Fredrick, MD a satellite city with great History and Urban Environment

Fredrick is a City with a ton of history. Its location where the Catoctin Mountains meet the rolling hills of the Piedmont region made Frederick a crossroads even before European explorers arrived. The town was platted in 1745 and early settlement beginning in the late 1700s. Many of the first settlers were German reformers and Lutherans. Fredrick quicky became the county seat for Western Maryland and an important market town. It was also the center of the young nation’s leading mining area in the early 19th century. As a major crossroads, Frederick saw considerable action during the American Civil War. Fredrick’s population grew slowly after the Civil War and into the 20th century hitting 9,000 in 1900 and 16,000 after WWII. Suburban growth from DC fueled explosive growth since WWII and Fredrick now tops 70,000.

The Downtown portion of Fedrick is the best part of the City complete with gorgeous 19th century architecture, especially the Italianate styles, a great main street along Market Street and several blocks of Patrick St. Recent interest in the town from DC residents looking for a quality walkable environment but cheaper housing has led to a renaissance for Dwtn Fredrick. This has sparked a great food & beverage scene, cultural arts, new recreational spaces, and lots of retail and independent stores. The next step to improving downtown Fredrick’s urban environment is investing in the gritty edges of town. Still room for quality urban in-fill here. Downtown also needs a supermarket. Some larger retailers would also be nice.

Click here to view my photo Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Wonderful historic 19th century architecture mixing Georgian, federalist, and Italianate styles.
* Infill limited overall but some great new construction in the NW section of downtown reflecting historic styles and massing.
* Quality local transit service.
* Great connectivity and street grid.
* Nice bike path along the Carroll Creek greenway. No bike sharing stations yet.
* Highly walkable neighborhood.
* Great economic diversity in Dwtn Fredrick.
* For sale housing is good mix of price points and cheap compared to DC prices. One bedrooms condos/rowhouses sell between 150-300K. 2-bedrooms 150K-450K depending on condition, 3 & 4 bedrooms between 200K-500K. Some higher end product selling for over 500K.
* Rental options pretty reasonable as well. 1-bedrooms rent in the low $1,000s. 2-bedrooms in the mid $1,000s. Limited 3-bedroom rentals. Generally above 2K. Some affordable rentals downtown as well.
* Carroll Creek provides great park & recreational amenities including a bike trail, playground, sport fields, a bandstand, and green space. Some smaller parks spread throughout dwtn Fredrick as well.
* Culturally dwtn hosts a great array of restaurants, cafes, & bars, many museums & historic sites, several theater company and an Arts Center, live music venues, and a plethora of art galleries.
* Retail options include a great variety of boutiques, creative stores, bookstores, Dwtn library & post office, a couple drug stores, and other general retail.
* Blighted limited to the edges of Dwtn. Crime rates in Fredrick near national average.
* Schools are well rated in Fredrick. 2 walkable elementary schools sit just outside of dwtn. The middle & high school ae located about a 2 miles away.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* ADA infrastructure and sidewalks and generally good but ADA compliant ramps are limited and much of the sidewalks are brick due to historic preservation requirements.
* Not convenient to the District as its an hour drive (on a good day) and 1.5 transit trip. But lots of jobs nearby along I-270.
* Limited racial diversity. A mostly white population.
* Supermarket is located about 1 mile outside of dwtn.
* Very inconvenient assess to Downtown DC. Most jobs lie along 270 and are only accessible by car.

Downtown Pontiac, MI

Click here to view the full Pontiac, MI album on Flickr

I decided to only review Dwtn Pontiac as that was mostly what I visited and because this is the most viable urban portion of Pontiac. During urban renewal Woodward was build as a loop around dwtn. I used this as the neighborhood’s boundary.

Founded in 1818, Pontiac is one of the earliest Michigan settlements. The city was best known for its General Motors auto plants from the early 20th century. Throughout the 1920s and 30s, Pontiac boomed with thousands of new autoworkers moving here from the South. Like many Michigan manufacturing towns, the town fell on hard times. But in 2010, city leaders and business owners had launched “The Rise of The Phoenix” initiative to attract new businesses and retail space. This has certainly gone a long way to stabilize downtown and fill it with many storefronts but plenty of underdeveloped and vacant parts of downtown, especially along the edges where the Woodward loop road destroyed significant urban fabric. Unfortunately neighborhoods in Pontiac have not seen a whole lot of reinvestment.

