Baltimore and the northeast corridor (Reisterstown, Owings Mills: neighborhood, living in, airport)

[Infinite_heights77]

"The Baltimore subway as originally proposed back in the early 1960's was to be eight lines radiating in every direction from downtown, not one line."

*Interesting! I never knew this. So, the originally idea was to build an extensive subway system in Baltimore back in the 60's, but how did the city come up with this one line fits all BS?

Originally Posted by james777

"work to move DC further away" What?? My world view? What view, please explain as I am clueless.

Maybe your name should be Mr. Irrational.

I read the post about the mechanical limitations, and I believe it and understand it. However, I know that if Baltimore were a larger metro area, say the size of Chicago or Philadelphia, the train would stop in Baltimore as the number of riders would warrant a stop, regardless of the mechanical limitations. The one motivating factor behind any type of rail line is RIDERSHIP, not speed or scenery, or the wishes of some people who would like it to come to their small city. If they can't get the ridership, a rail line won't get built as it doesn't pay. This is true of all rail lines and even other types of public transportation such as bus lines and air routes. That is exactly why the Baltimore subway is so small compared to the DC subway. The Baltimore subway as originally proposed back in the early 1960's was to be eight lines radiating in every direction from downtown, not one line. The rest did not get built because of lack of riders. The one line that did get built was decided upon by the number of riders that would use the line, as all new or expanded rail lines are decided.

[P47P47]

Originally Posted by Infinite_heights77

"The Baltimore subway as originally proposed back in the early 1960's was to be eight lines radiating in every direction from downtown, not one line."

*Interesting! I never knew this. So, the originally idea was to build an extensive subway system in Baltimore back in the 60's, but how did the city come up with this one line fits all BS?

Six lines.

The main reason why the Baltimore Subway didn't get built as proposed is because residents along the old B&A RR line in Anne Arundel County complained so much about the subway bringing "crime" (insert anti-black slur of your choice here) into their neighborhoods that the County Council passed a resolution prohibiting the subway from being run into Anne Arundel County.

Once that happened, the U.S. Congress, who controlled the funding for the project, said that if the subway couldn't run between downtown Baltimore and the airport that served it (BWI, located in Anne Arundel County), they wouldn't provide funding for constructing the whole thing at once (without the southern leg), but would only let it be built one little piece at a time.

Phase 1 was Charles Center to Reisterstown Road Plaza. Phase 2 was Reisterstown Road Plaza to Owings Mills. Phase 3 was the "fishhook" to Hopkins.


Of course, once there were two new stadiums being built in the southern section of the downtown area, the AA Co. residents gave grudging permission for the Light Rail, although I still heard plenty of complaints about its coming, and continue to hear plenty of complaints about it now.

So now we're stuck with the ridiculous kluge of incompatible rolling stock that we have.

[cdmoore125]

Originally Posted by Infinite_heights77

"The Baltimore subway as originally proposed back in the early 1960's was to be eight lines radiating in every direction from downtown, not one line."

*Interesting! I never knew this. So, the originally idea was to build an extensive subway system in Baltimore back in the 60's, but how did the city come up with this one line fits all BS?

There are several posts in this forum on that.

[lanhvtnymd]

Originally Posted by P47P47

Six lines.

The main reason why the Baltimore Subway didn't get built as proposed is because residents along the old B&A RR line in Anne Arundel County complained so much about the subway bringing "crime" (insert anti-black slur of your choice here) into their neighborhoods that the County Council passed a resolution prohibiting the subway from being run into Anne Arundel County.

Once that happened, the U.S. Congress, who controlled the funding for the project, said that if the subway couldn't run between downtown Baltimore and the airport that served it (BWI, located in Anne Arundel County), they wouldn't provide funding for constructing the whole thing at once (without the southern leg), but would only let it be built one little piece at a time.

Phase 1 was Charles Center to Reisterstown Road Plaza. Phase 2 was Reisterstown Road Plaza to Owings Mills. Phase 3 was the "fishhook" to Hopkins.


Of course, once there were two new stadiums being built in the southern section of the downtown area, the AA Co. residents gave grudging permission for the Light Rail, although I still heard plenty of complaints about its coming, and continue to hear plenty of complaints about it now.

So now we're stuck with the ridiculous kluge of incompatible rolling stock that we have.

Wow. What a sad, pathetic little story. Now here we are, living with the stupid result of foolish decisions. It's sad. Baltimore could be much different today if they'd built that subway the way it was originally envisioned.

Thanks for sharing all the same.

[Infinite_heights77]

Well, could you provide a link?

Originally Posted by cdmoore125

There are several posts in this forum on that.

[Infinite_heights77]

Was it the elected officials in Baltimore at the time who messed up this transit system project?

Originally Posted by lanhvtnymd

Wow. What a sad, pathetic little story. Now here we are, living with the stupid result of foolish decisions. It's sad. Baltimore could be much different today if they'd built that subway the way it was originally envisioned.

Thanks for sharing all the same.

[tairos]

Originally Posted by lanhvtnymd

Wow. What a sad, pathetic little story. Now here we are, living with the stupid result of foolish decisions. It's sad. Baltimore could be much different today if they'd built that subway the way it was originally envisioned.

Thanks for sharing all the same.

A Baltimore that pushed out even more of its affluent taxpayers would indeed be "different."

[cdmoore125]

Originally Posted by Infinite_heights77

Well, could you provide a link?

Sure, I will spend my time searching for you.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/balti...have-been.html
http://www.city-data.com/forum/balti...baltimore.html

[lanhvtnymd]

Yes, certainly. Just how D.C., NYC, and Boston ended up. Blech.

[PurpleHaze1100]

Originally Posted by james777

"work to move DC further away" What?? My world view? What view, please explain as I am clueless.

Maybe your name should be Mr. Irrational.

I read the post about the mechanical limitations, and I believe it and understand it. However, I know that if Baltimore were a larger metro area, say the size of Chicago or Philadelphia, the train would stop in Baltimore as the number of riders would warrant a stop, regardless of the mechanical limitations. The one motivating factor behind any type of rail line is RIDERSHIP, not speed or scenery, or the wishes of some people who would like it to come to their small city. If they can't get the ridership, a rail line won't get built as it doesn't pay. This is true of all rail lines and even other types of public transportation such as bus lines and air routes. That is exactly why the Baltimore subway is so small compared to the DC subway. The Baltimore subway as originally proposed back in the early 1960's was to be eight lines radiating in every direction from downtown, not one line. The rest did not get built because of lack of riders. The one line that did get built was decided upon by the number of riders that would use the line, as all new or expanded rail lines are decided.

Wrong. The other eight lines weren't built because of a lack of riders? They weren't built because of the lack of funding available from the federal government at the time, also opposition from citizens in the suburbs of Baltimore who didn't like the idea of the subway connecting inner-city communities to the burbs for crime and safety reasons.