My walk in Cylburn Arboretum (Mayo: middle-class, condominium, mortgages)

[barante]

The intrepid Setting Sun Walkers today did the refurbished Cylburn Arboretum. But to add some distance to our walk, we first toured nearby Coldspring New Town, where I once lived.
Thanks to Mayor Sheila Dixon, the city spent a bundle on improving city parks. I cannot overstate how much better Cylburn is now. In fact, I cannot think of a more pleasant picnic destination than Cylburn, where there are enough benches and, of course, plenty of lawn space, amid rose gardens etc.
When you enter by car from Greenspring Avenue, you will see a brand-new visitors center on your right. It has maps plus restroom facilities. Anyway, well worth visiting. Plenty of parking.
I told my mates how impressed I was. They concurred.

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by barante

The intrepid Setting Sun Walkers today did the refurbished Cylburn Arboretum. But to add some distance to our walk, we first toured nearby Coldspring New Town, where I once lived.
Thanks to Mayor Sheila Dixon, the city spent a bundle on improving city parks. I cannot overstate how much better Cylburn is now. In fact, I cannot think of a more pleasant picnic destination than Cylburn, where there are enough benches and, of course, plenty of lawn space, amid rose gardens etc.
When you enter by car from Greenspring Avenue, you will see a brand-new visitors center on your right. It has maps plus restroom facilities. Anyway, well worth visiting. Plenty of parking.
I told my mates how impressed I was. They concurred.

What are your thoughts on Coldspring Newtown?? I think that it is one of the most underrated neighborhoods in the City..given its proximity to the light rail, Cylburn, 83/Downtown, and of course the acres of woods/parkland.. I think the area could use an infrastructure overhaul...i.e. streets, lights, etc.. but thats everywhere in baltimore

[barante]

I was No. 4 to move into Coldspring, when the development was first built. It was a city-sponsored attempt to retain middle-class families in the city or attract them here. All the units were subsidized and sold for below-market prices; mortgages ditto. Because it was brand-new and people bought into a concept, no one worried about race. As a result, Coldspring was integrated from the beginning and remains so today.
The minus-side of city financing -- and the plans being submitted to public and political scrutiny -- was that the units were small. Too small because families with children could not find anything larger than two bedrooms.
Designed by the Israeli architect Moshe Safdie, who had done a similar Habitat project for the Montreal Expo, Coldspring Stage 1 was to be just the beginning. A commercial core -- with a hotel, conference center and hillside houses -- was proposed but never built. That site now is occupied by Northern police station and the Loyola stadium.
I was single in those days and Coldspring worked wonderfully for me. I had an "upper maisonette," which had lots of levels and steps, but no problem at the time.
As I recall it (and I haven't gone through those documents for years), all decking plus roads were a condominium responsibility. Looking at the steps leading to Angelica Terrace, I saw some real deterioration of concrete this week. Expensive to fix.
I still visit a Coldspring resident at least once a year. Seems like a place that works. Intriguingly, many socio-economic indicators are different in the adjoinign Woodlands development. Whether rowhouses or single-family homes, Woodlands units look like regular suburbia. It is 98 percent African-American, in contrast to a balanced mix in Stage 1.