It's the Environment stupid...

or at least it is one important aspect of the Pro vs Con (Development) debate playing out in Columbia and here in Eldersburg (to a lesser extent).

Steve has a good post on this blog (http://stevefine.blogspot.com/) posted @ 11:25 today... he makes a very good point.

The Freedom Area Alliance held a meeting this past Thursday where two of the County Commissioners spoke about a few hot issues in the area. The majority of the meeting involved a lively discussion dealing with the increases in our water/sewer bills and the fight against further developments in our area.

My personal view is we should spend less time opposing all development and more time planning for controlled growth. If we stick our heads in the sand and continue to say not in our backyard... we will eventually end up with the worst type of development... unplanned



An interesting idea was discussed by Commissioner Zimmer dealing with extending Route 29 through Carroll county by relabeling a few existing highways... details can be found here. Could be an "out of the box" idea for obtaining federal highway funding but all of the ramifications need to be investigated.

Diversity in Eldersburg (and America)

Thought I would change up the posts a bit and focus on an issue that is near and dear to my heart. This issue is Diversity. In today’s Politically Correct Atmosphere, it is not discussed enough and when it is people typically focus on stereotypes.

This article entitled “The Face of Tomorrow” is provides a few good talking points.

“For all the platitudes about melting pots, mosaics, and rainbow coalitions, many regard the "browning" of America as a profoundly disturbing trend. Miscegenation is still regarded as culturally taboo on Main Street. As recently as 20 years ago, some states still had laws in place forbidding interracial marriage.”

As a member of an interracial/cultural marriage.. this really strikes home for me. It is amazing how that in today’s society, some people still focus on skin color. We have not experienced any real negative repercussions …. Though, once or twice when we paid a visit to a more culturally homogenous area (rural Pennsylvania) we were subject to a few stairs/comments. Thankfully, in our area and society, my experience has been that people comment more about the balding of one’s head then the color of their skin… and these comments are good natured …. I’ve found that losing one hair has not as dramatic as I feared it would be when I was younger… but that is a topic for a future post…

But back to the topic of this post… Though, I must admit that Eldersburg is not as diverse as I would like it to be, especially as my children grow and enter the school system. I wonder and hope that their backgrounds will not be a characteristic that separates them from their peers.

I don’t have any numbers on the breakdown of the local schools… perhaps someone else can track them down??

Hollywood appears to be embracing diversity, but are we as a culture? It seems to be the hot item in TV sitcoms and movies…

Results from Census 2000

Nearly 7 Million (2.4 percent) of Americans described themselves as multiracial in the 2000 Census.

Among Americans younger than 18, for example, 4.2 percent were multiracial, compared with 1.9 percent of adults.

Census officials claim that the number of interracial couples more than quadrupled between 1970 and 1995.

Among the 13 states where the Census Bureau has released detailed race information so far, multiracial populations range from less than 1 percent in Mississippi to 4.5 percent in Oklahoma.

Among big counties in those states, Fairfax and Prince William counties in Virginia were among the top 10 with their multiracial populations, about 4 percent.:

Thirty years ago, only one in every 100 children born in the United States was of mixed race. Today that number is one in 19. In states like California and Washington it's closer to one in 10 (Newsweek, May 8, 2000).

In 1997 Interface, a magazine which targets interracial couples conducted a poll, "Best & Worst Cities To Live," with its readers and found the top ten cities for interracial couples (ranked in order of preference):

1. Montclair, NJ

2. San Jose, CA

3. Denver, CO

4. San Diego, CA

5. Washington, DC

6. Seattle, WA

7. Minneapolis, MN

8. Madison, MN

9. Oakland, CA

10. Columbus, OH

***I concur with Washington DC being one of the best places to live for these couples. We moved from suburban Virginia and at least 40% of our friends were mixed couples of some type. It seems the for most in the younger generations, this is a non-issue…

Where do most people in Carroll and Howard Counties fall on this issue?

Power of the Sun

Interesting Article on how solar power has taken off on the West Coast.

" Soaring energy costs, environmental consciousness and financial incentives have combined to make solar panels part of the California housing landscape. "

"It comes down to personal responsibility," he said. "If I can go electricity-neutral on my house, that's that much less coal we have to burn."

Californians Bask In Solar Energy

I wish our state governments would show such forward thinking.

