Recent comments in /f/baltimore

midazzleam t1_j6nzgs2 wrote

Reply to Excessively High Gas Bill: Anyone Else? And recourse suggestions. by llaatteennccyy

IMO 70 is way too high to set your heat unless you want to pay $$$. See if you can get a nest thermostat or other energy saving thermostat installed. It has saved me money, as I’ve been able to keep my energy costs the same despite the increase in the cost of natural gas. Ask your landlord to look into the rebates BGE has on smart thermostats as you can get great deals on the BGE website. Still, your bill seems way high. I wonder if your insulation sucks.

I have a two story row home, 1300 square feet, keep my heat between 61-65 depending on the time of day (my smart thermostat automatically adjusts). My last BGE bill was $56 gas, $100 electric (which is high for me, but we had that cold snap)

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physicallyatherapist t1_j6nza2e wrote

Reply to comment by Cunninghams_right in Would be awesome if the JFX and Jones Falls river could be converted like this by Cunninghams_right

>it shouldn't be hard to sell that to anyone, but for some reason it is.

But do you think it's a hard sell to the public transportation people or the car people? I feel like public transportation people would be ok with more scooters at a discounted price (they're more expensive than down in DC). I'm not sure why anyone that's for more public transit would be against scooters though and I haven't really seen that personally (though maybe you have). The people complaining about scooters are probably the car people.

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Cunninghams_right OP t1_j6nx5wi wrote

Reply to comment by physicallyatherapist in Would be awesome if the JFX and Jones Falls river could be converted like this by Cunninghams_right

I think that is part of the issue. you have car users who are all unified in what they want, and you have people who want things other than cars who cannot agree on anything. there is no coherent plan to be less car-centric, and I find pro-transit folks to be just as unable to imagine non-standard solutions as pro-car folks are unable to imagine using anything but their car.

one example that is obvious but hard to get anyone to agree on:

scooter subsidy. the bird/link/spin scooter monthly passes are $16-$50, which is a tiny fraction of the unsubsidized cost of a transit pass. people talk about making buses free, but free scooters (at least for a couple of rides per day) would move more people per dollar spent, and would increase demand for bike lanes. it shouldn't be hard to sell that to anyone, but for some reason it is. people complain about scooter parking as if it is a real problem when sidewalk blockage by scooter is a fraction as much as other sources of sidewalk blockage, but those other things, like tree roots, are "normal" to them but scooters are new. and people complain about them being ridden on sidewalks because it feels dangerous to see them going quickly, but the actual damage done is next to nothing, and infinitesimal if you exclude the rider. I don't care if a rider is reckless and hurts themselves. that's on them. if someone jay walks in front of a bus and gets hit, we shouldn't ban buses from streets. the arguments are provably BS as soon as you bring in objective information like actual injury rate and actual sidewalk blockage rate compared to other things, but pro-bike and pro-transit people still complain and create drag on any progress.

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JBG1973 t1_j6nx4ck wrote

Reply to Appraiser Countersues Black Plaintiffs Who Alleged Discrimination by YouAreADadJoke

Googling a few more articles about this case leads to the address:

https://www.housingwire.com/articles/appraisal-firm-loandepot-sued-by-black-couple-for-bias/

The issue in this case is that the house is on the corner, and the address is not on Northern Parkway. This is the section of Northern between Charles and York, not the section between Charles and 83 which is 6 lanes rather than 4 lanes.

The fact that it is on the corner and has a driveway/garage and sidewalk access from a corner street is more desirable than if it was in the middle of the block on Northern.

The house at the center of the dispute:

The computer estimate from redfin is $627,550. The state assessment for 1/22 is 622,000.
4 beds, 3.5 bath, 2600 square feet finished, 11, 395 square feet land. They have made "tens of thousands" of improvements since the initial purchase, although I have not seen any updated pictures of specifics since the listing photos when they bought it.

Across the street and still on Northern:

Sold 2/4/21 for $450K. Redfin currently estimates it at 495,900 It was assessed at $462, 300 by the state at the same time the house in question was. It has 1930 square feet, 2.5 baths, and 10, 772 square feet of land. I don't see the bedrooms listed. This house has a "newer gourmet" kitchen with the heavy tile that is now considered very out.

