HOW DID Pikesville, home to many influential Baltimore County professionals, business people and developers, evolve into an unattractive commercial core?
Sure, the $2 million-plus streetscape is a positive, but a proliferation of utility poles and wires overpowers its amenities. More to the point, the streetscape cannot overcome the lack of comprehensive planning and absence of quality design that dominate Pikesville.
In 1991, there was once a well-conceived blueprint to jump-start Pikesville. That's when the Baltimore County Council adopted the Pikesville, Maryland Revitalization Plan, a cohesive vision prepared with assistance from respected consulting firms. The 150-page document set forth key concepts and recommendations that could have spurred much-needed revitalization in Pikesville's Urban Village Area, from Slade Avenue to Old Court Road.
The "triangle area" off Reisterstown Road, between Walker Avenue and Old Court Road, was to be a core anchor. It would be an aesthetically attractive focal point for a possible government multi-use project (offices, college classrooms) and serve as an impetus to develop "an interesting and distinctive mixed-use project within the Pikesville core."
Many of the plan's concepts had merit:
Creating "activity generators" that would produce sufficient foot traffic to support successful suburban retail shops, services and restaurants. Adding an outdoor plaza or small park with amenities for community festivals and concerts. Establishing one committee to ensure quality design and a second one to manage revitalization.
Renovating building facades that lack visual quality. Using streetscaping to create a pedestrian-friendly environment since "people buy things, cars do not." Anchoring the south end of the Urban Village Area with a performing arts or cultural center -- an activity generator that would have positive spillover effects on retail shops and restaurants. Upgrading the existing store mix with unique small businesses. Marketing and promoting Restaurant Row.
It was a winning recipe for revitalization.
Unfortunately, despite some efforts to implement this vision (most notably, to renovate the Pikes Theater as an arts center), it never materialized. A mishmash of second-rate office buildings without character or architectural interest sprouted like weeds in the triangle area; a mammoth Giant supermarket swallows the only space (and green space) left in what could have been a lovely mixed-use or park area.
Before more "big box" stores crowd out any vestige of charm, businesses, community groups, developers and Baltimore County must muster the vision, unity, dynamism and funding necessary to halt the "anything goes" development that has been masquerading as revitalization in Pikesville.
A recent Urban Land Institute publication, Transforming Suburban Business Districts, notes that to realize their potential, suburban business districts "must be transformed into more functional, more diverse, more interconnected and more pedestrian-friendly places than they are today."
To effect this transformation, the real estate community must "shift its focus to the creation of place," a shift dependent on "a strong partnership between the community and the public and private sectors," according to the publication.
Pikesville has a rich history, strong neighborhoods and several long-established businesses. Its historic firehouse awaits redevelopment, but the area sorely needs a major activity generator, such as a multi-use arts center. Good design will be essential.
Many Pikesville residents are ready to help; it's time to bring them together with Pikesville businesses and urban planners for a design workshop. Revitalized older areas that convey a sense of place are trendy now. Arts districts are flourishing, and cookie-cutter malls are becoming passe. The timing couldn't be better.
For its part, Baltimore County needs to devote as much or more effort to preserving Pikesville's bona fide Main Street as it has on promoting "fake" main streets in new town centers. If community groups and local businesses work hand in hand with the county, there still is a chance to salvage a future from Pikesville's past.
Today's writer
Melanie Anson, a former lawyer with a Baltimore law firm, is a free-lance writer who has lived in Pikesville for 32 years.
Metro Journal provides a forum for examining issues and events in the region and welcomes contributions from readers.