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Cunninghams_right t1_j9wirtp wrote

all of our transit, then and now with the red line, is "boomer transit" designed to connect suburbs to a city, which just takes at face value the argument that everyone should live in suburbs and work in cities. the result of that attitude is why our city, like many in the US, has a problem with livability. we have county people choking traffic in the city with their daily commutes and somehow we keep kowtowing to the needs of non-city residents to the detriment of city residents.

transit should connect adequately within a city before it reaches out to the suburbs. our light rail is 30mi long. it would be far better to have 6 separate 5mi long lines blanketing the city, with bus routes feeding people into those light rail lines.

or more importantly, we have to reassess whether light rail even makes sense in the US. grade separation is the difference between functional and dysfunctional transit. you can look at every light rail line in the US and rank them best-to-worst and you'll find that the better they are, the more time they spend grade-separated. at-grade light rail is always shit in every US city because the US gives cars (often from the county) priority over everything else. a light rail could work well if we did like other countries do and have the lights automatically synch perfectly with the light rail (well, AND if transit agencies like MTA could hire and retain train drivers)

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Xanny t1_j9z2z3o wrote

Its an endless cycle. Transit sucks, only poors take transit, nobody with influence wants to build transit, transit sucks.

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S-Kunst t1_j9zonlv wrote

As a boomer, I agree , urban planners only looks at the needs in one way. The idea that the city needs to be the center of attention is wrong, was wrong 100 yrs ago. Back then, the car and trolley was making inroads on the city's need for being of central importance. Cities should have expanded their service base and made city offices more even spread through out its boundaries. This would have encouraged compliance with things like zoning and permits, as people would not have to run the evil gauntlet of getting through downtown traffic and competing for parking with the workers.

Additionally, our cities lost their purpose when the fed & state governments usurped city infrastructure and made them available to the suburbs.

Unlike Europe and northern cities, Southern cities never made investments in the suburbs, including rail travel, so bedroom communities like those found on the Philly "Main Line" were not built. In those areas, people 20-30 miles outside of a city have no problem using train travel to get to work.

Lastly I think forming new "towns" or settlements, in the surrounding counties, are easier to insert good public transit than trying to re-fit extant urbanized areas, though it needs to be planned and not left to the developers to ignore, as we have seen in the formation of Crofton, and currently in Middle River & Belcampe.

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Cunninghams_right t1_j9zqy3b wrote

>The idea that the city needs to be the center of attention is wrong

spoken like a true boomer. if you look around the world at the locations where the planning is optimal, they focus on the city center first. this is not disputable, but for some reason boomers can't understand that things like density, or location of services, matter when it comes to transit.

>Lastly I think forming new "towns" or settlements, in the surrounding counties, are easier to insert good public transit than trying to re-fit extant urbanized areas

not even remotely true. if you're talking purely about building the transit line, then sure. but if you're talking about the number of people served by the line per dollar, then you're not even close to correct. moreover, your claim would only be true if tax/subsidy structure was such that new development was forced to either be along existing lines or to build new connections and not be spread-out mono-zoning.

you couldn't be further from correct on all measures. your way of thinking is why transit in the US is broken and why cities are not livable and are choked with car traffic.

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TheCaptainDamnIt t1_j9uwii8 wrote

>Comments about the “the transient nature” of apartment living are revealing, as is the exclusionary notion of trains and apartments bringing “riffraff” from the city

Ahh stay classy suburbanites stay classy.

Also that area is fucking filled with apartments already, but I guess the 'right' kind of people live in those...

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QuickBenjamin t1_j9v2cdr wrote

If nextdoor has taught me anything certain people can live in the most remote part of the county and still never, ever feel safe if there's even so much as a rumor of a crime in the area.

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dizzy_centrifuge t1_j9vvbzd wrote

Haha not at all. I moved to Cockeysville at the start of freshman year hs. We were poor and the complexes seemed nice but it was a lot of section 8 housing. Don't get me wrong it's nowhere near a ghetto but I had a gun pulled on me for the first time in those apartments. I'd say there are about 8 apartment communities clustered there around DHS and they're clustered there so they contain everyone to that one area

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S-Kunst t1_j9uybq0 wrote

This type of negative mindset comes from people who like a 6 lane raceway, with chain commercial box stores up against that roadway, and cardboard houses behind the commercial blight. No building in Lutherville, built in the last 110+ yrs has artistic merit. All those "educated people" and not an artistic one in the bunch.

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wave-garden t1_j9yf9vo wrote

Lol you basically just described everything I experienced with this area growing up in the 90s. I lived in Parkville but went to school in Towson with mostly Lutherville/Timonium people. It’s amazing how many of them grew up and never left and now have the same lack of imagination as their parents. It’s kind of the grand tradition of Baltimore county going way back to the white flight of the 60s.

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ltong1009 t1_j9ulypm wrote

Nimbys at it again

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FightTomorrow t1_j9vro2a wrote

I’m not a fan of overdevelopment — specifically destroying green or wooded areas to put up houses that most people in that area can’t afford — but I don’t see the problem with this? They don’t like apartments? Let’s call them “medium term condos” or something.

