Baltimore Region

An increasing swath of the Baltimore region is caught up in a housing slump that is getting worse and appears to have further to fall. Average home-sale prices in the first six months of the year fell in a little more than half of Baltimore's suburban communities and a third of city neighborhoods, while sales volume in the region was the lowest for the first half of a year since 2000, a Sun analysis found. The number of areas with declining prices has swelled since 2006, the first full year of the housing market downturn.

Each Thursday, a member of The Sun's staff visits three grocery stores in the same part of the Baltimore region to compare prices of selected items. Prices featured this week are from grocers in Baltimore: Giant Food in the Rotunda at 711 W. 40th St., the Superfresh at 1020 W. 41st St. and Eddie's at 5113 Roland Ave. Item Amount Giant Superfresh Eddie's Choice boneless strip steak 1 lb. $10.99 $10.99 $14.99 Breyers vanilla ice cream Half gallon 5.99 4.99 6.39 Pepsi 2 liter 1.89 1.79 1.89 All detergent 100 oz. 4.99 4.99 6.59 Kleenex tissues 120-count box 1.99 1.29 1.39 Arnold whole wheat bread 1.5 lb. loaf 3.39 3.59 3.59 Large white eggs Dozen 1.79 1.99 1.69 Fresh tomatoes 1 lb. 1.49 3.49 3.99 Mrs. Smith's deep dish frozen apple pie 3.1 lbs. 7.59 7.99 7.59 Purina dog chow 4.4 lbs. 4.69 4.89 4.99 Total --- 44.80 46.00 53.10

GOV. Parris N. Glendening shows leadership when it comes to helping the Washington area complete one subway extension and plan another. And that's fine.Mr. Glendening pays attention when Washington-area officials seek a "subway-beltway" that would encircle Maryland's Washington suburbs. And that's dandy for Silver Spring, College Park and New Carrollton.But what about Woodlawn, White Marsh, Columbia, Towson and Essex?Mr. Glendening is neglectfully indifferent toward this area's long-term transit needs.

Long & Foster sets record for sales in its regionLong & Foster Real Estate Inc. reported an all-time February sales record for its five-state region with sales of $1.1 billion on 5,952 properties, an increase of 23 percent over the same month last year.The Baltimore region -- 29 offices -- was up 18 percent over February 1998 with sales of $179 million.The top sales offices in the area were Annapolis, Columbia, Greenspring, Bel Air and Eldersburg.News in BriefTerry O. Stafford, host of "All About Real Estate" on WCBM-AM 680, will lead a panel discussion on foreclosure from noon to 1 p.m. March 18 at Bibelot book store in Timonium Crossing Shopping Center, York and Timonium roads.

Working to create a new culture of charitable givingThanks to The Sun for the accurate picture of Baltimore's need for increased philanthropic giving ("Why Baltimoreans don't give more," July 30).We agree that changing the giving culture in the Baltimore region, as well as the nation, is necessary. The key is to encourage the next generation of donors to fill the void in philanthropic leadership.The Baltimore Giving Project, a broad-based and diverse coalition of Baltimore-area organizations, institutions and individuals, is attempting to encourage this philanthropic leadership and create a new civic imperative to give.

Regional planners need to move area in new directionsThe Transportation Steering Committee, the Baltimore region's transportation planning authority, recently voted to use obsolete data to analyze the impact of new road projects on the region's air quality ("Old traffic numbers could stall new roads," Aug. 22).Committee members know the region's air quality is worse than the analysis will show and that more recent and reliable data are available.The reasons committee members give for using faulty data include: other regions assess projects that way; they've done their analysis this way in the past; and the law does not prevent them taking this approach.

Regional transportation officials identified $38 million in road projects yesterday that could be stalled unless the Baltimore region can quickly correct an air pollution problem that threatens to block the flow of federal highway funds here.The list of threatened work consists of seven projects in Baltimore, Howard and Anne Arundel counties, including roads for the 200-store Arundel Mills shopping mall, the state's largest new retail development.It also includes $10 million in widening work along Route 7 to feed the new General Motors Corp.

THREE YEARS ago, urban scholar David Rusk said Baltimore was moving quickly past the point of no return, past the point at which poverty and failing institutions would make its recovery impossible. Mr. Rusk said the city's hope lay in hard-headed recognition of a mismatch between government's one-jurisdiction responses and the reality of today's living patterns, job locations and housing needs.But regionalism remains a nonstarter, practically speaking. At a conference recently, the idea was likened to the corpse at a funeral: You expected it to be there, but you didn't expect it to do much.

GOV. PARRIS N. Glendening may believe that he has driven a stake into the heart of the Intercounty Connector, but the real victim may be Maryland's economic future. Without this long-proposed highway, there's no easy way between Montgomery County's job-rich, high-tech corridor and the Baltimore region.The ICC would link Interstate 270 with Interstate 95, providing Montgomery County businesses better access to Baltimore-Washington International Airport and the Port of Baltimore. Workers in the major population center -- including Howard, Anne Arundel, Baltimore city and county and Prince George's -- would be nearer to thousands of well-paying, skilled positions.

