A Stroll Through Glyndon

This month of August has produced some beautiful late summer days here in Central Maryland.  I love being outside - whether I am bicycling, walking or just sitting in my Jeep at the park listening to the radio.  A few days ago, I decided to take a walk through the nearby historic community of Glyndon MD.  It was a lovely late afternoon and the weather was just perfect for a stroll.  Glyndon was founded 100 years before I was born and, I wonder, what the little town was like (back then).  There is an old train station there (that now functions as a post office) and a neat little grocery store (family owned) that I browsed through.  Glyndon's a neat little community; close to where I reside and it's very walkable (which I love!).

The New Gotham City

Many years ago, I worked with a guy who told me he was moving to Nashville, Tennessee.  I asked him, "why Nashville?" and he simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "why not?".  If I do recall correctly, he then explained he was going there to be with someone and start a family.  I thought that was cool.  At the time, I didnt know anything about Nashville (other than that the Houston Oilers were going to move their football team there in 1997).  Then I learned that Nashville has a vibrant music scene and it's where a lot of rising musicians go to be discovered.  It's a lovely city and is the state capital of the Volunteer State.  I recall a guy name Hank Aiken who explained to me that Nashville is the 'principle city' of Tennessee.  He was a native Tennessean and explained how people who weren't from Tennessee thinks/believe that Memphis is the primary city of Tennessee.  Hank explained, "Memphis is a branch city; Nashville is the state's primary city".  I had an opportunity to explore Nashville this summer.  I had a great time.  Prior to my visit, I had went on line to view some photos of its downtown skyline and the city's most signature building: the AT&T building (also known as the Batman building).  And then there's Broadway (the main thoroughfare in downtown) where all of the bars, restaurants, the sports arena, museums, and tourist attractions are.  As I was perusing along Broadway, I thought about this set up and I wondered why such  cities (in my home state) as Richmond or Norfolk, Va. never had an electricfying entertainment scene like the one on Broadway in Nash...oh well.


AT&T Bldg. (aka the Batman Bldg.)



the music scene on Broadway

Your Happy Space

Earlier this year, I read about a redevelopment project in the Bethesda MD area where a few city blocks were transformed into a nice, lively activity center that includes a residential tower, retail stores, restaurants and a plaza for social gatherings and outdoor festivals/concerts.  This is the new trend, today, for many suburban areas - tearing down old, underutilized buildings, parking lots and transforming them into flashy, new, vibrant communities anchored with new apartments/condos, grocery stores, etc.  This captioned community is called the North Bethesda Marketplace.  It's situated on a couple of city blocks, anchored by a very tall residential apartment building and a grocery store.  Parking?  Well, all of the parking is inside of a multi-level parking deck (you gotta' pay to use it) with some on-street parallel parking.  I wanted to experience this center and see what was all there.  I thought it was a great use of the given space available - everything is all situated on about 2 city blocks.  There are nicely landscaped sidewalks, with much street activity and the opportunity for social engagement in an open-air plaza that is surrounded by retail, dining and a nice fitness center.  A few blocks to the west is another new redevelopment project called Pike and Rose.  I will feature that dynamic new community in a later post. 

Keeping It Simple?

The captioned photo is that of the Iager Farm (pronounced 'eye-ger').  The Iager Farm is located in southern Howard County, Maryland, about 3 miles west of I-95; southwest of Baltimore.  What may appear as a pristine, simplistic beautiful piece of farmland shall be no more.  This farm is subject to future development.  The owner plans to develop half of this farm's land into 176 new homes, with a pool and community center and pathways.  Earlier this year, I was assigned this farm as one of my land planning projects.  I had to determine if the owner's plan for development conformed to the standards set forth by the Howard County Zoning Board.  I took my finding before the Howard County Planning Board in June and, what me and my plan review team felt was a good land design and a relatively simple plan to review, turned out to be quite complicated.  Well, to make a very long story much shorter, let's just say that after some resistance from a group that was vehemently opposed to this plan, the Planning Board voted to unanimously approve the plan after two Planning Board public hearings.  Now, the owner can proceed through the planning process to reach the final plan stage so that the proposed residential lots (where the future houses will sit) can be officially established.

Welcome

On today, Aug. 12, 2015, I was encouraged by a good friend of mines to start a blog.  I said to him that I didn't know how to create one.  Well, I took the plunge and (hopefully) birthed a blog page that's designed the way I like and for the purposes I want.  My blog is about things happening near and around me and the places I have visited.  I love to 'go' and 'see'.  I typically do day trips several times each month to places I have been before and places I have yet to explore.  I normally take pictures of these places I visit and share such with family and friends.  Now, I want to share these experiences with you.  I welcome you to my blog "Scenemaker".   *Note:  although I am wearing an Atlanta Falcon shirt in the photo, I am not an Atlanta or Georgia native/resident or a fan of the team - just a fan of their team's logo.