A Saturday Night Stroll Through The Neighborhood

It was a hot day today, the 4th Saturday of July, and I waited until the evening to get outside of my central Towson apartment. A walk around the neighborhood yielded some rather interesting observations about Baltimore's economy. I noticed that the restaurants within walking distance of my apartment in on Allegheny Avenue in central Towson were nearly empty, leading me to believe that people in Baltimore still don't have money to spend.

Then I went for a walk in Towsontowne Mall and made a rather interesting discovery. This is the premier shopping destination in the Baltimore area north of downtown. The Martin & Osa store inside the mall was to close the following day, despite being open for less than two years. What this says is that Baltimoreans do not want to spend a lot of money on clothing since this is definitely an upscale store with very high prices.

Later on, I noticed that The Cheesecake Factory and Stoney River Legendary Steak restaurants were filled nearly to capacity with customers. These restaurants are visible from Dulaney Valley Road, a major thoroughfare leading to the mall, and near new parking garages. What this says is that Baltimoreans are car-oriented, generally notice restaurants within walking distance of a parking spot, and usually prefer well-known places to eat.

I conclude my evening by researching The Elkhart Project on MSNBC's web site (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29976394/ns/business-stocks_and_economy). The most recent data compares May 2010 wit May 2009. The most striking information is that housing starts are almost 60% higher in Baltimore and Towson, but employment is down 0.65% for the same period. Housing starts in the Washington D.C. area are up between 30 and 40%. Employment in this area is up anywhere between 0.08% and 0.13%. This suggests that some people are choosing to live in Baltimore for its cheaper real estate prices, but work in Washington, D.C., which has higher wages. Martin O'Malley may want to increase the frequency of MARC trains as a result.