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Ferndale is Hillbilly country! I expect a certain level of ignorant and boxed up racist thinking from that area. All those white trash barbarians from Brooklyn Park moved out to Ferndale, into bigger homes with the same archaic ways of behavior and thinking. You dress a wolf up in a dress..it is still a wolf!!!
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Originally Posted by P47P47
No.
My mother lives in Ferndale, within sight of the Light Rail tracks. I was living there when the Subway was built and worked for one of the sub-contractors on the project. I couldn't tell you how many times I heard "It'll bring [Anglo-Saxon term for sexual intercourse][anti-Black slur] out of the city." from people in the area. Sometimes they substituted "crime" for the ethnic slurs, but I heard the slurs enough to know that "crime" was just a synonym for the slurs for use when they were trying to be "polite".
I can tell you that there are plenty of really nice folks there, too.
But I was, and am STILL, appalled by the racist attitudes that I've witnessed there over the years. I was in 6th grade in fall of 1968, and in the mock election that we held, Wallace was the overwhelming winner.
I have heard this story from folks since I moved into the City. Do people (of whatever ethnic background) from the City who want to commit crimes actually ride the light rail out to Ferndale and all points in between to commit crimes? I know Hunt Valley may have seen a rise.. but its a shopping disrtict and thus a destination. Ferndale.. though it has a nice little "small town main street" I wouldnt imagine is a destination and thus would said folks spend time to ride all the way out there and walk around suburban style streets to break in to homes and what not and flee back to the train to escape? I believe Linthicum is the only community that I have heard that actually wanted to close their station because of this issue.. they instead got more MTA Police. Not saying that there is zero crime near light rail stations and that no criminal has never ever committed a crime and then escaped on the light rail.. just wonder if it was perception or reality now that it is in place.....
The answer to your question is yes, people do travel from their not so nice neighborhoods in the city to nicer neighborhoods in the suburbs to commit crime. A friend of mine and his wife are longtime residents of Timonium and they have mentioned several times how the crime rate increased markedly immediately after the light rail was built. In another area of the suburbs, friends of mine had their daughter's car stolen while it was parked in front of their house. It was not a fancy car, just a very basic economical small used car she used to commute to a local college and go to work. The police found the car in Southeast DC a month later when they ran random checks of license plates during a drug bust. The three men who stole it had driven out to the Baltimore suburbs with the intention of stealing a car and had tried several cars on that street before they stole that one. A quick look at the Baltimore County police blotters will give one a good idea of where many of the criminals come from.
Yeah... I think most people just assume crime would go up.. In some cases it may.. but mainly crime at the station itself.. as you mentioned someone waiting on a desolate platform for a train.. that person could become a target for an armed robbery especially for a transit savy mugger who know the train schedules or the peak hours of usage at a station.. Its less likely to be the burgular that steals the flat screen and rides it home on the rails.
Its interesting that when you think of Baltimore and transit related development.. it doesnt translate into "development" like it does in places like DC. Most of the Light Rail Stations (and subway for that matter) do not have major new development around them.. Owings Mills, State Center, Reistertown Plaza are popping up NOW.. and on the Light Rail Line you have State Center (proposed) and Westport(proposed)..Woodberry is probably the best example of new(er) development and to some degree Mt. Washington which was existing.... and almost nothing in the Counties other than say Hunt Valley which would have developed with or without the Light Rail Station. I guess the reason for this is that most people in Bmo still use their cars heavily (we are not at DC levels of gridlock), housing prices are more reasonable whether you are close to transit or not.. not to mention we dont have the same level of high dollar jobs which along with congestion would place a premium on developing next to transit stations.
This is why the Red Lines impact on development in the City is questionable. I can see development at the West Baltimore MARC Station and maybe at an "East Baltimore" EBDI Station near Hopkins because of the direct access to DC.. Stations North near Penn is slowly but surely moving forward.. they too have the DC access as well but there hasnt been an explosion of development UB notwithstanding... Thats not to say its not making progress.. but the progress is likely not due directly to the access to transit per se as it may be proximity to UB, MICA and it being a natural "overflow" area for Bolton Hill and Mt. Vernon and a good connection between these areas and Charles Village.