The way forward to make Downtown Pontiac a truly viable urban place is continued in-fill and population attraction.

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Fair amount of jobs dwtn as Pontiac is the county seat. Also 30 minute drive to dwtn Detroit but takes just over an hour to commute via bus.
* Nice cultural assets including several historic theaters, some night clubs, and decent array of restaurants, bars, and breweries.
* Nice array of neighborhood services and boutiques in many filled historic storefronts. Also the public and a major hospital are located Downtown.
* Dwtn Pontiac generally feels safe but a fair of blight and vacancy on the edges of Dwtn.
* Several schools on the northern and eastern edge of dwtn. Mixed ratings but nice mix of K-12 Schools.
* Great urban fabric and streetscape along Saginaw, the main drag, but certainly lacking on the edges of Dwtn.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* New bike lanes have been added to dwtn Pontiac but still a long way to go for Pontiac to be bike friendly.
* The residential population is generally lower income and Black. But the dwtn caters to a diverse population for work and shopping. Decent generational diversity though
* For sale housing limited to the north edge of dwtn. Generally between 50K-100K. Rental product is also pretty limited but some nice apartments generally listing around 1,000 for 1-bedrooms.
* Interesting modernist plaza and amphitheater at the City centered on top of a parking lot. Really not other park/plaza space outside of this.
* No supermarket, post office, or drug store located downtown.

Royal Oak, a stable Detroit Streetcar suburb

Click here to view the full Royal Oak album on Flickr

I am only evaluating the mostly pre-WWII section of Royal Oak, which is everything south of 12 Mile Ave. This includes the Royal Oak Dwtn and large neighborhoods surrounding it.

Royal Oak developed initially in the early 20th century as a suburb after Detroit boomed as a major industrial city. Low-medium density housing surround its traditional street-side shopping district which run between Washington and Troy. In the 2000s City leaders poured significant effort in revitalizing downtown with new businesses, restaurants, bars and high end stores. Significant mixed-use in-fill also filled downtown.

While already a stable upper middle class community, the City could improve with added density and urban in-fill along its commercial corridors (Main & 11th Street) out of downtown.

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Best transit access runs along Woodland Avenue on Royal Oak western border.
* Very good street connectivity in Royal Oak.
* Pretty good bike infrastructure with several streets of bike lanes and a fair amount of Detroit’s bike share stations around downtown.
* Good economic and generational diversity.
* Diverse array of rentals 1-bedrooms range anywhere from 800K-1.6K; 2-bedrooms between 1.3K-3K. 3-bedrooms generally in the 2-3Ks. Same with for-sale properties -bedroom condos sell between 250-325K, 2&3-bedrooms anywhere between 250K-550K.
* Nice array of small-medium high amenity parks spread through the City.
* Extensive Downtown for a historic suburb spanning several streets between Washington and Troy. Dwtn hosts a great array of neighborhood businesses, restaurants & bars, several historic theaters, a cinema, a dwtn post office
* Royal Oak also hosts several supermarkets & drug stores but not larger retailers.
* Dwtn hosts great urban fabric and streetscape. Outside of dwtn the commercial streets of Main or Eleven mile are semi-autocentric. Still have sidewalks but plenty of auto centric buildings.
* Nice array of pretty well schools within walking distance to most residents.
* Decent historic architecture but very high quality urban infill.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* Pretty easy access to Dwtn via the car but about a 45 minute transit ride.
* Racial diversity is pretty limited.
* Density is not great and more akin to a 1950 suburb, but that’s Detroit for you.
* Outside of Downtown, not a lot of pedestrian activity.

Maine’s Victorian Jewel… the West End of Portland

The neighborhood is home to many historic homes from all decades of the 19th century. Its considered one of the best preserved Victorian neighborhoods in the country. Other great qualities to Portland’s West End include its convenient access to Downtown and Old Port, strong walkability, safety, mixed use and dense character, and expansive Western Promenade Park hugging its western edge.

The major downside to the neighborhood is its expensive housing where for-sale options start at 200K for a modest condo and generally exceed 400K for a SF home. Surprisingly the neighborhood manages to have great economic diversity likely indicating a large cost burdened population. This is certainly not a great district for modern architecture lovers as its almost non-existent.

