Ex Bob Evans site on Padonia Rd to be another storage unit facility

Submitted by adb1146 t3_zidcwy in baltimore

Update: Information was inaccurate. Latest as per the comments in this post is it is a car wash. Much better than a storage units.

Seriously shouldn’t there be a rule against this. This is the kind of development that kills neighborhoods. You would think a lot so close to a major interstate could attract more than a storage unit across from a storage unit. One wonders if the powers that be have even taken a course on modern urban planning. Believe me society needs green space and people. Not more concrete and storage units. Sad.

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tco9m5 t1_izrq46z wrote

I can't remember where I heard about this research but, if I remember correctly, new storage facility construction has a correlation with inflation rates and poverty rates rising. It seems that it tends to be a strong indicator of higher rates of folks either having to downsize their homes or of defaulting on their mortgages and having to move into rental properties, move in with relatives, and even becoming homeless entirely.

Basically, the more storage facilities you see popping up generally indicates that the percentage of our population who are going through financial hardships is increasing.

It's generally a pretty small percentage of storage unit patrons that are simply holding onto too much shit and mostly just folks storing the last of their possessions in the hopes that things will turn around and they'll be able to afford a home of their own again.

So folks should be upset for your reason and this one.

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S-Kunst t1_izru86u wrote

I think you are correct. I have a relative who was administrator for a small town in north county NY. Their town started to see applications to build Dollar stores (they already have one) At a meeting of small town administrators, a state reps said that when a town starts seeing Dollar stores pop up, it is a sign of economic distress for that area. It also is a red flag to potential investors that things are going down hill.

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Gitopia t1_izs5tec wrote

Dollar General is a small footprint Walmart. That town without enough room for Walmart can still be decimated :)

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tco9m5 t1_izsqy64 wrote

Yup. They also put pressure on regular grocery stores and can sometimes even apply enough pressure to force a grocery store to close up shop and thereby create a "food desert".

While there's certainly a place for dollar stores in a community, you know what they don't have? A produce section.

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S-Kunst t1_izv3g3v wrote

In some ways it is interesting to watch. Many in the county say the city is out of control and its people are bad and don't we in the county seem better? Look we have no decay. Then you drive around the county and see the remnants of the throw away communities, where the middle class has evacuated moving on to greener pastures, never helping to maintain what they have. Its a certain smugness to think that you are always on the winning team, when you actually have little input into the making of the place. Since the end of the 2nd war. New and "better neighborhoods are made by developers. People move in, then due to older generations dying off and their offspring moving on, that area becomes 2nd rate. Since the 2nd war true towns are no longer being minted. In their place are settlements with no feeling that the citizens will be there when the going gets tough. A true town provided safety, security, amenities. These new settlements offer amenities nothing else.

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U_Bahn t1_izsm650 wrote

They are also used for land investment purposes. A number of the large storage chains have restructured themselves as land holding companies. Makes sense. Buy land cheap, get steady income from storage rentals, and then sell land when/if prices go up.

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tco9m5 t1_izsphc8 wrote

I don't doubt that at all. I'm sure there's ROI calculations that go on to see if it makes sense to go that route.

Also, I don't see the storage unit companies as evildoers or necessarily predatory here. Sure, it can be argued that they're profiting off of the misfortunes of some of their customer but they're also providing a vital service that in some cases keeps folks from losing not only their home but also losing most of their possessions. and the fact that more storage facilities are being build drives down the cost to the consumer.

I don't see the building of storage unit facilities as a problem in most cases, but I do believe that when you see so many being built so rapidly, it's a symptom and indicator of a much larger economic issue.

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dopkick t1_izs9jmu wrote

> It's generally a pretty small percentage of storage unit patrons

I could see the correlation but I have my doubts that only a small number of people are using storage places because they have too much stuff.

In states with homes that generally have no basements (think FL, TX, etc) storage space is often at a premium. Combine this with the typical 1960's home size/design and you have basically zero storage, unless you don't put cars in the garage.

