New Columbia Blogger

I discovered another Columbia blogger today. He left a comment on my The Big Picture post and I looked him up. Brian Dunn is a native Columbian and he started People Tree Films back in September. If you want to hear another generational voice (you will have to ask Jessie if he is a millennial or an Xer) on the future of Columbia you should check out his blog. I have added his blog to my blog links on the right.

Welcome People Tree Films. I'll tell Jessie to add you to the blogtail hour list.

Other Voices

The current issue of The Business Monthly is on the street. In the letters section there is a great letter from Caroline Sherman, a longtime Clary's Forest resident and local businesswoman. I generally agree with her views outlined in this letter.

Another letter in the Letters to the Editor section is from Mike Davis. Mike is also a longtime Columbia resident and practicing attorney who currently resides in Bryant Woods. Mike lays out the economic benefits of the Plaza tower condominiums. I don't believe enough enough has been written or said about the salient points he raises.

Of course the November The Business Monthly also features my favorite columnist.

The Big Picture

While Mama Wordbones is off having her whipped cocoa bath this morning at the Chocolate spa, I have a moment to share this final photo from the GGP presentation at Oakland this past Tuesday. This photo captures the “vision” in its entirety. Another key feature of this “vision” is a series of “commons” that create important connections. One common would link the Mall to the lakefront. Another would link the Symphony North area to the Mall and Symphony Woods. A third would extend Sterrett Place down through the woods to the lakefront. I believe a fourth one would create a promenade from LL Bean up through to Twin Rivers Road.

I caution that I may not have these exactly accurate. There was a lot of information imparted over a short period of time and I didn’t take notes. The best advice I can give is to attend one of the GGP sessions that are going to be held around town and see for yourself. I believe GGP is also planning an interactive website for this “vision”. As soon as I find out what the URL is I’ll link to it under the Links of Interest.

Now I have to go see how Mama Wordbones is doing.

More From The GGP Town Center Presentation.

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Yesterday at the GGP presentation on Town Center development I asked Doug Godine if I could take a few pictures of the schematic vision. He said go ahead so here’s another shot. This is the “vision” for the Crescent neighborhood. This would be primarily residences wrapping around Symphony Woods with office buildings lining the outside perimeter.

I’ll post another shot in the next day or so. Right now I’m ensconced at the Hotel Hershey with Mama Wordbones, a fruit and cheese plate and a bottle of red wine (its good for the heart ya know). More news later…

Coming Soon To A Meeting Near You

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This morning I attended a preview of General Growth Properties much anticipated vision for Columbia’s Town Center. Doug Godine, the General Manager of Columbia for GGP, took great pains to emphasize that this was not the final plan but a working plan that will evolve with input from all the stakeholders; the citizens of Columbia, Howard County Government, Columbia Association and even the State Highway Administration.

One of the key elements of GGP’s vision are two greenways that would eventually connect all the disparate parts of Town Center. Think of it as kind of a super pathway system designed to handle a high volume of pedestrian traffic. The inner ring would consist of a loop around the core of the Town Center. This greenway would be approximately 1.5 miles long. The outer ring would loop around the perimeter of the Town Center area and would be a little over three miles long.

GGP envisions four distinct neighborhoods. They are being identified as Warfield, Symphony North, The Crescent and the Lakefront. Each features a mix of uses but the bulk of the new office space would be in the Crescent while Warfield would be heavier on retail. All four areas would contain housing and all housing would be either condominiums or apartments. No town homes or single family homes are included in this preliminary vision.

A fellow blogger also attended and offered a very interesting suggestion on how to uniquely orient a new pedestrian promenade from the mall to the lakefront. I'll leave it to him to report on that. It was a real audience pleaser.

I really don’t want to steal anymore of GGP’s thunder here. Suffice it to say that I was impressed by the depth and breadth of this “vision”. GGP and it’s planners have developed a very enticing framework for the remaking of Town Center. If you are interested in Columbia you owe it to yourself to attend one of these information sessions that GGP will hosting around town in the coming months.

If you have followed the controversy over the Plaza and the rhetoric of groups like CoFoDoCo, you have heard what armchair planners think should be done. Now it is time to see what the professionals think should be done.

Scene This Week In...

I’ve kind of got this thing going on for clerks in Columbia. You may recall that last week it was Jo and Sheila at Orinico coffee shop. This week it’s Greg and Jessica at Trader Joe’s. I count myself among those who looked forward to the arrival of TJ’s. I for one think our fair town can support two of them. How about a TJ’s at Wilde Lake Village Green?

Anyway, Greg and Jessica were gracious enough to ham it up for my picture and so they now occupy this weeks Scene in Columbia.

As for my Ellicott City scene, most everyone I know refers to this guy as the Bubble Man. He holds court every weekend on the sidewalk in front of the Forget Me Not Factory on Main Street in downtown Ellicott City. On this particular day though he wasn’t waving any bubble wands. He was just greeting and talking to folks looking very Gandalf like and leaning on a thick wooden staff.

Build It And They Will Come...Hopefully

There was a commercial broker reception for the completion of 7021 Columbia Gateway Drive this afternoon. 7021 Columbia Gateway is a 104,000 square foot five story office building in the Columbia Gateway Corporate Community. This is a speculative office project developed by Orix Real Estate Equities in Chicago.

The leasing efforts for this building began in earnest the day the ground was broken in August of 2006. While it is not unusual for a building of this size to not have any leases signed at the time it is completed, it is far from comforting for the developer. Of particular concern is the fact that two more speculative office projects are now underway within sight of this building.

6811 Benjamin Franklin Drive is a 56,000 square foot two story building being developed by Columbia based Abrams Development Group. It is scheduled for completion by the end of the year. Just behind 6811 Benjamin Franklin is 6821 Benjamin Franklin which is also called Franklin Center. Franklin Center is a 200,000 square foot seven story office building being developed by The Trammel Crow Company out of Washington, DC. That works out to 360,000 square feet of new space with no tenants, so far. Of the three buildings, only Franklin Center is going for LEED Silver certification.

It is safe to assume that all three buildings are hoping to capitalize on the demand for space associated with BRAC at Fort Meade. It is too early to tell whether that demand will spread to Columbia Gateway, although there are several DOD contractors already located there.

As far as 7021 Columbia Gateway is concerned, the clock is certainly ticking.

TJ's Has Come To Town...Finally

Trader Joe's opened this past Friday in the Gateway Overlook Shopping Center. I have been a fan of this store since I first discovered one in Monterey California back in 1996. When I used to describe the store to my East Coast friends I called it a poor mans Sutton Place Gourmet. Of course that was back when Sutton Place Gourmet defined the specialty grocery market. Today that is a crowded category and SPG is now part of the Balduccis chain.

But I digress...

A couple of observations from their first weekend: 1) The place was packed but somehow the lines at the cashiers moved pretty fast. The cashiers actually seemed to like their jobs too, despite being jammed. 2) I noticed on my receipt that the store lists their address as Elkridge, even though they are on CPRA assessed land.

Trader Joe's is a fun place with a unique selection of foods and a certain energy that you don't find in your average chain store. The new store in Gateway Overlook does not have a liquor license though so you won't find "Two Buck Chuck" wines there.

General Blog Note

This is a kind of Saturday blog chore thing, you know, fixing things...cleaning things up and whatnot. From now on, Tales of Two Cities can now be accessed simply by using http://www.wordbones.com/.

