One might ask why a FT MC HENRY in Baltimore tied to STAR SPANGLED BANNER and bombs bursting in air-----would allow MY SWEET LORDS of OLD WORLD KINGS leave behind GROUND RENTS making it impossible for future citizens to actually own land. Then there was all that MARYLAND DEBT owed to OLD WORLD GLOBAL BANKING 1%.
The selling of BALTIMORE as HOMEOWNERSHIP capital came in 1960s just before global banking 1% were sending US MANUFACTURING overseas --including all of Baltimore's corporations. Baltimore Development and global hedge fund Johns Hopkins created these financial land deals as they knew those WORKERS coming to Baltimore would be those labor losing employment in only a few decades.
These few decades of CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA have first watched as unemployed labor lost the homes sold below but this past decade or so the GROUND RENT taxes are what our Baltimore homeowners cannot pay----losing that HOUSE because they cannot pay GROUND RENT.
So, all that HOME EQUITY after a few decades of paying a mortgage is being lost because what was affordable GROUND RENT has become a victim of INFLATION. The homeowners out west losing homes with mortgages paid cannot access homeowners insurance because they are not being allowed to rebuild.
Oct 27, 2016
From the vault: Baltimore’s rowhouses and ground rent
Christina Tkacik
1 of 26 Photos
Exploring the history of ground rents and home ownership in Baltimore.
Baltimore rowhouses, 1927. (Baltimore Sun)
Baltimore rowhouses, 1927. (Baltimore Sun)
Wilkens Avenue, 1948. (Baltimore Sun)
Baltimore rowhouses, 1963.
Baltimore rowhouses, 1963.
Baltimore rowhouses, 1963.
Baltimore rowhouses, 1963.
February 17, 1963 - HOUSES THAT HAVE SHAPED A WAY OF LIFE --
The Rows That Are So Much a Part of the Baltimore Scene Have Made Us 'Home Ownership Captial' of the Country -- A vista of row-house roofs in East Baltimore. Since the late 1800's it has been easier for a man of modest income to buy a home in this city than almost anywhere else, and the row house is one of the reasons.
Photo taken by Baltimore Sun Staff Photographer William L. Klender.
February 17, 1963 – HOUSES THAT HAVE SHAPED A WAY OF LIFE --
The Rows That Are So Much a Part of the Baltimore Scene Have Made Us ‘Home Ownership Captial’ of the Country
— A vista of row-house roofs in East Baltimore. Since the late 1800’s it has been easier for a man of modest income to buy a home in this city than almost anywhere else, and the row house is one of the reasons.
Photo taken by Baltimore Sun Staff Photographer William L. Klender.
Vacant building in Baltimore, 1974.
Vacant building in Baltimore, 1974.
Vacant rowhouses, 1963. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant rowhouses, 1963. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1975. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1975. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1976. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1976. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1981. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1981. (Baltimore Sun)
February 6, 1968 - Vacant houses on East Biddle Street ordered torn down by Mayor D' Alesandro. (Photo by Lloyd Pearson/Baltimore Sun)
February 6, 1968 – Vacant houses on East Biddle Street ordered torn down by Mayor D’ Alesandro. (Photo by Lloyd Pearson/Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1971. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1971. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1964. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1964. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1963. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1963. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1969. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1969. (Baltimore Sun)
Rowhouses, redesigned. 1963. (Baltimore Sun)
Rowhouses, redesigned. 1963. (Baltimore Sun)
Rowhouses, 1975. (Baltimore Sun)
Rowhouses, 1975. (Baltimore Sun)
January 4, 1966 - THIS IS BALTIMORE -- A scene that is a traditional part of Baltimore. This picture of row houses was taken on Lanvale Street looking west from Greenmount Cemetery. (Robert F. Kniesche/Baltimore Sun)
January 4, 1966 – THIS IS BALTIMORE — A scene that is a traditional part of Baltimore. This picture of row houses was taken on Lanvale Street looking west from Greenmount Cemetery. (Robert F. Kniesche/Baltimore Sun)
Chesterfield Avenue row houses, 1962. (Richard Stacks/Baltimore Sun)
Chesterfield Avenue row houses, 1962. (Richard Stacks/Baltimore Sun)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
Baltimore was sometimes called the “Home Ownership Capital” of the country, John C. Schmidt wrote for The Sun in 1963. There were several factors that made it easy for even people of limited means to buy houses in the city. One was the wide availability of rowhouses, less expensive to purchase and maintain than a traditional house. Another was the practice of ground rents, a relic from the 1600s. In those days, anyone who built a house in the city leased their land from Lord Baltimore, who’d been granted it from King Charles.
“The system, which has always baffled many Baltimoreans,” Schmidt wrote, “separated the cost of a house from the ground it stood on.” This practice could cut up to 20 percent from the purchase price – however, it meant that the homeowner had to pay an annual rent to the landowner. Today, ground rents exist in 99-year leases, renewable forever, set at around $24 to $240 a year. (Some very old leases are actually in shillings).
Ironically, the ground rent policy that once made it easier for people to buy homes has also led to some Baltimoreans losing theirs.
THE TRUTH MADE INTO IRONY!
In 2006, The Sun conducted a major investigation of the ground rent system and found that, contrary to the perception that ground rent was a “harmless vestige of colonial law,” the policy had enabled a few rent holders in the city to sue to seize people’s homes over amounts as paltry as $24. In a time of soaring property values, ground rent holders were able to sue over these small amounts, sell off the homes and make huge profits.
“No other private debt collectors in Maryland can obtain rewards so disproportionate to what they are owed,” wrote Sun reporters Fred Schulte and June Arney, who were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for their work.
After The Sun’s investigation, the Maryland legislature ruled that if someone was ejected from their home for failing to pay ground rent, they were still entitled to the proceeds from the home’s sale. However, in 2014, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled in favor of ground rent holders. They reversed that decision, saying that the 2007 law was unconstitutional.
So, if you’re in the market for a house in Baltimore, you may want to find out who owns the ground it’s sitting on.
___________________________________________
Of course beyond the unemployment of Baltimore's manufacturing workers being those homeowners in 1960s losing their homes----the subprime mortgage loan frauds of 2000-2010s are doing the same thing. These homeowners taking a second mortgage during what was a thriving economy hit with heavy unemployment with 2008 economic crash.
