hey guys. the mta is planning a east loop of the light rail through downtown from penn station under 83 on the old frieght line down to pratt st then west on pratt and back to the main line. there was an article in the sun not to long ago about it. i still say they should extend I-70 east to 83 under the city!

That plan is still available on the MTA web site at http://www.baltimoreregiontransitplan.com/images/overview/brrsp/brreportfinal.pdf
It was the result of a Glendenning era report that was called a "Rail Plan". The Ehrlich administration re-tooled it into a smaller plan that is now called a "Transit Plan" which consists of a Red Line and Green Line (http://www.baltimoreregiontransitplan.com/index.htm). The name change reflects a change to include the likelihood that one or both lines would be some sort of super-bus. The yellow and blue lines on the old map show light rail essentially running up Charles Street, which doesn't seem very realistic. if we ever see the yellow, lower part of the blue line and the purple line, it will be a long time hence.

Hey guys.. i went for a walk downtown tonight and stopped off at Harbor East. they had a big sign next to the marriot that laid out where each of the new buildings were going to be and what businesses we could expect.
However what I thought was interesting was that in this plan they had Victors still in tact next to the four seasons.
So hopefully that will settle that debate that we had about 500 or so posts ago
:)

This could be really good news for the Mt. Vernon area. I think the area around the campus is the last part of that area that needs to be cleaned out.
Hopefully adding in all these students could really do the trick.

University of Baltimore to be 4-year institution
Regents board approves adding freshmen, sophomores in 2006
By Alec MacGillis
Sun Staff
Originally published April 9, 2005

For the first time since becoming a public college three decades ago, the University of Baltimore will start accepting freshmen and sophomores next year under an expansion of its academic mission approved yesterday by the University System of Maryland's Board of Regents.
The move is part of a continuing effort by the university system to make better use of its facilities as it contends with an enrollment surge brought on by the demographic trend known as the "baby boom echo," as well as by the growing popularity of the system's institutions.

By expanding to offer the full four years of undergraduate education, the University of Baltimore will make fuller use of buildings, many of which now sit empty during the day because most students attend classes in the evening, officials said yesterday.

This, in turn, will help the system absorb at least part of the state's enrollment growth without the cost of additional construction, system Chancellor William E. Kirwan said after the unanimous regents' vote.

"It's an ideal opportunity for both of us to make better use of the facilities," he said. "And in addition, ... it's doing something important for the [college] by making it a complete university. It has enormous potential to serve the city and the state as a full, four-year campus."

The university on the edge of Baltimore's Mount Vernon neighborhood has for years occupied an unusual niche in the state's university system: offering the final two years of undergraduate study to students who took their first two years at a community college or a four-year college. The university also operates business and law schools.

By switching to a four-year college -- a change that other "upper-division" urban colleges and universities around the country have also made in recent years -- the university will expand opportunities for area students, said university President Robert L. Bogomolny. "It adds a sense of clarity to our mission," he said.

The university plans to offer admission to about 250 students as freshmen and sophomores in 2006 before gradually increasing the number to 350. Because the university does not have dormitories, it will continue to rely on commuter students, though Bogomolny said it might eventually consider building dorms.

Bogomolny said the university expects that it will continue to attract the same mix of recent high school graduates and older students it does now and that it will continue to draw career-minded students interested in the university's strengths: communications, forensic science, business and law.

For these reasons, the president said, he didn't think the university would compete directly with more traditional four-year public colleges such as the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Towson University.

"Because all of us [colleges] are a little different, it's an enlargement of choice," he said. "People will self-select."

The university's shift comes at a time when it, like other colleges in the state, has been contending with a decline in the number of students transferring from community colleges. This drop in the university's target audience caused a dip in enrollment during the past decade, but Bogomolny said that it has rebounded this year to more than 5,000, including the professional schools.

The demographic increase in college-age students is expected to ebb around 2012, but Kirwan said the system was not concerned that creating another four-year college would lead to overcapacity in the future.

"I'm not sure if even after this baby-boom echo works its way trough the system that any of us are anticipating a huge drop in interest in higher education," he said. "It is something we have to continue to monitor, but the more immediate and urgent need is to develop strategies to serve more and more students."

Dorms would add to the area and make the area busy at night also.

