Housing Stock

A lot of people are introduced to Rock Hall by way of the Chesapeake Bay. A home port for many out-of-town pleasure boaters, this former fishing village has almost as many slips (1,421) as it does people (1,600). In summer, Rock Hall swells with tourists drawn to the Eastern Shore town for the boating, the natural environment and, as the local business association frames it, "life the way it used to be." It's also a town with a great sense of humor. Where else is New Year's celebrated with a rockfish dropping at midnight?

If it weren't for a generous gift by Baltimorean William Patterson in 1827, the Patterson Park neighborhood might look a little different in the 21st century. Patterson donated nearly 6 acres to the city in hopes of creating a "public walk" like those he had seen in Europe. After his death, his heirs sold some of the adjacent land to the city and in 1853, Patterson Park was born. Patterson's family leased the remaining acres that they inherited to speculative builders, who then built rowhouses on it. Many of those houses are still standing -- as is a neighborhood that has experienced a host of changes in its long history.

Always excuses for insurance to go upI, too, was hoping for a bit of a break with this year's insurance premium. Man, was I surprised to see that Allstate had raised my insurance another $50 plus, stating that Maryland's rates had increased due to all the flooding in the Midwest.Don't get me wrong, my heart and prayers go out to those folks, and I do understand that we all must help to rebuild the broken lives shattered by this tragedy.My questions is: If we ever do go through a period where there are minimal claims filed, will we ever see a decrease in our insurance premiums?

YOU LIVE in a battered neighborhood in an aging city -- Buffalo or Baltimore, Hartford, Conn., or Detroit. Next door or down the street is an abandoned house where crack is being sold or squatters congregate or fires are set. If you complain, the chances are pretty good that your local government will respond by tearing down the house, using federal grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, state demolition money or even city revenue.Obviously...

Is Baltimore trying to drive out the middle class? It seems as though Baltimore City employees, whose salaries are paid by the hard-earned dollars of the city's taxpayers (which can only mean gainfully employed people), are actually trying to make it too costly and too much of a royal pain in the neck to live in the city. In the last couple of months, I have been a witness to so many examples of absurdities that can only lead me to this conclusion, especially when my experiences are extrapolated to other residents of the city.

Housing study unveiledTo improve the availability of affordable housing in Carroll, a study conducted by a Baltimore firm has recommended that the county zone more land for multifamily residential development in areas surrounding towns.Conducted by Legg Mason Realty Group Inc., the study summarized Carroll's housing growth during the decade from 1970 to 1980, current housing efforts and unmet housing needs, such as affordable housing.Overall, new housing construction during that decade improved the quality of the county's housing units; housing prices and rents have increased, while vacancy levels have declined; and the housing supply has not kept pace with household growth, said Jerry L. Doctrow, vice president of research services.

Baltimore has thousands of vacant, dilapidated and abandoned houses that create serious health, safety and quality-of-life hazards for city residents. The buildings are eyesores that raise the risk of fires and structural collapses, encourage criminal activity, reduce the attractiveness of neighborhoods to potential buyers and lower property values. They're also the greatest source of urban blight, sucking the life out of communities and making every other social and economic reconstruction task there more difficult.

The impending military base realignment looms as Baltimore's opportunity to boost its population and contribute to the reversal in recent years of the decades-long flight of residents to the suburbs. The plan, also known as Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), could bring as many as 40,000 jobs to Maryland as a result of expansions mainly at Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County and Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County. While much attention has been focused on expanding housing and improving infrastructure in suburban counties, Baltimore could figure prominently in the BRAC process by virtue of its housing stock, public transit and cultural amenities, business and government officials said.

Found just minutes from major thoroughfares such as Interstate 95 and U.S. 40 is Belcamp, a tucked-away, quiet retreat in Harford County. Within Belcamp is the large planned community of Riverside, a neighborhood that Chris Henn said she moved to almost 25 years ago because at the time it offered affordable housing in a pleasant, family-friendly setting. "It still does," said Henn, the president of the Riverside Community Association. "It's a great place to raise a family. I know a lot of my neighbors.