The Land of Melting Wings

May 23, 2008

Break the walls DOOOWWWWWNNNNN!!!!!

Hi.  Does this thing work?

It does?  Good.  Ahem...

We have a lot of good fortune in this community-- Howard County, Maryland.   We are blessed with a high quality of life, featuring fine schools, great recreational opportunities, fine shopping, dining, and entertainment options. 

But complacency is not a natural state.  There are lots of challenges, and things could be better.

We have a 100,000-person city in the middle of our county that is essentially rudderless.  Maybe only about 200 residents truly give a damn about the future of this town, and about 150 of them are saddled with years-long (if not decades-long) gripes that cloud their judgment.  The only thing they seem to all agree on, is that Columbians should rule Columbia, and that interlopers, be they from Ellicott City or Mars, need stay out of our beeswax, mind you.  OK, so then about 40% of the county is screwed.

And while Howard County is nice, it is no Shangri-la.  We have incredible traffic problems, issues of affordability, overcrowded schools, a school board that runs amok with over 60% of the county budget, advocacy groups representing every race, color, creed, locality, and socioeconomic group clamoring for their fair share.  In many ways, what makes Howard County so special is also what pulls it's fabric, rather, it's clay, into whatever shape suits it.

So what is one guy tapping at a computer screen going to do to make the condition of things here better?  What can one do?

I have extensive community experience and a unique perspective, and I feel I can bring those to bear.  I grew up here; I chose to raise a family here; I have become involved in my community in a multitude of ways.  Not only does this give me insight to form intelligent commentary but I feel, the platform to declare that the emperor has no clothes when I need to go there.

So where the heck does the title of this blog come from?  I live in Oakland Mills, Columbia; those of you who are local may recall The Last Chance Pub.  They claimed (and made good on this claim) of having 53 beers on tap.  I don't recall ever having all 53 (at least not all at one sitting!) but damn, they had a lot of taps.  And they were good.  They promised something for everybody.

And that's what this blog promises.  Some of the words written by me, and my respondents will be sweet, some bitter, some watered-down, some heavy, some intoxicating.  It is my hope that all will be interesting.

I welcome you all to help me shape the clay.  Get ready; I have a lot of things on my mind-- do try to keep up. ; )

Some dedications:

First, to my wife Julie and my kids-- at the end of the day, they are the reason why I don't back down, why I go ever forward.

To my very good friend from college, Debra Hamel, whose encouragement inspired me-- thank you, your words mean more than you know.  I'm going to prove to you that I can STILL write!

To other Howard County bloggers-- pleased to meet you, although several of you I already know.

And to the people of Howard County-- Thomas Jefferson felt that true revolutionaries had to reinvent their nation with every generation.  I don't promise a revolution, but I will promise lots of things to think about.

Enough salutation and introduction.  Time to get down to business.  More to come over the weekend.

May 25, 2008

A road runs to it

I attended the GGP presentation and community meeting regarding the master plan for downtown Columbia in Oakland Mills on May 21st.  Unfortunately, I arrived late so I was into question and answer time when I arrived.

I will say that the presenters did not seem prepared or able to answer detailed, specific questions.  Which was a shame because there was one detail presented in the master plan which has a LOT of relevance to Oakland Mills.

There was discussion regarding a possible source of connectivity between Town Center and Oakland Mills.  The posterboard that was presented depicted an overpass over US29, connecting into OM roughly at the end of Stevens Forest Rd.  However, the presenters were quick to point out that the connection could take many forms.  It could possibly be a road, with varying types of ingress and egress to and from 29.  It could be a pedestrian link.  Some residents mentioned that the connection could be for a trolley or other transit device.

A couple of people in the audience latched onto the words that the connection  could be a road and immediately assumed that it will be a road, and crafted their comments to start to create a public outcry against a through road across 29 through Oakland Mills.

I'll comment no further on that behavior, because I have found over the years that I am a poor defender of idiocy.  The question to answer is, can a road be built between Town Center and Oakland Mills in a non-disruptive way to Oakland Mills? To answer the question, one only need look less than a mile south.

Seneca Drive crosses over US29 and into the Allview community.  Allview is a mature residential community of single-family homes. Seneca terminates into a traffic circle which spurs off into several residential road, each of which contains speed humps.  Having frequented that community myself, that community is a network of 25-mph speed limit roads and it appears safe.  And although through the network of side roads, one can get to, for example, Broken Land Parkway or Kings Contrivance, it is not easy, nor is it a time saver to do so.