Click here to view my entire West End Album on my Flickr Page

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Very convenient access to Downtown.
* Expansive bike system connect the district to downtown and other adjacent areas.
* Great economic diversity.
* Nice array of smaller diverse parks and the expansive Western Promenade
* Great Tree Canopy.
* Gorgeous brick sidewalks fill most of the neighborhoods.
* Very safe district.
* Culturally many historic houses, convenient access to several Dwtn museums, music venues and cinemas; also many restaurants and some cafes and bars.
* Neighborhood amenities includes a couple smaller groceries, several drug stores, and a good amount of boutiques, and several book stores. The Congress Biz District is nearby and contains a good amount of retail amenities as well.
* North Light Mercy Hospital located here.
* Gorgeous historic architecture from all decades of the 19th century.
* Urban massing is generally good throughout except the Commercial St. on the West End’s southern border.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* Public transit is decent but not great.
* Limited racial and generational diversity.
* Rentals are plentiful but generally expensive. One-bedrooms range in the $1,000s. 2-bedrooms in the high $1,000s and low $2,000s.
* 1-bedroom condos generally sell in the $200ks, 2-bedroom condos often in the $200s but plenty of product in the 300ks. 3-bedrooms homes anywhere from 300Ks-600Ks. Larger homes are easily over 600K.
* Curbs cuts at all intersections but generally not ADA standard.
* No art galleries in the district
* Modern architecture is very limited here.

Portland Maine’s East End, an Upper Class Community with Great Access to the Sea.

The East End was developed in the late 19th century with a mix of wood frame SF and small apartment buildings. Historically the neighborhood had a large Irish and Italian American population. This is a stable upper middle class district with convenient access to downtown without significant traffic, beautiful bayfront parks, several attractive urban business districts, and attractive historic architecture. The waterfront park, Eastern Promenade, was designed by the Olmsted Brothers as well as Baxter Boulevard, which rings part of Back Cove.

The district however lacks significant racial diversity, is very expensive to reside, and contains only a mediocre elementary school. Public Transit is also average.

Click here to view my Full EastEnd Album on Flickr.

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Very convenient access to Downtown.
* Expansive bike system connect the district to downtown and other adjacent areas.
* Great economic diversity and decent generational diversity.
* Lovely Historic architecture mostly wood frame housing from the late 19th century.
* Good amount of tree canopy and street trees.
* Generally high quality sidewalks with ADA ramps.
* The East End is well endowed with recreational spaces including its extensive waterfront parks and many small and medium sized parks throughout offering most types of amenities.
* Culturally a good # of restaurants, bars, and cafes, several theaters and music venues and art galleries. No museums but several historic sites.
* Amenity wise there are several smaller groceries but Wholefoods nearby, a Walgreens and a good offering of retail and boutiques along Congress St. and Washington Ave.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* Public transit is decent but not great.
* Very Caucasian neighborhood with limited racial diversity.
* For Sale housing is very expensive starting at around 300K for a 1-2 bedroom condos. Most 3 & 4 bedroom SF homes selling between 500K-800K. Rentals are expensive too with studios starting around $1,000 and most 1-bedrooms in the mid to high $1,00s. 2-bedrooms rent in the high $1,000s and $2,000s.
* A decent grade school sits within the East End and the well rated Portland HS is about a mile away.

Old Port, Portland- Maine’s greatest port, now tourist destination.

This is the City’s oldest district between Commercial Street and Spring-Federal Street. East to West, Old Port runs from Franklin St. to York and Maple. After Portland was largely destroyed by the British in the Revolutionary war, Old Port was rebuilt with 19th century brick buildings and fishing piers becoming Maine’s leading port and economic center. Old Port was revitalized in the 1970s when real estate developers transformed derelict warehouses into apartments, condos, offices and retail space. Old Port emerged as a popular urban district filled with boutiques, restaurants, bars, cafes, and night life.

As much of Old Port’s historic fabric remains, it scores well in many urban categories including walkability, urban form, a wonderful streetscape, and beautiful historic architecture. Due to a plethora of local businesses and boutiques, Old Port contains most neighborhood retail amenities as well. Yet Old Port lacks amble access to green space (largely due to a privately controlled waterfront), expensive real estate, and mediocre public transit. There is still room for significantly more density to create a more well rounded district not so reliant on tourist and downtown workers.

