Gee . . .

. . . does this sound familiar?

Club’s Plan to Sell Land Shatters a Baltimore Neighborhood’s Serenity

BALTIMORE — One of the oldest planned communities in the country, Roland Park is a bucolic place of sloping greenery, towering oaks and cedar-shingled homes tucked ever so genteelly into the north side of this city.

But things have not been going quite as planned here lately, and the red, white and blue bunting that drapes the porches here has given way recently to bed sheets hung on front fences and scrawled with protest slogans. And local teenagers have begun trading their pastel Polos for white T-shirts that read, “Keep the Park in Roland Park.”

The unrest stems from plans to build an expansive new home for the elderly in the middle of this neighborhood’s 30-acre country club.

OK, not really the same situation as we’ve faced here, but an instructive tale nonetheless. A couple of people have expressed to me that the biggest concern for the neighborhood over the long term is the health and well-being of the Country Club.

Thoughts?

Jim Downey

Hi!

I want to thank everyone who made this award possible! I never imagined that I would actually receive the Nobel Prize for …

…er, sorry, wrong speech.

Hi! I’m your new Chairperson for the Neighborhood Association, following our annual picnic last Tuesday, graciously hosted by Dave and Carole Babel. And I would like to extend a sincere thanks to our slate of recently retired officers: Warren Prost, Linda Hutton, and Jayne Wack – all of whom found themselves serving at a time of unexpected turmoil for our neighborhood. Those thanks also go to Randy Kilgore, who valiantly served as Chair during the most contentious period this past year, and who did a remarkable job in seeking to mediate between differing interests and desires in the neighborhood relating to the property rezoning issue.

Sometime in the next week or so the new officers will be meeting with the old ones, in order to effect a smooth transition after the past difficult year. I’m hoping that the new members will each introduce themselves here, and that we can use this forum for discussion and communication among all the neighborhood members. I will try and post something at least every week, more often if there are relevant news items. If you have something you would like to let others know about, or a topic you’d like to see discussed, you can *always* feel free to email me: jim@afineline.org

As way of my own brief introduction, since I haven’t had a chance to be as active in the neighborhood as I’d like over the last few years . . .

I’m married to Martha John, and we live at 2011 N. Country Club Drive, in the original McAlester home. Martha grew up in this house, and so knows many who have lived here for a long time. She and I moved in here about six years ago from another part of Columbia in order to care for Martha Sr in her declining years (the reason why you haven’t seen both of us). I am a conservator of rare books and documents, and work from home. I also write, and used to have a column about the arts which ran in the Columbia Tribune. Some years ago I owned and operated Legacy Art in downtown Columbia. You’ll frequently see me (and usually Martha) out for a walk in the mornings with Alwyn – feel free to say hello, or stop us if you have some news or a topic you’d like to discuss.

Well, that’s all for now. Once myself and the other officers have a chance to get together and discuss things we’d like to accomplish during our time in office, I’ll be sure to write again. In the meantime, you are always welcome to let me know what is on your mind, either as comments here or in a personal email.

Toodles!

Jim Downey