It is the timing of subprime mortgage loan devastation of our Baltimore economy spurring this GROUND RENT legislation----one issue is the RE-REGISTRATION of ground leases most held for hundreds of years.
Why is MARYLAND ASSEMBLY MOVING FORWARD these GROUND RENT POLICY changes NOW? Those global banking 5% freemason/Greek players here in Maryland as other states with these land laws have been made to feel they are WINNERS because they have held these GROUND RENT LEASES----never having actually been a LAND OWNER.
THIS RE-REGISTRATION OF GROUND RENT LEASES WILL END IN THOSE CENTURIES OWNED LEASES NOT BEING RENEWED.
This is happening in your neck of woods too-----please don't feel you are a WINNER when bringing in these small stock dividends or ground rents-----what harms one population groups ALWAYS takes all population groups.
Maryland Ground Rent Lease Safeguards Begin to Come Undone
November 10, 2011By: Ed Lee
In 2007, Maryland enacted a series of laws intended to protect residential ground tenants from the loss of their homes as a result of failing to pay ground rent and, further, to facilitate the extinguishment and redemption of residential ground rent leases. An impetus for the legislation was provided by a series of articles appearing in the Baltimore Sun in 2006 highlighting extreme ground rent lawsuits and seemingly inequitable ejectments of residents by ground rent owners. On October 25, 2011, the Court of Appeals in Muskin v. State Department of Assessments and Taxation, struck down part of one of those laws with respect to the extinguishment of ground rent leases not registered with the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (“SDAT”) by September 30, 2010.
By way of background, ground rents, generally found in Maryland only in Baltimore City and Anne Arundel County, are characterized by the separation of ownership of the real estate by a ground landlord from ownership and occupancy of the improvements on the land by the ground tenant. The ground tenant is permitted to use and occupy the land pursuant to a long term ground rent lease in exchange for which ground rent is paid to the ground landlord annually or semi-annually. The typical ground rent lease has a term of 99 years, renewable forever. The amount of the ground rent is relatively nominal with most ground rents totaling less than $50 annually. Ground rents may be redeemable, i.e. subject to buy-out and redemption by the ground tenant pursuant to a formula, or irredeemable, in which case the ground tenant does not have the right to buy out the ground rent lease.
Identifying the ground landlord for a property and confirming that all ground rent has been paid can be challenging, and the penalty for failing to pay ground rent when due, at least prior to 2007, could be severe, resulting in the ejectment of the ground tenant from the property. By some estimates, there are more than 100,000 ground rent leases in Baltimore City and Anne Arundel County.
The changes passed by the General Assembly in 2007 substantially revised the legal framework for ground rent leases and included the following modifications:
a. All ground rent leases to be registered by September 30, 2010, failing which the ground lease could be extinguished by SDAT and fee title to the real estate transferred to the ground tenant ;
b. Elimination of ejectment of the ground tenant as an available remedy for failure to pay ground rent;
c. Imposition of 60 day notice and cure period
d. As to previously irredeemable ground rent leases, notice of intent to preserve irredeemability to be filed, failing which, such ground leases to become redeemable; and
e. Creation of three (3) year limitations period.
In Muskin, the petitioner, trustee of a trust owning numerous ground rent leases, filed a constitutional challenge as to the requirement for all ground rent leases to be registered by September 30, 2010, failing which the ground lease could be extinguished and fee title to the real estate transferred in the ground tenant. The applicable provisions of the law may be found in §8-703 (registration) and §8-708 (extinguishment and transfer) of the Maryland Real Property Code. The Court of Appeals held the extinguishment and transfer provisions of the statute to be unconstitutional on the grounds that vested property rights were abrogated without due process or just compensation and, further, that the statute impermissibly transferred property without just compensation. In response to this decision, SDAT has posted the following statement on its website acknowledging the ruling and confirming that any ground leases previously extinguished under the statute, are and remain valid.
The Maryland Court of Appeals has ruled that the extinguishment of ground rents for failure to register them with the State is unconstitutional. All ground rents that would have been extinguished for failure to register them are as valid as they were before the registration deadline. Any Certificate of Extinguishment issued by this Department is void and has no effect.
Notably, the Court left in place the registration requirement under §8-703. However, pending further action by the General Assembly, currently no penalty exists for failure to register. Moreover, the Court provided guidance as to how the statute might be revised to satisfy constitutional requirements. In its initial incarnation, the penalty for failure to register was found to be excessive. Alternative approaches noted by the court as likely to pass constitutional muster for failure to register would include interim consequences short of extinguishment, such as prohibiting the collection of rents or denying access to the courts for enforcement absent lease registration. Such an approach would still permit the General Assembly to achieve its initially stated goal of protecting ground rent tenants while simultaneously preserving the underlying ground rent lease.
Next to be seen -- whether the General Assembly will act in response to this decision. Also still to be resolved is a separate class action lawsuit certified last year in Anne Arundel County claiming that the legislative reforms made the ground rent leases worthless, amounting to an unconstitutional seizure of private property for public use without compensation. In addition to seeking payment from the state, the lawsuit argues that the laws are unconstitutional.
______________________________________
HOME OWNERS ASSOCIATIONS ---HOA came into play around that same 1960s period where APARTMENT BUILDINGS and condos------built on GROUND RENT land where the DEVELOPER and property management did not even own the LAND. This took NYC big time----RENT CONTROLLED apartments from the 1960s have disappeared because the buildings are not owned by developer/property manager----they are owned by the same global banking 1% as tied with Baltimore/Maryland ground rent from colonial days.
So, HOAs were created to give all of the above the feeling of controlling the LAND on which their apartment/condos stand----developer/property management/condo owner---none being that LAND OWNER.
Below we see an entire economy built around GROUND RENTS/PROPERTY MANAGEMENT/DEVELOPER-----and MOVING FORWARD takes down every one of these VOCATIONS.
HOA developments can contain not only apartment/condos but single-owner family homes as well.
ALL OF THIS GOING DOWN IN MOVING FORWARD US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES FILLING WITH GLOBAL CORPORATE CAMPUSES/FACTORIES.