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Ghoghogol t1_j9urg92 wrote

Article omits 800-car garage that’s part of the developer's TOD plan

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j_hess33 t1_j9w0je8 wrote

Which likely was included to design for if they dont get TOD approval. Would be nice to clarify that if true though!

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nored02 t1_j9yal3v wrote

Save the dead mall!!!! /s

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WendysNumber6 t1_j9zh8mn wrote

"when" aka "always at war with transit"

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CGF3 t1_j9w1xvv wrote

The bigger issue with this plan is that all the schools in the area are at or above capacity. Sticking hundreds more units (which no doubt will include at least SOME children) is going to overcrowd the schools even more.

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Cunninghams_right t1_j9waiyb wrote

100 units would add less than 1% to the population.

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CGF3 t1_j9yevmy wrote

To the population of what? BaltCo schools? The schools in this immediate area?

And so what? The line has to be drawn somewhere. Why not here and now?

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bmore t1_j9zq6b4 wrote

How many families with school aged kids do you think are gonna live in these studio and one bedroom apartments? Just curious.

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CGF3 t1_ja0q1pd wrote

Perhaps I missed where it says that these will exclusively be studio and one-bedroom apartments(?).

Because other articles I've seen about this same project did NOT indicate that they will be what you say.

However, even if they are studio and one-bedroom apartments, I'm sure there will be a decent amount od kids there. Given the often-griped-about expense of living in the Lutherville-Timonium area, if a relatively low income person or couple wants their kid to attend county schools (versus the crap shoot that are the city schools), where will such people live? Probably a small, affordable, apartment, which is exactly what these are billed as.

I don't care if it's African Americans, Latinos, Norwegians, etc. The schools are too crowded for this. Build more schools first, THEN projects like these.

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bmore t1_ja0xnpl wrote

Are you supportive of a tax increase to build more school capacity in the county?

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CGF3 t1_ja10qln wrote

I have voted for every possible increase in school/education funding on every referendum since I moved to the county.

However, as with the city (albeit to a lesser extent), govt school systems are black holes of tax money. People like Johnny O always promise new schools and then never deliver.

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baltGSP t1_j9wt17m wrote

Modern societies can build schools.

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getafterit123 t1_j9y7f3p wrote

First time in Balt County? Tell that to the students of Dulaney High or the multitude of other schools in the same condition

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[deleted] t1_j9wdif1 wrote

[deleted]

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okdiluted t1_j9wr69i wrote

i'm guessing you personally prefer and are capable of taking your car everywhere, but what about the elderly, the blind, the epileptic, and the many other groups of people who are unable to drive but need to get around? do they just not get to live in your town? (or if so, do they just have to be housebound or dependent on asking favors of people to get anywhere?) public transit gives people independence and access to their community, there should be much more of it everywhere.

also like, how is having to see a bus different than having to see constant car traffic, cmon

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[deleted] t1_j9y1bjc wrote

[deleted]

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Natty-Bones t1_j9yj1ws wrote

I am 1000% certain George Carlin would have punched you in the mouth if he had the opportunity. You are exactly the kind of person he detested to the core of his being.

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[deleted] t1_j9ykbxj wrote

[deleted]

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Natty-Bones t1_ja14m69 wrote

Nah, I'm just going to laugh at you. It's easy. Your comment history is basically a "I have a tiny penis" tell-all.

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sxswnxnw t1_j9yzayn wrote

So you support making public transportation policy based on a comedian's jokes?

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CrabmanIndustries t1_j9y93xi wrote

Never heard that one. I thought George Carlin said his favorite accident was two buses and a chicken truck.

He also said not to stop after a car accident, so maybe we can set aside his opinion on this topic.

https://youtu.be/awegoFDdChg

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[deleted] t1_j9yauwf wrote

[deleted]

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absolut696 t1_j9z1gid wrote

What situation have you been in in which that advice was helpful to you, much less qualify as among the best advice you’ve ever received?

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physicallyatherapist t1_j9zpz1q wrote

Since you said you previously have learned about systemic racism you should also look into how suburbs were created, why people fled the city in the past, and why people go against public transportation. I'll give you a hint: it's also racism. Hope you can also educate yourself with that as well, my dude

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DecayableBrick t1_j9viz04 wrote

The recent horrific Towson crime wave is not going to make the area more amenable to public transit.

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CrabmanIndustries t1_j9vs7ie wrote

I never understood these arguments. Yes those were horrible crimes and we should have police patrols on foot. But did the suspects enter and escape using public transit? Because if not, then it would be irrelevant right? People can come in and out of Towson, it is not the method of transportation that is the problem.

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DecayableBrick t1_j9wemp1 wrote

It is unknown how they arrived as least according to the news reports, but at least some of them have city addresses. Voting against more connections with the city is what the response will be.

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physicallyatherapist t1_j9zq6wy wrote

So then we should ban cars to be able to go in and leave the city since that's the most common transportation method?

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Cheomesh t1_j9vv2bh wrote

Man, criminals up there are so forward thinking - down here they all use cars.

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