Thursday, January 29, 2009

Rodgers Forge Housing Update

Currently out of almost 18oo homes in the neighborhood, there are only 8 homes listed for sale in the multiple list service. Prices range from $282K - $364.9K.

Average sold price in the last 3 months for a 3 bedroom home: $291K
Average list price in the last 3 months for a 3 bedroom home: $298K

This gives you the average price adjustment --about $7,000--from the list price as buyers negotiate prices.

These are just averages--your results could be different.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Baltimore Sun Article about Last Night's Meeting

Residents protest arena expansion at Towson
January 27, 2009
As Towson University President Robert L. Caret began a discussion on the advantages of living near a college community, dozens of residents entered the hall with large signs calling for a halt to a $45 million new arena on the campus. The residents demonstrated at the town hall meeting to which the Greater Towson Committee invited the presidents of Goucher College and Towson University, asking them to discuss resources the schools provide to the community. The presidents and other university officials gave the audience a preview of campus plans, including the $45million arena set for construction next year. The 5,000-seat arena is planned as an addition to the Towson Center building near Osler Drive and has been criticized as intrusive and unnecessary. Opponents have organized into Halt TU Arena Now and are circulating a petition against the project. Caret promised that he would meet with community leaders as soon as possible and said he is willing to consider a different orientation for the addition. "People can trust what I say," Caret said. "I put out facts. And I think we had good dialogue. I'm pleased we're back at the conversation level." Many in the audience said that mistrust is still a major issue. "He cares about the growth of Towson University but not the growth of the community as a whole," said Jean Ottey, who lives in neighboring Rodgers Forge. Mary Gail Hare

Rodgers Forge 4th Graders Go To Middle School

Rodgers Forge fourth-graders go to middle school
Shuttle to take students to next-door building to ease overcrowding this fall
By Arin Gencer arin.gencer@baltsun.com
January 26, 2009

Come fall, fourth-graders at Rodgers Forge Elementary will report to the crowded Towson-area school each morning before heading next door to Dumbarton Middle School.But they won't be going to their new classrooms on foot. Students who both walk and ride to the elementary will make the trip of about one-fifth of a mile to Dumbarton by shuttle bus.The ride should be a quick one - about two minutes down Dumbarton Road, where both schools sit, separated by a playing field. In the afternoon, shuttles will return the children to Rodgers Forge.Susan L. Deise, principal of Rodgers Forge, said safety is one of the primary reasons for the plan, as school officials contemplated how best to get more than 120 children down a busy street.
"We need to have the shuttle to protect all of the things that we have in place at Rodgers Forge," Deise said, such as the schedule, before- and after-school clubs and child care, among other things. Using shuttles helps maximize instruction time, she added.Having all students begin and end their day at Rodgers Forge also reinforces that the fourth-graders are part of the school community, she said."If we begin and end our day [together], there is still that sense of unity," Deise said. Their return at the day's end will also give them time for recess and exchanging library books, she said. And while walking might be nice in the spring, winter and inclement weather is not ideal for such exercise, she said.Towson-area parents received letters this month notifying them that third-graders from overcrowded Rodgers Forge will be moving to Dumbarton for their fourth-grade year. Deise has also provided a detailed Q&A on the move, with more specific information."We have simply run out of enough space to accommodate additional classrooms," she wrote in her letter to school families. Moving fourth grade to Dumbarton is part of a continuing effort to handle the school's climbing enrollment, the letter stated.The move is a temporary measure until the new Towson elementary school is built, Dumbarton Principal Nancy B. Fink explained in her letter to middle school families. The new elementary is expected to open in August 2010.No additional cost is anticipated for the shuttles, said Kara E.B. Calder, schools spokeswoman. The morning buses that bring the children in will likely remain to take the fourth-graders to Dumbarton, she said.Rodgers Forge had 709 students as of Sept. 30 and was nearly 80 percent over its capacity, according to the school system's latest enrollment report. That figure has climbed to 714, and counting, Deise said in a recent interview. Projections for next year indicate as many as 765 students, she said.Meetings for parents and residents are scheduled for 7 p.m. today at Rodgers Forge and Feb. 2 at Dumbarton.
Copyright © 2009, The Baltimore Sun

Monday, January 26, 2009

Rodgers Forge Meets President Caret

Town Hall Meeting Turns into "Rodgers Forge Meets President Caret"

The tone for the meeting was set when Janice Moore, President of the Rodgers Forge Community Association got up at the Towson Town Hall Meeting at Minnegan Stadium and actually introduced herself to President Caret saying, "I have never met you before." Even though we have unhappily been wrestling over community issues with you for how long? Yet, you President Caret, have never met the President of our community association. We know you're busy, but now that you have met, we hope you will be true to your word and halt all activity on the new Arena (it may be only an addition, as you call it, but lest semantics muddy the waters, it is still a big brand new, first class Arena that will be attached to the existing Towson Center which is presently slated to be deposited in the backyard of Stanmore Road) until you have met with the community directly to begin a dialogue to promote what is good for the entire community at large, and not what is only good for the university at the expense of the rest of the community.

We await with great anticipation a phone call from your office giving us the time and place of this meeting which you promised would be held either Friday (1/30) or Monday (2/2). We look forward to working with Towson University so that you can demonstrate your willingness to work with the community for a solution that both forwards the university's progress and supports our mission to promote a vibrant family neighborhood with strong home values not threatened by university encroachment. Our goal is to continue to maintain a high quality of life in the neighborhood that is enhanced by having the University as our neighbor--not hindered by it, or even crippled by it.

We are hoping that President Caret will take steps to personally rebuild the trust that has been eroded by the university's seemingly deliberate lack of communication and lack of concern for the community they exist in and exist to serve.

More to come----

Rodgers Forge Residents Fight TU Arena

RF Residents Collectively Call TU a "Bad Neighbor"

Some 250 Rodgers Forge residents attended a meeting last Wednesday evening to confront Towson University about the new arena that is slated to be built virtually in the backyard of Stanmore Road, a very important boundary for our neighborhood.
Residents wore red and carried a red banner: "Halt TU Arena Now". The meeting was widely covered by the print and broadcast media. The residents, the Rodgers Forge Board, and other concerned citizens did a good job of articulating the concerns of the neighborhood which include the following:
  • Without informing the neighborhood TU changed the scope and location of the Arena from the 2003 Master Plan
  • Property values will be in jeopardy due to industrial noise, safety issues and inherent parking problems that will ensue from basket ball games and concerts of some 6000 students
  • Neighbors on Stanmore believe their quality of life will be greatly diminshed

Neighbors are collectively calling for a HALT to all plans for the new arena until a forum can be called in which the community is invited to sit at the table and work together with the university to agree on a plan that is in the best interest of the entire community.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Welcome to Rodgers Forge Real Estate!

I started this blog to keep a current dialogue going about homes in the neighborhood, current values, and anything that affects that value. Rodgers Forge is a Baltimore gem that we need to keep shining bright. I want to shine a light on all that is good about our neighborhood and help us to be vigilant about any issues that might have a negative affect. We live in a great location with great schools, great neighbors, and great home values. Let's keep it that way!