A very good post with some logical conclusions that would question the impact of the Red Line. Unfortunately, not only has development surrounding Baltimore's transit stations been sparse, it has also been government development, or heavily subsidized by the government, which is a characteristic of development in a undesirable area. The private development in the area of the Owings Mills station failed so the county government is building a new library and community college branch there to spur development. The State Center complex is all government, and the proposed new office/retail/residential complex there is heavily subsidized and pushed by the government. The only private development at the State Center and Cultural Center stations is the new Symphony House apartments and the renovation of an apartment building on Eutaw Street. Even the new office building at the Reisterstown Plaza station is all government offices. At many stations of both the subway and light rail lines, there has been no new development, private or government, whatsoever.
The answer to your question is yes, people do travel from their not so nice neighborhoods in the city to nicer neighborhoods in the suburbs to commit crime. A friend of mine and his wife are longtime residents of Timonium and they have mentioned several times how the crime rate increased markedly immediately after the light rail was built. In another area of the suburbs, friends of mine had their daughter's car stolen while it was parked in front of their house. It was not a fancy car, just a very basic economical small used car she used to commute to a local college and go to work. The police found the car in Southeast DC a month later when they ran random checks of license plates during a drug bust. The three men who stole it had driven out to the Baltimore suburbs with the intention of stealing a car and had tried several cars on that street before they stole that one. A quick look at the Baltimore County police blotters will give one a good idea of where many of the criminals come from.
So they must have drove or taken the B30 from DC to then take the lightrail to then steal the car?
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Originally Posted by james777
A very good post with some logical conclusions that would question the impact of the Red Line. Unfortunately, not only has development surrounding Baltimore's transit stations been sparse, it has also been government development, or heavily subsidized by the government, which is a characteristic of development in a undesirable area. The private development in the area of the Owings Mills station failed so the county government is building a new library and community college branch there to spur development. The State Center complex is all government, and the proposed new office/retail/residential complex there is heavily subsidized and pushed by the government. The only private development at the State Center and Cultural Center stations is the new Symphony House apartments and the renovation of an apartment building on Eutaw Street. Even the new office building at the Reisterstown Plaza station is all government offices. At many stations of both the subway and light rail lines, there has been no new development, private or government, whatsoever.
Sometimes government has to lead the way. It's not anathematic for the people, through their government, to invest in their communities prior to some private investor eying an opportunity for profit.
More on Baltimore's Subway System.. I am not sure that Baltimore would have ever had a subway system like say a NYC nor have been able to support one even in its hey day.. Look at Philly. It has one and a half subway lines.. The balance of its rail transit is made up of trolleys and an El train (which is an entirely different animal) Other than these systems.. the only rail support is provided by an extensive network of "suburban" trains.. whether its the SEPTA Regionals or the Norristown to 69th Street Highspeed Lines. Even most of the Trolleys and Subway Surface lines run outside of the City Limits. PHilly is larger and likely more dense than Baltimore at the height of the golden era of transit and only developed the level of subways that it has today.. though trolleys have certainly declined to its current level.
Baltimore HAD an extensive Trolley system which worked fairly effectively and lost it for a variety of reasons not unique to Baltimore. The Baltimore suburbs are not as dense or as far flung as the Philly suburbs and once the Beltway and highways were added.. that eliminated the desire to add/replace/keep rail from the suburbs to the City. Philly on the other hand suburbs extend further and densely populated and you couldnt build a beltway or inner city highway beyond what they had thus keeping SEPTA well in business for commuters unless you want to spend your life at a slow crawl on the Penn Turnpike or the "Skull Kill" Expressway. Thus they were able to keep most of their railroads that feed into their existing subway/trolley system which kept these systems viable as part of a larger network of transit
More on Baltimore's Subway System.. I am not sure that Baltimore would have ever had a subway system like say a NYC nor have been able to support one even in its hey day.. Look at Philly. It has one and a half subway lines.. The balance of its rail transit is made up of trolleys and an El train (which is an entirely different animal) Other than these systems.. the only rail support is provided by an extensive network of "suburban" trains.. whether its the SEPTA Regionals or the Norristown to 69th Street Highspeed Lines. Even most of the Trolleys and Subway Surface lines run outside of the City Limits. PHilly is larger and likely more dense than Baltimore at the height of the golden era of transit and only developed the level of subways that it has today.. though trolleys have certainly declined to its current level.
