Posts Tagged ‘Reservoir Hill’

MICA purchases prime building in Reservoir Hill

Posted by ameister on Monday, February 28th, 2011

The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) purchased the former “Parks and Recreation Railroad building” at 2560 Madison Avenue in Reservoir Hill on August 19, 2010 for $620,000. I just discovered the news of this potentially major neighborhood improvement. MICA currently plans to use the building for storage, but there are obviously a lot of other positive uses for this building that they might want to explore.

MICA is a major Baltimore institution that has a large development footprint in Bolton Hill. I am glad to see that they have jumped over North Avenue and decided to explore Reservoir Hill. In the past people have mentioned MICA as a potential future owner of the land that the Madison Park North housing project currently sits on. That rumor was just speculation and hope, but with the acquisition of the nearby 2560 Madison Avenue property we now see physical proof that MICA is willing to make a major real estate purchase north of North Avenue.

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Door to door energy scams in poor Baltimore neighborhoods

Posted by ameister on Thursday, December 16th, 2010

In the middle of the day on Friday my doorbell rang and I decided to answer it. The woman standing on my porch said something about “Low rates” and “BGE”. She said some more energy related scripted nonsense and I told her I was not interested. She insisted though and kept talking. Her badge said she was from the company MXenergy. I had enough of her and told her that “You are a scam knocking on my door in the middle of the day. Have a nice day.”

I googled MXenergy and found this link. They do not save you money. Real energy companies do not have to knock on doors with fast talking salespeople blabbering about your current energy provider and nebulous low rates. Beware.

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Madison Park North is one step closer to history

Posted by ameister on Friday, October 22nd, 2010

On Tuesday night at the Reservoir Hill Improvement Council’s anual meeting a neighbor of mine asked me about the status of the Madison Park North housing complex. At that point I had not heard what I am about to tell you.  The neighbor agreed with me when I said that the future disappearance of the Madison Park North housing complex will be the greatest thing ever to happen in this neighborhood. This neighborhood has been around for over one hundred years.

The official Baltimore Housing web site posted the following article on Tuesday: Crime Ridden Complex Loses Its License To Operate.  It says a lot about the situation when the city of Baltimore is willing to use such a harsh title and further elaborate on the problems in the article. The Baltimore Housing department is known to be quite timid when dealing with public housing issues. The city needs to be commended on its aggressive approach to the Madison Park North situation. Action should have been taken a long time ago, but at least they are finally getting down to business and attacking the situation.  The Baltimore Sun writes about the license revocation here.

For years the Reservoir Hill Improvement Council has been aware of the ridiculous activities that permeate from the Madison Park North housing complex.  They did not step up and properly complain about the situation. They did not want to offend any of the residents and they did not want to seem anti-poor.  Their silence allowed the complex to further deteriorate. Political correctness and anti-middle class conspiracy theories literally let visitors and residents of the Madison Park North housing complex get away with murder. It should come as no surprise that at last night’s Reservoir Hill Improvement Council annual meeting that Madison Park North was not brought up.  One longtime board member did find it necessary to award her first cousin (who was installed as director of the Reservoir Hill Improvement Council in 2009) with a “prestigious” achievement award.  You have to love the priorities of many Baltimore neighborhood associations.

Reservoir Hill and Baltimore are at a crossroad in their histories.  We can keep on making up meaningless awards, pretend everything is great, and create all sorts of conflicts of interests involving friends, family, power, and money, OR we can address our real problems,take real action, and solve them as quick as possible.

Good riddance to Madison Park North and the old way of running Baltimore.

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The truth about the Madison Park North complex and the hearing to close it down

Posted by ameister on Sunday, September 26th, 2010

On Wednesday the hearing to shut down the Madison Park North Housing complex started. Here is the the Sun’s article about the hearing. Make sure you check out the reader comments below the article.