The Plaza Tower Saga Continues

This mornings Sun paper contained two stories about the continuing saga of the Plaza condominium tower in Town Center. The first story reported that Councilperson Sigaty's proposed legislation Council Bill 63 and 64 will die after being tabled in the last council session. Apparrently Ms Sigaty counted noses and found she came up short of a majority needed to pass the bills. This speaks well for the wisdom of the other council members. Ms Sigaty's bills were simply an act of ill conceived political pandering to a vocal minority. The planning board saw this when they unanimously voted not to recommend this legislation. You can read their conclusions here and here and here to see for yourself.

The other story concerned the public hearings on the county's master plan for Town Center. While there is not much new news here it is still gratifying to see that the debate isn't being dominated by CoFoDoCo attempting to "speak for the people of Columbia."

I did not make it to last nights CA board of directors public hearing about downtown redevelopment. I got a hung up in the bar downstairs catching up with old friends after our little "blogtail hour." If anyone who did attend would like to share their observations, please do.

Stand Up And Be Counted

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Tonight the Columbia Association Board of Directors will hear testimony about the pro and cons of the Town Center development plans that Bring Back the Vision has supported. The Bring Back the Vision folks are hoping to get some younger residents to come and be recognized. They define young as anyone under 50 (ya gotta love that!).

That makes sense. The Town Center development will have it's greatest impact on those folks and therefore their input bears more weight, or it should anyway.

If you think your voice has not been heard so far in this debate over Columbia's future, please try and attend this evening. You don't have to testify. You can simply stand and be recognized when they ask for a show of support. The meeting will be held at 7:30 PM in the CA board room in the Columbia Association Building (Teachers Building) in Town Center.

Scene This Week In...

I dropped by the Orinoco coffee shop last week. I needed to check my email and I didn't want to run all the back to my office by the airport. I have resisted the temptation to get a Blackberry or a Treo. I find I can get along quite well with my laptop as long as I can find a good wireless hot spot. The Orinoco coffee shop on McGaw Road has become one of my favorites. The coffee is excellent as well, even though I have now been reduced to ordering the decaffeinated brew. It's that heart disease thing.

Anyway, after ordering my coffee I was given a gift bag of sample Orinico coffees. This is their way of celebrating their first year in business. That earned them my Scene in Columbia picture this week. Besides a picture of the very cute Orinico coffee ladies, Jo and Sheila, is a vast improvement over last weeks picture of the Costco gas station. The proprietor of this fine establishment is Juan Carlos (JC). He also makes the best Cuban sandwich in town. Congratulations Orinico!

For the Ellicott City Scene I dropped by the Patapsco Female Institute on Sarah's Lane in Ellicott City. A friend of mine told me that his daughter held her wedding there recently. I was surprised and intrigued so I thought I'd go up there for a look. It is really quite a lovely place and well worth a visit, particularly on a beautiful fall day.

Insiders Guide

I'm not sure how I missed this but this evening, as I was carving a pumpkin in the kitchen, my daughter pointed to a picture in the newspaper I was using to keep the pumpkin mess off the counter. (Mama Wordbones is kind of picky about that sort of thing.)

Anyway, Morgan points to a picture and says "There's the star store." That got my attention.

Lo and behold, she had pointed out a picture of Shoemakers Country store that accompanied a piece in the Sun called an Insiders Guide to Historic Ellicott City!

I'd certainly rather see that kind of story about Howard County rather than this one or this one.

Burying The Hatchet

Larry Carson reports in the Sun today that Ken Ulman has nominated his former political rival, Chris Merdon to head up the “new revenue authority.” The first major undertaking for the authority will be the construction of a much needed parking facility to serve the historic district of Ellicott City.

This speaks well for both men. It is not that often that we see this type of post election collaboration after what can be conservatively described as a nasty campaign. Nicely done!

Rain, Glorious Rain.

The sustenance of life has returned in earnest to Howard County. The trees, shrubs, lawns and wetlands are breathing a collective sign of relief.

Last night Mama Wordbones and I went to Clyde's for dinner. As we left the house, I grabbed an umbrella that was sitting by the garage door. When we got to Clyde's and I opened it for her I discovered that at least three of the support struts were broken and akimbo. We snuggled close under the remaining serviceable portion of the crippled umbrella and made our way to the restaurant. We laughed about the fact that we hadn't had much use for umbrellas in such a long time that we had forgotten that this one was in the garage because it was supposed to go into the trash.

We left it outside the door at Clyde's. Since it was still raining we thought someone might perhaps "borrow" it before we returned. It was still there when we finished dinner. It had stopped raining. We deposited it in a trash can by the hug statue on our way home.

I don't mind this weather at all.

Scene This Week In...

I stopped into the Costco Gas Station at the Gateway Exchange Shopping Center this week. In the time it takes to fill up my SUV I ran into Roger Caplan longtime Columbian and local PR impresario and Bob Shinski, longtime Columbian. We were all filling up on the cheapest gas in town. That inspired me to make the new and architecturally unimaginative gas station my "Scene This Week In Columbia" photo. I mean how often do you run into two different people you know when getting gas?

Anyway, I was inspired.

The Scene This Week in Ellicott City is a different perspective on the Howard County Circuit Court Building. I took the photo from College Avenue just above St. Pauls.

Support Your Local Farmer

Buy a local pumpkin!

In case you haven't picked up this years pumpkin yet please consider visiting a Howard County farm stand that has been in continuous family operation since 1922, Baughers Fruit and Vegetable Stand on New Cut Road (just off Montgomery Road) in Ellicott City. Mrs. Baugher has worked the stand for over 50 years while her husband has worked it for seventy years. They both can tell you a few stories of old Howard County.

The apples they sell are grown in the orchards behind the stand.

Baughers will close for the season on October 31st. It will reopen again the third week of June just as it has since 1922.

Hammer Time At Comcast

I ran across this story in today's Washington Post. Mona "The Hammer" Shaw is gets my vote for heroine of the day.

As I have written before, I dumped Comcast largely because their customer service infuriated me so much. So far, my experience with Verizon FIOS has been the exact opposite.

The thing is, this is nothing new. Customers have been telling Comcast that they have lousy customer service for years and yet they still don't change. There is even a website devoted to the subject.

I think I'll send Mona a contribution towards her fine.

Marketing Slogan or Lifestyle Philosophy

As I was making a quick pass through Town Center yesterday I chanced upon a gathering by the "Hug" statue at the Lakefront. It appeared to be a meeting of CoFoCoDo folks with some county officials. I couldn't stay long since I had a lunch appointment with a client but I was able to make some observations and listen to a couple of the speakers.

Lloyd Knowles made a statement that really resonated with me. He spoke of the early promise of Columbia being "The Next America" and indicated that he was concerned that the new plans for Town Center were going to make it more like the current America. That started me wondering about what exactly "The Next America" means.

Back in the early days of Columbia, the Exhibit Center building (now ironically home to the Plaza condominiums sales center) featured an exhibit on the vision of Columbia entitled "The Next America." Inside the exhibit center was a multi screened slide show and a model of what the future downtown of Columbia might look like. At the time, Town Center consisted of two buildings (Exhibit Center and Teachers Building). The American City Building was under construction. The slide show spoke of a town that would be an alternative to the strip development that was occurring along the suburban arteries leading out from the cities. The bad examples they used looked like the developments along Route 40.

The thing is, I don't recall that there was much detail given about what the future Town Center might look like aside from the model that showed much more density than anyone now would tolerate. To my recollection there was no discussion of height limits. The whole "Next America" focus was more about open space and walk ability. It reflected a time when most households had only one wage earner.

