The 'Miracle' Of Christmas In Baltimore

Welcome to the holiday season in my neighborhood! This is 34th Street in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore.

It's called the "Miracle on 34th Street" and it's an amazing all-street display, and my family is fortunate to live just one block over.

Although this wonderland is focused on 34th Street, in truth it spills over across the entire neighborhood.

The display draws people from faraway who want to see it. We have limosines that cruise around filled with light-peepers and all of this excitement draws street vendors selling kids holiday blinky-lights and cotton candy. Living in the midst of all of this, we are so lucky to live in a place with so much spirit. Living here, it's impossible not to be really festive this time of year.

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Baltimore Inner-city Homes Unsafe for Young Children, Hopkins Study Finds

Infants and young children living in Baltimore’s inner-city homes are at risk for serious perils, including fires, falls and poisoning, according to a small but revealing study from the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. A survey of 32 urban homes and their residents found that many lacked functioning fire alarms, staircase gates and safe storage for medications, researchers report in the August issue of Pediatrics. Fires, falls and poisonings are the top causes of childhood home injuries in Baltimore.

The study found that:
• 97 percent of homes had smoke detectors but only half had a working one on each level of the home.
• None of the homes had staircases blocked correctly.
• Only 17 percent of homes had adult medications stored safely in a locked place.
• Nearly two-thirds of the homes had staircases too narrow and banister design that wouldn’t allow a gate to be fitted across the top of the stairs; one-third would not accommodate a gate at the bottom of the stairs.
• Nearly 20 percent had recognized environmental hazards such as using a gas stove to heat the home.
• Two of the 32 homes had exposed wires in the walls.
• Two homes had broken banisters or railings.

Not using home-safety devices such as stair-blocking gates, fire detectors and medicine-cabinet locks makes these homes dangerous for youngsters, researchers say. Barriers include poverty and the structural design of older urban homes that often doesn’t allow for proper installation of such devices, they point out.

“There are many factors that come into play here, and parental knowledge and financial situation are just part of the problem,” says study lead author Kimberly Stone, M.D., M.P.H., a pediatrician at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. “Clearly, the design of older urban homes and the lack of uniform measures to ensure home safety also play a role.”

Study participants—32 low-income, mostly unemployed pregnant women or mothers of children younger than 1 year from inner-city Baltimore—received information on safety products and practices and were given coupons to buy fire alarms, stair gates and medicine-cabinet locks. Researchers then interviewed the mothers about their home-safety practices and visited their homes to observe first-hand the use of safety products. Researchers found that parents tended to over-report their use of fire and smoke alarms, stair gates and cabinet locks, and many failed to use or install these products correctly. The study, albeit small, probably reflects patterns typical of Baltimore City’s impoverished urban pockets, researchers suspect.

“The take-home message for us as primary-care pediatricians is that we can’t simply ask parents if their homes are child-proof,” Stone says. “We need to be probing and ask specific questions about stair gates, fire alarms, medication storage, as well as about the state of repair and design of the home.”

The problem should be addressed on a macro level as well.

“We need to do more than hand out a free fire alarm and a pamphlet,” Stone adds. “We need legislators, housing authorities, landlords and manufacturers of safety products to step up to the plate and help ensure compliance.”

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Baltimore's Makeover Could Use More Than 'Hairspray'

I first noticed something when I saw the sleek black limosines sliding their way along Charles Street. Once on the bus, I saw what was going on -- it was the Baltimore premiere of the new remake of the cult film Hairspray.

Fans and TV crews alike had mobbed the sidewalk and as the bus drove by, we passengers saw film co-star Amanda Bynes posing in very Hollywood fashion out on the sidewalk for the photographers.

So this is what passes for glamour here in Baltimore.

You see, Baltimore is caught up in a bit of an identity crisis. This city, which once had serious personality, now lives in the shadow of this other city just an hour south on I-95. Yes, you guessed it -- our nation's capital, Washington DC.

Washington is a living city. Whatever their political stripe, Washington attracts the best and the brightest who come from across the country -- and around the world -- just to change the world, and leave their mark on it, too.

You can feel that energy everyday in Washington, as I do working there.

At night I come home to the somnambulent-by-comparison Baltimore, which is caught between the quaint past as seen in Hairspray and a future not yet made or defined.

Baltimore is just not the magnet for people and energy that Washington proves to be every day.

Certainly, Baltimore is home to the world-famous Johns Hopkins University, as well as many fine colleges and universities. Yet, they all operate as islands and never achieve the critical mass that government, non-profits and all of the other associated enterprises of Washington DC can muster.

Baltimore's in the midst of a mayoral election and the top issue on everyone's lips is the city's high crime and soaring homicide rate.

The thing is, Washington also has crime, murder and all the other urban social ills of a modern city. And yet for all of that, smart people keep coming to Washington. People in Washington have a lot more to talk about than their murder rate.

It will be up to the next mayor of Baltimore to provide the city with more of the energy that is so common and infectious on the streets just an hour south. With its universities and other assets, Baltimore has what it takes. What needs is a vision to create that critical mass its neighbor down in Washington has. What DC has is the "people's business." Baltimore needs to find some new business of its own, as unique in its own way as you'll find in government in Washington.

