blight

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Heritage Sign & Blighted Building at Lafayette & Division

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Oh, it’s finally here, my itty bitty clown bike! I got a call yesterday evening from the bike shop, so I waited impatiently this morning before walking down to the shop for its 11am opening to fetch the newest member of the family. It was just as lovely as I remembered, and as I took it out for a test spin along the Jones Falls Trail, I started to get good and giddy. It’s just so much fun! I rode it back home to grab my helmet and to show it off to S. before heading back down the hill to meet V. for work that couldn’t get done because I was too bust thinking about riding my new bike. I then rode it over to Upton to meet J. so we could nerd out together along the Pennsylvania Avenue heritage walking tour. I snapped this picture of the new bike against a new public history sign and increasingly old blight. The tour tells the history of a culturally, politically, socially, and economically vibrant area, but it doesn’t explain at all why so much of that has been lost as parts of this neighborhood continue falling to pieces as others keep it alive. Upton and Pennsylvania don’t look like they do now by chance. Decisions were made that make that glittering past “history,” right? I pushed my bike from sign to sign, historic church to historic church, stopping along the way for a chat here or there, and a chance to demonstrate the Brompton’s quick fold to a woman sitting outside in the sunshine with her cigarette, watching people pass on by. And then it was time to ride the new bike up the hill to home for one last fold on its birthday before lugging it up the steps to its new home. I can’t wait to see what we learn next. *squeal*

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Tree Growing From a Building at Lafayette & Charles

Today’s ride took me up to Hampden for another bikram yoga class where I’m trying to stretch out my tight bicycling hips. Yeah, I’ve got a ways to go with that. After a quick stop at home for a shower and lunch, I took my writing project with me and flew down the hill to meet V. for a coffee and work date. These are just the kind of small errands that are done much more quickly on bike than in a car; the last thing I want to do is spend time and money parking my car in Hampden or Station North. Continue reading →

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Missing Half of a House at Linden & Whitelock

The clouds and rain finally lifted today, and I had time for a bike ride–huzzah! Strangely, though, I didn’t really feel like leaving the house at all, so it was mid-afternoon before I dragged myself down the stairs and on to the bike with the promise that I could just listen to music that used to be meaningful back when I was 20 and do laps around the reservoir in the sunshine wishing some of those red-winged blackbirds were orioles. Continue reading →

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Crumbling Building at Druid Park Lake Drive and Brookfield

After a couple days with too much work and too much wind for a bike ride, S. finally got me back on the bike as we rode up to Druid Hill Park where she ran and I rode in circles. The sky was blue and white clouds and gray drips, because half the city was raining, but it stayed dry as I pedaled around and around, keeping my mouth closed so I didn’t eat the pink petals blowing around like snow. Continue reading →

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Tree and Empty Lot at Aisquith & Autumnleaves Ct.

Today’s bike ride took me down the hill toward Baltimore’s impressive and frightening carceral complex for the Youth Justice Sunday event. I was a little late and missed the march, so I pedaled around, trying to find the crowd. I heard the police helicopter flying over head and tried to follow it, figuring the cops would be on the case, as they have been at every single march or rally I’ve been to in this city. Continue reading →

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Boarded-Up Buildings at Gay & High

Another spring break day meant another day of riding my bike around town, and oh, but it feels good to pedal around aimlessly! I rode down to the bike shoppe to take the clown bike out for another spin and then headed down to Fells Point for some frozen yogurt and a think. I mean, I don’t need another bicycle, not at all, and for that price I could get a real bike. Continue reading →

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Blighted Row House at Fulton & Saratoga

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I needed to get a bike ride in today, but I had an early meeting and a late meeting followed by evening plans, so…I put the bike on my car, drove to work, and rode the bike home. It was bright and sunny when I headed to work, but gloomy and sputtering when I left. Never start a ride in the rain is my usual, but if I dodnt get a pedal in today, I was most certainly not going to be good company tonight, so I hopped on the bike with my bare legs and hoped for the best. The rain kept falling faster, so I spent most of my ride concentrating on. Safety-break carefully and not on shiny bits (road striping, metal grates, etc.) and assume cars can’t see you. By the time I took my left on Fulton I was ready to concider sidewalks, what with the soggy rush hour. I noticed this broken door at Fulton & Saratoga as I slowed down in search of a curb cut. I peeked inside and it looked like the whole place had just caved in on itself. I wonder when this happened. Was anyone hurt? Was someone sad in that way you get sad when home is suddenly nowhere? What’s the story here? Every one of these vacants has a story, at least 58,000 of them, and I only noticed this particular one because I was on bike, looking. Yep, even in the rain the bike was a good choice today. I continued on, made a stop for wine with friends, and then rode on home, feeling pretty lucky that I get to ride a bike in this place.

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Blighted Building in Carroll Park in Pigtown

Oh, it was a beautiful day for a bike ride, so after a morning reading in bed with cats, I hopped on the bike and whizzed down the hill to meet J. and J. for lunch. We wandered from their hotel to the Inner Harbor, passing all the other conventioneers, before settling in for turkey burgers and side salads and fries. It was so good to catch up with an old friend–just what I needed. It was still warm out at the end of the afternoon, so I took my bike on a ride past Camden Yards, into Pigtown and Washington Heights, and then along the Gwynns Falls Trail. Continue reading →

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Crumbling Bricks at Cox & Falls

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Today’s ride took me up past Hampden to meet folks at a bar to enjoy some playoff football. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the Ravens are in, and they’re my team, now that the Saints are out after last night’s heartbreaker. It was chilly chilly, so I rode as fast as I could and took advantage of the sun and the hills to warm myself up. I passed a lot of people in purple, already tipsy with the day. There as a drink, some. Fried food, and a whole lot of yelling, and then it was time to roll back down the hill. I snapped this picture of the remnants of the brick wall of some ghost of a building. If it were a different wall, this might be an Historical Landmark, but here it’s just another remnant of a past Baltimore–so, so many of these. In the light and with that sky, though, today it looked beautiful. I pedaled home and was reminded that the downhill is much, much colder. I best get used to it.

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Empty Lot and Row House at Lafayette & Fremont

We had another unseasonably warm day today, at least in my estimation, so after a busy morning, I hopped on my bike and headed to campus to take advantage of what they keep telling me is one of the last few warm days before winter really gets here. I flew down the hill and then made the Park Avenue climb to Lafayette and took my left. It’s amazing how quickly the neighborhoods change along this street. Once you cross Eutaw Place, for example, it’s like you’ve entered a different universe. On the ride back I was struck by how once I left Marble Hill for Bolton Hill, the asphalt turned that smooth black of brand new road. When Crossing Pennsylvania Avenue into West Baltimore is even more pronounced. All of a sudden the trees disappear, as does the stately red brick, replaced by row after row of abandoned row house. I snapped this picture of a row house at Lafayette and Fremont (which is not the same as Fulton–I made that mistake once, and it took me a looong time to correct it). This empty side suggests another row house used to be cuddled up next to it, those patches maybe marking windows, or just the shared walls. Off in the distance more and more of these vacants line up, but some of them are redone and occupied. How hard it must be to share the neighborhood with these, and the empty lots filled with crumbled buildings and trash that dot the neighborhood. So often when I’m riding around Baltimore I wonder, where did everybody go? I know, I know, the suburbs, but where did everybody go, and what are we going to do with all these empty and decaying blighted properties? I continued my ride, and when I got to Arbutus, just a couple miles further, I was reminded again of how many different cities are all butted up against each other in this place, some of them just ghosts.