What struck me about Lloyd's words were his attempt to turn this marketing slogan into something much more. I am not certain what exactly he envisions a "Next America" to look like (and when does it stop being "next?"), but he seems passionate in wanting it.

My other observation was the make-up of the CoFoDoCo crowd. It numbered around forty people none of whom was under forty. Many seemed to be long time Columbians who yearned for the old days. They spoke of a vibrant Town Center they once knew with the Columbia Cinemas and the Rusty Scupper.

One other thing I heard that gave me pause was Cynthia Coyle talking about how she was opposed to any roadway running through the little plaza where the "hug" statue now sits. This comment struck me because I believe this area to be private property, not part of CA land in Town Center. It is akin to a neighbor standing on your property and telling everyone he doesn't like your driveway!

I wish I could have stayed for more but my appointment beckoned.

Blogs First Birthday

Today is the first anniversary of this blog. When I started this a year ago I wasn't really sure where I would go with it or whether I could post often enough to keep it relevant. One year later I have have obtained some clarity in direction (though it may not be readily obvious to the reader) and some consistency in posting.

I thank all of you who have read my words here and those of you who have felt compelled to share your views and comments, even those who strongly disagree with some of the things I post. I may not always respond to broadsides but I welcome them none the less.

To celebrate Blogs First Birthday, I have added a few new items such as the banner photos at the top of the page. I chose these two historical markers, one from Columbia and one from Ellicott City because I found a certain irony in each. First of all, the marker in the "new town" looks old while the marker in the old town looks new. The Ellicott Mills historic marker has it's own special irony. It is not even located in Ellicott City. This marker sits at the entrance into the community of Oella in Baltimore County.

The other new features are Scene This Week in Columbia and Scene This Week in Ellicott City. Taking inspiration from Hayduke with his One Daily(ish) Shot, I will endeavor to update these images every week. We'll see how that goes.

Fan Loyalty

Mama Wordbones and I have been shopping for a ceiling fan. After visiting various lighting showrooms and scouring the net we settled on a Monte Carlo Model 5AHR60 RBD. Fortunately for us, this particular model was offered at three Howard County retailers. We could choose between Annapolis Lighting, Industrial Lighting (AKA Lighting By Design) and Lowes.

Our first stop was Annapolis Lighting in Dobbin Center. I don't know what it is about this store but half the time I go there I encounter either rude or oddly indifferent salespeople. Other times they have been very helpful. This particular visit was a mix. Annapolis Lighting had our fan for $540.00 plus tax.

For our next quote we opted to call Industrial Lighting ((410) 796-5535) rather than visit the showroom. Industrial Lighting is located at 8325 Patuxent Range Road in the Baltimore Washington Industrial Park on Route 1 in Jessup. We spoke with Cynthia who happily gave us a quote over the phone. She would sell us the fan for $458.91 plus tax.

The final stop was the new Lowes store in Gateway Overlook. Lowes did not have the fan in stock but they told us that we could order it for $477.00 plus tax. Lowes heavily promotes the fact that they will match any competitors price and take the take an additional 10% off. That sounded like a great deal so we decided to test this policy. What we discovered is that Lowes will only give you that additional 10% off on items "in stock." Since our fan of choice would have to be ordered, they would only meet Industrial Lightings price. No additional 10%.

Since I was already in the store, ready to purchase this particular fan, I pushed. "If you give me that additional 10% I'll buy the fan from you right now."

Sorry was their response. Okay, in my book that gives the advantage to the local retailer which happened to be located less than 3.5 miles from Gateway Overlook.

I thanked them for their time, turned on my heal and headed on over to Cynthia at Industrial Lighting and purchased the fan. She was friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.

So, in this instance, the local merchant prevailed against the big box retailer in both price and service.

Business Person of the Year

Earl Arminger was recently named Business Person of the Year by the Howard County Chamber of Commerce. I can't think of a more worthy recipient. For those who think that developers are the root cause of all problems in Howard County, perhaps they should read this story from the Sun last week.

Congratulations Earl!

Heart Attack

A week ago last Saturday I had a heart attack. At the time I didn't even realize it was a heart attack. I was getting ready to go out for the evening and suddenly felt clammy and a little nausea. Then it passed.

Granted, I still didn't feel that great afterward but I can't say that I felt like I needed to go to the hospital. We decided to stay in for the evening. It was midnight before I decided that something was obviously wrong and that I needed help. In the emergency room I was told I had a heart attack.

I am sharing this information because until this event occurred, I had no idea what a heart attack felt like. Being a somewhat typical guy, I think I need to be unconscious or have a limb hanging on by a thread before I would consider going to the emergency room. I always thought a heart attack would "knock me to my knees." Mine didn't.

Time is the most critical factor in a heart attack. Delaying getting help results in heart muscle loss and as I now understand it, heart muscle loss is permanent. The good news for me was that the muscle loss was minimal.

I was lucky.

Now What?

It looks as if a compromise on the Plaza tower has fallen flat. According to this story in today's Sun, "a three hour meeting failed to produce a compromise...".

Not that I am surprised. I'm not sure how WCI can can make the tower shorter without incurring significant costs (loss of revenue from fewer units, re engineering the design, etc.) and according to the story Alan Klein "said he might reluctantly agree to consider a height up to 180 feet."

Some spirit of compromise, eh?

There were even some theatrics. Lloyd Knowles apparently walked out of the meeting to protest the fact that it was a closed door meeting. How very mature. Tell me Lloyd, how do you expect to get parties this far apart to come together in an open meeting?

Closed meetings are much better for hammering out compromises. They provide less opportunity for grandstanding than open meetings do.

And this notion that somehow General Growth should just go and buy the property back is ludicrous. Let's assume for a moment that WCI would even be willing to consider this (and there is no indication that they would). If I am WCI I want more than the land price back. I would want all of my costs so far covered as well including all legal fees, architectural and engineering fees, marketing fees and so on. I suspect that this makes any buy back cost prohibitive from the get go.

In my opinion, WCI should just go full speed ahead with construction with their already issued building permit. If the county council passes Mary Kay Sigaty's legislation and it becomes law WCI can then come back and sue the county for all of its costs and more. My money says WCI wins that one.

The taxpayers would be the losers. Thank you Alan Klien.

27 Hours In ICU

One of the truly great institutions in Howard County is the Howard County General Hospital. This past weekend I had the opportunity to experience first hand just how great HCGH is by spending 27 hours in the Intensive Care Unit on the third floor of the hospital.

I was also able to compare my experience at HCGH with the world renown Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. I was transferred there after my stint at HCGH. I spent another 27 hours at that institution.

First, let me say that I'm fine. I am now back in Ellicott City. The last few days however, were a bit chaotic.

The nurses and doctors at HCGH were some of the most compassionate and friendly professionals I have ever encountered. That is not to say that the Johns Hopkins people weren't professional and extremely competent, they were. There was just something more comfortable and congenial about the folks at HCGH. The ICU rooms even have windows which allow the bed confined to at least glance outside and experience sunrises and sunsets. The "set down" room at Hopkins had a window that looked out at other windows. It was too far from the bed to see out of anyway.

When you become immersed in the front line of the health care system like I was the past few days you gain a new perspective. My experience in both institutions reinforced my appreciation for how truly fortunate we are here in Howard County.

Sunday Paper Scan

Today's newspapers had a couple of interesting stories. The first story that caught my attention was the Political Notebook column by Larry Carson in the Sun. In "Columbia tower bills a source of differences" he pretty aptly summarizes the prevailing political winds swirling around Councilperson Sigaty's two pieces of anti tower legislation, Council Bills 63 and 64.