Click here to view my Old Port Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Pretty great bike system citywide and to many suburbs. Limited bike lanes within Old Port and dwtn, but easy access to them on the edge of the neighborhoods.
* Very economically diverse population.
* Great cultural amenities with tons of restaurants, bars, and cafes, live music venues, and easy access to a cineplex and theaters.
* Lots of neighborhood amenities with tons of boutiques and locally owned stores, drug stores, bookstores, and easy access to several grocery stores in nearby districts.
* Very safe district.
* Convenient access to a great high school and a solid middle school is about 1 mile away.
* Great ADA infrastructure, attractive sidewalks, and consistent street trees.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* Even with great access to Downtown, mediocre transit access.
* No bike sharing but this seems to be on the way.
* No great racial or generational diversity.
* For sale housing is very expensive. 1 bedrooms condos selling in the 300s & 400Ks. 2-bedrooms above 500K.
* Rentals also expensive. Studios start around $1,000 and 1-bedrooms in the $1,000s. 2-bedrooms in generally in the high $1,000s and $2,000s.
* Recreation amenities a bit limited. Several plazas and parks but one needs to walk a mile to a large park. Unfortunately no waterfront park along the harbor.

Observatory Hill- Pittsburgh’s Highest Point

Observatory Hill or Perry Hilltop was named both in honor of Commodore Perry and the Historic Allegheny Observatory, the City’s first astronomy building gracing the top of Riverview Park. The district also hosts the highest elevation in the City of Pittsburgh at 1,370 feet at the Brashear Reservoir and WPNT-FM Radio Tower.

This North Hills district has remained a middle class strong hold in the northside and thus retained much of its historic housing and fabric. Riverview Park was a large factor in the neighborhood’s success. Observatory’s urban business district along Perrysville Ave has not fared as well and is littered with vacancies and limited retail amenities. Cultural amenities are also very limited. Building up the Perrysville Avenue business district should be the # 1 revitalization priority for the neighborhood. Secondary priorities include installing bike infrastructure, permanent affordable housing, opening new high quality schools, and improving pedestrian and ADA infrastructure.

Click here to view the full Observatory Hill Album on Flicker

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Convenient access to downtown especially via the car but decent transit and biking routes.
* This is a very diverse neighborhood among all measures.
* Very diverse for-sale price points starting at around 50K for a modest fixture upper to the 200Ks for a large historic home and everything in-between.
* Riverview Park is accessible to all in the neighborhood and holds almost any recreational amenity one needs.
* Overall pretty safe district, although some blight still remains.
* Lots of high quality historic architecture.
* The urban form of the business district is good but very small.
* Great tree cover.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* Streets generally connect but are very curvilinear due to the district’s extreme terrain.
* Other than bike lanes in Riverview, Bike infrastructure is non-existent.
* Not a ton of rental product but generally affordable. 1-bedrroms run between $500-$700, 2-bedrooms btwn $700-$1,100, and 3-bedrooms to the low to mid $1,000s.
* One deli and no restaurants or bars.
* Cultural amenities are basically non-existent. One needs to travel several miles south to the Allegheny Commons district and Downtown.
* Low-Medium density.
* Other than a couple convenience stores there is a bank, hair salon, thrift store, but not much else in the way of retail here.
* Perry High School is located here but rated poorly. No other schools within Observatory Hill.
* Most roads host sidewalks and ramps but ADA infrastructure is often missing.

Spring Hill- One of Pittsburgh’s Great “View” Neighborhoods

Spring Hill was named for the abundance of springs near the site. Germans immigrated there from 1850 to 1920, giving the neighborhood a very Bavarian atmosphere reflected in its local streets (i.e. Rhine, Woessner, Haslage, Zoller and Goehring). The population of Spring Hill peak in 1940 around 8,000 and has stabilized down to around 2,500. Spring Hill Garden used to host around 4,000 and now is just under 1,000.

This is a very typical hillside Pittsburgh community, which has seem a drastic population loss but has managed to “right size” through losing population often in the most steep terrain and maintaining generations of families. Spring Hill and Spring Garden are beginning to see modest real estate interest given its close proximity to downtown and other revitalizing communities such as Deutchtown and Mexican War Streets. The old warehouses of Spring Garden are beginning to see new life through modern craft outfits, distilleries, and fitness centers. To elevate this district to a viable urban community continued real estate investment, new bike paths, improved public transit connections, and a walkable neighborhood amenities are needed. But this is certainly possible given the neighborhood’s good urban bones, proximity to downtown, and beautiful views and generous yards.

