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Columbia Two-Point-Oh!

Thanks everyone for your well wishes about our personal situation.  We'll get through this!

So on the 22nd I went to the Columbia 2.0-sponsored get-together in Harper's Choice.  Several impressions:

1. It was my first "up close and personal" with other local bloggers, simply in the context of being fellow bloggers-- I didn't know Dennis was Wordbones and Dave was Hedgehog-- I know they blogged but not which blogs.  It's been several months and I'm still so dopey about this stuff.  Anyway, Dave, Dennis-- great to meet you and reconnect!

2. Dave Yungmann-- sorry we didn't get the chance to talk.  Sometime soon.

3. The dark-haired woman in the cream-colored blouse and gray slacks who was a hostess for the event-- pleasure meeting you, and I swear, my continuously blocking you was accidental!

OK, as to the event itself.  In a prior post I recall skepticism over whether or not Columbia 2.0 could mobilize young professionals and younger people in Columbia towards civic affairs.  With an attendance of about 60-75 people (my guess), skewing hard towards the late 20s-early 40s, I'd say they are off to a great start!  The event was held in a village center and was free, which made it very accessible to all.

I will also say that the "older generations" in Columbia are taking seriously what 2.0 has to say.  Several current, former, and should-have-been members of the CA board were in attendance, as well as a sprinkling of local activists and business leaders.  I did not notice a lot of minority attendance, though there was some.  Still, it was a great show of outreach.

The conversations I heard and participated in ranged from brainstorming about the path Columbia and Howard County must take in challenging financial times, to wholehearted assaults on the orthodoxy of our community's civic life.  It was vigorous discussion, but also, not rancorous or negative.  It was spirited discussion among friends, although many of the participants were not long-time acquaintances.  The conversations I participated in most deeply regarded two issues I care greatly about: ZRA 113 (they are for it) and the effectiveness of civic practices in Columbia (very skeptical).  Incidentally, at the event they were taking videos of any attendees who wished to testify on behalf of ZRA 113. 

I think the members of 2.0 recognize that civic activism doesn't occur two nights a month-- during resident speakout at the monthly CA board meeting and at the County Council's legislative hearing.  Theirs is a voice that is not quite yet at full throat, yet they are finding it and their event last week was a great step towards establishing it.  For one, I am glad to see them enter their voice into the fray.

Close to home

Well, I was going to write about the community doubleheader last Thursday-- my first experience with Columbia 2.0, followed up by the Planning Board hearing on everyone's fave, ZRA 113.  But, those will wait until the weekend.  Columbia and Howard County will still be here.

So I had a bit of a shock today.  My wife was laid off from her job.  She's worked in the biotech world for about the last 18 years.  But today she was called into the board room and told that "your skill set is no longer required here."  Quite charming (and yes, I've had to let people go before myself-- I grant it's never easy but I do try to show concern for people)

With her longevity at the job and loyalty to the company through what had been tough times, to be honest, although we knew that this was always a possibility, we were certainly unprepared for this news.  I guess there may not really be a way to prepare for it though.  But-- in fact it was probably her longevity that helped the decision to let her go, as, when she would have achieved 10 years of service there later this year, she would have been eligible for a higher level of benefits.  So from a cost standpoint, she became too expensive to keep, especially with comparable employees around the place.

Before anyone feels sorry for us, and certainly before I start to feel more sorry for my family, let me say-- we could be a lot worse off.  We have some resources to weather the storm and we're both blessed with having professional networks upon which to rely.  Her job is a specialized, skilled one but her skills are transferrable to a number of fields.  So whereas this stinks, it's not as bad as it could be, and my goodness, certainly not as bad as people are experiencing every day, even here in Howard County.

So although this is a setback, and a sudden one, it is not an ending by far.

People gotta park!

So the parking study in downtown Ellicott City found that a parking garage or additional lots are not needed there for three to ten years.  Although the need is probably on the shorter side of that window, the finding is likely accurate and shouldn't come as a surprise.

Don't get me wrong-- parking in downtown Ellicott City can be a mess, especially on weekend evenings and definitely during the holiday season.  During the holiday shopping season, on almost all weekend evenings and some weeknights, all the lots are overflowing to the point where cars are parking along Courthouse Drive, which then creates a dangerous situation of people walking along the side of a winding, poorly-lit road.

And that leads me to my second point-- parking in downtown can be really inconvenient.  To park in the lot behind the post office in order to go to dinner at say, Jordan's Steakhouse or Phoenix Emporium, you could have a 5-10 minute walk, a hilly one which, as my wife tells me, can really be a pain, especially in ice or snow, to a woman wearing heels!

But, while I acknowledge the need for more parking eventually, I have to ask the question: what are the goals for the additional parking?  Is it to relieve the congestion?  Is it to relieve the inconvenience?  Is it both or neither?

If to relieve the congestion, the problem still remains of bringing in many more cars into a street system that will only become much more congestion with more traffic?  Can anyone deny that Main St. is congested at times when the parking lots downtown are not?  This being the case, it would make sense to increase parking at downtown's periphery, which then doesn't solve the convenience issue.

If it's to relieve the convenience problem, then making the post office lot a garage makes sense.  However this doesn't completely solve the convenience issue (parking near the B&O Museum would also have to be enhanced) and it brings more traffic down to Main St.

My view is that the answer is to create additional parking at the periphery-- in the lot behind the old firehouse, at the courthouse, behind the museum, and in Oella-- and a shuttle system could be employed to drop off passengers downtown.  Such a system exists in Cooperstown, NY, which exists in a very similar environment to what is found in downtown Ellicott City-- a several block long main street, with very limited parking therein.

Tennis, anyone?

Very interesting article here in today's Sun about creating a regional tennis center at the Troy Hill Regional Park.  It's a good idea and something the county should pursue.

To summarize: to spur development of the park the county is considering a proposal by local tennis advocates for a privately-funded, 30-court indoor and outdoor tennis complex, which would cost $20 million.  The complex would include stadium seating for 2,000 spectators, so one could envision lower-level tournaments or exhibition matches possibly being held at the facility.

There are several reasons why this is a good idea.  First, as stated in the article, CA's and the county's current court capacity is not enough to fill the county's needs.  Second, with the location of the facility, it would also serve a regional market, including northern Anne Arundel and southwestern Baltimore Counties as well.  Third, it would be a destination for local youth and high school tennis teams from the region to practice and to play their matches.  Fourth, also as stated in the article, this sort of private-public financing arrangement is exactly the sort of thing the county should be striving for, given the current economy and recreation needs that are yet unmet.  And fifth, redevlopment along the route 1 corridor will be spurred by the establishment of destinations along route 1.  Bringing people from the surrounding area into Elkridge will be a benefit to existing businesses there.

 If there's a downside to this possibility, I don't see it.  I know that there is a desire for more "passive recreation" opportunities at local parks, such as the Blandair Regional Park.  But this area, bounded by I-95, MD 100, and US 1 begs for uses that can bring in visitors from all of Howard County, and beyond.  The infrastructure exists to serve the park and it's development should be pursued.