Transposing this onto the Oakland Mills community, it would seem that the one concern over a through connection from Town Center to Oakland Mills would be the concept of drivers using Oakland Mills side streets as a shortcut.  This is easily remedied.  The connection to Stevens Forest Road should go towards the Oakland Mills Village Center, away from 175.  This will discourage traffic to use OM to get to 175 (as they'll be heading in an opposite direction) and to use OM to get to Broken Land Parkway (as traffic in Town Center can simply turn left two or three streets over, at Broken Land.

There are a lot of arguments in terms of economic development of OM that one can make in support of a connection with Town Center.  But there are those who will oppose such a connection and will perceive it as a threat to the way of life in Oakland Mills.  It is clear to me that this road can be built in such a way as to provide this connection, which would not disrupt the village of Oakland Mills.

May 28, 2008

HT comes to HC

The megasupermarket war in Howard County has begun, and I visited behind the lines of Harris Teeter on Saturday.

Needing to pick up some items for Saturday night grilling, I decided to stop into HT to get caught up in the opening fanfare.  The first thing I noticed, coming into Kings contrivance Village Center, was the occupancy of the parking lot.  Where it was maybe 1/4 full at a supermarket-less Saturday's height, it was easily 3/4 full, maybe more.

In the front of the store was a line about  15 deep, for the HT version of a shopping rewards card.  (Not sure what it was called so someone can remind me.)  I decided I didn't really care to wait the 10 minutes or so for my opportunity to fill out a form so I bypassed the line and went in.

The place was obviously, packed.  My shopping needs were light-- rolls, condiments, a bottle of lime juice.  Immediately I started to dread the experience.  I hate crowds, and of all crowd situations, one that I hate THE MOST is waiting in a long supermarket line with a few items.

Figuring that to be the case, I got my items as quickly as I could.  The rolls were in a corner with other baked goods, condiments were all together, lime juice with the bottled juices.  Easy enough to find.  The one thing that struck me was the selection available.  A jar of wasabi caught my eye in the condiment line; then I looked and I saw I had a choice between at least three brands of wasabi, plus, wasabi mixed with horseradish if I so desired.  I just stuck with regular wasabi.  First impulse buy of the day!

So I went to the checkout.  There were several of the self-checkout lines, and amazingly, one was clear, so I took it.  Everything scanned well, then, I used my debit card to pay, and, then, suddenly, the light above my line started blinking, and the screen at the checkout displayed the dreaded warning, We are experiencing a problem-- please wait, a customer service associate is on the way.  So I started to look for a magazine to read and said I'm sorry to the woman behind me, because I knew this was going to take long.

On the contrary, I was done in about 20 seconds.  About 5 seconds after the light started flashing a friendly young woman appeared, asked me what I was trying to do, I told her, she said, oh, yes, that happens all the time, these things can be picky, swiped her magic self-checkout-thing-gone wrong card, and suddenly all was well.  As I finished up she gave me a pleasant thank you for shopping with us today, enjoy your weekend as I left.

OK, so, it was easy for me to find my order, checkouts were available even with a packed supermarket, I had a problem checking out and it was fixed quickly, and the help was friendly.  No argument from this customer!

So I told some friends about this experience and they were impressed-- and they also said, Just you wait for Wegman's.  I know plenty about Wegman's from my experiences with the store in Hunt Valley.

I am all the more convinced that the base supermarkets in Howard County-- Safeway, Giant-- are in trouble.  Discount stores-- SFW, Food Lion, Mars-- have a puncher's chance to survive because they keep prices low.  Unfortunately they also tend to keep service low, which doesn't play well in Howard County.

Back to Giant and Safeway-- given my HT experience I see no reason to go to either.  HT provided all of the needs I look for in a supermarket, and provided them better and quicker.  Would I still go to Food Lion?  Yes-- one, it's closer; two, it's cheaper for many things.  But I have no need to go to a Giant or a Safeway.

The first shot has been fired.  How the marketplace responds and is repositioned, at least until Wegman's opens, will be fascinating to watch.

May 31, 2008

Fishwrap report, Part 1: of schools and buses

Two articles in tomorrow's Howard Sun section deserve comment:

Page 3U of tomorrow's Howard Sun, Projections Forecast School Crowding: County Council Chair (and former School Board Chair) Courtney Watson says, with regard to finding more school construction funding to build and/or renovate schools in the northeastern part of the county, If we have a revenue source to fund schools.... then the quote is cut off.

Fact is, there are plenty of current revenue sources that fund schools already.  From the only partial quote I can assume that she is referring to a NEW revenue source to fund schools.  And the only such revenue source I have heard discussed lately has been to give the School Board taxing authority.