What really struck me though were the quotes from Alan Klein, spokesman for CoFoDoCo. Alan posed the rhetorical question of "Why should you vote in favor of these bills?" to the council members during last weeks public hearings on the bills.

Alan answered his own question. "The simple answer is that you said you would. Three of you, along with both major candidates for county executive and many of he candidates who were not elected, announced your support for height limits in Columbia that would include the proposed Plaza tower."

As Larry Carson pointed out none of the council members actually promised to vote for THIS legislation and, ironically, Alan's statement actually lends support to those who oppose this legislation.

Huh?

The very fact that that no candidate came out in support of the tower in the last election meant that pro tower voters had no clear choice of who to support. Most of us, myself included, were left to decide which candidates would use reasonable judgement when faced with legislation such as this. In my case, my councilperson is Courtney Watson and so far I have been impressed with her common sense approach to the issues. I hope she will dismiss these comments from Mr. Klein as just so much whining. "But mommy you said..."

The other Sunday paper story that resonated with me was in the Metro section of The Washington Post. In an article about a fence in the planned community of Montgomery Village Steve Hendrix explored the conflict over a security fence that has been erected between a neighborhood of "low income and subsidized townhouse" and its more affluent neighbors. Though the story did not deal directly with Columbia, it's central premise will be familiar to anyone in Columbia. The more affluent neighbors grow increasingly frustrated with trash and vandalism and seek to erect a barrier in what was previously open space.

The erection of the fence causes an uproar in the less affluent area and the neighbors then look to the courts to resolve their differences.

In the end though, the conflict has served as a catalyst for bringing neighbors together. As a result of this the neighbors may be able to get to the real root of the causes of the trash and vandalism problems rather than trying to put a fence around them.

Another Top 10 List

Dow Jones Marketwatch has come out with a list of the ten best cities for business in the US. The Washington, D.C. metro area was ranked number 7 while Baltimore came in well out of the top ten at number 34.

So where does that put good old Howard County?

Appropriately enough, somewhere in the middle.

The Marketwatch rankings were based on " the number of firms from the most recent Fortune 1000, S&P 500, Russell 2000 and Forbes list of 400 private companies based in its metro area. S&P 500 and Russell 2000 lists are as of Sept. 14. The same per-capita calculation was made on the numbers of small businesses -- companies with fewer than 500 employees -- in these metro regions."

They also considered job growth and unemployment. In this category the Washington DC metro area had no peer. "The region was the only one of all 50 metro areas to post a sub-3% unemployment average for the sample months."

The number one city on this list was Minneapolis-St. Paul. "The Twin Cities region has a high concentration of massive and diverse Fortune 1000 and S&P 500 companies. It also has a significant number of Forbes 400 private companies. Further, Minneapolis-St. Paul has a healthy array of up-and-coming companies on the Russell 2000 index. And it has more small businesses per capita than just about any other city. "

The number 50 city was New Orleans. "Not to kick a city when it's down, but the Big Easy probably would have made this list even if Hurricane Katrina hadn't struck two years ago. It just may not have been on the very bottom."

Plaza Tower Hearing

Last night the County Council held a public hearing on Councilperson Sigaty's legislation, ZRA-79 and ZRA-83. ZRA-79 is an effort to impose height limits on all new buildings in Town Center and ZRA-83 is a less than veiled effort to stop the construction of the Plaza residence tower being developed by WCI Communities in Town Center.

First, let me state that I did not attend the hearings last night. I really wanted to go and testify against this legislation but I was unable to do so for personal family reasons.

Anyway, I was happy to hear that there were plenty of folks who shared my view that this legislation is bad policy. Thanks to Dave Wissing at the Hedgehog Report, I was able to find out what transpired.

It was a good night for the voices of reason. It apparently was a bad night for Alan Klein.

"Even when Alan Klein tried to show the “overwhelming support” for the legislation by asking people to stand in support, only about a third of the room actually stood up,..."

The Ninja Cyclist

I have to admit that I was a bit floored when I found out that the Columbia Bicycle guy has a Facebook fan site with a thousand or so members. I've seen this guy all over Columbia. He has even been spotted in the county seat. Thanks to Jessie, I now have a name to attach to our prolific peddler. He is Athtar.

This, along with an anonymous comment posted on Hayduke's blog, got me thinking about Columbia's original prolific peddle pusher, the "Ninja Cyclist."

Around eight years or so ago I was hooked up with a local group of cyclists. We'd gather for a regular Sunday ride out on in western Howard County. We actually had a group name too. We called ourselves the Howard County Road Surfers.

Anyway...

After our rides we'd hang out for a bit and every once in awhile someone would bring up the Ninja cyclist. We had all seen the Ninja cyclist around not only Columbia but in Ellicott City as well. One time I saw NC standing against the inside guard rail at the merge of Route 29 and Route 40. That is not exactly a fun place to be on a bicycle.

Everyone agreed that NC was an accomplished rider and most of us had witnessed the black rider doing some very trick moves.

Rumors abounded. A bike mechanic at Princeton Sports told one of our group that NC was a transsexual. Another of our group said they heard that NC was a fashion designer.

Whether either of those two things are true or not I think it is safe to say that our NC is a little different. I once sat two stools away from NC at the bar in Clyde's. NC was dressed entirely in black. including a black baseball hat with a BMW logo. NC even wore black gloves while eating dinner. I attempted conversation but NC didn't exactly warm to me. Though I often have that effect on people I still suspect that NC is not as approachable as Athar.

I have not seen NC for some time now. I hope all is well. I consider this person to be part of our quirky local scene and I would be sad to find out if that is no longer so.

Thank you David...

In my post "Battle of the Broadbands" I shared some of my frustrations of migrating from Comcast internet service to Verizons new FIOS service. One of the comments to this post was from fellow HoCo blogger David Keelen. David wrote "If you ever have problems with your FiOS call me."

Well I had problems. In fact I emailed David that I was almost ready to go back to the "devil I knew" rather than "staying the course" with FIOS.

That was two days ago.

Yesterday a Verizon FIOS guy named James showed up at my door. James proceeded to delve into the gremlins that had beset the "House" computer in the basement. This is a computer that I keep just for my daughter and any guests that visit. It was not responding well to the divorce from Comcast. It had issues.

James was soon joined by another Verizon technician named Bill and the two of them worked for about two hours to isolate and fix the problem. I am happy to report that the house computer is now purring like a kitten and all is well. Thank you David. Thank you James. Thank you Bill.

This was a far cry from any service experience I ever had with Comcast. It was enough to convince me to stay the course.

I Just Looked Around & They're Gone...

Last Friday I decided to pick up some flowers for Mama Wordbones for the weekend. It wasn't any special occasion though she is still a bit frustrated with the FIOS/Comcast switch so in the back of my mind I probably thought it wouldn't hurt. I stopped into Howard County's oldest florist, Wilhides Flowers just off Old Columbia Road in Ellicott City. As I was paying for my Irish bells and Snap Dragons I made a comment about helping out my old buddy Lee Wilhide. I've known Lee since serving on the board of the Columbia Business Exchange with him about twenty some years ago. I even wrote a Valentines column once using Lee's front line observations.

"They've moved to Florida."

Huh?

It turns out that Lee and Bev Wilhide are no longer county residents. That is major news to me at least. Besides running the flower shops, Bev Wilhide also once served as Chuck Eckers Chief of Staff. Bev and Lee were a local institution.

