for every kind of homeowner, maker and DIY enthusiast.”
In addition to the Makers Market and stars of “Maine Cabin Masters”, the Maryland Fall Home & Garden + Craft Show will have a petting zoo, a Kids Market where attendees can shop from local children, and much more.
Tickets are available online and at the door. Prices are as follows:
Online:
- Adults: $8
- Senior Citizens (60+): $6
- Children (ages 6-12): $4
- 4-Pack Online: $30 for four tickets, valid for one admission each and one day only
At the door:
- Adults: $10
- Senior Citizens (60+): $8
- Children (ages 6-12): $4
- Friday & Saturday: $4 after 4 p.m. at the door only
Special Offers:
- Active and retired military personnel, veterans, firefighters and police officers receive free admission all weekend, along with one guest, with valid ID at the box office.
- Attendees who show a CharmPass app, Light RailLink ticket or eligible transit pass at the box office receive free admission any day of the show. One admission is available per pass.
The Maryland State Fairgrounds is located at 2200 York Road in Lutherville-Timonium.
Related
Maryland
Maryland police arrest alleged bank robber wielding stolen cat: ‘Tried to use her as an accessory’
Law enforcement agencies are accustomed to dealing with cat burglars – but now a Maryland police department is saying it grappled with a cat-wielding bank robber.
The Prince George’s county police department said its officers arrested a man suspected of stealing a cat and then taking the animal with him to a PNC bank branch in the local community of Beltsville to rob the establishment on Monday morning.
“The cat was returned” after the suspect was arrested, the police department said in a statement to the Guardian on Tuesday. The agency said no injuries were reported, and it declined to name the suspect or release additional details, saying the case – bound for a spot in the annals of bizarre reported US crimes – remained under investigation.
Nonetheless, a social media post from rescue shelter Beltsville Community Cats provided more information.
A Beltsville Community Cats Facebook page post on Monday identified the cat at the center of the alleged botched caper as Magnolia, a three-and-a-half-month-old tuxedo kitten. The shelter recounted how the suspect first snatched Magnolia from her “adoption habitat” at Beltsville’s Pet Supplies Plus store, took her across the parking lot to a PNC branch, and “tried to use her as an accessory in [an] attempted robbery”.
“He asked the bank manager to hold the kitten while he wrote a note, then handed the note to a teller demanding all the cash,” the post continued. “Thankfully, the robbery was unsuccessful, the suspect was arrested, and Magnolia was found safe and sound in the bank manager’s office, where the two had bonded over their shared ordeal.”
Pet Supplies Plus store employees told the NBC affiliate in nearby Washington DC that Magnolia’s cat napper had come in daily for about two weeks and focused on the kitten each time.
Finally, on Monday, he managed to use a key to open a cat adoption area and whisked Magnolia away, store employees said to the outlet, WRC.
Store manager Aaron Kurkowski told WRC that Magnolia’s thief “came in and saw none of my team was nearby the front – and he just went right to her and ran right on out”.
According to WRC, Stephanie Stullich of Beltsville Community Cats then received a call from a pet store employee who alerted her to Magnolia’s plight.
That prompted Stullich to run over to the store, where she said to WRC that she “immediately saw all of these police cars and … thought, ‘Wow, that’s a heck of a response for a stolen cat’.”
“But then I realized they all were going down to the bank,” Stullich recalled to WRC. “They came back out a few minutes later and said, ‘Yes, there is a cat inside the bank.’”
Two days before her catnapping, Magnolia was the subject of a Beltsville Community Cats Facebook post inviting people to see her at Pet Supplies Plus and consider adopting her.
Magnolia as of Monday was still waiting to be adopted, Beltsville Community Cats said in its post detailing the bank robbery.
The non-profit organization offered members of the public the opportunity to apply to adopt Magnolia by emailing rescue@beltsvillecats.net.
Beltsville Community Cats’ post also joked that Magnolia’s “brief ‘life of crime’ is behind her” – except for undoubtedly “stealing” hearts, treats, toys and cuddles wherever her forever home may be.
Why a fire blanket is a must-have for every kitchen
Learn how a fire blanket can smother flames safely and protect your home from grease fires.
A dog jumping onto a kitchen counter accidentally turned on a toaster and ignited nearby combustibles, sparking a fire that killed three pets inside a Belcamp, Maryland, home, according to multiple reports, citing local fire officials.
The blaze broke out July 10 while the unidentified family was away, prompting neighbors to rescue two dogs before fire crews arrived, WBAL‑TV and Fox 45 reported.
The Abingdon Fire Company responded at 5:35 p.m. ET to the home and brought the fire under control in about 20 minutes, according to the fire station’s Facebook post. There were no human injuries, but investigators reported extensive fire, soot, smoke and water damage throughout the single‑family home, Fox 45 reported.
Ring home security video captured the moments before the fire. Investigators said the footage showed one of the family’s dogs climbing onto the counter and pawing at items near the toaster, helping deputy state fire marshals determine the fire’s point of origin and ultimately rule its cause as accidental.
Three pets – a dog named Dakota and two unidentified cats – died in the blaze, according to Fox 45. Two other dogs, Bo and Addie, were rescued by neighbors. The family’s bearded dragon survived after spending 24 hours in critical care, officials said.
Neighbors rescue two dogs from burning home
Fire officials said Bo was the dog seen on video inadvertently turning on the toaster. The appliance ignited nearby materials, allowing the fire to spread rapidly through the kitchen before crews arrived.
Neighbors who saw smoke coming from the home reached Bo and Addie before conditions worsened.
Officials detail damage to home
Officials estimated the home sustained about $150,000 in structural damage and roughly $50,000 in damage to its contents, though some assessments place the total loss closer to $200,000, Fox 45 reported. Firefighters prevented the blaze from spreading to neighboring properties, but the interior of the home was heavily damaged.
Reporter Anthony Thompson can be reached at ajthompson@usatodayco.com, or on X @athompsonUSAT
-
Michigan3 minutes agoMichigan health expert talks impact of Canadian wildfire smoke: There’s really a long list of who is at risk”
-
Massachusetts9 minutes agoThe science behind Massachusetts’ wildfire smoke-darkened skies
-
Minnesota15 minutes agoMinnesota United Statement on International Friendly | Minnesota United FC
-
Mississippi21 minutes agoGPS data tracks boat Mississippi teen Nolan Wells was on before he went missing
-
Missouri27 minutes agoMissouri teen Gabbriana Boyster shot dead in home as mom makes horrifying discovery; 3 friends charged
-
Montana33 minutes agoPhotos: Helena Senators sweep home doubleheader from Billings Royals
-
Nebraska39 minutes agoOmaha hospice nurse speaks out after Nebraska AG disciplinary action
-
Nevada45 minutes agoSparks weekend road closures are slated
