There is a certain subset of rowhomes that are called "painted ladies." They're a little bigger than the normal colonial box rowhomes, have actual front porches instead of stoops, usually some ornate molding on the roof, and bay windows on the upper level. The molding is usually painted in different colors, often bright ones. The most celebrated are probably the ones on Calvert, Guilford and Abell between 33rd and 28th or so, but you'll see this style in a lot of neighborhoods around the city.

There is also another particular subset of rowhome, I'm not sure what they are actually called, but a lot of people call them "keelty" after the developer that built a lot of them a century ago. They're kind of a transition to the modern suburban townhouse. They look like the normal colonial box rowhomes, but are wider and will have a porch with a (usually) green awning, but still retain the flat roof of a rowhome. I have only ever seen this style on the north side of the city, but the style bled into some of the first developments in the inner county as well. I've seen them in parts of Catonsville, Pikesville and Parkville that are right up against the city line.

There are probably a lot of people for whom it is just a John Waters refereence, but there is a lot more history to it. This is (or at least used to be) a blue collar town and there are a number of lawn decorations that were popular in east coast blue collar neighborhoods dating back to the mid 20th century. For whatever reason, people in Baltimore seem to not give a fuck about trends moving forward and will almost aggressively hold on to things that go out of fashion (see Nike Air Force Ones). At some point we developed a self awareness about it and pink flamingos became a particular point of pride.

Here is a clip from an old documentary featuring local blowhard Dan Rodericks talking about how his mother refuses to give up her garden gnomes despite his condescending complaints about her poor taste.

Well, the current budget for the Bureau of Solid Waste is $27.5 million and BPD spent $33 million on police OT last year (down from $44 million the year before), so you do the math.

It depends where exactly you are because it's not accessible to some parts of Baltimore, but the MARC train leaves from Camden Yards and will get you to college park in about 45 minutes. From there you can take the green line 2 or 3 stops to ft Totten, transfer to the red line and you'll be in silver spring after a few stops. Probably take you about an hour and fifteen minutes when all is said and done.

Bethesda would probably take longer as you would have to take the Penn Station marc to union Station and then hop on the red line and go all the way through DC.

Honestly, I would just be ecstatic if there was reliable transit that could get me downtown, which there isn't unless you live right along the light rail line or the subway line. The busses here are so chaotic.

I think everyone in the city and county can agree that we need comprehensive public transit that not only covers the entire city but extends at least to the beltway. I know there are people in both the city and county who disagree, but they are inherently wrong and can go fuck themselves.

Baugher's farm has a nice little pasture with a miniature cow, a sheep, two alpacas, two donkeys and a bunch of goats. You're allowed to go directly into the pasture so you can literally just sit down and lounge with them and feed them treats. The alpacas are particularly friendly.

The the Zoo's barnyard and Elioak as mentioned above are both wonderful and my 4 year old has a great time there. They both have goat corrals where you can hang out with goats and brush them. The other animals are fenced off although the emu at Elioak is really friendly and will come say hi. Also the giraffe house at the zoo allows you to get very close to the giraffes if you go during feeding time.

Second this. Go soon as they close for winter in two weeks.