BOAA April 18 Meeting

Hello everyone,
This here’s a summary of the last meeting, more or less.

April 18th:

• -Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Security Square, Social Security Administration, I-70 Park-and-Ride.

o -Overview:
• -Above ground rail; Primarily commuter destinations- high traffic stops people just passing through.
• -Surrounded by Office Parks and Low Density Middle to Low Income Residential.

o -Discussion Subjects:

• Transfer as an event: do we attempt to make people more aware of their environment as they are passing through?
• Rainwater Gardens: There is a possibility to integrate rainwater drainage into gardens that define and enliven the spaces around a station.

• Community Empowerment: Is there room for local commercial opportunity at or near the stops?
• Street Vendors: Passes for street vendors? provides local employment, provides convenient impulse shopping for commuters, may or may not rely on built in community space.
• Mobile Farmer’s Markets: The nature of the light rail allows markets to “travel” from station to station on different days? Urban farming was also mentioned, integrating plots of land near the station or on station grounds to act as community gardens.

• Community Space: Will be necessary for any kind of event. Where are existing community spaces? Are they within a close walk?
• Integrated vs. Existing: Does community space need to be integrated, in part, into the stations? How do we inform the community about the events and encourage participation?

• Traffic Patterns: Rail is disruptive to automotive traffic, particularly left hand turns.
• Signage Solution: Signage is going to be important: how will people know when to stop, when to go?

• Construction Schedules: In addition: how are you going to inform people about closings and construction schedules. What roads are going to be congested?
• LED Bustops: One possibility would be incorporating LED panels into existing bus stops explaining closures, bus times.


• -Edmondson Village, Allendale, Rosemont, West Baltimore MARC
o -Overview:
• Primarily medium density residential destinations with light commercial along the boulevards. Above ground rail located along long, high capacity east-west roads.

o -Discussion Subjects:

• Security: Security is going to be a concern. Lighting, encouraging police presence and/or “blue light” surveillance could be parts of a solution.

• Construction and Community: How do we integrate the community and school age children into the construction process, aside from using them as forced labor?
• MICA and Schools: There is MICA involvement: they could be used to develop color schemes and stencils, which school kids could use either on specific areas of the stations or on the boards lining the construction.


• -Harlem Park, Poppleton, University Center, Charles Center
o -Overview:
•
o -Discussion Subjects:

• Disparate Green Spaces: Multiple green spaces scattered across the city. How do we unify them?
• Unified by landscaping and Replacement: Take empty lots and fill them in with green space, use landscaping to provide a sense of unity between the parks.


• -Inner Harbor, Inner Harbor East, Fells Point, Canton
o -Overview:
• Waterfront.
• Previously industrial.
• Now high density commercial and mixed use.
• Also: Historic and diverse neighborhoods which have undergone gentrification or are in the process of being gentrified.

o -Discussion Subjects:

• Promenade: Is there an existing waterfront-long promenade?
• Extended Promenade: Would it be possible to create one to encourage green transit and unify the waterfront? Either through greenway or boardwalk.

• Backlash: Will there be extensive backlash from some neighborhoods? How does one deal with the problem?
• Test Rail: Testing the rail system on a smaller section to show the viability of the system first.

• Tailings: tunnel tailings and runoff could be a potential environmental problem.
• Harbor Greenspace Creation: Creation of waterfront green spaces using mined tailings from the tunnel construction.

• Construction Mitigation: How do you mitigate construction effect in historic neighborhoods?
• Historic Façade: You could put on screening elements depicting historic Baltimore, showing things as they existed one hundred years ago.

• -Canton Crossing, Highlandtown, Bayview MARC, Bayview Campus
o -Overview:
• Already the site of intense proposed and constructed mixed use, transit oriented development.
• Like Fells point and Canton, storied and varied neighborhoods.

o -Discussion Subjects:

• Green Transit: How do we encourage other forms of green transit?
• Bike Sharing: “Share a bike” programs have been successful in other cities, installing them at red line stations would probably be a good idea.