Taken alone this news wouldn't have hit me so hard but right after picking up the flowers I drove down the hill to Annabell's on Main Street in Ellicott City to procure some wine. I parked in front of what once was "Oh My Word" , a calligraphy store. I say once was because last Friday the windows were covered up with brown paper. The owners of "Oh My Word" were Colette and Jimmy Roberts. Jimmy was the guy most often in the store. He and I go back to the early eighties when he managed a Rouse mall in Springfield, Massachusetts and I was his regional marketing director. I always enjoyed stopping in his store and trading banter with him about the goings on in our community.

Now the store is gone. There was no information posted on the door explaining where they went. I'll miss Jimmy. I only hope that he and Collette are fine. Maybe they are in Florida now too.

Bringing It Home

In all the rhetoric flying around about the Plaza Residences condominium tower in Town Center you seldom hear anything about the actual future residents of the building except in the abstract. The tower opposition forces have even gone so far as to imply that these future residents would not be in sync with Columbia's values (as they deem them to be). That is easy to do when you are dealing with an abstract but it is a little different when you replace that abstract with an actual person.

An actual person such as Gary Kaufman. Gary is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Micros Systems, Inc.. Micros is a local company. It was started by a guy named Tom Giannopoulus in his kitchen in Allview Estates. Today, it is a company with 4,100 employees with a 248,000 square foot corporate headquarters in Columbia Gateway Corporate Community. The company revenues last year were $679 million. It is truly a hometown success story.

Gary has a contract to buy a penthouse unit. He is not buying some large mansion outside of Columbia with a mammoth carbon footprint. He apparently wants to live in Columbia, close to his office. Not only should Columbia provide housing for guys like Gary, Columbia should applaud the fact that Gary wants to live in the town. His home grown company and it's headquarters in Gateway probably pump close to $100,000 per year into CA's coffers through the CPRA assessment.

Given the money that the CA is doling out to it's executive staff Columbia is going to need more guys like him as lien paying residents.

The Battle of the Broadbands

Just before I moved from my townhouse in Town Center, Verizon was digging up the neighborhood installing new fiber optic lines for their FIOS service. My neighbors and I applauded this development and looked forward to the day when we could all tell Comcast to stick it.

Ultimately, I moved to Ellicott City before the FIOS service was activated. In my new "hood" my choices for broadband were limited to Comcast and Ellicott City Cable Company. Let's just say that I never considered Ellicott City Cable Company to be a real choice even though the developer tried to make the service mandatory for all homeowners. I credit Ken Ulman for rectifying that situation. I believe it is one on the main reasons he did so well in what at least appears to be a predominately Republican neighborhood.

People may not be well informed on most issues but they sure as hell are informed about their cable service.

Anyway...

A year and a half later, Verizon has arrived on my street. Since I was chomping at the bit to drop Comcast, I jumped at the opportunity to switch to Verizon. Perhaps I jumped too fast.

It's not that I don't like the service. The FIOS broadband is fast. It is most noticeable when downloading videos. The FIOS TV is another story.

Verizon gives you three set top boxes at no additional charge. Comcast charges for each and every box. This would seem to give FIOS a huge advantage expect for the fact that with FIOS you need a box for virtually every TV in the house. With Comcast you can simply plug the coaxial cable into the back of the set and get 90 some channels. When you plug the FIOS cable directly into the TV you get about 20. FIOS claims you get 40 something but the reality is that many are duplicates (you get the NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox stations in both Washington and Baltimore).

Still, the savings are there. I figure that with Verizon I am saving about $40.00 a month over what I was paying for Comcast so that's a plus on the Verizon side.

On the negative side, Verizon had to dig a new trench from the street to the side of my house. This did not go over well with Mama Wordbones who has spent countless hours trying to keep our new front yard healthy and presentable. Why, she wanted to know, couldn't they have put that line in before the house was finished like Comcast and ECC did?

Another negative was the learning curve. While I consider myself an easy adapter of new technology Mama Wordbones is another story. She had finally mastered the TV remote with Comcast and now she was being forced to relearn how to find HGTV and the Today Show. She also was not pleased with having a new set top box on the kitchen counter (it has since been relocated).

So it is not so simple. For now we will forge ahead with FIOS because I am already knee deep in it. I will say that their customer service is terrific which is an adjective I never used for Comcast in my many years of being their customer. Other than that I am not yet convinced that, aside from the economics, the switch was worth it.

Belmont Stakes

The daily commute from my home takes me along winding tree shaded country roads like College Avenue, Ilchester and Landing Roads. I cruise along the perimeter of Patapsco State Park and past the Belmont Conference Center on Elibank Drive.

Normally I continue on through Elkridge and into the BWI Aerotropolis but today I turned down Elibank and made a fast left onto the private road that leads to the Belmont Conference Center.

It has been awhile since I've heard anything about Belmont which is surprising. The current occupant of the property and the private property owners adjacent to it have been butting heads for the past three years over the future of this picturesque and historic property. If you ever wanted to see what a Howard County estate looked like in the Revolutionary War years a trip to Belmont will reward your curiosity. The 82 acre estate is surrounded by the state park.

Belmont today is at a critical crossroad. The community college says that it needs to improve the property and facilities in order to make it economically sustainable. The trust folks point to a side deal with Chip Lundy that was originally part of the colleges acquisition agreement as an indication that the college can't be trusted to preserve the beauty and character of the estate and surrounding grounds.

After reading extensively through the pros and cons I am still unsure as to where I come out on this. On the one hand I think that nothing will satisfy the Save Belmont folks short of doing nothing while on the other hand I think the college has done an abysmal job of establishing trust that they will do the right thing with their stewardship of this local treasure.

Back In The Saddle

In case anyone was wondering why I hadn't posted or responded to comments last week it wasn't because I dropped off the face of the blogosphere like some other local blogger. I was actually on vacation in Florida and found myself without any Internet connectivity. I did suffer some initial withdrawal but that gave way to blissful relaxation as I settled into reading and morning runs on the beach.

The books of choice on this vacation were The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance by Ron Chernow and Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog by John Grogan. I am still working on the former but I finished the latter in two days. If you like dogs you will definitely enjoy Marley & Me.

I also read a very interesting story about immigration in the New York Times Magazine on August 5th. I have been meaning to write a post on the face of immigration in Howard County but I don't think I could do a better job of capturing the essence of this debate than Alex Kotlowitz did in Our Town. A great and important read.

The best news on my return was the story in the Sun yesterday about the Plaza Residences beginning construction. All I can say is that is about time. It is no surprise that Mary Kay Sigaty is still pushing her legislation to stop this project but hopefully the rest of council will see the folly of this effort.

Ahh, it is good to be back.

No Big Deal

Ken Ulman's new environmental package recently adopted by the Howard County Council is great but in fact the marketplace was already out ahead of the government this time, at least as far as commercial real estate goes.

Approximately two years ago, the largest office developer in Howard County, Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT), committed to making all of their new office projects LEED certified. Since COPT has such a dominant position in the market, their initiative has spurred all other local developers to get on board. Just last year, Manekin Corporation completed their new headquarters building in Columbia Gateway Corporate Community attaining a LEED Silver designation.

Prior to this legislation being introduced, my own firm was already working on making its newest office development in Emerson a LEED certified building.

Since this has become such a hot topic, I have decided to launch yet another blog dedicated exclusively to the development of this building. In this blog I will share my insider observations about the process of building and leasing a green building in Howard County.

Ironic Twist

It's somewhat comforting to me when a chain restaurant gets replaced with a local establishment and that is exactly what is happening at the site of the former Bennigan's at Snowden River Parkway and Waterloo Road in Columbia.