I also think a large number of people like to hoard, to some degree. I know my parents and several of their neighbors hang on to shit they could have tossed decades ago. "But what if I need it some day?" I will admit, I used to fall victim to this mindset and had a closet that was useless because it was full of every kind of cord, adapter, spare part, etc. imaginable. Then I got rid of nearly all of it and reclaimed the closet knowing that I might have to spend a few bucks at Microcenter or Monoprice if I ever need something. Well worth it.

There's also some cultures that hang on to more stuff, like practicing jews who have a kosher set of kitchen stuff that they might bust out on the rare occasion. Some actually operate parallel kitchens with two sets of everything, including appliances. Lots of opportunities here to accumulate a lot of stuff that needs to be stored.

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tco9m5 t1_izscyzf wrote

True, but states like Florida and Texas also generally have larger yards than Baltimore area homes. I would think homeowners there would more likely opt to pay a one time upfront cost to buy/build a shed instead of recurring monthly fees for a storage unit that, within six months to a year, total more than the cost of a shed.

Obviously this is generalizing what the "typical" situations are and assuming that these folks are good at these types of decisions so this comment and my previous one don't account for every storage unit user's situation. I'm also sure there's a huge spectrum that folks fall on between hoarder and minimalist.

I do, however, believe that there are likely very smart people who watch various market trends in order to make highly educated decisions about when the right time to build a storage facility would be. My previous comment was only intended to point out that a layperson like myself only needs to see the product of these smart people's decisions in order to get an idea of what they're seeing.

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rmphys t1_izsecwp wrote

Not to mention, with people getting married (or re-married) later in life, a lot of couples each already have their own set of everything, whereas when couples get together young, they build up a single house's worth of stuff together. When they combine households, that shits gotta go somewhere. A lot sell it, but in the meantime store it. Everyone I know who owns a storage unit is because they got married and suddenly had two houses worth of stuff.

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anne_hollydaye t1_izqt3nh wrote

so there will be three at that intersection? good lord.

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macmac360 t1_iztqe4v wrote

A lot of people don't know that site used to be a cemetery until the mid 90s when all the graves were dug up and moved down the road a little ways, it was the family graves of the Cockey family. They moved the graves so they could build the Bob Evans that was there for a while.

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suppinmajibusu t1_izv6e0e wrote

This is true. There used to be a colonial-era home there called Taylors Hall. It was disassembled and moved to a new site on Falls Rd to make way for development.

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bookoocash t1_izr3964 wrote

I see these fucking things being built all over. What a waste of space. People need to stop holding onto to so much shit.

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kDubya410 t1_izrcw26 wrote

Yeah, that’s the main problem. People holding onto too much shit. Otherwise these monstrosities wouldn’t be popping up everywhere like they are.

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planetarylaw t1_izriair wrote

I have a pet theory that storage units, mattress stores, and psychics are all money laundering operations in Baltimore. I have never seen so many in my entire life as I have in Baltimore. Especially the psychics like what? Along with all the trash liquor stores and abandoned buildings it's just a sad look.

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czervick212 t1_izs56ay wrote

Commercial real estate broker here. Self storage is one of the hottest asset classes in the entire country right now. Things absolutely print money. Think about it, pretty minimal investment cost since you're effectively building a concrete box with some cages in it. Minimal payroll costs since you don't need more than two people max to keep the thing running. High rents per storage unit and they're pretty much guaranteed to fill up. Once one is stabilized (like 90% full) the developer sells it at a ~5% cap rate (cap rate is Net Operating Income/property value). The higher the NOI and the lower the purchase price when you bought the property, the more you can sell it for. Developers are making a killing on these things and have been for a few years now.

Mattresses cost like 50-100 bucks to make, the profit margins on them are insane.

I have no idea how psychics make money. Preying on the insecure I guess but I've never seen someone go into one.

