Compare and contrast the central city and two suburbs: Baltimore, Maryland and the suburban areas of Columbia and Towson
Brief History of Each Area
Baltimore was established as a county in 1659 and David Jones who owned 380 acres of land in 1661 first settled it. The most attractive and important aspect ion determining the location of the city was the geology at the mouth of the Patapsco River forming the Port of Baltimore, which was later changed to Inner harborHarbor. The large number of farmers from the surrounding areas significantly motivated the city. Water flowing to the Patapsco fall line was efficient for driving mills the heavy tobacco farming in the surrounding areas resulted in many shipments leaving the Baltimore harbor by 1742. It was incorporated in 1797 and was a significant port city for the exportation of grain to other cities in America.
Commercial possibilities for the city were enhanced in 1828 by the construction of the first public railroad. Merchants in the city sought to build the Baltimore Ohio line in order to transport passengers and freight also resulted in the construction of the first station in Mount Clare in 1829. The city profited as a military depot during the Civil War despite reduction in trade. Baltimore expressed experienced a fire tragedy in 1904 that destroyed over 2000 buildings. This initiated improvementsd on the harbor and the streets allowing the city to remain unaffected by the depression and the First World War.
Improvements on roads were initiated in the 18th and 19th centuries to improve the available trails that enabled the residents to ferry tobacco to the market. Omnibuses started operating in the city streets of Baltimore by 1844, and in 1859; the first horse-drawn street railway began to work in the city. In 1890, the US Department of Agriculture established the Office Road of Inquiry, which initiated the contemporary era of highway transportation.
The main inhabitants of Towson in 1752 were brothers Thomas and William Towson. They were farmers and the family opened a hotel to serve the increasing number of farmers bringing their produce to the port of Baltimore. The area became known as Towsontown and it developed consistently into the 1800s. It became the county seat for Baltimore County in 1854, as the former county seat Baltimore became an independent city. Railroad service in the area of Towson began in 1882 with the formation of the Delta and Baltimore Railway company. It was later reorganized as the Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad. The railroad operated from Baltimore to York in Pennsylvania with a station on Susquehanna Avenue. The railway line operated until 1954 when it was discontinued. The area evolved to a suburb since the late 1800s and 1900s. In the summer of 1894, the Towson water company installed fire hydrants after laying wooden pipes from an artesian well as Aigburth Vale. In the same year, the town got electricity from the Mount Washington power station. The community at Towson remained largely rural at the beginning of the century. The construction of Towson University in the area and its later move in 1815 was significant in the areas evolution. The area developed from its Victorian and colonial style housing to modern housing units after WWII. Many office developments have taken place in the area with many Victorian style houses being demolished in 1980s and 90s for office space and parking.
Columbia is a planned city in Howard County consisting of 10 self-contained villages. It was developed as a way of enhancing people’s quality of life by considering the community in terms of human values. It was initiated in 1967 in order to eliminate the limitations resulting from the current subdivision design and segregation. The name originated from the crossroads near Simpsonville formed by the Columbia road company on building the road from the Montgomery Courthouse to Baltimore. A small post office was built at the cross road in 1874 to serve the population of 20 residents. The first housing project completed in 1960 was the foundation for the development. Purchase of the piece of land at the crossroads by James rouse was completed through dummy companies in order to keep costs low. The 14,178 acres of land for the development was acquired from 140 owners before development started. The development sought to ensure that all facilities would be accommodated to ensure that people's quality of life was high. The city has sustained its small town feel through its organization into neighborhoods and villages that are self-contained with commercial and recreational facilities. The city was made as a relatively premium location with facilities such as the Lakefront highlighted in the picture below.
Today
The city of Baltimore has had a relative population decline over the years since 1980 to stand at 637,000 in 2007. The population reduction within the city has resulted from movement of affluent individuals to the suburbs. The population of 950,000 in 1950 consisted of 24% blacks; a proportion that has been increasing considerably over the decades. The white movement to the suburbs resulted in their proportionate decline in the city. People under 18 years account for 21.5% of the population with 11.9% being over 65 years. African Americans account for 63.4% of the population while Whites are 31.4%. The home ownership rate in the city is 48.8% with an average 2.5 persons per household. Education is significantly high with 79.6% of the population having high school diplomas and 26.1% having Bachelor’s degrees. A look at the city shows that many areas have become abandoned. It faces similar challenges to other old cities in the country including crime, poor infrastructure, and decay. The under-population in recent years has increased the negative aspects of the city because of the empty spaces. The large size of the city coupled with a shrinking population makes its maintenance a problem.