Bennigan's local franchisee, Next Shift, unceremoniously shuttered the restaurant this spring. It is hard to imagine how a national chain could manage to screw up a location as good as this but they did. The food just wasn't very good. A group of local investors have purchased the property and are in the process of converting the building into an "upscale hamburger joint" named Victoria's. I heard they will have a pretty nice wine selection as well. On the other hand this twist of fate really isn't all that surprising. Many times the second restaurant in a new location enjoys far greater success than the original. The site has some "additional capacity" so the developers are planning some new retail space to go along with their restaurant venture.

For more on locally owned restaurants check out HocoLoco Girl. Jessie is doing a pretty good job of showcasing the non chain scene in Howard County.

Prius Politics

A developer friend of mine called me from the beach today. He related how it was nice to have time to truly read the newspaper while you are on vacation. Today, for instance, he told me that he spent some time with the editorial page of the Washington Post. It was there that he ran across "Prius Politics" by Robert J. Samuelson. He said it was quite apropos given all the green initiatives popping up not only here in Howard County but across the nation too. It's a great read and an important perspective.

SOLD!

All of the homes on Seaward Court are sold. Seaward is a new street in the new community of Taylor Village just outside the historic district (less than a mile) of Ellicott City.

I think it's Seaward Court anyway, what else could the "CL" represent?

Okay, so there are only seven homes on Seaward but they are all brand spanking new.Just around the corner on yet another new street, people are even buying homes yet to be built.

With the slump in housing nationally, Ellicott City must be an anomaly. It is amazing to me yet not all that surprising when you think of it. This is a good place to live.

The Momentum Is Building

The Bring Back the Vision group has amassed over 187 signatures to their statement to the County Council. What is particularly interesting to me are the names of the people who have signed on. This group includes some of the most active volunteers in our community, people who have given both their time and their treasure to making Columbia a better place to live.

You don't believe it?

Check out their new website http://www.bringbackthevision.org/ and see for yourself. What you won't find are pandering politicians. What you will find are people whose actions speak louder than words.

Kudos To HoCo Pub Schools

This just in. Forbes magazine has recognized the Howard County Public School system as the 7th best "school district for the buck" in the country. The article and rankings appeared in the July issue of Forbes. As noted "Winners in this rating system are counties whose schools deliver high performance at low cost. The losers spend a lot of money and have little to show for it. "

Howard was bested by Montgomery county which was ranked 5th in the country. I hate it when Montgomery county beats us at this stuff. On the other hand I grew up with a lot of Montgomery county envy. Montgomery countians have always tended to look down their noses at us "country folks". God only knows why.

But I digress...

I have a daughter in the school system and I am very happy with the quality of education and individual attention she is receiving. Way to go Dr. Sydney L. Cousin and the 7,000 or so employees who make the darn thing tick.

The Party's Over

The final day of Columbia's 40 day fortieth birthday celebration was yesterday. The forty day party concluded with a reunion performance of the Young Columbians (they ain't so young anymore!) and a concert by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Although it was quite humid inside the pavilion it was still a great evening in Symphony Woods.

I remember back thirty years or so ago when the Young Columbians performed their show on a stage in the center court fountain of The Mall. They ended up taking the show on the road to many of the other Rouse malls around the country and even performed at The White House (I believe it was for Nixon). The reunion show bought back many memories. I admire the stamina of these now forty something young Columbians for giving it their all on a very warm night.

This morning there was an article about Columbia on it's fortieth birthday in the Washington Post. It is a pretty fair depiction of the current debate over the next forty years. The online version has a slide show with some great historical pictures. There is one showing the Town Center area with just the Teachers Building, the Exhibit Building and the American Cities building. This is what it looked like when I moved here.

It's Nice To See Everyone Getting Along

I have posted before about the parking challenges in the historic district of Ellicott City. I still believe that this is major impediment for the businesses and restaurants located there. I always feel like I won the lottery when I find a parking space at least relatively close to the place I am attempting to patronize. With this in mind I was heartened by this article in yesterdays Sun paper. It appears that there is now a bipartisan effort to address this very issue. It's nice to see that both parties are working together on a solution.

Postcard From The Redneck Riviera

I just got back from a week on the Emerald Coast which is sometimes referred to as the "redneck riviera". In case you haven't heard of this place before it basically consists of the beach towns along the Florida Panhandle. The water is emerald green clear and the beaches are covered in pure white sand. It is the summer beach vacation of choice for folks living in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee and Arkansas. You don't run into many Marylanders there.

Just Drivin' Around

I cut out of work early today. I wasn't the only one either. The parking lot at my office building was half empty when I left. That's what happens when you get a holiday on Wednesday. It shoots the hell out of the remainder of the week.

I decided to run few errands before heading home. My first stop was at Petsmart in Snowden Square to reload on some dog food. As I pulled up I noticed the demolition/construction work going on in the old Best Buy space. In case you didn't know, this is going to be a new Filene's Basement. According to the hard hatted fellow I spoke with, they plan to be open this fall.

I then started to head for the mall but somewhere along the way I decided that I really didn't need to go to the mall so I decided to head back towards EC by taking the long way home. I often do this. This time my long way home route took me by the Blue Cow Cafe in Thunder Hill. I decided to drop in for a nice cold bottle of water.

Before I go any further, let me just say that I want to like this place. Today, however, I was struck by the amount of trash directly in front of the place. There was even a little pile that looked like someone did a little sweeping and then forgot to come back and pick it up. Did they suddenly get busy and had to abandon this clean up?

Apparently not so. I was the only customer and two young folks were behind the counter. They certainly didn't look very busy. No one seemed that concerned with how the front of the store looked. It's a shame and it reflects poorly on a place of business.

The bottled water in the cooler was room temperature too.

From Blue Cow I crossed back into EC territory stopping at the Watermont Pharmacy at the intersection of MD 104 & MD 103. This place is a throwback to the pharmacies of an earlier time. Still locally owned and operated, it is a treat to visit. Great folks too.

The front of store (including parking lot) was not immaculate but it was noticibly cleaner than my previous stop.

The bottled water was very cold too.

Bring Back The Vision Statement

Since these folks don't have a website (yet) I offered to post their statement for the County Council on this blog. If you agree with them, you can add your name by sending an email to Emily Lincoln. Emily informed me that as of yesterday, 150 county residents had signed on. A little civic activism seems an appropriate way to recognize this July 4th holiday.

Bring Back the Vision Statement
Submitted to Howard County Council
RE: Zoning Petitions ZRA-79 and ZRA-83

We the undersigned citizens of Howard County are members of Bring Back the Vision, a citizens group formed to support the thoughtful development of downtown Columbia, development in keeping with the realities of the 21st century, development that recognizes the inevitable growth and change that requires mixed-use, recycling land, green buildings, smart growth, market-driven business and citizen friendly density, housing appealing to those of moderate income and housing appealing to the wealthy.

Because of the convictions expressed above, we OPPOSE Zoning Petition ZRA-79 and Zoning Petition ZRA-83.

Zoning Petition ZRA-79 would limit building heights in Columbia to 150 feet until new Downtown Columbia zoning changes are adopted by the County Council. We OPPOSE this proposal for the following reasons:
· Height restrictions are not effective approaches to managing growth. Restrictions eliminate architectural flexibility and fine design while encouraging sameness
· A variety of building heights could include some taller buildings which by going "up" do not go "out" and leave more opportunity for green space and pedestrian access as opposed to restrictive height resulting in squat buildings that eat up land space.
· Restrictions deny the premise of Smart Growth which is to increase density where density exists thus preserving green space.
· Restrictive development and affordable housing are not compatible. Housing opportunities are limited and housing prices are driven upward.
· The coming decades will bring tremendous growth to this region. Howard County and Columbia must be prepared with a thoughtful approach to development resulting from creative flexibility, not restriction.