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planetarylaw t1_izs5zsv wrote

Thanks for sharing your insights. What your saying makes sense except for one thing. I can't wrap my head around the demand for storage units or mattresses. Are there really that many people renting and using storage units? And do people buy mattresses that often? I've kept the same one for 15 years and it's fine.

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Forkmore t1_izs8hd3 wrote

Right now I’m paying for a storage unit because I was priced out of my apartment and moved in with family in the interim. I’m not sure that selling/trashing everything and then rebuying when I move again would have saved money over the cost of a storage unit. I guess it all depends on how long I’m bleeding money for the unit.

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planetarylaw t1_izsgrvy wrote

Oh yeah, I hadn't thought about that. The state of the housing market and economy right now is probably putting a lot of folks in position to use a storage unit. A while back I lived with family and used one of those little sheds to store all of my stuff in. Depending on how long you intend to love with your family, one of those little sheds might be cheaper. Worth looking into!

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czervick212 t1_izs79ud wrote

Storage units are definitely getting filled up at a wild rate or developers would stop building them. They do a lot of research on the market and look at average household income and determine if there's a market for it. Americans buy a lot of stuff, gotta put it somewhere. The way I see it, small houses can't hold a lot of stuff, where are you going to keep your Christmas decorations? Where does your lawnmower go in the winter if you don't have a garage? Snowblower in the warmer months? We buy big things that we don't need for portions of the year, gotta put them somewhere.

On the mattress front, mattresses are super expensive. A store needs to sell between 5-10 a month to pay rent. That's some pretty low pressure sales considering when someone needs a mattress they really need a mattress. Landlords also love mattress stores (chain ones like mattress warehouse and mattress firm, local ones are typically for shittier centers, think something like Cromwell Field out in Glen Burnie) since they have great credit and require very little parking meaning the shopping center can focus it's parking on grocery store parking etc. It's a great business model so long as you don't get greedy like mattress firm did a few years back. Interesting story if you want to read about it look up mattress firm corruption or something like that.

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scartonbot t1_izuogfu wrote

According to these folks, in 2021 Self-Storage REITs returned 79.43%! Looks like 2022 isn't going so well, however.

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spage6 t1_izs4dcv wrote

You should see how many there are by m&t. I think I’ve counted five in a three block radius.

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kDubya410 t1_izsqxtk wrote

Your theory isn’t completely off. The trash liquor stores are usually fronts for drug dealing operations.

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HorsieJuice t1_izr4har wrote

Kill neighborhoods? lol wut? It’s on a busy, confusing intersection in a commercial district surrounded by strip malls and office buildings. It’s not a “neighborhood” and hasn’t been for a long time.

As for green space, walk 1000’ west on Padonia, under the overpass, and you’re in the woods.

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rmphys t1_izsenn5 wrote

Bro, if I don't complain how do I get the reddit updoots? Just figure out how these storage units are actually a suburban lizard people plot and upvote to the left!

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MichealMetal t1_izw2bwi wrote

I was gonna say the same. It’s not exactly a prime location for a restaurant, and it’s definitely not a neighborhood or easily walkable from one. Maybe it served people staying in the hotels but not much else. It’s already an ugly space, if someone can use the space for a profitable business, let them. And let them keep the ugly storage buildings away from neighborhoods.

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gunnie56 t1_izqylfu wrote

Lame!!! Banks, storage units, and medical centers, nobody ever puts up anything fun

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rmphys t1_izsejd1 wrote

While maybe not "fun", banks are actually incredibly important. Baltimore has a large underbanked population who are statistically less likely to have access to tech based ways to alleviate the issues of not having a brick and mortar bank.

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skeenek t1_izqrdqg wrote

The site was rumored to have been purchased by Sheetz when Bob Evans first closed. Anyone know what happened with that?

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o8643 t1_izr85dk wrote

That 7-11 down the road tried to get folks to sign a petition against putting a sheetz there. Apparently it worked.

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Avocadofarmer32 t1_izsbjcj wrote

Whattt I would take a sheetz over a 474773 storage unit anyway.