On the Reservoir Hill Google group I found the following detailed summary of the hearing

“Hello everyone. I attended the MPN hearing or at least until I was so upset I had to leave. First, there was no mic in the room so it was very difficult to hear a lot of the testimony. The hearing started off with the mediator telling everyone that 7 HOURS had been requested for testimony and presenting the facts in the case. I could not believe it. The MPN attorneys went on and on about how MPN is being made the scapegoat for the entire city of Baltimore’s crime rate and that MPN is not really that bad. There was testimony by the Police commander for the central district. Some parts of his testimony were not audible because in the middle of it about 20 women from MPN came in to support their side. The MPN attorney to my mind actually by his cross examination did more to prove the point that the complex should be closed. However, this man went on and on about how the police should contact the management company and how often did they walk the complex to fight crime. He even stated that if the police would get the owner the apartment numbers for the drug dealers they would be evicted. He in fact mentioned that the DEA had given the owners of MPN a grant to put up the fence around the property because the drug dealing was so bad. (Did anyone else know about this?) I would think that if the DEA felt that crime and drugs were so bad why was this place allowed to stay open? I really was very intrigued that some many of the MPN residents should up some with children and were really rude during the hearing. There were also an assortment of ‘activists’ who also showed up to support the complex. There was a ‘minister’ who said that he was running for president of the NAACP who felt that the complex should not be closed and stated to me that he was going to work with the management of the complex to resolve the problems instead of working to close the complex… I was not amused by the Legal Aide attorneys that showed up to support the residents of the complex. They talked constantly during the hearing and even jeered the police commander several times during the cross examination. At noon time I left. The statement was made that if the hearing was not finished on the day of hearing it would be continued until the next day. I did talk to a reporter as I was leaving. I told her how unfair I thought the coverage had been in the Sun and that other residents in the community have lots to say about how MPN affects my quality of life.

I really feel from the start of this hearing that the community is a fight to get this closed. The RHIC (Reservoir Hill Improvement Council) of course took the easy way out and did not really seem to support the community. (At least to my mind.) I am interested in hearing what others who attended thought.”

I totally disagree with this quote in the Sun’s article about the hearing:

“The Reservoir Hill Improvement Council also asked that any redevelopment plans for the site — which comprises 44 buildings on North Avenue, just west of Park Avenue — include mixed- and low-income housing.”

WHY? The neighborhood is already packed with “low-income housing”. Why do we need ANY new housing when existing houses in our neighborhood can not sell? The “low-income housing” topic is something that is just brought up to make the GOOD LAW ABIDING RESIDENTS of Reservoir Hill appear to be racists and classists. Reservoir Hill residents are the VICTIMS of this monstrosity and the drug dealers are the pure criminals! What a messed up world we live in when things can be twisted around to appear otherwise.

There will not be mass homelessness when the complex is shut down. The people who legally live in the complex are basically wards of the state who will be taken care of by the state and transferred somewhere else. It’s a lie and joke to worry about their housing future. The numerous so-called men who DO NOT LIVE there and only visit to sell drugs and have sex will no longer have a safe haven. Are the activists worried about these so-called men? It will be a blessing to have these so-called men who should have never even been there in the first place far far away from Reservoir Hill.

Political correctness and concessions will only allow this putrid complex to exist another day. People need to speak the truth and not sugar coat the reckless and dangerous situation that exists in Reservoir Hill because of the Madison Park North Housing complex.

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Video of politicians speaking at the Madison-Park North closure press conference

Posted by ameister on Monday, August 23rd, 2010

On Tuesday the plague that is known as the Madison-Park North housing project became much closer to finally being eradicated.  After many years of torturing the good residents of Reservoir Hill our politicians have finally stepped up and put the pressure on the owner of this blight on society. The owner was given many opportunities to “make things right” but she did not and now she is about to be rightfully punished (although she will be able to sell the valuable land for millions of dollars). The Sun covers the full story here and provides an official list of complaints about the project (a copy of the revocation letter) here. You can read some of my past article that mention the housing project here and here.