DH Bader Management Services
D.H. Bader Management Services, an Accredited Association Management Company (AAMC), based in Laurel, MD., has been specializing in the successful management of homeowner associations and condominium associations throughout suburban Maryland since 1991.
We demonstrate excellence to our community
FirstService Residential delivers industry-leading service and solutions that enhance your property values, optimize your operating budget and improve lifestyles of your residents. We combine a national depth of resources with a local, personal touch.
Free Info
Tidewater Property Management
Tidewater Property Management
Tidewater Property Management, Inc. is an Accredited Association Management Company (AAMC) with the Community Associations Institute (CA) and has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), managing HOAs and Condominiums, both
Free Info
Community Management Corporation – An Associa Company
Community Management Corporation – An Associa Company
Associa is the leader in community management, helping associations across North America achieve their visions with national resources and local expertise. Find out how.
Free Info
G&S Association Services, LLC
G&S Association Services, LLC
G&S is a successful technology driven and paperless company helping communities all over Maryland step out of their antiquated processes and move into an economically efficient way of leading a volunteer and community life. Our company offers a variety of Ala Carte, Financial Only and Full Service Management solutions to Condominium and HOA Communities.
Free Info
Community Financials
Service Badge Service Award
Community Financials
Frustrated by not getting financial reports and your accounting questions answered? Are you self-managed or considering it for your community? We help boards Collect, Protect and Report on their funds nationwide. Start getting accurate and timely reports with great communication today.
Free Info
Legum and Norman – An Associa company
Legum and Norman – An Associa company
Associa is the leader in community management, helping associations across North America achieve their visions with national resources and local expertise. Find out how.
Free Info
FirstService Residential
FirstService Residential
FirstService Residential delivers industry-leading service and solutions that enhance your property values, optimize your operating budget and improve lifestyles of your residents. We combine a national depth of resources with a local, personal touch.
Free Info
MyPropertyBilling.com, LLC
MyPropertyBilling.com, LLC
You get all the same great back office support staff along with a portal for a fraction of the cost.
Free Info
Select Community Services – An Associa Company
Select Community Services – An Associa Company
Associa is the leader in community management, helping associations across North America achieve their visions with national resources and local expertise. Find out how.
Free Info
Clark Simson Miller
Service Badge Service Award
Clark Simson Miller
Clark Simson Miller specializes in virtual accounting and financial management services for homeowners associations, common interest developments, condominium associations, and community management companies.
Free Info
Premier Management Group
Premier Management Group
Our mission is to provide clients with exemplary services as we become the best full service property management firm proudly serving the Washington DC metropolitan area.
Free Info
Berger Real Estate Services
Service Badge Service Award
Berger Real Estate Services
Trustworthy, Responsive, Effective – Berger Real Estate Services. The RIGHT choice for your association.
Free Info
Majerle Management, Inc.
Majerle Management, Inc.
Since 1987, MMI has provided management services for rental properties and community associations in Prince George’s, Montgomery & Howard Counties and has earned the prestigious Accredited Association Management Company® Designation from CAI.
Free Info
HOA Accounting Specialists, Inc.
HOA Accounting Specialists, Inc.
HOA Accounting Specialists, Inc. provides financial reporting, homeowner billing/collection services, vendor payments, and other accounting services for condominiums, homeowners associations, commercial realty associations, and management companies.
_____________________________________________
It really is not JUST ANY JOB or SMALL BUSINESS. The gorilla-in-room issue for our US 99% WE THE PEOPLE in re-imagining our US cities-----is to get rid of all these GROUND RENT/HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION structures.
Anyone buying a CONDO on GROUND RENT land will lose all that home equity after a few decades as these LAND/HOUSING policies are deliberately staged to change just as a homeowner is gaining wealth.
Here in Baltimore homeowners able to keep their homes saw property values fall from subprime mortgage frauds now forced to sell while property values are LOW------while new homeowners thinking they are BUYING LOW to gain EQUITY ----will see this same scam hit them in only a few decades. So, here in Baltimore as RENTS go up-------we will see PROPERTY VALUES go up ----only to collapse when today's home buyers are ready to sell.
THE HOME EQUITY BUILT BY PAYING MORTGAGE DOWN WILL BE LOSSES AS GROUND RENT LEASES CONTROLLED BY GLOBAL CORPORATIONS WILL TAKE THE LAND THESE HOUSES ARE BUILT UPON.
What Is a Homeowners Association? HOAs—Explained
By Lisa Johnson Mandell | Jul 29, 2016
Xavier Arnau/iStock
What is a homeowners association?
If you're buying a condo, townhouse, or freestanding home in a neighborhood with shared common areas—such as a swimming pool, parking garage, or even just the security gates and sidewalks in front of each residence--odds are these areas are maintained by a homeowners association, or HOA.
What is a homeowners association, and how will it affect your life?
HOAs help ensure that your community looks its best and functions smoothly, says David Reiss, research director at the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship at Brooklyn Law School. For instance, if the pump in the community swimming pool stops working, someone has to take care of it before the water turns green and toxic, right? Rather than expect any one individual in the neighborhood to volunteer their time and money to fix the problem, homeowners associations are responsible for getting the job done. And the number of Americans living in HOAs is on the rise, growing from a mere 1% in 1970 to 1 in 4 today, according to the Foundation for Community Association Research. So, it's wise to know exactly how they work.
How much are HOA fees?
To cover these maintenance expenses, homeowners associations collect fees (monthly or yearly) from all community members. For a typical single-family home, HOA fees will cost homeowners around the $200 to $300 per month, although they can be lower or much higher depending on the size of your unit and the services provided. The larger the home, the higher the HOA fee—which makes sense, because the family of four in a three-bedroom condo is probably going to be using the common facilities more than a single woman living in a studio.
In addition, most HOAs charge their members a little more than monthly expenses require, so that they can build up a reserve to pay for emergencies and big-ticket items like repairing the roof and water heaters, or acquiring new carpeting, paint, and lights for the hallways.
If the HOA doesn’t have enough money in reserve to cover necessary expenses, it can issue a special “assessment,” or an extra fee, in addition to your monthly dues, so that the repairs can be made. For example, if the elevator in your condo building goes out and it’s going to cost $15,000 to replace it—but the HOA reserve account holds only $12,000—you and the rest of the residents are going to have to pony up at least an additional $3,000, divided among you, to make up the difference.