This could be really good news for the Mt. Vernon area. I think the area around the campus is the last part of that area that needs to be cleaned out.
Hopefully adding in all these students could really do the trick.

University of Baltimore to be 4-year institution
Regents board approves adding freshmen, sophomores in 2006
By Alec MacGillis
Sun Staff
Originally published April 9, 2005

For the first time since becoming a public college three decades ago, the University of Baltimore will start accepting freshmen and sophomores next year under an expansion of its academic mission approved yesterday by the University System of Maryland's Board of Regents.
The move is part of a continuing effort by the university system to make better use of its facilities as it contends with an enrollment surge brought on by the demographic trend known as the "baby boom echo," as well as by the growing popularity of the system's institutions.

By expanding to offer the full four years of undergraduate education, the University of Baltimore will make fuller use of buildings, many of which now sit empty during the day because most students attend classes in the evening, officials said yesterday.

This, in turn, will help the system absorb at least part of the state's enrollment growth without the cost of additional construction, system Chancellor William E. Kirwan said after the unanimous regents' vote.

"It's an ideal opportunity for both of us to make better use of the facilities," he said. "And in addition, ... it's doing something important for the [college] by making it a complete university. It has enormous potential to serve the city and the state as a full, four-year campus."

The university on the edge of Baltimore's Mount Vernon neighborhood has for years occupied an unusual niche in the state's university system: offering the final two years of undergraduate study to students who took their first two years at a community college or a four-year college. The university also operates business and law schools.

By switching to a four-year college -- a change that other "upper-division" urban colleges and universities around the country have also made in recent years -- the university will expand opportunities for area students, said university President Robert L. Bogomolny. "It adds a sense of clarity to our mission," he said.

The university plans to offer admission to about 250 students as freshmen and sophomores in 2006 before gradually increasing the number to 350. Because the university does not have dormitories, it will continue to rely on commuter students, though Bogomolny said it might eventually consider building dorms.

Bogomolny said the university expects that it will continue to attract the same mix of recent high school graduates and older students it does now and that it will continue to draw career-minded students interested in the university's strengths: communications, forensic science, business and law.

For these reasons, the president said, he didn't think the university would compete directly with more traditional four-year public colleges such as the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Towson University.

"Because all of us [colleges] are a little different, it's an enlargement of choice," he said. "People will self-select."

The university's shift comes at a time when it, like other colleges in the state, has been contending with a decline in the number of students transferring from community colleges. This drop in the university's target audience caused a dip in enrollment during the past decade, but Bogomolny said that it has rebounded this year to more than 5,000, including the professional schools.

The demographic increase in college-age students is expected to ebb around 2012, but Kirwan said the system was not concerned that creating another four-year college would lead to overcapacity in the future.

"I'm not sure if even after this baby-boom echo works its way trough the system that any of us are anticipating a huge drop in interest in higher education," he said. "It is something we have to continue to monitor, but the more immediate and urgent need is to develop strategies to serve more and more students."

Hey guys.. i went for a walk downtown tonight and stopped off at Harbor East. they had a big sign next to the marriot that laid out where each of the new buildings were going to be and what businesses we could expect.
However what I thought was interesting was that in this plan they had Victors still in tact next to the four seasons.
So hopefully that will settle that debate that we had about 500 or so posts ago
:)

That sign has been there for over a year. Victor's is still going to get knocked down and build a nice Marina. They can move Victor's anywhere you can't have a marina just anywhere.

You guys remember this proposal?
Wouldn't it look great in Baltimore's skyline? :D

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/6slcepropelev.jpg

300 East Pratt Street!!
That is why I'm so interested in seeing this tower developed. :)

Steve,

I agree. This project would do to the central business district what the Marriott's, Four Seasons and Spinaker Bay did for Harbor East. Imagine 300 Pratt St, Cityscape and the Water Tower all starting construction in the next 2 years. We would have real busy 24 hour city in the central business district.

300 East Pratt in such a great site. I wish Town & Country trust would sell the site if they have no plans to develop it.

From this rendering, it looks like 300 east pratt is around 450 ft. tall. :)

this thread has hit its 500 post max. continue discussion here (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=3808574#post3808574)

***this thread will be around for about a week or so before i move it to the archive section so you guys can have some time to refer back to it.