And this is an insanely bad idea.

People in Howard County, as in most places, are sensitive to the argument of we'll do anything for the kids.  As long as it helps the kids.  Locally, we have two Council members who are former school board members, and the other three are all parents of young children.  And the County seems to be in the midst of reallocating it's budget priorities.  So if ever an environment were conducive to giving the School Board taxing authority, that time is here.

But if that is done, then the last check to the School Board's spending is removed.  And the shift of power in the County between it's two elected bodies will be palpable.  Education is over 60% of the County budget; from a fiscal perspective, the School Board would become more influential, more powerful, than the County Council.  And that's not how things should work.

Love or hate the County Council, it is our local legislature and it need not be emasculated.  Any talk of allowing the School Board taxing authority should be shelved.

The second item worth comment comes in Larry Carson's Political Notebook on Page 10U.  Senator Allan Kittleman is decrying the MTA shuttles to Orioles games.

OK, Allan, cut it out.  The yellow pages theory of economic conservatism (which said that any service that could be found in the yellow pages shouldn't be performed by government) left the country about 15 years ago.

In fact, his own argument that private bus companies should provide the service is undercut later in the article, as Mike Eyre, president of Eyre Bus Service, notes that he wouldn't perform such service unless if he had a contract with the state to do so!  Gee, wonder what that may be?  Couldn't be because government is very generous to contractors, could it be?

Sounds to me like business is looking to government to subsidize it's provision of service.  And sounds to me like Allan is appealing to his base, most of which wouldn't be caught dead on public transit anyway.

More Fishwrap Report tomorrow!

June 01, 2008

Fishwrap report, Part 2: The Wilde Lake Cross and Tony Blair

Happy June!

I almost called this post Fishwrap Report: Local Edition.  But to be honest, there wasn't too much worth writing about in the Patuxent Publishing papers this week.  [There is] a week-too-late article about the GGP presentation in Oakland Mills, and there was a good article about the county budget that will be saved for the future.

However, the article this past week about the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center redevelopment plan, also written by No Clue, deserves comment.

I am an Evangelical Christian.  My older child was confirmed in our church last month.  Faith means a lot to me and my family. 

As a Christian, I accept the cross as a symbol of my faith and I realize what it stands for.  There are some in Wilde Lake who say that erecting a 16-foot cross on the front of the Interfaith Center sends the wrong message, of the Interfaith Center as a multi-denominational place of worship, which, of course, brings us back to the whole tired argument of the Columbia vision, blah, blah, blah.

And I agree with them on principle, but for different reasons, and with a different remedy in mind.

I urge everyone to read the article in this week's Time magazine, Tony Blair's Leap of Faith.  (Not smart enough to provide a link yet: I will try to do so however.)  The article speaks well and at length about the connection between religion and globalization; specifically, that understanding faith serves as a foundation for  a global community to emerge.  And the former British Prime Minister and current middle east envoy has formed a  foundation based on this concept.

So how does this relate to the wall of an interfaith center in Columbia?  Because our community here is becoming more diverse, not less.  Because Columbia was founded on the concept of being a societal melting pot.  Because we are having a discourse in Columbia about the future of our community.  And because our charge should be, in revisiting the entire concept of what Columbia is, to move Columbia forward in a societal sense 30 years, just as Columbia in the late 60s was thought of as futuristic and progressive in how it blended people of different backgrounds.

So putting a cross on the wall of the interfaith center limits that ability to embrace the full diversity of the community.  So here's another idea.  Why not emblazon the wall of the interfaith center with the appropriate religious symbol of every congregation that worships there?  Why not a star, a crescent, a cross, etc.?  All of our faiths are important, all are beautiful.  The US military has a list of dozens of religious symbols-- even ones for agnostics-- that families can select to adorn their loved one's grave.  Why does Columbia need be so limiting?

In the redevelopment of the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center, the community had a real opportunity to create a stirring, original visual symbol that respects all of the religions practiced under its roof.  It is unfortunate that more creative thinking did not take place.

June 08, 2008

The cruelest reality

Not much topical worth writing on in this weekend's fishwraps.  I got so desperate Saturday for material that I read (gasp!) the Baltimore Examiner.

Or, maybe it's because on Friday I received some terrible news.

As those who know me know, I coached youth football for the last three years for the Elkridge Hurricanes program.  Last year, I also served as Football Director for the program, meaning I was in charge of selecting coaches for the various teams, getting the coaches trained in learning how to teach the game of football, and how to teach and communicate with kids from 5-14 years old, among many other things.