And yes, you would still have to contribute your share even if you live on the first floor.
HOA rules: What to expect
All HOAs have boards, made up of homeowners in the complex who are typically elected by all homeowners. These board members will set up regular meetings where owners can gather and discuss major decisions and issues with their community. For major expenditures, all members of the HOA usually vote.
In addition to maintaining the common areas, homeowners associations are also responsible for seeing that its community members follow certain rules. Homeowners receive a copy of these rules, knowns as “covenants, conditions, and restrictions” (CC&Rs), when they move in, and they’re required to sign a contract saying that they’ll abide by them.
CC&Rs can cover everything from your type of mailbox to the size and breed of your dog. Some HOAs require you to purchase extra homeowners insurance if you own a pit bull, for example; others prohibit certain breeds entirely. An HOA may even regulate what color you paint your house, and what kind of curtains you can hang if your unit faces the street. Its goal is not to meddle—it's merely to maintain a neighborhood aesthetic. However, if you don't like being told what to do with your home, an HOA may not be for you.
What happens if you violate HOA rules?
That varies from place to place, but if you break the rules—or fall behind in paying your HOA dues—the consequences can be severe. You could be evicted, or worse. Some HOAs have the right to foreclose on your property, says Bob Tankel, a Florida attorney specializing in HOA law. So make sure you read your CC&Rs carefully so you know what to expect, and know the pros and cons of HOA living before you buy in.
__________________________________________
'I first met Lynn through the Salzburg Global Fellowship, when we both attended a Global Seminar titled Child in the City: Health, Parks, and Play'.
Here we have that smiling face-----she's a woman ----so surely she would be planning to build a HEALTHY CIVIC COMMONS. She is RE-IMAGINING as a global banking 5% freemason/Greek player working for OBAMA'S HUD ----working hard for our US 99% WE THE PEOPLE and their social benefit.
Yet, there she is promoting the same RE-IMAGINING OF CIVIC COMMON-----as GLOBAL NGO-----TELLS HER.
This is one US CITY DEEMED FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE looking just like BALTIMORE looking just like all US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES MOVING FORWARD.
What do our US 99% WE THE PEOPLE re-imagine when rebuilding our US cities now FAILED STATES? We imagine removing all those GROUND RENTS/LAND TRUSTS ---we imagine a local economy filled with employment with small businesses and corporations not having a goal OF KILLING ALL ABILITY TO OWN HOMES AND LAND.
The homeowners in 1960s many being manufacturing labor were majority WHITE 99% WE THE PEOPLE. Today, we see a smiling 5% black freemason/Greek player as a majority of homeowners in US cities are our 99% of WE THE BLACK CITIZENS.
WATCH OUT 99% WE THE NEW TO US BROWN IMMIGRANT CITIZENS.
Co-Creating the Future: Lynn Ross, Sunrise on the Mississippi Keynote Speaker, on Reimagining the Civic Commons
August 17, 2018 by Tom Evers
Every year, the Minneapolis Parks Foundation brings an inspiring leader to town to be our keynote speaker at our annual Sunrise on the Mississippi breakfast. This year, we’re proud to host Lynn Ross, a lauded urban planner working to transform cities by reimagining how our city design can heal communities together.
I first met Lynn through the Salzburg Global Fellowship, when we both attended a Global Seminar titled Child in the City: Health, Parks, and Play. After serving within the Obama Administration Department of Housing and Urban Development, Lynn has grown into a national leader in Reimagining the Civic Commons, a new initiative helping to shape local community-derived strategies to co-creating the parks, libraries, and other gathering places that connect us as humans to each other and the world around us.
Here in the Twin Cities, as we take on generational transition of the Mississippi riverfront and create new parks and public spaces lining the river, including Water Works, the Great Northern Greenway River Link and the Upper Harbor Terminal, Lynn’s experience couldn’t be more relevant to how we weave together our public spaces and common ground.
We asked Lynn to give us a primer on Reimagining the Civic Commons ahead of her talk at Sunrise, as well as share with us some ways that parks in particular have impacted her personally. Read on for some powerful insights and learn even more when you join me at Sunrise, Thursday, September 6.
--
(Parks Foundation) What are the civic commons and what does it mean to reimagine them?
(Lynn Ross) Our civic commons are the places that bring us together: parks and open space; plazas; libraries; community and recreation centers; sidewalks, paths, and trails; waterfronts.
Reimagining the Civic Commons is a three-year initiative with demonstration projects in five U.S. cities that seeks to revitalize and connect civic assets to demonstrate the power of the civic commons. The four national foundations (The JPB Foundation, Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation and The Rockefeller Foundation) are working with a network of local, on-the-ground project teams. These teams are multi-sector by design because this reimagining goes beyond investments into the physical spaces, but also to changing the way we collaborate to program and manage the civic commons in partnership with residents.
Teams in Akron, OH; Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; Memphis, TN; and Philadelphia, PA, are each working collaboratively to transform a portfolio of assets to achieve four key outcomes: civic engagement, socioeconomic mixing, environmental sustainability, and value creation. So, the reimagining is not prescriptive; there is no one recipe that will lead to success. The work is authentic to each community, but the common set of outcomes help to catalyze transformation that is intentionally inclusive and equitable.
Why is now the right time for an initiative like Reimagining the Civic Commons? Why are the civic commons important to cities in the 21st century?
As an urban planner, I know that a strong public realm is essential to vibrant, inclusive public life and the many benefits that can have. And there are plenty of surveys out there illustrating the fact that more people—across generational breakdowns—are showing a preference for living in walkable, bikeable, transit-rich neighborhoods. People want to live in proximity not only to family, friends, school, and work but also to those special third spaces—our commons.
However, as communities have become more segmented by race and income, and other priorities have shifted, support for civic assets has declined. This underinvestment has meant that many of our civic assets are no longer positioned to provide the connective tissue that brings us together and anchors neighborhoods. The result is more than overgrown ballfields and lackluster libraries. Research shows that Americans spend less time together in social settings and interact less with others whose experiences are different.
