A Historic Neighborhood in Baltimore, MD
On 10 February we had our Seton Hill Association General meeting from 7- 8 p.m. at the Visitor Center at St. Mary’s Spiritual Center & Historic Site. We had a great turnout!
Main agenda items were:
– State Center progress update
– Police update
– Draft 2015 Bicycle Master Plan
– Paca St parking lot overnight parking
– Healthy Neighborhood grant applications
Please let us know if you have any questions or comments by emailing us at president@setonhill.org.
UPDATE, 11 February 2015 –
The Bicycle Master Plan is open for comments from 2 February 2015 to 17 February 2015. It is posted on the DOT website.
Comments can be posted online or emailed to caitlin.doolin@baltimorecity.gov. If you would like to provide your feedback to the Seton Hill Association, we will pass along your comments.
Final adoption by Planning Commission by scheduled for 1 March 2015.
Here’s the part the effects Seton Hill:
Here’s some more background: Baltimore City Unveils New Bike Master Plan, 3 February 2015.
15 January 2015 –
According to the Baltimore Department of Transportation, “since the original Bicycle Master Plan was adopted in 2006, the City of Baltimore has created over 100 miles of on-street bikeways with 39 miles of off-road trails. Numerous ordinances and programs have been established to make Baltimore a better place to bike.”
Despite this progress, many would argue that Baltimore has been behind the curve with regards to bike lanes and a bike-friendly culture.
Baltimore City has heard the complaints and recommendations, and is pushing forward in their efforts to ensure the biking accessibility of Baltimore. As reported in the Baltimore Sun, “On Wednesday, the Board of Estimates approved spending about $300,000 to help pay for the project. Money from a federal program will cover the rest.”
On 28 January 2015, the Department of Transportation will host an open-house at the
Enoch Pratt Central Library Auditorium (400 Cathedral Street) from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. The Seton Hill Association will be there. Please submit comments and questions to us via president@setonhill.org.
If you’d like to read more about the issue, the Baltimore Sun just published a good article, “Lagging behind other cities, Baltimore moves toward better bike lanes“.
Happy New Year, Seton Hill! As we close the chapter on 2014, the Seton Hill Neighborhood Association takes a look at our successes over the past year and the challenges we will tackle in 2015. While Seton Hill is already a great place to live, we want to ensure we’re doing everything to can to make it even better.
Successes:
–Best Park: The Baltimore City Paper named our Saint Mary’s Park the 2014 Best Park in Baltimore in their annual Best of Baltimore edition. This honor is the result of not only strong neighborhood advocacy, but also the diligent and dedicated work of John Crimy, our Park Steward. John was hired by the Association to green, clean and improve our lovely historic park!
–French Fair: The 2014 French Fair was a great success this year, with more food options and vendors than ever. We also had an amazing line up of musicians, whose performances, as always, received great accolades!
–Bike Party: Seton Hill continues to partner with the Baltimore Bike Party to host their monthly fun, inclusive bike ride. The ride always begins at 6:30pm in Saint Mary’s Park on the last Friday of the month, bringing hundreds of people from all over Baltimore to our park for bike revelry.
Challenges:
– State Center: The proposed State Center redevelopment project, which will be incredibly positive for not only Seton Hill, but for neighbors to the North and West, is still in limbo. We will need to continue to fight for approval of this project with the incoming governor. It cannot be stressed enough how transformational this project will be, creating a vibrant new neighborhood with a full service high quality grocery store, restaurants and retail. We need to continue to put pressure on the decision makers to make this happen.
–Stalled WestSide Development: There is much potential in all the vacant office and retail properties located to our South and East – the so-called “Market Center” district desperately needs cohesive envisioned redevelopment. We will continue to partner with the Downtown Partnership and the Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC) to move that ideal into a reality.
–Lexington Market: The fresh food mecca that this venerable institution could become is both a frustration and a golden opportunity. The Association is working to push this to fruition.
–Saint Mary’s Park Steward: As well as being a great success for 2014, the Park Steward position is a challenge for the future. The Association was able to finance our park steward with grant money for the 2014 summer, however that money is about to run out. Two very generous donations have recently been received which has allowed us to extend the Park Steward into the winter season, however future funding will be a focus for the Association going forward.
–Parking Committee: Formed in 2013, the Parking Committee continues to work to assess and make recommendations regarding the the current Residential Permit Parking hours. This has been no small effort, and the continued dedication of this group is appreciated.
As you can tell, the Seton Hill Association works tirelessly to advocate for our small slice of Baltimore. We can’t do it without your assistance. If you aren’t a member, please join; if you are a member, thank you! If you would like to donate, that’s an option too!
The Seton Hill Association meets on a monthly basis, and we hope that you can join us. We have a number of fun events and volunteer opportunities throughout the year for anyone and everyone.
The first volunteer event will be a Saint Mary’s Park cleanup on Martin Luther King day, 19 January 2015, in cooperation with our friends at the University of Maryland Law School Student Bar Association. Hopefully the weather holds up – there are a number of areas around the park where we plan to work. We will be sending out more information as the date gets closer.
Thank you so much for all that you do. This neighborhood would not be the place it is without you as neighbors and community advocates.
Happy New Year!