It was in February of 2007 at a football coaching clinic that  met Rick Knight.  He was interested in coaching 8-10 year olds; he was new to coaching football but was enthusiastic about the game and about the Hurricanes program.  He especially was happy over how the Hurricanes program contributed so well to the enjoyment and development of his son Ricky.  And he was looking forward to being Ricky's coach in the fall.  Although that weekend was the first I'd met him, Rick gave the impression to me of someone who was into coaching for all the right reasons-- to teach, to watch kids try, fail, and succeed, and to embrace their successes as they compete to the best of their abilities.

A month or so later things changed.  Rick contacted me and let me know he was not going to be able to coach in the fall.  The reason was because his son Ricky was sick.  It became known to me very soon thereafter that Ricky had a brain tumor and was undergoing treatment.

Our program did whatever it could to help Ricky.  A fundraiser was organized by our program's current Vice President with a local barbershop-- a sort of cuts for cancer fundraiser.  We decided to purchase small orange stickers with the number 28 on them-- Ricky's number-- and put them on the backs of the helmets of every player in our program-- over 300 boys and young men in all.  There was lots of support for Ricky in the Elkridge community, and we wanted to show very openly our support for him.

Ricky went through treatment over the summer, and during the fall at our home field, Rockburn Park, we started to see a fascinating sight.  Ricky Knight, wearing his green 28 jersey and an orange bandana, running around on the sidelines throwing a football.  The game was never far from him and became a support.  Soon it became known that with the improvement in his condition, doctors may give him the permission to actually play in the fall.  That permission was given, and Ricky made it all the way back to playing for the Hurricanes last fall (the story from the Montgomery County Sentinel is found here.)

When the final chapters were written on the Hurricanes 2007 season last November, Ricky was doing well and getting better all the time.  In February, I learned that he was going back for more treatment.  Then, Friday in a phone call from a friend who is the Hurricanes President, I got the news that is reported here, that Ricky Knight passed away last Monday.

Any life lost brings sadness, but a young life especially so.  I think of Ricky, and I think of the 7th grader who committed suicide a couple of months ago in Columbia.  I think of everything we have in Howard County, but I can think of at least two families who will never have some of those things so many of us have enjoyed.  They will never see their sons go through their teenage years, never see them graduate from high school, attend college, start families, realize their dreams.

So, it's easy to talk about the way things are, the way things ought to be, the way things should be.  As I wrote weeks ago, those things are clay and clay can be shaped.  But life itself is a finality.  Once your time is at an end, that is it.  Your dreams vanish, and all that remains of you are memories.

My heart is heavy with sorrow for the Knights, for all of those who lose their children, for all of those lives unfulfilled.  As I mark the two-year anniversary of my father's death tomorrow, I come to grips with the fact that he, too, had an unfulfilled life when he passed at 60.  Memories are wonderful things and can give us comfort, but they do not replace the person they represent, nor do they give us even one more second with our loved one.

May God bless all of us who lose our loved ones too early, and may He give us peace.

June 10, 2008

Enter The Second Chance!

The site of the Last Chance Saloon, for an extremely brief time something totally idiotic called Rusty's Chill and Grill (so brief that it never opened, thankfully), and for almost two years the Fire Rock Grill, will (hopefully) very soon have a new tenant.  In last week's Columbia Fishwrap, it was revealed that a couple from Burtonsville seek a liquor license for the premises, and that they are hoping to reopen the site, as the Second Chance Saloon, later this summer.

This is terrific news for the OM community, especially considering that OM never really lost it's neighborhood pub.  The Last Chance Saloon closed after a fantastic run, due to personal problems experienced by the owner.   The entire concept of Rusty's Chill and Grill was poisoned with the stench of favoritism and patronage which involved the then County Council member from the area.  The Fire Rock Grill survived the first full year of operation, which is the time in which an overwhelming number of new restaurants and bars fail, only to close, inexplicably and without warning, close to  its second anniversary.  Apparently the FRG's second year was more successful financially than it's first; however it was still losing money, and the owners couldn't move forward.  The FRG was known for its concept of providing several different dining experiences; a bar, a family area, a backroom, an outdoor deck, and a patio out front.  There are many who feel that the FRG was too diverse, tried to do too much, and as such never excelled at anything.

So, with these things in mind, some advice for the owners of the Second Chance:

1. Keep it simple-- basic, staple food prepared well that will make people confident in what they're getting when they come for a meal.

2. Remember the service-- FRG's service, was, in a word, horrible.  For every good server there were 3-4 who were inattentive, incompetent, and/or rude.  Make the service friendly and gracious.