The house in question in the article that sold next door had a new kitchen (we don't know what improvements the couple in question made) and 1970's bathroom. To get to this house you will need to enter the back door through the kitchen and walk around the house to get to the front door. This is different than the house in the center of the controversy in which you can park on the side of the house and take a direct sidewalk to the front door.

The comp that sold for $465 on 8/21/21 is now listed on Redfin at $526 and is assessed by the city at $487,000. It has 2.5 baths, beds not listed, 1750 sq feet above grade living area and 12671 sq foot lot.

In order to get a 472 appraisal compared to the house that sold at the same time for $465 gives $7 k for an additional 950 square feet of living area, an additional bathroom and side access to the front of the house without stopping on Northern Blvd (which I believe is no parking). 140 square feet of sunroom reduces the additional square feet from 950 to 700.

It is hard for me to believe that the $472 appraisal was particularly accurate. The $750 appraisal does not appropriately address the Northern Blvd problem. However, I have seen plenty of appraisals for houses on busy roads that do not properly knock of for how undesirable busy roads are.

It is more likely that the "staging/impression of who lived there" led to a 10% devaluation than the 50% devaluation that the NY times claimed. It is hard for me to understand that someone would buy $750K for a house on Northern with a very dated 1949 façade. You have a lot of options at that price and the houses behind it completely on Churchwardens were selling for less.

While not headline grabbing, a consistent 10% devaluation of property values for black homeowners has pretty significant long term consequences for building wealth.

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pathofwrath t1_j6nvyet wrote

Reply to comment by ElectricStar87 in Would be awesome if the JFX and Jones Falls river could be converted like this by Cunninghams_right

We need infra for the people who are already here. New and updated infra is important to help draw more people in too. But infra alone doesn't do it. Has to be paired with decent policy. People have to see and believe that the city and state are actually addressing infra here. A bike master plan, for example, doesn't mean much if you don't have a good track record of installing, maintaining, and enforcing the bike facilities.

For the sake of completeness, crime is also an issue that creates challenges to increasing density.

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TheSpektrModule t1_j6nvpiv wrote

Reply to indigent | adjective: poor, needy. by The_Waxies_Dargle

Defending a federal criminal case can be extraordinarily expensive. Many years ago there was an interview with Ed Norris where he explained how much it would have cost to effectively defend his case. If I recall correctly it was over $200k in early 2000s dollars.

I have no interest in defending MM, I despise her. You can be "indigent" in federal court without being poor though.

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BmoreCityDOT OP t1_j6nvkfn wrote

Reply to comment by RL_Mutt in Proud of our work today on Stonewall Road! We were repairing a sunken area, and installing backfill. And finally, we topped it off with hot mix asphalt. by BmoreCityDOT

We do! We've been working on it since last week. A few intersections' clocks have gone out of sync with each other, causing the corridor not to be synchronized.

We've been doing work on them, and need to keep monitoring them to make sure no more sync issues have happened.

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jjfo13 t1_j6nv0vg wrote

Reply to Would be awesome if the JFX and Jones Falls river could be converted like this by Cunninghams_right

Tearing the JFX down aside, New Orleans offers a potential idea for mitigating the effects of the JFX. The city is creating the "Claiborne Innovation District" (CID) which is meant to reconnect historically black communities that were disconnected by I-10, which rips through the heart of New Orleans. The highway is 6 lanes and elevated much like the JFX, and the project would essentially reclaim the space underneath the highway and turn it into a large arts/community space.

https://colloqate.org/claiborne-innovation-district

Given how lively the area underneath the JFX gets with the Baltimore Farmer's Market, I don't see why an idea like this doesn't have potential in Baltimore. I also work in transportation policy in DC and it is my understanding that the project has local and State buy-in/funding, and is now seeking federal funding. Point is, the project hasn't died in during the planning process and has real support.

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frolicndetour t1_j6nuft9 wrote

Reply to comment by YouAreADadJoke in Appraiser Countersues Black Plaintiffs Who Alleged Discrimination by YouAreADadJoke

Fair, statements to the media would not be protected, although I'd have to read the articles. I've read some and the majority seem to be quoting the complaint, which would still be covered by the court protection. They also included the opinions of the homeowners; opinions are not defamation. Calling someone racist is generally held to be an opinion. If they made a statement of fact in the media that is false, then the counterclaim may have legs.

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