We are opting out of public life and, I would argue, one of the results is that we trust each other less. Trust is fundamental to inclusive, equitable community building and we need places that foster that trust in physical spaces through shared experiences. Our civic commons can help us do that.
As the Reimagining the Civic Commons effort unfolds, how will you know it’s successful or if you need to course correct?
As we invest in connected sets of public places around the country, we recognize the importance of demonstrating—with data—the outcomes of a reimagined civic commons. We’ve designed a measurement system to analyze the impacts of these investments on the sites and in surrounding communities and to track progress toward the four main outcome areas I discussed earlier. We are collecting data on 65 metrics and with this information we aim to accomplish three things:
In addition to the metrics work, we also have a learning network that, among other activities, brings the five teams together regularly for shared learning, peer exchange, and problem-solving. These gatherings allow the network to understand what is working well in each community and where course correction might be needed.
In what ways have nature and the civic commons been important in your life?
Access to nature and the civic commons have been—and continue to be—critical in my life.
OH, REALLY?????? AND DO YOU SEE ANY NATURE IN MOVING FORWARD US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES?
I grew up in Joliet, IL, and some of my earliest memories are of time spent playing in my hometown park system and frequent visits to the library. My dad would sometimes take us to Starved Rock State Park—about an hour from where I grew up—to hike, picnic, and explore. We also lived quite close to a park district facility where I took lessons in everything from swimming to painting. Those early experiences helped me to form a deep respect for shared spaces, meeting new people, and learning outside of the traditional classroom. Those experiences also helped me to develop a greater sense of self because I built up a confidence level for being comfortable in lots of different settings, taking risks, and being attuned to the specific sights and sounds of being outside.
Do you have a favorite park or outdoor activity?
I can’t name a favorite park because there are too many that I love, but my favorite outdoor activity is a simple one: walking. I love taking a long, meandering walk with no particular goal other than just to see what is along the way. I take long walks at home and when I’m away on vacation and business travel. At the walking pace (and eye level), you can experience the community—the sights, the smells, the sounds, the people, the activity—in a way that feels different, more tangible than many other forms of mobility. For me, walking is a form of meditation that leaves me energized.
What do you know about Minneapolis Parks and what are you looking forward to learning more about?
I know that Minneapolis has a large, award-winning parks system that has been around for generations. I’m looking forward to learning more about how that system is evolving to serve the needs of current and future residents and how residents are being engaged to help co-create that future.
___________________________________________
Our US 99% WE THE PEOPLE black, white, and brown cannot survive, build home and family security with what is a deliberate economy tied to our real estate/land/homeownership having goals of cycling homeowners in-----then staging home loses after 15-30 years of paying mortgages, lots of property taxes, fees, homeowner insurance-----
Here is top gun FAR-RIGHT WING GLOBAL BANKING 1% CLINTON NEO-LIBERAL----PELOSI behind all these LAND TRUST/GROUND RENT/HOMEOWNER INSURANCE all policies written to assure the FAIL on our US 99%.
Every global banking 5% freemason/Greek player NGO below works hard to assure all these VERY, VERY BAD houses and land policies do indeed BILK the citizens in their local communities.
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN---oh, yeah----
WHAT? LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS tied to burning CA forests to ground so global mining and fracking can move in! Well, Pelosi as all global banking 1% CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA are ONE WORLD ONE ENERGY/TECHNOLOGY GRID INTERNET OF EVERYTHING needs every metal and mineral in all nooks and crannies----WEST COAST AND EAST COAST MOUNTAINS.
With WORLD BANK/IMF/UNITED NATIONS NGOS pretending to be helping our families, communities, housing, ---who needs PUTIN.
ENDORSEMENTS FOR NANCY PELOSI ----HOUSE SPEAKER
AFSCME, AFL-CIO, CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS, EMILY'S LIST, END CITIZENS' UNITED, THE FEMINIST MAJORITY, HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN, INDIVISIBLE, LPAC, LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS, MOMS DEMAND ACTION, MOVEON, NARAL, PLANNED PARENTHOOD, PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS, PROTECT OUR CARE, UNITED STEELWORKERS.
The selling of BALTIMORE as HOMEOWNERSHIP capital came in 1960s just before global banking 1% were sending US MANUFACTURING overseas --including all of Baltimore's corporations. Baltimore Development and global hedge fund Johns Hopkins created these financial land deals as they knew those WORKERS coming to Baltimore would be those labor losing employment in only a few decades.
These few decades of CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA have first watched as unemployed labor lost the homes sold below but this past decade or so the GROUND RENT taxes are what our Baltimore homeowners cannot pay----losing that HOUSE because they cannot pay GROUND RENT.
So, all that HOME EQUITY after a few decades of paying a mortgage is being lost because what was affordable GROUND RENT has become a victim of INFLATION. The homeowners out west losing homes with mortgages paid cannot access homeowners insurance because they are not being allowed to rebuild.
Oct 27, 2016
From the vault: Baltimore’s rowhouses and ground rent
Christina Tkacik
1 of 26 Photos
Exploring the history of ground rents and home ownership in Baltimore.
Baltimore rowhouses, 1927. (Baltimore Sun)
Baltimore rowhouses, 1927. (Baltimore Sun)
Wilkens Avenue, 1948. (Baltimore Sun)
Baltimore rowhouses, 1963.
Baltimore rowhouses, 1963.
Baltimore rowhouses, 1963.
Baltimore rowhouses, 1963.
February 17, 1963 - HOUSES THAT HAVE SHAPED A WAY OF LIFE --
The Rows That Are So Much a Part of the Baltimore Scene Have Made Us 'Home Ownership Captial' of the Country -- A vista of row-house roofs in East Baltimore. Since the late 1800's it has been easier for a man of modest income to buy a home in this city than almost anywhere else, and the row house is one of the reasons.
Photo taken by Baltimore Sun Staff Photographer William L. Klender.
February 17, 1963 – HOUSES THAT HAVE SHAPED A WAY OF LIFE --
The Rows That Are So Much a Part of the Baltimore Scene Have Made Us ‘Home Ownership Captial’ of the Country
— A vista of row-house roofs in East Baltimore. Since the late 1800’s it has been easier for a man of modest income to buy a home in this city than almost anywhere else, and the row house is one of the reasons.