3. Be known for something-- I know of someone who wants to start a Ravens Roost at the new bar already.  Have that, or a Sunday brunch, or live music or comedy (the latter being something FRG did well in its later days)-- be known for something.

4. Advertise-- rather than worry about a crab deck, spend on local advertising.  However before going headlong into advertising, make sure you have confidence in your product.

5. Connect with the community-- become a sponsor of local events, sponsor a baseball or softball team, become part of the local fabric.

Reality is dictating that people are starting to travel less for their entertainment.  The time is right for a neighborhood pub in OM, and I can't wait for the opening!

What Really Happened: The Second Chance had a good yet checkered run, as chronicled elsewhere on these pages. Eventually in closed, a victim of the pandemic, in 2020. To the date of this writing in March 2023, the space it occupied in Oakland Mills Village Center remains vacant.

June 16, 2008

Howard County geopolitik, 2008 style

What's wrong with Courtney Watson?

This is the question I’ve been asked  most frequently with respect to local politics over the last month.   It's a good question.  And one that's easily explained.

The reason the question is being asked at all is because of a very curious about face Courtney has had recently with respect to  Columbia.  About a year ago, Courtney stood at the side of older Columbia villages with respect to subsidized housing.  Her understanding of the issue, which crystallized understandings better than even their original holders could articulate, was this: that subsidized housing and housing for lower-income people need not be concentrated in certain parts of the county, in such a way to ensure that neighborhoods, schools, and families are stigmatized.  Rather, spreading such housing throughout the county ensures that more, if not all of the county's housing stock is balanced throughout, and that more parts of the county are available for these families in which to live.  It was an enlightened interpretation of a feeling that some advocates of full-spectrum housing in Howard County verbalize very inappropriately.

So, it was a great thing to have the Council member from Ellicott City and Elkridge on the side of Columbia's older villages.  Emphasis on the word was.

Fast forward approximately 10-11 months to the last several weeks.  The proposed county appropriation of property in Meridian Square in Oakland Mills was criticized by Courtney Watson because this alone will not revitalize Oakland Mills and this is not the best investment of County dollars in Oakland Mills.  Well, maybe, but it’s all there is right now, and heaven knows the community has tried.   At any rate, her support of the county's appropriation of the space turned to opposition, and the appropriation passed 3-2 thanks to Mary Kay Sigaty's opposition turning to support.

Then, there is Council Bill 62, to be introduced at tonight's(!) County Council meeting.  (As I watch GTV at this minute, there is a guy with a porn-star moustache talking unintelligbly about something undecipherable.)  Basically, CB 62 would pull the rug out under the feet of the entire effort to redefine and rezone Columbia.  (OK, so now Joan Lancos is talking about that she should have the right to distribute wrapped mini Tootsie Rolls without a permit.  Good bye, GTV.)  Anyway-- CB 62 would allow for up to 10% more high density apartments and townhomes in Columbia.

At the very best this legislation is premature.  The Columbia village centers are becoming more mixed use districts, and they should eventually be zoned as such by Howard County.  (Yes, it's time to scrap New Town.)  At worst, this legislation, if enacted before or instead of other zoning controls for Columbia, could lead to runaway, unplanned development, much of which would occur in Columbia's older villages.  This is not a good thing.

So what's going on with Courtney Watson's thinking lately?  Why, does she state her support for more full-spectrum housing one month, then several months later, oppose redevelopment in Oakland Mills and propose unmanaged growth of apartments and townhomes?

Her opposition to the Meridian Square procurement by the county, on the face, gives the impression that she'd like Oakland Mills to hold out for a better deal.  Unfortunately, after 10 years it's fair to say that no other deal is coming-- a fact she understands.  So, therefore, why not get on board?

Her support of Council Bill 62 suggests support for more mixed-use-type development in Columbia, which, I feel would be a good thing.  But why the allowance for additional housing, if the developer buys neighborhood preservation units in other parts of the county?   Is that not creating an inequity?

The answer to both questions at the end of each of the last two paragraphs is the same.  Because both positions, in the long-term, weaken Columbia, and strengthen the rest of the county-- especially the northeast and the west.  Which will be important for when she runs for County Executive.   It does not help one's political resume in Ellicott City, Glenwood and Clarksville to be for the older villages of Columbia.

However, there is one resource in Columbia we will still have a lot of, especially 2 or 6 years from now-- votes.  Especially as Columbia is largely Democratic, and as a Democratic County Executive race is sure to be contested (directly against Ken Ulman in 2010, against one or more of the other Democratic Council members in 2014).  Should two of those Council members also run, come 2014, it is possible that the vote could be split in Columbia, allowing for Courtney Watson to gain enough votes from other parts of the county to win in 2014.