Green building in Columbia

An interesting discussion on Green Buildings can be found on a Columbia blog:

http://hocohayduke.blogspot.com/2007/01/seeing-green.html#links

The economic benefits of building green are starting to appear in the marketplace.

**thanks to Hayduke for the great post.

Main Street Eldersburg

A Proposed Development by Black Oak Associates called Main Street Eldersburg is to be located across from the old London Fog factory, behind Walmart.

“Main Street Eldersburg is a proposed lifestyle center in the fast-growing town of Eldersburg, MD. A sustainable multi-tenant retail development featuring the latest “green building” technologies, the project will utilize sustainable design and construction technologies to lessen the impact on the environment, save money for tenants, and create a healthy place to work and shop. The 83,000 square foot center will integrate attractive architecture with scalable energy-efficient systems. It is anticipated that the project will achieve LEED Silver certification, an award indicating a high level of environmental responsibility specified by the federal government.”

The LEED certification is a good sign as the building industry slowly embraces environmental friendly practices. Hope to see more “green” projects in the future.

What is LEED??

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.

More information on LEED can be found here: www.USGBC.org

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Black Oak Associates also owns the Carrolltown Center Mall which according to their website, is slated for redevelopment in the 2007/2008 timeframe. This can’t come soon enough as this center is in dire need of a visit with the wrecking ball. I’ll talk more about this center in detail on a later post…

Another Grocery Store???? - Freedom Plaza to Expand

Freedom Plaza to Expand: Eldersburg Eagle Article

We don't need another Grogercy Store..

***Don't have a problem with the expansion (it is relatively small), though hope something more useful goes into this vacant suite.

Happy Holidays

Hope everyone is having a great holiday season (Merry Christmas for me).

Just got back in town this evening from visiting family up in Pennsylvania. Was in a good mood until I was repeatedly cut-off, tail-gated and passed by people driving excessively fast. I myself sometimes have a heavy foot but try to be a patient and courteousness driver.

It is amazing how many people do not...

Are you an aggressive driver: Take a test to find out.

Train wreck exposes nature's beauty

There was a train derailment 4-5 miles from my house…

Details can be found here: Derailed train spurs evacuation

Luckily, a bad situation turned out well and nothing dangerous leaked from the derailed cars.

Watching the pictures and video on the news.. I was amazed by the beauty and majesty of the area at the derailment. It is a very short walk from an area I know well from the daily drive to work (Marriottsville road). Made me question what other natural wonders are just outside our doors and rarely see. I’m going to make a point to explore more of our community's less traveled and spend more time in nature’s beauty.

Lot’s of restaurants and nothing to eat…

Here in Eldersburg, we have a descent assortment of restaurants, though, very few chains. We do seem to have more than our quota of small Italian and Hibachi places, some are not too bad. The big news of the year seemed to be the addition of Panera.

Rumors are we will soon be getting a TGI Friday’s though I’ll believe it when I see it.

I personally would kill for an Olive Garden, a good Indian or Korean restaurant or a Vietnamese Pho place. If you haven’t tried, I highly recommend it. There is a pretty good Pho place in Elliott City in the same plaza as Babies R’ Us.

Kali Drive fiasco..

A summary of the development fight can be found here:

http://www.carrolltowneunited.org/history.html

it goes way back (over ten years) but basically it is a fight over a planned rental townhouse development between Liberty Road, Ridge Road, and Kali Drive. The basic problem here is that there has been no real planning of the development of Elderburg AND there has been no active community voice in the government. Two community groups have sprung up partly due to the Kali development fight.... both have had limited success..

Carrolltowne United

Freedom Area Citizen’s Council (FACC)

Currently, the developer (SDC) is only days/weeks away from breaking ground. All legal challenges have been over-ruled.

****My personal opinion on this development is neutral. I would rather see retail or mixed use development in this area, however, doesn’t see the dire consequences that the opponents of the development fear. This does show the need for a concerted review (planning and zoning) of the future of Eldersburg and Liberty Road. ****

What do we want to future of Eldersburg to be? Do we want/need a town center or should we continue to center development along Liberty Road?

On a side note, I attended an info session for the proposed re-development of downtown Columbia and heard the following statement.

"Columbia is turning into a suburb of Washington DC and Eldersburg is turning into a suburb of Columbia."

IS THIS TRUE??