Photo taken by Baltimore Sun Staff Photographer William L. Klender.
Vacant building in Baltimore, 1974.
Vacant building in Baltimore, 1974.
Vacant rowhouses, 1963. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant rowhouses, 1963. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1975. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1975. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1976. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1976. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1981. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1981. (Baltimore Sun)
February 6, 1968 - Vacant houses on East Biddle Street ordered torn down by Mayor D' Alesandro. (Photo by Lloyd Pearson/Baltimore Sun)
February 6, 1968 – Vacant houses on East Biddle Street ordered torn down by Mayor D’ Alesandro. (Photo by Lloyd Pearson/Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1971. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1971. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1964. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1964. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1963. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1963. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1969. (Baltimore Sun)
Vacant houses, 1969. (Baltimore Sun)
Rowhouses, redesigned. 1963. (Baltimore Sun)
Rowhouses, redesigned. 1963. (Baltimore Sun)
Rowhouses, 1975. (Baltimore Sun)
Rowhouses, 1975. (Baltimore Sun)
January 4, 1966 - THIS IS BALTIMORE -- A scene that is a traditional part of Baltimore. This picture of row houses was taken on Lanvale Street looking west from Greenmount Cemetery. (Robert F. Kniesche/Baltimore Sun)
January 4, 1966 – THIS IS BALTIMORE — A scene that is a traditional part of Baltimore. This picture of row houses was taken on Lanvale Street looking west from Greenmount Cemetery. (Robert F. Kniesche/Baltimore Sun)
Chesterfield Avenue row houses, 1962. (Richard Stacks/Baltimore Sun)
Chesterfield Avenue row houses, 1962. (Richard Stacks/Baltimore Sun)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
Baltimore was sometimes called the “Home Ownership Capital” of the country, John C. Schmidt wrote for The Sun in 1963. There were several factors that made it easy for even people of limited means to buy houses in the city. One was the wide availability of rowhouses, less expensive to purchase and maintain than a traditional house. Another was the practice of ground rents, a relic from the 1600s. In those days, anyone who built a house in the city leased their land from Lord Baltimore, who’d been granted it from King Charles.
“The system, which has always baffled many Baltimoreans,” Schmidt wrote, “separated the cost of a house from the ground it stood on.” This practice could cut up to 20 percent from the purchase price – however, it meant that the homeowner had to pay an annual rent to the landowner. Today, ground rents exist in 99-year leases, renewable forever, set at around $24 to $240 a year. (Some very old leases are actually in shillings).
Ironically, the ground rent policy that once made it easier for people to buy homes has also led to some Baltimoreans losing theirs.
THE TRUTH MADE INTO IRONY!
In 2006, The Sun conducted a major investigation of the ground rent system and found that, contrary to the perception that ground rent was a “harmless vestige of colonial law,” the policy had enabled a few rent holders in the city to sue to seize people’s homes over amounts as paltry as $24. In a time of soaring property values, ground rent holders were able to sue over these small amounts, sell off the homes and make huge profits.
“No other private debt collectors in Maryland can obtain rewards so disproportionate to what they are owed,” wrote Sun reporters Fred Schulte and June Arney, who were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for their work.
After The Sun’s investigation, the Maryland legislature ruled that if someone was ejected from their home for failing to pay ground rent, they were still entitled to the proceeds from the home’s sale. However, in 2014, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled in favor of ground rent holders. They reversed that decision, saying that the 2007 law was unconstitutional.
So, if you’re in the market for a house in Baltimore, you may want to find out who owns the ground it’s sitting on.
___________________________________________
Of course beyond the unemployment of Baltimore's manufacturing workers being those homeowners in 1960s losing their homes----the subprime mortgage loan frauds of 2000-2010s are doing the same thing. These homeowners taking a second mortgage during what was a thriving economy hit with heavy unemployment with 2008 economic crash.
It is the timing of subprime mortgage loan devastation of our Baltimore economy spurring this GROUND RENT legislation----one issue is the RE-REGISTRATION of ground leases most held for hundreds of years.
Why is MARYLAND ASSEMBLY MOVING FORWARD these GROUND RENT POLICY changes NOW? Those global banking 5% freemason/Greek players here in Maryland as other states with these land laws have been made to feel they are WINNERS because they have held these GROUND RENT LEASES----never having actually been a LAND OWNER.
THIS RE-REGISTRATION OF GROUND RENT LEASES WILL END IN THOSE CENTURIES OWNED LEASES NOT BEING RENEWED.
This is happening in your neck of woods too-----please don't feel you are a WINNER when bringing in these small stock dividends or ground rents-----what harms one population groups ALWAYS takes all population groups.
Maryland Ground Rent Lease Safeguards Begin to Come Undone
November 10, 2011By: Ed Lee
In 2007, Maryland enacted a series of laws intended to protect residential ground tenants from the loss of their homes as a result of failing to pay ground rent and, further, to facilitate the extinguishment and redemption of residential ground rent leases. An impetus for the legislation was provided by a series of articles appearing in the Baltimore Sun in 2006 highlighting extreme ground rent lawsuits and seemingly inequitable ejectments of residents by ground rent owners. On October 25, 2011, the Court of Appeals in Muskin v. State Department of Assessments and Taxation, struck down part of one of those laws with respect to the extinguishment of ground rent leases not registered with the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (“SDAT”) by September 30, 2010.
By way of background, ground rents, generally found in Maryland only in Baltimore City and Anne Arundel County, are characterized by the separation of ownership of the real estate by a ground landlord from ownership and occupancy of the improvements on the land by the ground tenant. The ground tenant is permitted to use and occupy the land pursuant to a long term ground rent lease in exchange for which ground rent is paid to the ground landlord annually or semi-annually. The typical ground rent lease has a term of 99 years, renewable forever. The amount of the ground rent is relatively nominal with most ground rents totaling less than $50 annually. Ground rents may be redeemable, i.e. subject to buy-out and redemption by the ground tenant pursuant to a formula, or irredeemable, in which case the ground tenant does not have the right to buy out the ground rent lease.