Under that scenario, being a friend to Columbia doesn't help the attainment of political ambitions.  Only when that future landscape changes again-- and it may-- will the Courtney Watson of 2007 reappear.

June 20, 2008

Here's where I get called a hypocrite!

OK, so a couple of weeks ago, I decried Allan Kittleman's yellow pages philosophy: that is, that government shouldn't be involved in providing any service to citizens that can be found in the yellow pages.  Well, here's where I get called a hypocrite!  Because the Columbia Association needs to divest itself of many of its facilities.  In fact, CA should probably just disband and go away.

As I responded to Freemarket in the above-referred post, private business can provide certain services more efficiently than government, or in this case, the never runs a deficit entity that is CA.  Can private business manage golf courses, gyms, pools, neighborhood centers, and village centers better?  I think so.  Would there be inconsistency in service?  I think so.  Would some service wind up being ended, such as pools in certain villages?  I'm pretty sure of it.

But CA has become a bloated, inept caricature.  I'm just not going to restate all of the pointless, petty discussions that have gone on in CA board meetings, CA staff meetings, meetings between CA board and staff, meetings involving village boards, etc. over the years.  Six months of CA board meetings to decide whether or not the CA Board should have a role to play in the redevelopment of downtown (not WHAT the position is, mind you, but whether to even HAVE one!) is all the example I need.  Lack of openness is all the example I need.  The existence of certain people as CA Board members (especially recent Board members from KC and OM who no longer represent those villages, thankfully) is all the example I need.  CA has lost its effectiveness, and I do believe it was effective.

So, what do we do?  Write whitepapers, form committees and study groups, conduct stakeholder advances, hold elections and run candidates under the banner of if we get 6 people who all think the same way, THEN CA will be what it was supposed to be?  Only the last approach has any merit, and even then only marginally so.

The answer is to change Columbia's legal status.

My first preference is that Columbia should incorporate.  Citizens of Columbia are intelligent, well-educated, and generally are more civic-minded than average.  We could have a mayor and a city council.  Incorporation also gives the city the most control over its own destiny. 

Failing that, examination should be undertaken to see if Columbia can gain some sort of special tax zone status, especially to make sure that CPRA fees become tax-deductible.  This would provide a tax incentive to families to move to Columbia and would attract families who would be committed to the city.  Incentives need to be given for home ownership in Columbia and this would be a huge one.

OK, you CA true believers out there whose blood is boiling at the thought of no longer attending 4-hour committee meetings, fearing that all that time you spent researching covenants has gone to waste.  If your CA is so doggone smart, where is it with respect to downtown?  The biggest land use decision in Howard County's history in the last 40 years is in process, and meanwhile, the CA Board is deciding what the President can talk about with GGP.  Such leadership and bold thinking are, I'm sure, why the Columbia pioneers came in 1967.  Fact is, CA is nowhere on the landscape of downtown.  Hasn't been so since the charrette.

If there is a good argument for preserving CA, or even taking a mend it, don't end it approach, I don't know of any reason why to do so.  Maybe you do?  Fire away, effendi!

July 05, 2008

A cool thought

Howard County needs a first-class ice facility.  And we need it now.  It is amazing to me that we can bring businesses into the County to build fitness palaces, indoor basketball arenas, and indoor soccer fields, and we can't have a decent ice facility.

I should change that last statement.  We do have a decent ice facility in the county, but the skating rink in Oakland Mills is 1) closed until August, 2) a single-rink facility, and 3) already booked solid during the skating season.  Lots of county business-- hockey teams, figure skaters, recreational skaters-- go to Gunpowder in Montgomery County right over the county line, or even to Piney Orchard in Odenton-- which now has been more aggressive in its marketing since the Washington Capitals don't practice there anymore. 

I have two solutions to offer.  One would be to expand the current Columbia Ice Rink, adding a second full-size sheet of ice.  This could be done if the current parking lot next to the rink is used, which then pushes the parking for the ice rink out into the village center and/or Interfaith Center parking.  Adding in the parking for the proposed Meridian Square, this could make Oakland Mills a very busy place to be, very fast, and would spur commercial investment there.

The second solution would be the establishment of a new ice facility in the county.  Such a facility could also incorporate a swimming and diving center which could help facilitate the inclusion of swimming as a high school varsity sport in the county-- which it isn't, now, ostensibly because of the lack of available pools.  (Yet the local high schools' ice hockey teams play in an interscholastic league.  Go figure.)