The legendary Howard Fink recorded the press conference in the name of posterity and you can see all of our politicians ripping on the decrepit facility below:

http://www.vimeo.com/14251251

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Template for most Baltimore political speeches

Posted by ameister on Friday, August 6th, 2010

Tuesday night was “National Night Out” in Baltimore. I will compare this year’s event to last year’s event in a future article.  One Tuesday night I was reminded of how our politicians keep the masses happy. Many leaders and their representatives give very similar speeches no matter what event they are attending.

On Tuesday night Governor O’Malley sent a representative to the Reservoir Hill National Night Out celebration. When a community has a relatively minor and generic event like this you can not expect federal and high up state level elected officials to show up. They do send representatives to show that “they care”. I find these representatives to be incredibly predictable.

A political representative sent to a local event will usually be the same race of the majority of people in the area they are being sent to. Reservoir Hill is 94% Black so the Governor sent a black woman to our event. The representative will always talk about how their boss cares about the area and bring up something they did to help the area. They will then try to personalize their message. They always will say that the area is one of their favorites, that they are so happy to be visiting the area, mention the area’s name a few times in a overly positive light, and tell a story about how they personally spent time in the area as a youth and loved it so much. They sometimes will add how the politician they represent either once lived in the area or spent a lot of time in the area. They also may praise G-d a few times to endear themselves with the “Church” addicted part of the community.

After hearing these same speeches for years they become incredibly pathetic and predictable. The saddest part of these formulaic speeches is that they work! Most people love to hear their neighborhood praised and are proud when a leader’s representative claims some sort of personal connection to the area. Occasional fluff like this is all they need for political satisfaction. The same people get voted back into office and the cycle continues.

On a related note our mayor is currently in Asia taking part in a “leadership program”.

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A different species of urban sign spam invades Reservoir Hill

Posted by ameister on Monday, June 21st, 2010

A few months ago I wrote about the “We Buy Houses” signs that pollute Baltimore. “Investors” are not the only scam artists using this urban spam to promote their shady dealings. A few weeks ago on the Reservoir Hill Google group a neighbor posted about a “Bra sign” that was posted on the median in the middle of the last block of Eutaw Street. The neighbor was in her car and could not remove the sign. I decided to remove the sign from public property. Click on this small photo to see a larger photo of the sign:

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At least Bastien’s Foundations is not trying to hide their identity. They should be ashamed though. Why do they feel the need to plant a sign for their DC suburb based business in the middle of a residential neighborhood in Baltimore? I hope when people google Bastien’s Foundations that they find this story and realize they are dealing with an urban spammer and choose not to do business with them.

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Struggling neighborhoods need to welcome new responsible residents

Posted by ameister on Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

The above simple title seems like common sense, but because of rumors and distortions that common sense notion is not widely accepted in many areas of Baltimore.

In Baltimore there seems to be an underlying belief in certain communities that new residents who fix up their houses and take care of their properties only bring increased property taxes and displacement of longtime residents. Do not believe the hype and rumors. We desperately need new responsible residents in Baltimore.  The following is a post from the Reservoir Hill message board that sums up everything:

“In Reservoir Hill we have an incredibly high concentration of very unstable families that are confronting problems that we can’t even begin to understand.

Early teen drug use, early teen pregnancy, physical and sexual abuse of minors from the adult men who spend time in their homes. For many, the only person who enforces discipline or provides structure is the grandparent who is an infrequent presence in their lives. As much as we can hope that the school can provide some of these things, teachers need to teach lessons on math, science and English and American schools are not designed as a substitute for the family.

The best thing we can do for the children of Reservoir Hill is to bring more stable households this neighborhood. More citizens out walking around NOT carrying the black Linden-Liquor plastic bags, more parents who send their children to schools and participate in their education and most importantly more examples of good citizenship.

Schools can’t do that and American government isn’t designed to do that either, thank goodness. We only get that by having a healthy community with more stable households than unstable households. There are small pockets of stability in Reservoir Hill, but it’s not enough to turn the tide.”

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Affordable housing in Reservoir Hill thanks to the Recovery Act

Posted by ameister on Thursday, April 8th, 2010

Remember to check out the Charm City Current message board.