Identifying the ground landlord for a property and confirming that all ground rent has been paid can be challenging, and the penalty for failing to pay ground rent when due, at least prior to 2007, could be severe, resulting in the ejectment of the ground tenant from the property. By some estimates, there are more than 100,000 ground rent leases in Baltimore City and Anne Arundel County.
The changes passed by the General Assembly in 2007 substantially revised the legal framework for ground rent leases and included the following modifications:
a. All ground rent leases to be registered by September 30, 2010, failing which the ground lease could be extinguished by SDAT and fee title to the real estate transferred to the ground tenant ;
b. Elimination of ejectment of the ground tenant as an available remedy for failure to pay ground rent;
c. Imposition of 60 day notice and cure period
d. As to previously irredeemable ground rent leases, notice of intent to preserve irredeemability to be filed, failing which, such ground leases to become redeemable; and
e. Creation of three (3) year limitations period.
In Muskin, the petitioner, trustee of a trust owning numerous ground rent leases, filed a constitutional challenge as to the requirement for all ground rent leases to be registered by September 30, 2010, failing which the ground lease could be extinguished and fee title to the real estate transferred in the ground tenant. The applicable provisions of the law may be found in §8-703 (registration) and §8-708 (extinguishment and transfer) of the Maryland Real Property Code. The Court of Appeals held the extinguishment and transfer provisions of the statute to be unconstitutional on the grounds that vested property rights were abrogated without due process or just compensation and, further, that the statute impermissibly transferred property without just compensation. In response to this decision, SDAT has posted the following statement on its website acknowledging the ruling and confirming that any ground leases previously extinguished under the statute, are and remain valid.
The Maryland Court of Appeals has ruled that the extinguishment of ground rents for failure to register them with the State is unconstitutional. All ground rents that would have been extinguished for failure to register them are as valid as they were before the registration deadline. Any Certificate of Extinguishment issued by this Department is void and has no effect.
Notably, the Court left in place the registration requirement under §8-703. However, pending further action by the General Assembly, currently no penalty exists for failure to register. Moreover, the Court provided guidance as to how the statute might be revised to satisfy constitutional requirements. In its initial incarnation, the penalty for failure to register was found to be excessive. Alternative approaches noted by the court as likely to pass constitutional muster for failure to register would include interim consequences short of extinguishment, such as prohibiting the collection of rents or denying access to the courts for enforcement absent lease registration. Such an approach would still permit the General Assembly to achieve its initially stated goal of protecting ground rent tenants while simultaneously preserving the underlying ground rent lease.
Next to be seen -- whether the General Assembly will act in response to this decision. Also still to be resolved is a separate class action lawsuit certified last year in Anne Arundel County claiming that the legislative reforms made the ground rent leases worthless, amounting to an unconstitutional seizure of private property for public use without compensation. In addition to seeking payment from the state, the lawsuit argues that the laws are unconstitutional.
______________________________________
HOME OWNERS ASSOCIATIONS ---HOA came into play around that same 1960s period where APARTMENT BUILDINGS and condos------built on GROUND RENT land where the DEVELOPER and property management did not even own the LAND. This took NYC big time----RENT CONTROLLED apartments from the 1960s have disappeared because the buildings are not owned by developer/property manager----they are owned by the same global banking 1% as tied with Baltimore/Maryland ground rent from colonial days.
So, HOAs were created to give all of the above the feeling of controlling the LAND on which their apartment/condos stand----developer/property management/condo owner---none being that LAND OWNER.
Below we see an entire economy built around GROUND RENTS/PROPERTY MANAGEMENT/DEVELOPER-----and MOVING FORWARD takes down every one of these VOCATIONS.
HOA developments can contain not only apartment/condos but single-owner family homes as well.
ALL OF THIS GOING DOWN IN MOVING FORWARD US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES FILLING WITH GLOBAL CORPORATE CAMPUSES/FACTORIES.
DH Bader Management Services
D.H. Bader Management Services, an Accredited Association Management Company (AAMC), based in Laurel, MD., has been specializing in the successful management of homeowner associations and condominium associations throughout suburban Maryland since 1991.
We demonstrate excellence to our community
FirstService Residential delivers industry-leading service and solutions that enhance your property values, optimize your operating budget and improve lifestyles of your residents. We combine a national depth of resources with a local, personal touch.
Free Info
Tidewater Property Management
Tidewater Property Management
Tidewater Property Management, Inc. is an Accredited Association Management Company (AAMC) with the Community Associations Institute (CA) and has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), managing HOAs and Condominiums, both
Free Info
Community Management Corporation – An Associa Company
Community Management Corporation – An Associa Company
Associa is the leader in community management, helping associations across North America achieve their visions with national resources and local expertise. Find out how.
Free Info
G&S Association Services, LLC
G&S Association Services, LLC
G&S is a successful technology driven and paperless company helping communities all over Maryland step out of their antiquated processes and move into an economically efficient way of leading a volunteer and community life. Our company offers a variety of Ala Carte, Financial Only and Full Service Management solutions to Condominium and HOA Communities.
Free Info
Community Financials
Service Badge Service Award
Community Financials
Frustrated by not getting financial reports and your accounting questions answered? Are you self-managed or considering it for your community? We help boards Collect, Protect and Report on their funds nationwide. Start getting accurate and timely reports with great communication today.
Free Info
Legum and Norman – An Associa company
Legum and Norman – An Associa company
Associa is the leader in community management, helping associations across North America achieve their visions with national resources and local expertise. Find out how.
Free Info
FirstService Residential
FirstService Residential
FirstService Residential delivers industry-leading service and solutions that enhance your property values, optimize your operating budget and improve lifestyles of your residents. We combine a national depth of resources with a local, personal touch.
Free Info
MyPropertyBilling.com, LLC
MyPropertyBilling.com, LLC
You get all the same great back office support staff along with a portal for a fraction of the cost.
Free Info
Select Community Services – An Associa Company
Select Community Services – An Associa Company
Associa is the leader in community management, helping associations across North America achieve their visions with national resources and local expertise. Find out how.
Free Info
Clark Simson Miller
Service Badge Service Award
Clark Simson Miller
Clark Simson Miller specializes in virtual accounting and financial management services for homeowners associations, common interest developments, condominium associations, and community management companies.