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mlorusso4 t1_izsihl1 wrote

Rumor is royal farms bankrolled a fake grassroots opposition to block it. The argument was “there’s no need for another gas station convenience store on York road.” Well it was successful, sheetz was blocked, and low and behold a couple years later that massive royal farms (4th in the York rd corridor) was built 4 doors down from the sheetz location with no opposition

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S-Kunst t1_izruhle wrote

I think this is a sign of a down tick in that area's snob appeal. It has grown at a feverish pace and all with the car being centric. There is no there there but ephemeral retail. As with all suburbia , once the luster is off the customers will start to fade.

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SonofDiomedes t1_izs489w wrote

The psychology behind paying money to keep possessions is unfortunate. Extremely limited legitimate utility for these places but humans are not particularly good at sidestepping they’re own weaknesses. So we have acres and acres of these things full of junk. Sad.

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bustedflipflops t1_izs4fll wrote

Investors/corporations often erect storage facilities on property to offset costs while holding long term.

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Natty-Bones t1_izse00v wrote

This seems to be missed on this thread what they are often just a placeholder until local market conditions change

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Dr_Midnight t1_izvq1n0 wrote

> This seems to be missed on this thread what they are often just a placeholder until local market conditions change

In Woodlawn, on Security Blvd., when Best Buy closed up shop in 2016, there was talks about seeing what else could replace it. A storage facility moved in. It has been there ever since.

In Owings Mills, there used to be a Giant in Newtown. It closed and moved to where the Mall used to be - across from the (then new) Costco. The site has sat empty since with residents in that area asking for something like a Lidl (which I believe did recently open up in Reisterstown). Last I knew, a storage facility was slated to move in there as well, but was being blocked by residents.

In Cockeysville... well... we're in this thread aren't we?

I used to say this at work when someone proposed something temporary: "Temporary measures have a bad habit of becoming permanent fixtures around here."

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dangerbird2 t1_izte6i0 wrote

Yeah, that area is pretty oversaturated with chain restaurants and retail. Turning it into storage pays the property taxes until that shopping center can get completely redeveloped

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cakenchem t1_izru2t4 wrote

My storage unit bill went up $100.00 a month from 150 to 250 . Evidently a big business.

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MoffJerjerrod t1_izsbmc7 wrote

Very quickly you'll have a few thousand dollars spent. I always find it hard to justify the expense when after a year or two you'll have money to buy whatever one or two things you'll reuse. The only time it makes sense is when there is a set end date. Storage units take advantage of procrastination, people don't want to deal with the stress of throwing stuff away, even if it is the logical thing to do.

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[deleted] t1_izrzmgi wrote

[removed]

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cakenchem t1_izrzpy0 wrote

I only have one item at the storage facility, lol

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SonofDiomedes t1_izs3pf1 wrote

At the rate you’re paying I hope it’s a stock numbers matching ‘71 Charger R/T or something else that’s going up in value at pace you’re bleeding money to keep it.

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BirdPeckOfPower t1_izsnltn wrote

Kill neighborhoods? What neighborhood is right there?

What exactly do you all want to go there instead? That spot is directly next to 83, all commercially zoned, with no housing anywhere on the road nearby. There's a couple hotels, a Chili's, some businesses and a couple other storage units. A 3rd facility isn't any better or worse than if another gas station or an Applebee's popped up there instead. No way would anything else thrive in that spot.

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adb1146 OP t1_iztg22z wrote

Well you make my point for me. Death of neighborhoods does not happen overnight. It takes time and bad planning. The whole idea behind good urban planning is mixed use.

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MikeyFED t1_izs81pv wrote

That spot has the most eclectic panhandlers

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420EdibleQueen t1_izsp9jy wrote

We had a storage unit when we moved here that held the stuff we had in our storage shed and garage at the old place. It took us a while to go through everything and downsize. I got motivated after a couple of years when the rates kept climbing like crazy. Rent for the unit went up $50-100 a year and rent on the apartment went up $100-200 a year, but salaries didn’t go up.