I usually am not a fan of anything pertaining to the federal “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009″. I am not a fan of any large federal government program because there is always corruption and insiders making huge profits off of the taxpayer. If the banks would have not been bailed out then they would have been forced to liquidate their assets and the housing market would have flooded. Prices would have dropped to record lows across the country and more people would be able to afford to be home owners. This did not happen and we have to deal with the reality on the ground.

The Federal Government created something called the “Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2” (NSP2).  The NSP2 program is going to provide money to help potential homeowners purchase homes (I believe most of them will be foreclosures or bank owned) in Reservoir Hill where I live. I do not know all the specifics (and the specifics really do not matter in this context), but Healthy Neighborhoods Inc. will be managing the funds that are designated for Reservoir Hill. This is a program that will be mostly consumer driven. Instead of a developer saying that he is going to fix up ten houses and then sell them, this program will allow potential homeowners to come to Healthy Neighborhoods and tell them that they are interested in a specific house.   The purchaser will not have to worry about a developer’s profit margin or tastes. If you have ever thought about moving to Reservoir Hill then you should seriously consider this incredibly unique opportunity. The houses are large and cheap, and the government is providing a substantial subsidy! Please contact the Reservoir Hill Neighborhood Association at reshill@reshill.net if you have any interest.

This story obviously hits very close to home for me. I can guarantee you that if you want to be an ‘Urban Homesteader” in Reservoir Hill that I will give you the necessary emotional support and advice whenever you need it. There is an entire network of people in this neighborhood who will eagerly support any new home owner occupant who is up for the Reservoir Hill Challenge. The amount of neighborhood stability that a new home owner occupant contributes by moving here and replacing an empty house is immeasurable.

Back in 2001 when I came up with the “Buy a Block” concept there were many people who could not grasp the idea of getting rid of the developer middleman and focusing on the individual home buyer. I stayed true to my beliefs and encouraged individuals to buy houses on the 2200 block of Linden. I knew that getting individual home owners into houses was much more efficient and helpful than getting developers’ hands on empty houses and leaving it up to them when and how much to sell the houses for. My block has substantially improved on many different levels since 2003 when I first moved in. On the 2200 and 2300 blocks of nearby Callow Avenue where a politically connected “developer” was awarded houses, the great majority of those houses are still empty and little has changed for the positive because of the use of the traditional development model. I have been told that if you want to start your own “buy a block” project in Reservoir Hill that all you have to do is gather up potential home owners, get them in touch with Healthy Neighborhoods, and select the houses and you too can end up with like-minded new individuals in an urban homesteading environment. You might even end up buying some of those houses that the “developer” controls on Callow!

The federal government is funding a project that allows individuals to replicate the idea behind my buy-a-block project. I definitely feel a sense of vindication. It’s unfortunate that the Baltimore power structure had to learn the hard way and did not adopt more creative urban rejuvenation models a few years ago.

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Video of the parts of Reservoir Hill that those in power do not want you to see

Posted by ameister on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

I live in Reservoir Hill. I love living here. The housing stock is incredible and the potential of the area is limitless. I have lived here for six interesting years. We have a major drug dealing problem that has yet to be properly addressed by the numerous funding organizations that pour money into projects in this neighborhood. We have city leaders who have used this area as a political tool and have sold us out to incompetent so-called developers. My video focuses on the parts of Reservoir Hill that politicians and the housing department will never mention. The world must know that the security concerns of this 94% black neighborhood have not been addressed when they simply could be handled with a redistribution of foundation money toward hiring an off-duty policeman to patrol our neighborhood. This is a simple solution which the various public and private “poverty pimps” of this city wish to avoid because it would mean potentially losing their money, their jobs, their power, and their elected offices. Foundations and leaders that are supposed to be helping our neighborhood need to wake up and do what they are paid to do instead of keeping a 94% black neighborhood dangerous because of their distorted morals and greed.  Enjoy the video:

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dixmitchsas

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