The vision would be that the new facility be a single sheet, like the Columbia Ice Rink-- but one facility or the other, would be open year-round.  And hopefully, the new facility would be centrally located in the county-- maybe as part of a redesigned Wilde Lake Village Center?  Or, how about in Blandair Regional Park?  Although the latter is still a few years off.

The need for more water and ice-based facilities is there-- how and when the need will be met is uncertain.

What Really Happened: There remains no additional ice capacity in Howard County. And the Columbia Ice Rink and Gardens Ice House continue to exist.

July 10, 2008

GGP plans a New Town-- inside a New City!

The GGP presentation on the Town Center Master Plan on Wednesday, July 9 was most impressive.  It is clear that the plan has been very well thought-out, and that GGP is committed to thinking creatively in terms of redefining Town Center as the heart of a new Columbia that will endure as a leading edge community of its size for future generations.  However, there are hopes that need to continue to be held, questions that still need to be asked, and cautions that still need to be offered.

First, I'll address two pet peeves of mind.  I wish the GGP folks would stop referring to Merriweather Post Pavilion as Post Pavilion.  OK, post-what?  Call it MPP, call it Merriweather Post, but I've never heard of Post Pavilion.  Sounds like some corporate arena and I'd rather lose the monicker.

Second pet peeve-- there is only one Central Park, and it's in New York City.  The references to Central Park in Columbia make me chafe.  Let's find another name, like Crescent Park or Rouse Park or Friendship Park, or something like that.

On to the questions:

1. The big one I have is the numbers.  How does a million square feet of retail space, five million square feet of office space (equivalent to what was in both towers of the World Trade Center), and 5,600 residential units get filled?  The latter is for me, the easiest to see.  What's much harder to see is the retail and office space, especially since we have so many vacancies in our village centers of what, 250,000 square feet on average?

2. How does the impact on connections to the neighboring villages, indeed all the villages, get addressed?  Town Center can not become so transformed independent of transformation in the other villages?  Certainly, infrastructure around Town Center will have to be expanded.  Good things were said last night about pedestrian connections to Wilde Lake and to other parts of Town Center.  Nothing said about any connections to Oakland Mills.  And, as Cindy Coyle from the CA Board pointed out, it does seem as if schools will need to be planned.

Now for the hopes:

1. Every building built within the environs of Town Center needs to be as green as it can be.  Town Center must be better than carbon neutral; for Town Center to keystone the new Columbia I sense is coming, it has to be giving more to the planet than it is taking out.

2. The plans show a lot of redevelopment in Town Center.  I am sure there will have to be a lot of construction and redirection of streets, sidewalks and building.  I hope that this can be minimized such as to reduce disruption to a minimum.

3. I hope a plan is revealed as to the phasing of the actual redevelopment.  What is the horizon (15, 20, how many years), and what will be built when?

Now for the cautions:

1. At the meeting the first question was posed by a lady who was obviously a longtime resident, who was very concerned about the congestion on streets in Town Center, notably Little Patuxent Parkway.  After she asked her question, a GGP employee, a guy who looked to be in his 20s wearing brown horn-rimmed glasses, turned to a colleague and said, That's the voice of yesterday, quite dismissively.  Actually, Skeezix, that's the voice of a concerned resident, and although I don't share her near hysteria, your butt needs to pay attention.  Regardless of this dope, the presenters were all very knowledgeable and diplomatic and the staff who worked within the crowd was quite gracious.  This bodes well for a civil discourse.

2. I get back to the numbers.  I saw a lot of great things last night, exciting possibilities about what Columbia could be for my children and grandchildren.  I don't want it to be done half-assed.   If that means  scaling down some of the targets  on space or on residential capacity, so be it.

3. I fear negativity and waving the people flag.  I do not think what was presented last night was perfect.  But I do think the tone and tenor of Columbia was captured by the presenters.  Now what's going to happen is that a lot of irrelevant jerks are going to prattle on about Jim Rouse's vision and how this plan  is or is not what Columbia is supposed to be.  To everyone engaged in this debate, I implore everyone: let this debate be about the future, let it be about what Columbia will be!  I don't need to be given a history lecture, and in return I will respect the foundation upon which this city was founded.

The next year or so is going to bring a vigorous debate about the future of Columbia.  After last night, I finally feel as if the debate has been joined in earnest.  I urge GGP to have its radar turned on for good ideas coming from the community (it sounds so far as if it has) and I urge the community to think carefully, with great consideration, and creatively about what Columbia can and will be.  Literally, the future of this town within a city depends on it.

