Where’d You Go Bentley: A Request

I’d like to say that my love of nature implies that I “…will find beauty everywhere,” as inspired by Laura Ingles Wilder; however, in today’s climate, as a witness to mass declines in trees, bees and birds, I’m wondering where the beauty may lie. In September of 2018, NeighborSpace held a fall celebration at  Adelaide […]

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History Drives Design of Cherry Heights Woodland Garden

We mentioned in a July issue of News and Views that work had begun on transforming our Beech Avenue site in Overlea into a community park. Work has progressed since that time, with the most recent community meeting yielding a design concept.  To fully understand it requires that we provide some historical background. In July, […]

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New Life for a Woodlawn Park

Exciting news from Woodlawn as the NeighborSpace property at 1905 Gwynn Oak Avenue is getting a makeover. This may seem like run-of-the-mill news to many of you. NeighborSpace fixing up another property? Is that not what they do? But dig a little deeper and you will realize it is not that simple. As many of […]

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The Uncommon Power of “the Commons” to Create Community

My neighborhood has a “commons.” So does yours. The commons comprises those explicitly or, in some cases, implicitly shared resources in which the community as a whole has an interest. At a minimum, these include the community’s streets, sidewalks, and public facilities and I would add, among other things, important scenic vistas, architectural character, and […]

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Passage of Bill 37-19: What the Bill Does and Doesn’t Do

Bill 37-19 eliminated one long-standing loophole, which has been in our law since at least 2010, that allowed parking islands, otherwise known as “zoning amenity open space” to reduce the amount of public open space that developers of major subdivisions are required to provide.

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Making Baltimore County an Age-Friendly Community: Much Work to Do

The fact that Baltimore County’s population has been steadily increasing for years is not breaking news. The fact that the County’s senior population has been increasing at a much quicker pace might be. Baltimore County already ranks first in the percentage of seniors in its population among Maryland’s ten largest counties and estimates are that […]

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3 Reasons Why We Think Bill 37-19 Should Pass without Amendments

A. Executive Summary We respectfully ask the Council to Pass Bill 37-19 without amendments for 3 reasons:        1. Our Unique History of Development Set the Stage for an Enormous Open Space Deficit Beginning with the Great Depression and the severe housing shortage that ensued, history and policy created our inner suburbs with […]

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