Baltimore HAD an extensive Trolley system which worked fairly effectively and lost it for a variety of reasons not unique to Baltimore. The Baltimore suburbs are not as dense or as far flung as the Philly suburbs and once the Beltway and highways were added.. that eliminated the desire to add/replace/keep rail from the suburbs to the City. Philly on the other hand suburbs extend further and densely populated and you couldnt build a beltway or inner city highway beyond what they had thus keeping SEPTA well in business for commuters unless you want to spend your life at a slow crawl on the Penn Turnpike or the "Skull Kill" Expressway. Thus they were able to keep most of their railroads that feed into their existing subway/trolley system which kept these systems viable as part of a larger network of transit
Your right in that SEPTA's commuter rail lines cover the areas that are not served by subway. As far as the subway system is concerned, Philly technically has 4 subway lines, not one and a half. 3 of them are rapid transit and one is light rail.
Your right in that SEPTA's commuter rail lines cover the areas that are not served by subway. As far as the subway system is concerned, Philly technically has 4 subway lines, not one and a half. 3 of them are rapid transit and one is light rail.
We appreciate the update, but you did not include the trolleys on Girard Avenue in North Philly. I love the looks of those cars; I don't think they have updated them since the 1930's. The photo below of a Girard Avenue trolley was taken a month ago.
Places like Collingdale, Drexel Hill, Media are way out suburbs that can be reached by SEPTA's lines. When I was living in Philly, I could almost anywhere on that system from far off suburban places. I love Philly's trolley system and the El train (from Broad Street, 69th Street Station, and all points beyond). Philly's Regional Rail is an outstanding commuter service. Good, hardworking people and the conductors provide good customer service.
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Originally Posted by Woodlands
More on Baltimore's Subway System.. I am not sure that Baltimore would have ever had a subway system like say a NYC nor have been able to support one even in its hey day.. Look at Philly. It has one and a half subway lines.. The balance of its rail transit is made up of trolleys and an El train (which is an entirely different animal) Other than these systems.. the only rail support is provided by an extensive network of "suburban" trains.. whether its the SEPTA Regionals or the Norristown to 69th Street Highspeed Lines. Even most of the Trolleys and Subway Surface lines run outside of the City Limits. PHilly is larger and likely more dense than Baltimore at the height of the golden era of transit and only developed the level of subways that it has today.. though trolleys have certainly declined to its current level.
Baltimore HAD an extensive Trolley system which worked fairly effectively and lost it for a variety of reasons not unique to Baltimore. The Baltimore suburbs are not as dense or as far flung as the Philly suburbs and once the Beltway and highways were added.. that eliminated the desire to add/replace/keep rail from the suburbs to the City. Philly on the other hand suburbs extend further and densely populated and you couldnt build a beltway or inner city highway beyond what they had thus keeping SEPTA well in business for commuters unless you want to spend your life at a slow crawl on the Penn Turnpike or the "Skull Kill" Expressway. Thus they were able to keep most of their railroads that feed into their existing subway/trolley system which kept these systems viable as part of a larger network of transit
Ferndale, Glen Burnie, Pasadena (The Dena) has always been a hot bed of racism and white supremacy!
Quote:
Originally Posted by P47P47
I can tell you that there are plenty of really nice folks there, too.
But I was, and am STILL, appalled by the racist attitudes that I've witnessed there over the years. I was in 6th grade in fall of 1968, and in the mock election that we held, Wallace was the overwhelming winner.
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Not saying that there is zero crime near light rail stations and that no criminal has never ever committed a crime and then escaped on the light rail.. just wonder if it was perception or reality now that it is in place.....
