Tragedies vs. Statistics

"The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic." Joseph Stalin

A Monday Sun article beautifully re-affirms Stalin's maxim. We are presented with a portrait of "suburban" violence as being deliberate and rational, whereas urban murders are "drug-fueled" and "impersonal."

The sentiment in the article seems to be that, in the 'burbs, you're likely to be killed by people you know, whereas in the City, you could be killed at any time, as part of random violence. Of course, as described in the article, the "highest profile homicide" in Baltimore County was carried out by hooligans from the City who were executing a police informant in Rosedale. Are we to believe that this sort of tit-for-tat is unknown when conducted solely within the City limits?

I suspect the article was cobbled together as a well-intentioned end of the year crime wrap-up, but the truth of the matter is that it's precisely the sort of piece that continues to lull enclaved suburbanites into the delusion that if they can just stay on good terms with their spouses and business partners, and avoid the hellish heart of darkness on the inner harbor, they can safely ignore the hundreds of victims sacrificed on the streets of Baltimore each year.

Comparing County Tax Rates

While making my way around other state blogs, I came across this informative tax table from the Maryland Department of Taxation and Assessments.

There's an awful lot of discussion about Anne Arundel being a "tax cap, tax averse" County. In fact, the County Executive seems to rattle it off at this point like it's second nature. So, just how "taxed" is Anne Arundel County relative to other jurisdictions in the State?

Let's begin with size. With an estimated population of 509,300 in 2006, Anne Arundel County is the fifth largest of 24 County size jurisdictions in Maryland (smaller than only Montgomery, Prince George's, and Baltimore Counties, and Baltimore City).

At $.87/$100 of assessed value, our real property tax rate is 8th lowest in the State. Our personal income tax rate, the so-called "piggyback" tax, is 2.56%, the 3rd lowest in the State. Only Worcester and Talbot Counties, with less than 1/10 the population have lower rates in Maryland.

We may well be "tax averse", after all, I can't say I've ever met anyone who relished paying taxes, but for anyone to assert that we are "overtaxed", particularly compared to other jurisdictions in the State, is not accurate¹.

To my knowledge, we still have an enormous school maintenance backlog (it was $1.5 billion 18 months ago), perhaps it's time to consider bumping up the piggyback tax to fix our schools before we have any more embarrassing situations like the one that occurred with Severna Park High School in 2006.

¹ I will say, however, that taxes in Baltimore City are out of hand. What do you get for a property tax rate ($2.268/$100 assessed) that is more than double the next highest in the State and a personal income tax rate (3.05%) that is 7th highest? Atrocious schools, failing infrastructure, and two murders every three days. Something needs to change in Maryland's biggest city.

Annapolis Visionaries Take Their Tastes to Charm City

Local entrepreneurs Jody Danek and Gavin Buckley are taking their restaurants Tsunami and Lemongrass to Baltimore. Have no fear, they're keeping their existing restaurants in Annapolis. They will be opening a 250-seat Lemongrass, serving Thai food, and 180-seat Tsunami, serving Japanese, at the Inner Harbor location of the Tack Factory on Bank Street. Good luck in this new endeavor, though I doubt they'll need it.

The New Urbanism

Citizens fighting overdevelopment, poorly conceived development, and environmentally-harmful projects in the Baltimore metropolitan suburbs are often so deeply involved in piecemeal battles against developers or the County government in their own communities that they lack the time or energy to wage battle on fronts outside their immediate vicinity. This can make it difficult not only to build broad coalitions, but also to see the bigger picture of growth and development in the region.

While redevelopment projects in Annapolis begin to gain some traction (e.g., the Johnson Lumber site on West Street) and the Parole redevelopment continues to founder, a truly innovative, and quite courageous effort is taking place in some of Baltimore City's most disadvantaged neighborhoods. Tens of thousands of homes sit vacant in the city, deteriorating, serving as outposts for drug dealers, and blighting the cityscape, yet green space grows more and more scarce in the surrounding counties, and home prices continue to escalate.

Rather than give up on Baltimore, like it seems so many have done, one young man, Adam Meister, and several cohorts have decided to try to reclaim Charm City one block at a time. Spending between $15,000 and $50,000¹ to purchase and renovate formerly vacant homes, these individuals are attempting to re-infuse the city with young (and old) professionals committed to working with neighbors in existing communities to bring Baltimore back to its better days. It's important that we support these projects, both in word, and in deed, and that we make it clear to County government that part of "smart growth" is working with other municipalities in the region to help foster growth where infrastructure and services are already in place.

While we all certainly have our own local initiatives to wage, it's important that we step back from time to time and recognize that one of the most promising ways to halt suburban sprawl lies at the heart of the region. As goes Baltimore, so goes our green space.

¹ The median price of homes in Anne Arundel County was $220,000 in October 2003.