As much as Towson is a residential area, it is similarly a business city as well and offers many employment opportunities to its residents. The Towson Town Center is one of Baltimore’s biggest indoor malls comprising of four stories of shops and a parking garage. The parking garage links to several other shops such as Barnes and Noble across the street. Allegheny Avenue, located nearby, offers a number of places where customers and workers can eat. The Towson Square is another major employer in the town. It is one of the newest outdoor malls in Towson and offers several employment opportunities to the residents. Other major employers in Towson include the shops at Kenilworth, Towson Place, and Towson Center & Unitas Stadium.
The male population in Towson consists of 45.6 percent of the whole population while that of the females makes up 54.4 percent of Towson’s general population. The total sum of men in the suburban is 66,772, while that of females adds up to 79,781. Most of the people in Towson as well as Baltimore are educated because statistics show that the sum of individuals with alumni degrees in Towson is 25,858. People with Bachelor degrees add up to 25,414, 4,925 have associate degrees, 16,520 have gone to college, and 6,056 have attained at least high school certification. The statistics also show that only 2,334 people have not attended high school. These statistics made up for 43.90 percent of individuals with at best a subordinate degree in a total population of about 2,710,489 people.
As a planned community, Columbia has a smaller population compared to that of the more established Towson community and city of Baltimore. With a total population of 99,615 as of 2013-2014, Columbia had 55% of the population being Caucasians while 25% were African Americans. Unlike Baltimore City, Columbia recorded a 12.95 increase in population compared to 2000. The population density of the area is 3,202 individuals per square mile with 35,281 housing units. About 35.9% of the households in the area had children less than 18 years while 53.4% of the households consisting of married couples. The median age is 36 years, and the largest population group is 25-44 years accounting for 34% of the population. 25% of the population was 45-64 years and 26.35 under 18 years.
Analysis
The strategies followed in the three areas on constructing transport modes before developing other aspects of the cities highlight their high relevance. They portray similarities showing that road and water transportation presented higher opportunities in the city's early development. Baltimore, being the most developed of the three in comparison, enjoys relative heterogeneity in its demographic profile but is nevertheless ridden with problems on crime, which is rampant in high-poverty areas. The service economy started to dominate in Baltimore following its deindustrialization, now employing around more than 90% of the working population. As the median example of the three in comparison in terms of size, Towson appears to grow towards the same direction as the city of Baltimore, albeit its planned nature seeking to control much of the unwanted results of organic population growth. The vast availability of commercial centers, public transportation systems and infrastructural developments all provide Towson the facilities it needs as the seat of Baltimore County. The development of business opportunities in present-day Columbia starting from the road built from the Montgomery Courthouse going to Baltimore during the second half of the 19th century made it more economical for nearby industries and companies that transport perishable goods outside the community. Real estate developers such as Melvin Berman, Norman Moxley and James Rouse all contributed to the development of Columbia as a livable community with a growing population. Demographic composition of the three areas differs considerably with Baltimore having a dominant African American population. The suburbs are dominated by Whites and have higher median income levels. Columbia differs from the other two because of its origin as a planned city compared to others that grew organically. The Downtown Columbia Plan, an inclusion to the General Plan of Expansion of Howard County that envisions the planning of Columbia for the next thirty years, supports the relative sustainability of said community in terms of housing density compared to the larger community of Towson and city of Baltimore. Said plan includes the establishment of retail, office and hotel spaces, and a comprehensive transportation system involving multiple modes of transportation – all of which provide expectations on boosting employment in Columbia.
- References
Census Bureau. 2014. State & County QuickFacts: Baltimore (city), Maryland . http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/24/2404000.html (accessed Jun 29, 2014).
Census Bureau. 2014. State & County QuickFacts: Columbia CDP, Maryland. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/24/2419125.html (accessed Jun 29, 2014).
Explore Columbia, MD. n.d. Columbia’s History: Columbia, Maryland . http://columbia.exploremd.us/tourism/history/ (accessed Jul 5, 2014).
Howard County Executive. 2010. Downtown Columbia Plan: A General Amendment: Howard County, Maryland. Retrieved from http://planhoward.org/downtown_columbia_plan.pdf
Kunstler, James H. 1993. The Geography of Nowhere. New York: Simon & Schuster. Retrieved from http://www.urban.uiuc.edu/courses/up446/sp13/Reader/4_kunstler-part-1.pdf
Lumina Foundation. 2012. A Stronger Nation Through Higher Education. Retrieved from http://www.luminafoundation.org/publications/A_stronger_nation_through_higher_education.pdf
Randy Ripley. 2014. Towson Demographics. Retrieved from http://www.point2homes.com/US/Neighborhood/MD/Towson-Demographics.html
Transportation System Development in the Baltimore Region and Maryland. Retrieved from http://www.baltometro.org/reports/TransSysDevelopment.pdf