Zoning Petition ZRA-83 would create a clause that would retroactively affect cases under judicial review and cause them to be subject to Zoning Regulation changes. We OPPOSE this proposal for the following reasons:
· This zoning change, if enacted, would directly and negatively affect The Plaza Residences, a project already approved by the Planning Board in 2006 after ample opportunity was provided for public testimony. Enacting this proposal would result in a failure to build the Plaza as originally approved until such time, if ever, that a master plan for Columbia is completed.
· Predictability in the development process is absolutely essential to attracting high quality partners. Changing zoning regulations retroactively is poor business practice and the negative business climate created in Howard County by enacting this proposal could result in high quality development partners avoiding our community.
· Approved as a mixed-use project, The Plaza Residences becomes part of the solution for our city and county. It can create more open space thanks to its height and its plan, more housing opportunities for our aging population, more shops, galleries and pedestrian improvements. It can be the first step toward the distinctive town center that is Columbia's and Howard County's downtown.

More of Us vs Them...

We've got a good little debate running here since my last Us vs Them post. In the latest comment by "pzguru" responding to an earlier comment from Hayduke, pzguru asked "As far as I can tell, there seems to be more people opposed to the recreation of Town Center than those who support it. What empirical evidence are you using to support your consensus claim?"

Okay, I'm not quite certain what pzguru means by "people opposed to the recreation of Town Center" but I think he means Them.

I personally am all for recreation in Town Center. The more the better.

And I'm not alone. The numbers of people coming out in opposition to groups like CoFoDoCo are growing.

Remember the Us's had a late start.

In any event, the Bring Back the Vision group has already amassed 130 signatures of thier statement. They have accomplished this without any endorsements,(yet) from our elected officials or a website. I suspect many more people will sign up once they become aware of it.

The "empirical evidence" that pzguru has requested will soon be forthcoming.

And Yet Another New Columbia Blog...

Well, sort of new anyway. I stumbled across Cranky In Columbia today. The blog is described as "Columbia, Maryland residents share insightful comments and gripes about life in the suburbs stuck between Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC"

It is a witty, no holds barred acerbic commentary on life in Columbia. Not exactly Chamber of Commerce stuff but fun to read anyway.

Welcome.

Summer In The City

And meanwhile in Ellicott City...

If you want to get a taste of some "vibrant" city life close by, an evening in Ellicott City in the summer ain't bad. It's kind of like "vibrant lite."

Part that vibrancy is evident in a hidden gem and one of my favorite haunts, the Deck at CaCao Lane. It's up behind the restaurant on Main Street. You have to go through the front door, past the bar, under a low stone archway, up a narrow set of stone steps to an outdoor landing and then up a rather steep set of wooden steps to the Deck. As you reach the summit of this trek, breathing heavily, you are likely to encounter a young hostess/waitress who will find you a table. She is not likely to be out of breath. You can get in pretty good shape working up there.

It's a pretty neat spot. The decks are a little above the roof level of the main restaurant building. The seating area is nestled between some rather impressive rocks and trees. I actually like the menu up there better than the restaurant menu. It includes sandwiches and a few entrees. They also have a full tiki bar.

My only complaint is that they serve wine in plastic cups.

You can see across town to Saint Paul's church on the opposite hill and occasionally you'll hear the freight trains that pass through town along the Patapsco River below. I'm pretty sure that it is only open Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but ya might wanna call to check.

I'll be posting about some of my other favorite spots in the coming weeks.

Us vs Them Revisited

This post is a response to an anonymous comment I received from my first Us vs. Them post on June 15th. I meant to reply sooner but I got caught up in the festival and put this issue aside for a minute (or a day or two). This particular comment was from someone I shall henceforth refer to as being Anon 1:42.

Anon 1:42 gave what I thought was a well reasoned rebuttal to my contention that the anti tower folks embraced change while those who opposed the tower wanted to stop time.

As Anon 1:42 put it "those two dumbed-down buckets into which you're placing everyone who has participated do a disservice to the participants and the process".

I gotta tell ya, I like the "dumbed down buckets" metaphor.

Anon 1:42 went on to assert that; "To classify those who aren't willing to accept all proposals for changing the heart of Columbia as "wanting to stop time" is laughable."

Okay, I am guilty on both scores. Those were simply rhetorical grenades designed to draw attention to what is at stake here.

I do believe that we are engaged in a battle to influence that great unknowing or uninformed group of people who occupy the middle ground. I further believe that a very large percentage of Columbia residents don't really pay attention to what is going on.

I continually encounter people who haven't a clue about this issue. I talk to everybody. I've questioned complete strangers and others I am acquainted with. Some folks have lived in Columbia for a very long time and others are recent transplants. They all shared a common characteristic of having busy lives. Most of the people were unable to tell me who their County Councilperson was or who was their representative on the Columbia Council.

I readily submit that my little random sampling is exactly that, random and unscientific so that it may not be indicative of anything. On the other hand, I challenge anyone to try it out for themselves. Strike up a conversation with a stranger in a cafe or bar, ask them if they live in Columbia and then ask them if they are familiar with ZRA-79 or ZRA-83. If you work with them most will acknowledge that they heard something about a high rise condo that is going to be built in Town Center but that's about it.

So my point is that sometimes you have to throw a few of these rhetorical grenades around to get peoples attention. Since the anti tower / height restriction forces got out of the gate early and lined up all the politicians (who just so happened to be in a horse race of an election at the time), the forces of reason (ahem) needed to shout WAIT A MINUTE in order to get the debate a little more even sided. Because at the end of the day both sides need to convince and mobilize the great middle in order to advance their own interpretation of the "vision" for Columbia.

So call them "dumb buckets" if you will but I still believe that the majority of those in favor of ZRA-79 and ZRA-83 have a vision of a future Columbia that more resembles a middle class commune than that of a vibrant dynamic community.

Just my opinion of course.

Day Fourteen

I mentioned in a previous post that I would be giving an update last weekend about the Columbia Festival of the Arts as it enters its final week.

I lied.

So I'll attempt to make amends by giving that update tonight which is actually very appropriate since this is the only "dark" night of the entire eighteen day celebration.

Let's start with last evening. Barrage was the featured performance at the Rouse Theatre. This show continued a long tradition of fiddle/violin artists that have visited Columbia during the festival. Barrage is a high energy group that could exhaust you just watching them. Their music covered a variety of genres combined with their own high velocity approach to music. It was awesome.

If you haven't been there, the Rouse Theatre is deceptive from the outside. It looks like a fancy high school auditorium but it is much more than that. It is an intimate theatre (no more than 800 seats) with fine acoustics. You certainly get your moneys worth with a show there. There also isn't a bad seat in the house. Barrage rocked the house.

Still to come this week is MOMIX tomorrow night which is sold out; The Hampton ROCK String Quartet at the Belmont Conference Center on Thursday night (ticket includes dinner) with tickets still available; The Second City comedy troupe on Friday night at Rouse Theatre (tickets still available) and Squonk Opera on Saturday night to close the festival.

Squonk Opera is a doing a special musical just about Columbia. They have been in town for a few weeks interviewing Columbians and filming around town. It should be interesting. Tickets are also still available.

Returned Mail

I caught this story about cluster mailboxes on the front page of The Washington Post yesterday. It seems that the Postal Service's plan to expand the use of cluster type mailboxes in new single family home developments is meeting with some resistance from homeowners and developers.

