Mountain Maryland Development Ideas? (Hagerstown, Cumberland: condos, home, private school)

[westsideboy]

Originally Posted by drs72

Okay, so I'm going to put an idea out here. Don't eat me alive, this is just me thinking out loud.

The arts presence in Cumberland is ever-increasing. Growing up, I remember seeing artists painting on Main Street in Frostburg quite often on our trips to the Tastee Freeze. Today, there are multiple art galleries in downtown Cumberland and artists seem to make up a healthy portion among the few who are actually still moving to the area, attracted here by the quality of life and stunning architecture. Cumberland has recently been ranked among the top 25 small town arts destinations in the country. With that being said, what about a MICA satellite campus? I don't know if this is even remotely plausible but, in my mind, it seems like a pretty good idea and would fit with the direction the town is going in. Thoughts?

It is not a dumb idea at all. One the city council member in Cumberland ran for office on the idea of attracting some higher education resources to Cumberland, to put in at either of the old hospitals. I was a little dubious of the idea since we already have a 2 year and 4 year college in the county. Something like MICA could work though.

[(-)]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

It is not a dumb idea at all. One the city council member in Cumberland ran for office on the idea of attracting some higher education resources to Cumberland, to put in at either of the old hospitals. I was a little dubious of the idea since we already have a 2 year and 4 year college in the county. Something like MICA could work though.

the only problem i see with that idea is that most people have devalued the arts and its importance to society. if it were up to me, i'd say cumberland should definitely play up it's whole Appalachia history. hell, if we are shooting for goals, i'd make it the Appalachia music/arts capital of the world. play up the whole Appalachia culture, food, history, music, fashion, etc. grants for artist, recording studios, etc. don't try to rebuild the entire car, just improve upon it. i think it's a good idea, i just think it will take progressive minded folks (politicians, local leaders) to pull it off.

[westsideboy]

Originally Posted by (-)

the only problem i see with that idea is that most people have devalued the arts and its importance to society. if it were up to me, i'd say cumberland should definitely play up it's whole Appalachia history. hell, if we are shooting for goals, i'd make it the Appalachia music/arts capital of the world. play up the whole Appalachia culture, food, history, music, fashion, etc. grants for artist, recording studios, etc. don't try to rebuild the entire car, just improve upon it. i think it's a good idea, i just think it will take progressive minded folks (politicians, local leaders) to pull it off.

All good ideas.

Western Maryland has a partner in this area is bluegrass musician Del McCoury. He puts on his big bluegrass festival (Delfest) in Allegany County every year and donates his time and money to help the community. It would great if this foothold would turn into recording studios, etc.

FSU also has an "Appalachian Festival" and as previously mentioned, Cumberland pushes the whole "arts town" thing very hard and has had some success in that realm, but that is not really Appalachian specific.

It would hard for a place in Maryland to be the "Appalachian capital of the world." Most Americans, heck even most Marylanders, probably don't even know that a part of our state has an Appalachian heritage. The amount of scholarly research down on Western Maryland in relation to Appalachian studies is obscenely low. Even the "experts" seem to rely almost exclusively on WV, NC, and KY. You are lucky to find maybe 3 or 4 references on Western Maryland in a 500 page book about Appalachia. One geographer went as far to include all of the WV counties surrounding Allegany and Garrett Counties as "core counties" of Appalachia, but didnt' include Allegany or Garrett. My guess is that he didn't even bother to look at Western Maryland.

Ok, diatribe over. If we can't be the capital of Appalachia, we can at least keep playing up the positives and natural beauty as you recommend.

[drs72]

There are beautiful historic buildings in the downtown area that are vacant or are occupied by very little that could totally support classrooms, dorms, etc. I could see MICA there before I could see them at Memorial Hospital. Imagine the vibrancy of Baltimore Street with an arts college downtown! Urban renewal would happen overnight. I agree that, while the art scene isn't Appalachian focused at this point, that would definitely be a good direction to try to move towards. I think there would be appeal in an Appalachian-geared campus. A development like this could put us on the map as the Asheville of Maryland or the Mid-Atlantic, so to speak (but smaller and with far superior architecture). And who better than a bunch of art professors to revitalize some of our Victorian housing stock?

[drs72]

Any idea how I would be able to bring this up with the powers that be??

[westsideboy]

Your man in Cumberland would be Dave Kaufmann, City Council member. He is one that is really pushing to get more higher education institutions in the area.

[Cruzincat]

I have an idea that could spark an increase in jobs in Western MD. It is very expensive to live in central MD right now. People retiring on a limited income are forced to look to other states to move to, in order to live on the reduced income. Nobody will consider Western MD right now because, while housing may be inexpensive relative to here, the other costs are still present, such as taxes.

If the MD state income taxes were reduced or eliminated for the retirees for a level of income that is still livable, you might keep people in MD. Right now Florida is hurting bad, but they would be in a lot worse shape except for the people in jobs servicing the retirees that live there. Many of them move there, more for the lower expenses and the fact that the services are there for them. This could be done for the two counties in Far western MD only. Then they could compete with PA and WV to keep people there.

[mrcountryboy]

Mount. airy west you developers shouldent mess with

[MDguy99]

Originally Posted by mrcountryboy

Mount. airy west you developers shouldent mess with

Well, I think they beat you to it. Frederick is little more than another Washington suburb nowadays.

[WashCoResident]

Maybe if Allegany County would elect Commissioners who could make sensible decisions it would not be the jobless and difficult to live in pit of Western MD. They are making students of eastern Allegany County go over an hour trip to school when they could go to the neighboring county's schools, Washington County, that are ten to thirty minutes away for students.