View the full Flick Albums for Spring Hill and Spring Gardens

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Good access to downtown especially by car, but decent public transit access. One could even walk to downtown in 30-45 minutes if they can handle the terrain. Getting to Oakland is much harder by transit by easy by car.
* All around great diversity in Spring Hill.
* For sale housing is very affordable with prices ranging anywhere from 25K to 150K depending on size and quality.
* Great tree cover thanks to all the steep terrain and hillsides.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* Very low density for an urban district due to the extreme topography and steep population decline.
* No bike infrastructure across the district.
* Not much rental product in the neighborhood and what exist is very modest.
* There are a couple parks hosting ballfields, playgrounds, and the Lutheran cemetery.
* Sidewalks are often missing and very steep terrain, so ADA infrastructure isn’t great.
* Commercial is very limited (a brewery within the Spring Hill district but some neighborhood amenities existing on Spring Garden Road (i.e. pharmacy, family dollar, some light manufacturing, a cider house, and a couple of bars and restaurants.
* Very limited cultural amenities within the district, but the rich cultural of the northside and downtown is only 2 miles away.
* There is a poorly rated elementary school but not much else.

Pittsburgh’s Troy- the Plateau that looks over the City

Originally called the village of New Troy, the neighborhood was originally settled by German immigrants who worked in the mills, tanneries, breweries and railroads that lined the Allegheny river (including the Heinz Ketchup factory). Migration up to Troy Hill began when a Catholic church opened a small cemetery in 1842. Gradually the neighborhood filled in by the early 20th century and remained a stable working class community to the present day.

While Troy Hill lost a significant amount of its historic population, dropping from a historic high of 7,000 to around 2,000, it has retained much of its urban fabric due to the removal of many hillside dwellings and smaller families. The neighborhood has stabilized and seen recent investment with many younger families renovating modest rowhouses. Given the districts incredible access to downtown, the Strip District, and Allegheny Commons, it is a surprise the market has not taken off even more here. Hopefully more and more amenities move to Troy Hill without it becoming too expensive for its current population. The neighborhood is one of the most economically diverse in the City of Pittsburgh.

Click here to view my full Troy Hill album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Pretty easy access to downtown especially for cars, but decent public transit access. Due to the hikes, bike commuting is challenging.
* Housing is pretty affordable here. Most homes selling in the $100s but some outdated product selling between 50-100K and larger resent renovations selling in the 200Ks. 1-bedroom rentals going anywhere between $700-$1,200 and 2-3 bedrooms in the low to mid $1,000s.
* Good recreational amenities with several ballfields, a few playgrounds, and a spray park.
* Streetscape and urban form pretty solid in the heart of Troy Hill along Lowrie St, but pretty weak along Spring Garden Rd. (the district’s northern edge).
* Good tree cover due to the many dense groves along the hill sides.

URBAN WEAKNESSES
* No bike lanes through the hard of Troy Hill nor any bike stations, but a dedicated lane along 28.
* Culture amenities are decent but not great in Troy Hill. The neighborhood hosts a couple of restaurants, a café, two breweries, and several bars. This is also the home of St. Anthony (the largest collection of relics.
* Some neighborhood retail including several delis, a drug store, a fitness center, and several banks.
* Three schools within or in adjacent districts, but overall low ratings.

Lincoln-Lemington- Pittsburgh’s “forgotten” East End Neighborhood

Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar is a predominantly black neighborhood that was majority Caucasian from the 1920s until the 1970s.Sadly the neighborhood fell into decline after its racial transition. What was once a comfortable early 20th century bedroom community with an intact main street now is a half empty with most of its main street erased.

Yet there still are several assets worth mentioning including its attractive early 20th century architecture, good public transit access, short commute to downtown, quality park amenities, and thick tree canopy. There is much revitalization work needed to make this a viable urban community once more. Given its high home ownership, and the ability to build African-American wealth, this seems like a worth endeavor.

Click here to view my Lincoln-Lemington album on Flickr.

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Decent public transit access and easy drive to Downtown.
* Good historic architecture. Just not always well maintained.
* Decent park recreation’s with several playgrounds, ballfields, and a recreational center.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* Not great racial nor economic diversity. Still a high rate of poverty here.
* For-sale housing is depressed but some quality product selling between 50K-75K. Not a ton of rental product but generally a mix of affordable and moderate rental.
* Retail and stores limited to a couple convenience stores, car repair stores, and churches.
* Mediocre ADA infrastructure.
* Very limited cultural amenities.
* Some assemblance remains of the historic urban streetscape along Lincoln Ave but not much is left.
* No walkable schools in Lincoln-Lemington a couple in adjacent districts but not highly rated.