In Baltimore CountyCommunity college names senior director for learning centersHUNT VALLEY -- Jan Albert-Elliott was recently appointed senior director of the Community College of Baltimore County's off-campus learning centers at Hunt Valley and Owings Mills.Albert-Elliott, who last year was interim president of the Dundalk campus of CCBC, will be responsible for coordinating learning and student development activities at the centers. One of her major objectives will be to develop strategies to encourage more students to take courses at the centers.

Nice places are tucked all over the Baltimore region, from urban rowhouse neighborhoods to rural outposts. I set out to find 10 that everybody and their brother doesn't already know about - ones with prices in reach of first-time homebuyers. Here are these hidden-gem neighborhoods, selected with the help of Real Estate Wonk readers. These aren't the only gems out there, and I'm not claiming they're the absolute best. (You'll never get a completely objective list out of something so subjective.

No question, the job market is grim. With employers continuing to lay off workers in droves, the national unemployment rate climbed to 8.9 percent in April. But job seekers are finding some hiring bright spots amid the drumbeat of discouraging news. Industries such as education, health care and the federal government are adding jobs nationally and in Maryland. And there are signs that hiring activity is picking up in the Baltimore region, employers and recruiters say. Howard County General Hospital is looking to hire 220 health care professionals, including 140 medical nurses, patient care technicians, secretaries and other support staff for its new patient pavilion that's scheduled to open in August.

A federal grand jury indicted Tuesday the surviving owner of A&B Check Cashing - named the 2003 "check casher of the year" by Financial Service Centers of America - on charges that he and his brother ran a three-year "kiting" scheme that netted more than $12 million from two Maryland banks. According to a 12-count indictment, Brian Satisky and his brother, Alec, who committed suicide in 2006, perpetrated the scheme by writing bad checks on one account, depositing them into another and using that account to write more bad checks to cover the first.

The emptiest neighborhood in the Baltimore region is not an area hit by foreclosures or years of decline. It's a U.S. Army base, and the nearly 39 percent vacancy rate at Aberdeen Proving Ground is part of a trend of fewer soldiers living there. But the rest of the top five vacant areas in the region, measured in an Associated Press study by census tract, all are in East Baltimore neighborhoods that have weathered declines for decades. "It's a continuation of what has been a long, sad story," said John McIlwain, a senior resident fellow for housing at the Washington-based Urban Land Institute.

Maryland may rank No. 1 in the nation for the percentage of its high school graduates who pass an Advanced Placement test, but behind that distinction is a wide disparity between counties and high schools. Even among some of the best schools in the Baltimore region - and from one high school to the next within the same counties - students have widely different course offerings and results. For example, 46 percent of the graduates last spring at Broadneck High School in Annapolis had passed at least one AP test compared with less than half that percentage at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute.

Hey, all you talented classical musicians out there in the Baltimore area: Now is the time to let the ego run wild and nominate yourself for a Baker Artist Award. This competition takes place entirely online, with artists uploading video of their work. A jury will determine winners of the Mary Sawyers Baker Prize of $20,000 (up to three winners); online voting will determine a Baltimore's Choice Award ($5,000). Visual artists have jumped into the process, but "musicians are not being as responsive," says Nancy Haragan, executive director of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance, a partner in the project.

Towson Town Center probably didn't have the best timing yesterday when it unveiled a new luxury wing featuring a Burberry apparel store and plans for Louis Vuitton and Lacoste amid an economy that continues to falter. Shoppers faced with declining stock portfolios, job losses, devalued homes and less access to credit presumably have little room in their budgets for $600 purses and $1,000 coats. Retailers across the country have shut their doors as shoppers spend less. And General Growth Properties, the owner of Towson Town and several other regional malls, has said debt problems exacerbated by the economic climate could force it to sell assets or even the whole company.

The Baltimore region is going gray. While the region's population showed a modest increase of about 4 percent from 2000 through 2007, the number of residents ages 55 to 64 and those 85 and older increased by about a third, according to an analysis of U.S. census data released today. The former group is the result of the baby boom generation reaching retirement age; the latter, an aging society living longer. "Longevity has increased so much," said Rose Viscidi, a resident of Charlestown Retirement Community in Catonsville who is her in 80s. She takes daily aerobics classes and keeps busy, engaging in a lifestyle that has become more the norm for her age group.

As Baltimore officials and sports fans bask in the promise a new arena could bring to the city, a familiar battle is already taking shape among the state lawmakers who may be charged with finding a way to pay for it. Arena boosters say it's not certain the project would need state support. But the scope of the project - which by some estimates could cost more than $300 million to build - is nonetheless likely to stimulate debate in Annapolis. Lawmakers played a significant role in crafting financing plans for the Camden Yards sports complex.

If commuter buses are so threatening to a community's safety and serenity, why does Julia Walters of Kent Island miss hers so much? Walters, who works downtown for the Maryland State Department of Education, wrote in response to a column that suggested that the Baltimore region - even transit-averse Carroll County - should take a serious look at expanding commuter bus routes with gasoline hovering at about $4 a gallon. I don't know if I can write another letter or make another request as I have been doing so to the tune of deaf ears since the MTA and Dillon stopped the bus from Kent Island to Baltimore in 2003.