July 13, 2008

No, I won't back down

OK, here's where I am on the topic of the Columbia pioneers and their influence in local affairs:

There is a lot of benefit in the richness of experience and perspective that longtime Columbia residents bring to the table.  I definitely do not subscribe to the concept, Never trust anyone who's lived in Columbia more than 30 years.

However, I do refer back to almost two years ago, when some numbskull wrote in a letter to the editor about downtown development, the Columbia pioneers know what is best for Columbia.  Really?

I can recall County Council meetings in the 90s when Charlie Feaga used to ask people testifying, as his first question, So how long have you lived in Howard County? As if that was a litmus test for the legitimacy for their views.

I won't let that happen here.  We are better than that.  And if that means I refer to people as jerks or morons or doo-doo heads, so be it.

My point is and always has been that the community needs to bring a global view when looking at downtown redevelopment.  There are a lot of long-time Columbia residents who bring that.  But there are also some who play upon hot buttons and community fears in order to advance their own agenda.  Which is an agenda of small thinking, the trust us, we know what's best for you thinking.

It didn't always used to be this way among the pioneers, I have noticed.  Some of these people who I look at know with great apprehension, I used to look at with great admiration.  These are the people who protected the Middle Patuxent, who fought hard (albeit unsuccessfully) to make River Hill full-spectrum housing, who helped get the assessment cap.  But, over time, people and conditions change.

Everyone is welcome in the debate concerning downtown.  But I also think egos need to be checked at the door.

July 27, 2008

Why not international weekend?

So around 9:15 last night I got into my car and drove to the lakefront to capture the end of Columbia International Day.  It was late and I didn't expect much, and what I saw met with my expectations.

International Day to me has always been kind of underwhelming.  Not so much because of the amount of food and craft vendors, but because of the lack of emphasis Columbia places on the event.  In my view the International Day (weekend?  week?) should be every bit as big as the Festival of the Arts.

A few ideas to make the event bigger and better:

1. Like I wrote above, make it longer.  One day isn't good for everyone.  Make it a weekend-- or longer.

2. Get more vendors to represent, literally, all six continents.  And hey, if you can get someone to represent Antarctica,  do that too!  : )

3. Arrange all of the vendors EPCOT- style, to give visitors the feel that they are moving into other parts of the world.  Go from Australia into Asia, then Africa, then Europe, then South America, then North America.

4. Define the borders between each village with some sort of boundary, as, for example, the different neighborhoods of the Symphony of Lights are arranged.  An Asian-style arch to denote that neighborhood, an awning that loosely resembles the Sydney Opera House... those may be a little kitschy but this is fun, family entertainment as well as...

5. Educational.  There doesn't seem to be really, any educational component to the International Day.   How about a showcase of projects from foreign language classes at the high schools and HCC?

Having been a veteran of Baltimore's ethnic festivals, and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, a great ethnic festival gives the visitor a feeling of actually being at that location, a feeling of sensing things authentic to that part of the world.  The Columbia International Day never gives me that feeling.  And it should.

August 02, 2008

Shock

So at 7:15 yesterday morning, I was headed east on US40.  In the median, from the US40/Rogers Ave. interchange to Normandy shopping center, there was a pro-life protest.  You may have seen the type-- about 10-15 protesters, standing in the median, in one hand holding a 5-foot tall banner titled life, with a picture of a cute, smiling baby, with a little embroidered kite or bunny on its playsuit, and in the other hand, a same-sized banner titled choice, with a picture of a mangled fetus.  There were also trucks driving up and down 40 with the same images.

This is not a post about the issue of abortion.  Although, I do have to wonder what the relevance was with Howard County.  Perhaps there is some rally in DC this weekend.  But I do have to question the tactics.

It is ironic to me that people who espouse to respect life so much choose to make their point in such a graphic way, which to me seems totally disrespectful of life.  The shock value has never made sense to me, and I've seen these protests several times.

To me, I draw a parallel of a pro-gun control poster showing an autopsy picture of a child who was gunned down by an unsecured gun.  I would imagine that such a poster would be decried as wholly inappropriate.  The same would go in the case of a commercial for the American Heart Association, using footage of Tim Russert collapsing.

I recall, long ago, an anti-smoking commercial Yul Brynner made, that wasn't shown until after he died.  As you may remember, he died of complications of longtime smoking.  His words were something like, Now that I am gone, if you smoke, quit.  And if you're thinking about starting, don't.  It was a very powerful commercial.

But it wasn't gory or graphic, though it was definitely in your face.  And I really have to question