Sounds like you just hate Boyd and are writing up a complaint, trying to get others to join in the hate. Ridiculous.

She resigned so who cares at this point?

The Board also demonstrated they didn’t understand their roles. The point is CA is a nightmare that provides little value for the fees we pay.

I’m suggesting the Board has not been transparent. I also think it’s garbage that the Board used our CPRA fees to fund outside counsel to address their ethical issues.

What are the community groups on Facebook?

If you are coordinating with him, I don’t trust the information. What other groups did you reach out to share the information? I’d like to see who else supports this analysis.

Steven Keller, who runs HoCo Watchdogs, has a narrative to push. What he says is of little value, as it generally obscures truth.

The truth is that kids have always hung out at the mall, often in large groups, and many times, causing issues. When I was growing up, everyone was concerned about the skaters at the mall and the lakefront, in particular. The bell tower was removed from the dock because people would climb up there, have sex and do drugs. Kids stole from the stores a lot and when the arcade was there, there were always huge groups outside smoking weed & fighting. I wouldn’t say this is a new problem; just a new demographic of kids doing it.

One of the issues they found in their walkability study for the whole county was that they had to bus students to school, who were otherwise in walking distance. This is a huge burden due to lack of drivers. I think it’s a good thing in general but it has been an annoyance for OMR, particularly because few if any cross that street to get to school.

How long did it take you by bike on OMR?

Ok

From OM Road, there are multiple pathways along it that connect from Owen Brown to OM, where you can get to the bridge. I used to make this trip daily on foot when I was a teen.

Also, newer developments aren’t Columbia. They are either out parcels or other parts of Howard County (think Clarksville & Elkridge). Columbia is just overpopulated at this point. Development has made that so. There isn’t enough infrastructure to support the population.

Appreciate your feedback, though.

That’s probably true! My kids play indoors all the time. Kids make up about 25% of the population so I guess that’s significant.

That’s fine. I’m not here to convince you or change your mind, just provide some insight.

Yeah, it’s still not great. Because of the limited visibility due to the hills, it’s not an easy crossing.

Howard County cops are useless in general. The community police officer where I live is afraid to even patrol the community.

At the end of the day, the bike lane project has been in the works for over a decade and is championed by the guy who runs Merriweather & bikes for fun. This wasn’t about transforming accessibility in Columbia.

What if I told you I worked at The Rouse Company during the sale to GGP? It was a huge controversy because Rouse fought for diversity and affordable housing. His family chose to sell to a developer for a pretty hefty price, and Rouse’s vision was abandoned. Additionally, the farms were sold by the landowners. That was their choice. This wasn’t some eminent domain kind of situation.

You mentioned the same level of kids, which I refuted, and now you are backing off on that point. I understand the demographics of Columbia because I’ve worked in population health and social services for a long time.

People still fly down OM Road! I followed a cop going 55.

Untrue. I’m open to change but Columbia was not supposed to be a developers dream. When I was a kid, the streets were filled with children. Not so much anymore.

The county did a huge study and found that many sidewalks were not ADA compliant so I absolutely agree with that being addressed. However, reducing to one lane has increased the congestion, even with the turning lanes.

I think most people who come to Columbia do so because of the schools and safety. I’ve lived in Columbia almost my whole life and the development has really ruined the vibe and culture of the community. Even with the bike lanes, so many people still bike in the streets outside of the lanes. I just wish Columbia would invest in meaningful things.

Not likely. Columbia is very car-centric. People don’t move to Columbia for bike lanes.

I really don’t understand the utility of this decision. Columbia has tons of pathways, which tend to get you places more quickly than the main roads. Further, most people are biking for pleasure, not to get places like work or the grocery store. A better use of funds would be to improve the bus system. It runs every hour and the mall is the transfer hub. It has been like this for at least 30 years with no improvement.