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yeehawdudeq t1_izskhzc wrote

Damn, I had heard it was going to be a car wash and I was so excited because we are truly missing a self service wash in the area.

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DogFishHead17 t1_izv5s22 wrote

It is going to be a Car Wash. Source, I worked on construction plans.

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yeehawdudeq t1_izvogdx wrote

Recent? Apparently folks have asked the workers doing demo and they said storage

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DogFishHead17 t1_izwmnpd wrote

I turned in a revised construction print last Friday and the print has the same owner as SDAT.

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nator1270 t1_izvhz2p wrote

This would be solved if people stopped buying useless things and storing them. If it doesn’t fit in my Rowhouse then I don’t need it. Stop buying just to buy and then complain that you don’t have any money.

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adb1146 OP t1_izws50w wrote

Lol. So much to unpack with that point of view.

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mlorusso4 t1_izsib1q wrote

And to think this could have been a sheetz instead. They even bought the land. But rumor is royal farms bankrolled a fake grassroots opposition to block it. The argument was “there’s no need for another gas station convenience store on York road.” Well it was successful, sheetz was blocked, and low and behold a couple years later that massive royal farms (4th in the York rd corridor) was built 4 doors down from the sheetz location with no opposition

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Aethari t1_izspmie wrote

I get that the area between the dump and the quarry is awkward for most development purposes, but you'd think they could find viable, attractive businesses who would thrive right off the interstate. It feels like everything between 83 and York is slowly degrading into lower and lower use cases.

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dizzy_centrifuge t1_izsz3hv wrote

This sucks, I hate that there's a massive one just built in Woodberry off of 83 too. The building that was there was there collapsed, and they just put a giant storage facility in a historic community where everything has to be approved. It sucks that they could do that without comforming to the community at all

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himynameisroe t1_izt1lv8 wrote

On Bel Air road just outside of the beltway they just built a massive new storage facility next to a storage facility and across the street from a storage facility.

I hate this timeline.

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dangerbird2 t1_iztdozl wrote

Fun fact: that site is where Richard Padian, namesake of Padonia Rd (also my ancestor), lived back in the 1800s after emigrating from Ireland

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adb1146 OP t1_iztgovo wrote

I think your ancestor would be sad.

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dangerbird2 t1_izy0y8f wrote

I mean, the only reason he settled there was because his migrant group ran out of money while travelling to Texas (which is why the area is called Texas, Maryland. FWIW, pretty much all of the original village had been built over by the quarries decades ago.

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adb1146 OP t1_izzky0p wrote

No way. Really. That’s such a cool factoid. I have honestly often wondered why it’s called Texas Station. It Thank you so much for enriching my knowledge base.

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fierce_history t1_izv4mws wrote

I had a feeling that that would be the case

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DogFishHead17 t1_izv4yvc wrote

That is pretty interesting since I just turned in a revised construction print where its a Car Wash. Where are you hearing this?

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adb1146 OP t1_izws39o wrote

Heck I hope you are right? A neighbor asked one of the crew doing the demolition of the Bob Evans. Do you have more information?

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DogFishHead17 t1_izzcb8n wrote

Its a car wash. I have seen the site plans and worked on construction prints for the site.

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Real-Ray-Lewis t1_izssegs wrote

Is macaroni grill closing ???

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adb1146 OP t1_iztge36 wrote

Lol. Burnt down years ago. Has been replaced by guess what. A storage unit. Now they are building another storage unit across the road.

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Ok_Confusion_2461 t1_izteqvi wrote

Srsly who cares what happens in the burbs?

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adb1146 OP t1_iztgwo2 wrote

Ok. Not very positive. Community is about caring what happens to your neighbors.

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Ok_Confusion_2461 t1_iztnuuq wrote

Can’t make myself care about the burbs. Sorry not sorry

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adb1146 OP t1_izwrvhu wrote

The question is what’s a burb? Is Towson a burb? Is Columbia a burb? When is a burb not a burb this is the question of our lives.

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