It's time that people in Baltimore also have more to talk about than either their crime rate or the sweet nostalgia of Hairspray.

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The Baltimore Area Apartment for You

Baltimore's the home of the Ravens, Edgar Allan Poe -- and the "Hons." Who are the hons?

The fun, friendly women with beehive hairdos who even today look like they are just a step away from the 1950s who call everyone "Hon." Watch the upcoming film Hairspray and you'll know all about it.

I should know. I live here. Baltimore's my town.

And I know Baltimore Real Estate. In the search for just the right place, you have a lot of choices. There are the many neighborhoods of the city itself, of course. And there are the rural areas north of the city.

Right out in Baltimore County, Cockeysville offers the best of both worlds -- the fun of the city, the beauty of the farms.

Briarcliff Apartments in Cockeysville, Md., offers one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, many with dens, located just minutes north of Baltimore City. Briarcliff Apartments are managed by Gebhart Properties and their maintenance staff is present 24 hours a day to make sure your experience living at Briarcliff is hassle-free and convenient.

Gebhart Properties offers you the benefit of more than two generations of real estate know-how. Let them put it all to work for you, Hon!

Call them today at (410) 666-1340.

This was a sponsored post.

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Study Says Greater Collaboration, Centralization Of Functions Needed To Support Arts

The arts sector in Philadelphia and other big cities would benefit greatly from a strong local agency to coordinate cultural activities and help make arts an integral part of each community, according to a RAND Corporation report.

The report recommended that civic leaders make cultural institutions a vital component of community economic development and neighborhood revitalization strategies.

In a study with broad national implications, RAND researchers studied systems of support for the arts in 11 metropolitan areas to identify strategies for sustaining Philadelphia's arts sector.

The report found that while the national nonprofit arts sector flourished in the last decade, the challenges of rising costs, shifting funding patterns, and a public increasingly skeptical of government growth or increased taxes necessitate new strategic approaches.

The metropolitan areas examined in the study were: Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Pittsburgh.

Researchers for RAND — a nonprofit research organization — created a unique systematic analysis to examine ways the 11 metropolitan areas support their nonprofit cultural institutions.
“Arts organizations across the country are competing more intensely for funding,” says study co-author Kevin McCarthy. “Furthermore, civic leaders are trying to provide stability to their arts programs while also dealing with other major urban problems, political turnover and declining budgets.”

To address these challenges, RAND researchers suggested that Philadelphia develop a centralized agency, either public or private, that would serve as the primary point of contact for artistic organizations and be integrated with other city government offices.

Alternatively, the city could have multiple public or private agencies with a clear division of labor serving the same function. Such agencies are found in cities with the strongest support for the arts, the report said, and provide a wide range of services to arts organizations including, but by no means limited to, funding.

“This report underscores that we all need to do our part to ensure the long-term viability of the sector, and establishing a strong central office of cultural affairs is a key step in any successful plan,” said Peggy Amsterdam, president of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, which joined the William Penn Foundation in sponsoring the RAND study.

Additionally, the study recommended greater collaboration within Philadelphia's arts sector on many areas, including programming, marketing, fundraising, employee benefits and some other operations. Collaboration could both strengthen the sector and save money, researchers found.

McCarthy and co-author Liz Ondaatje conclude that while arts organizations have typically undertaken fundraising on an individual basis, they could be better served by addressing the whole sector. The traditional approach of fundraising for individual organizations raises the transaction costs for both the organizations and the funders, the report found, and can put smaller establishments at a disadvantage.

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5 Things You Don't Know About Me

Editor's Note: Readers know this is not a personal-oriented blog. However, I was "tagged" for an Internet blog game called "5 Things You Don't Know About Me" by fellow blogger Paula Mooney.

Who am I to not go along, so here it is ...

1. I have a wonderful family here in Baltimore ... my beautiful wife Lisa, my age six-going-on-16 daughter Anna and stepson Steven. (Oh, and our Boston terrier Charlie and our bird, Sir Chirps.) We live in the Hampden neighborhood in a house that's 126 years old (and decades ago it was a funeral home).

2. I am a Buddhist. Several years ago I came to the Dharma and took Refuge within the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. Practicing the Dharma today is very important to me and is part of nearly every aspect of my life. I am a student of Shamar Rinpoche. Living in Baltimore, I meditate and practice the Dharma at the Baltimore Shambhala center. Through meditation and the Dharma, I slowly come closer to the nature of mind and basic goodness.

3. I went to college at Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., where there were no grades, tests or fraternities. Hampshire operates as an alternative, experimenting institution. It's very self-directed. No babysitting of students. You either succeed or you're gone. It was a great experience.

4. I used to write entertainment books. I wrote books on vampire movies, the rock group ZZ Top, the TV series Deep Space Nine and ... I cringe to admit it, but yes, the pop group New Kids on the Block.

5. I've loved being a newspaper reporter. You get to meet a lot of interesting people and see things most people, well, only ever get to read about. For instance, about 10 years ago I got called to a Hindu temple in surburban Maryland about a sacred statue that was drinking milk. Apparently, other Ganesh statues worldwide were also drinking milk. You don't see that everyday.


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