The Pigtowner

Well, I haven’t posted in a while, but that’s mostly due to work– once again.  But there have been lots of other people writing about the Pigtown, like Baltimore Slumlord and  Baltimore John Watch to amuse yourselves with so in a way, it’s ok.  And they keep me in the loop.

Today I learned that on April 16th, there will a court hearing for the Save A Lot  space,  and I’m thinking about going, just to check it out, see what’s going on and what will be done to improve the space.  Because of this train of thought, I was thinking about what stores would be successful in that space.  And I thought of one.

Dunkin’ Donuts/Baskin Robbins.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, that this an awful idea.  I mean, why do we need donuts and ice cream when there is so much crap being eaten by people in this neighborhood anyway?  On the surface, it sounds like it would be a cop out, a way to get just something in that space because people in our neighborhood would love to have ANYTHING at all to patronize.

But there are some key reasons to open a DD/BR.  First of all, it would be successful because there isn’t a decent donut place west of the MLK (I know about Ann’s but I don’t know of anyone who has gone there for donuts!)  In fact, the MLK corridor desperately needs a donut place because it’s extremely conveniently located for commuters of all types– those going into the city and those going out of the city– and it has great visibility.  There’s plenty of parking for said commuters to drive into/out of the city, get some donuts, and disperse to their jobs. 

Secondly, it would serve the community as something for adults and children to look forward to in the summer– it’s not egregiously expensive and would be a local hangout for kids to do something instead of just loitering.  I know that it might be problematic if they just hang out around there, but it would also attract something else.

Cops.

Now, I know that I’m playing on a horrible stereotype, but seriously, have you ever seen the Mt. Vernon DD?  There is always a cop car at that parking lot.  And where there’s a cop car, there’s a cop.  And where there’s a cop, there is care… as in people being careful of what they say or do.  And that’s something we need at 701 Washington Blvd.

And lastly, damnit, if I’m craving an ice cream sundae, I can walk over and get one and not have to drive to Federal Hill in the hopes of that one ice cream place being open.