Baltimore Grows

Today I noticed that Atomic Books had moved from its location on The Avenue in Hampden and merged with it’s sister store, Atomic Pop, at 3620 Falls Road. I stopped in and I have to hand it to them– even though they moved over piecemeal the last week of July, they have the space set up pretty darn well as bookstore. It’s bigger, brighter, and the extra space means it’s a little easier to shop. The clerk told me they were still moving and setting things up, but it all looked good to me.

You may recall that Atomic Books formerly occupied a historic bank building — a really cool architectural anomaly on the Avenue and a great spot for a bookstore. I asked the clerk if he knew what was moving in. It turns out that Squidfire is opening it’s first retail store front! As it happens, when the clerk told me this, I just happened to be wearing my favorite Squidfire shirt.

This appears to be a win for all parties involved– especially us hip t-shirt wearing book-readers. Hampden keeps an awesome Bookstore, and one of Baltimore’s most unique small businesses gets it’s first retail space.

After the initial announcement that Dangerously Delicious Pies would open it’s Hampden Location in Conjunction with Hon-fest in June, then many subsequent promises that it would be open “next week,” Dangerously Delicious Pies finally opened it’s doors the third week of July, occupying the old Finnerteas location on Chestnut.? It’s not just sweets anymore– they’re apparently offering “Savory” dinner pies with meats and veggies.? ? If the Savory selection is as good as their Sweet Pies, Hampdenites waste lines will be grave danger.? Have you tried the savory selection?? Leave a comment and share how it went.

It’s not really Theory #23. It’s theory #1, I suppose. It’s been my theory at least since 1999, when I purchased a house in Baltimore City for myself and my family. The theory is simple and goes like this: Oil is a finite resource. Sooner or later, we’ll run out. There’s no viable alternative to gasoline, and even if there were, there’s already too many cars out there to replace. As gasoline prices rise, houses in the suburbs will drop in value. There will be a corresponding rise in the value of city real estate. Suburbia is predicated on cheap gasoline, whereas cities are from a time before gasoline. Cheap gas is a temporary phenomena. Buy city real estate and sell suburban real estate.

After eight years, it’s safe to say, “I told you so”. Now my theory has been borne out. However in 1999 I was the only one saying it. When I moved from DC to Baltimore in 1999, a real estate investor in the DC ‘burbs told me, “Don’t buy real estate in Baltimore City. It’ll never appreciate”! At the time, buying real estate in the city was risky. In the city you had to deal with crime, drugs, racial issues, bad schools, abandoned buildings, Mayor O’Malley, high taxes, etc etc. As recently as three years ago I posted to another blog about buying in the city and was jumped on by suburbanites. Within the past couple of years two of my neighbors bailed out* and moved to the ‘burbs. This was before $4 gas.

The neighborhood that I bought into has come back big-time since I bought in 1999. I don’t know if I could afford to buy my house if I had to buy it again now. However, there’s still “bad” neighborhoods in Baltimore City. They’re “bad” neighborhoods to some people. I’d say that one man’s “bad” neighborhood is this man’s sweet deal!

http://www.joshuaberlow.com

*In both cases, the houses sold immediately. The only house in the neighborhood that hasn’t sold immediately after being put on the market is one guy who’s holding out for $100K more than any of the others has sold for. Maybe he knows something…