I recall that these cluster mailboxes were one of the innovations that Rouse introduced into Columbia forty years ago which raises two questions.

What took the Postal service so long to expand this concept?

Why have people failed to embrace it?

Having grown up in Columbia I became acustomed to having my mail delivered to a neighborhood cluster box. It was no big deal and often provided many an impromtu meeting with my neighbors. In my new neighborhood in Ellicott City we have the standard mailbox in front of our house and I find that I miss my old cluster box.

Us vs Them

I attended the last public hearing of the Planning Board over the height restriction / anti WCI Tower zoning amendments proposed by Councilperson Mary Kay Sigaty. I testified in opposition.

It was a great place to observe the deep division in the community that the Town Center redevelopment has created, or at least has brought to the surface.

I am unashamedly biased of course but it sure seemed to me that those in favor of Councilperson Sigaty's legistlation are those who long for the Columbia of the past. They seemed generally uncomfortable with the idea of a new paradigm for Columbia.

Those who spoke in opposition to the proposed zoning amendments came off as the real visionaries. They voiced concern about how these actions would affect future generations and the continued success of the forty year old town.

Both sides are well meaning and passionate about their beliefs. One side wants to stop time and the other embraces change.

Returning From Spring Blog Break

Hello again.


For those of you who check in from time to time to see if there were any new posts, please accept my apologies for my recent absence. I've been busier than normal this spring living the life of a somewhat typical Howard Countian.


My first distraction was our extreme backyard makeover. When we built our new home last year we ended up with a drainage problem that left a portion of our backyard in permanent soggy status. We feared that if we left this unresolved, the Army Corps of Engineers would declare it a wetland. Our solution was to install a series of pipes and drains to move the water out to the street. We hid these waterworks underneath a flagstone patio and walkway. Midway through our water works project, we decided to go ahead and construct a screened room that would provide us some relief from the impending arrival of summer bugs.




In other words, the project quickly got out of hand.


I am happy to report that it is now complete and we are able to enjoy evening cocktails outside. It was also done in time for us to host my stepdaughters high school graduation party, which was another thing that distracted me from blogging.


Anyone who has had a kid graduate from high school lately knows of what I speak. It sure is different from when I matriculated from Wilde Lake High School back in 1973. Back then it was pretty much, "Congratulations, now go get a summer job."


Nowadays, it is an endless progression of awards dinners, parties, and even a public school baccalaureate (only one county high school still has one...can you guess?).


And as if that were not enough, we are also in the middle of the Columbia Festival of the Arts. I have the somewhat dubious honor of serving on the Board of Trustees of the festival which means I get to give lots of money and time (and manual labor lugging "doors" around) in return for the satisfaction of seeing the event succeed. Oh yeah, I also get a t-shirt.


It is a great festival though. While some may think of it only in terms of the LakeFest which was held last weekend, the festival actually runs from June 6th through June 23rd. So far this week I attended the production of True Colors, The 80's Musical and America (they were great) at the Rouse Theatre. Tonight we will be seeing Minnesota Dance Theatre with the Columbia Pro Cantare Chorus.


It's all good and the best part is that it is all right here in our backyard.


So that's where I've been. I'll update more stuff on the festival this weekend.

Going Public

Though I really don't take great pains to conceal my true identity, I do enjoy authoring my posts as wordbones. Taking on this blogger persona has been liberating in a sense

That being said, I've also enjoyed the opportunity to explore the connections with my community that the local blogging scene has afforded me. The dialogue and banter has mostly been good. Mostly being the key word here.

The problem is that not enough folks are tuned in. At least I don't think they are. It is hard to really gauge who is actually reading these community blogs beyond the usual suspects (numbersgirl, tomberkhouse, Jim Adams and so on). I strongly suspect that the majority of visitors just drop by for a quick scan and then move on. If your blog stirs up a little controversy with a post you are likely to get more visitors.

I further believe that more visitors and posters would be a good thing. The more folks we get involved in the dialogue the greater chance we have for understanding each other. Not necessarily agreeing with each other just having maybe a trace more empathy.

So, to further the cause of local community blogging in Howard County, I have decided to publicly out myself. I am going to do it in that other media known as print.

And you can play along too!

I am writing my column for June right now (working title is "I Am Wordbones"). If you want to put in your own two cents about the Howard County blog scene or this particular blog, post it here, anonymously or otherwise and I may use some of it in my piece. I do reserve the right to pick out what I want. Do it soon though. My deadline is this Wednesday night.

Last One Out...Turn Off The Lights

Last Wednesday the Howard County Economic Development Authority hosted it's 7th Howard County CORE Tour. This is an event that occurs every eighteen months and features a bus tour (three buses actually) of all the major commercial real estate projects in the county. Before boarding the buses, the 175 or so attendees were treated to breakfast at Maple Lawn.

The featured speaker for breakfast was Anirban Basu, the Chairman and CEO of the Sage Policy Group. Mr. Basu is an economist who analyzes national and local market trends and their potential impact. In this case he spoke about the economic health of Howard County as it relates to both our region and the nation. It should come as no surprise that he was generally bullish on on our prospects. He did express some concern about the number of proposed office projects in Northern Virginia (in excess of 16 million additional square feet) and the ability of that market to absorb all of that space. He suggested this may cause a spillover effect on office rents in the Maryland.

One of his more intriguing oberservations was his belief that Laurel and its environs is going to become an increasingly attractive market for homeowners and businesses in the coming years. This of course is largely due to it's location. Apparently he is not the only one to think this. The attendees were also given a handout with a Population Projection for the seven regional planning districts in Howard County that was recently (January 2007) put out by the Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning.

The Population Projection table broke down the seven regional planning areas (Cookesville, West Friendship, Ellicott City, Clarkesville, Columbia, Elkridge, and Laurel) and projected their populations out to the year 2030. The Columbia Regional Planning District is projected to peak at 99,573 in 2010 and will begin to actually decline after that. The table projects a Columbia population of 98,844 in 2020 and a further drop to 98,317 by 2030. At the same time, the population in the Laurel (Howard County portion) is projected to grow to 37,640 by 2010, 45,538 by 2020 and 48,662 by 2030.

A New Columbia Blog

A New Columbia Blog

Thanks to Jessie over at the Hometown Columbia blog, I have just been made aware of a new local blog called Columbia Talk.

Welcome!

It is always good to add another voice to the local blogging community.

John Waters Is Coming To Columbia

The "delightfully wicked genius" filmmaker John Waters is coming to Columbia on Friday, May 11th as part of this years Columbia Festival of the Arts. John Waters has produced and directed camp classics "Pink Flamingos", "Hairspray" and "Serial Mom." He will offer a humorous perspective on the inspirations for his works and other comments of growing up in Baltimore.

Actually, it is ironic that John Waters is coming to Columbia since much of his work is seen as a satire on suburban living. In fact he actually grew up in Lutherville so his suburban credentials are well earned.

The evening will include a formal dinner (catered by Linwoods) and cocktail reception and will be held in the Spear Center atop the General Growth building in Town Center. Tickets are still available. The cost is $150.00 per person. This evening is a fundraiser for the festival and the money raised will help support the many free programs in the festival like LakeFest.

In the interest of full disclosure I should mention that I serve on the Board of Directors of the festival. If you are interested in tickets for this event, please call the festival office at (410) 715-3044.

The actual festival runs from June 6th through June 23rd. The line up this year features just about something for everybody too. Please check out the website to see all that is coming. It is nice to have this caliber of world class arts and entertainment in our own backyard.