Free Info
Premier Management Group
Premier Management Group
Our mission is to provide clients with exemplary services as we become the best full service property management firm proudly serving the Washington DC metropolitan area.
Free Info
Berger Real Estate Services
Service Badge Service Award
Berger Real Estate Services
Trustworthy, Responsive, Effective – Berger Real Estate Services. The RIGHT choice for your association.
Free Info
Majerle Management, Inc.
Majerle Management, Inc.
Since 1987, MMI has provided management services for rental properties and community associations in Prince George’s, Montgomery & Howard Counties and has earned the prestigious Accredited Association Management Company® Designation from CAI.
Free Info
HOA Accounting Specialists, Inc.
HOA Accounting Specialists, Inc.
HOA Accounting Specialists, Inc. provides financial reporting, homeowner billing/collection services, vendor payments, and other accounting services for condominiums, homeowners associations, commercial realty associations, and management companies.
_____________________________________________
It really is not JUST ANY JOB or SMALL BUSINESS. The gorilla-in-room issue for our US 99% WE THE PEOPLE in re-imagining our US cities-----is to get rid of all these GROUND RENT/HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION structures.
Anyone buying a CONDO on GROUND RENT land will lose all that home equity after a few decades as these LAND/HOUSING policies are deliberately staged to change just as a homeowner is gaining wealth.
Here in Baltimore homeowners able to keep their homes saw property values fall from subprime mortgage frauds now forced to sell while property values are LOW------while new homeowners thinking they are BUYING LOW to gain EQUITY ----will see this same scam hit them in only a few decades. So, here in Baltimore as RENTS go up-------we will see PROPERTY VALUES go up ----only to collapse when today's home buyers are ready to sell.
THE HOME EQUITY BUILT BY PAYING MORTGAGE DOWN WILL BE LOSSES AS GROUND RENT LEASES CONTROLLED BY GLOBAL CORPORATIONS WILL TAKE THE LAND THESE HOUSES ARE BUILT UPON.
What Is a Homeowners Association? HOAs—Explained
By Lisa Johnson Mandell | Jul 29, 2016
Xavier Arnau/iStock
What is a homeowners association?
If you're buying a condo, townhouse, or freestanding home in a neighborhood with shared common areas—such as a swimming pool, parking garage, or even just the security gates and sidewalks in front of each residence--odds are these areas are maintained by a homeowners association, or HOA.
What is a homeowners association, and how will it affect your life?
HOAs help ensure that your community looks its best and functions smoothly, says David Reiss, research director at the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship at Brooklyn Law School. For instance, if the pump in the community swimming pool stops working, someone has to take care of it before the water turns green and toxic, right? Rather than expect any one individual in the neighborhood to volunteer their time and money to fix the problem, homeowners associations are responsible for getting the job done. And the number of Americans living in HOAs is on the rise, growing from a mere 1% in 1970 to 1 in 4 today, according to the Foundation for Community Association Research. So, it's wise to know exactly how they work.
How much are HOA fees?
To cover these maintenance expenses, homeowners associations collect fees (monthly or yearly) from all community members. For a typical single-family home, HOA fees will cost homeowners around the $200 to $300 per month, although they can be lower or much higher depending on the size of your unit and the services provided. The larger the home, the higher the HOA fee—which makes sense, because the family of four in a three-bedroom condo is probably going to be using the common facilities more than a single woman living in a studio.
In addition, most HOAs charge their members a little more than monthly expenses require, so that they can build up a reserve to pay for emergencies and big-ticket items like repairing the roof and water heaters, or acquiring new carpeting, paint, and lights for the hallways.
If the HOA doesn’t have enough money in reserve to cover necessary expenses, it can issue a special “assessment,” or an extra fee, in addition to your monthly dues, so that the repairs can be made. For example, if the elevator in your condo building goes out and it’s going to cost $15,000 to replace it—but the HOA reserve account holds only $12,000—you and the rest of the residents are going to have to pony up at least an additional $3,000, divided among you, to make up the difference.
And yes, you would still have to contribute your share even if you live on the first floor.
HOA rules: What to expect
All HOAs have boards, made up of homeowners in the complex who are typically elected by all homeowners. These board members will set up regular meetings where owners can gather and discuss major decisions and issues with their community. For major expenditures, all members of the HOA usually vote.
In addition to maintaining the common areas, homeowners associations are also responsible for seeing that its community members follow certain rules. Homeowners receive a copy of these rules, knowns as “covenants, conditions, and restrictions” (CC&Rs), when they move in, and they’re required to sign a contract saying that they’ll abide by them.
CC&Rs can cover everything from your type of mailbox to the size and breed of your dog. Some HOAs require you to purchase extra homeowners insurance if you own a pit bull, for example; others prohibit certain breeds entirely. An HOA may even regulate what color you paint your house, and what kind of curtains you can hang if your unit faces the street. Its goal is not to meddle—it's merely to maintain a neighborhood aesthetic. However, if you don't like being told what to do with your home, an HOA may not be for you.
What happens if you violate HOA rules?
That varies from place to place, but if you break the rules—or fall behind in paying your HOA dues—the consequences can be severe. You could be evicted, or worse. Some HOAs have the right to foreclose on your property, says Bob Tankel, a Florida attorney specializing in HOA law. So make sure you read your CC&Rs carefully so you know what to expect, and know the pros and cons of HOA living before you buy in.
__________________________________________
'I first met Lynn through the Salzburg Global Fellowship, when we both attended a Global Seminar titled Child in the City: Health, Parks, and Play'.
Here we have that smiling face-----she's a woman ----so surely she would be planning to build a HEALTHY CIVIC COMMONS. She is RE-IMAGINING as a global banking 5% freemason/Greek player working for OBAMA'S HUD ----working hard for our US 99% WE THE PEOPLE and their social benefit.
Yet, there she is promoting the same RE-IMAGINING OF CIVIC COMMON-----as GLOBAL NGO-----TELLS HER.
This is one US CITY DEEMED FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE looking just like BALTIMORE looking just like all US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES MOVING FORWARD.
What do our US 99% WE THE PEOPLE re-imagine when rebuilding our US cities now FAILED STATES? We imagine removing all those GROUND RENTS/LAND TRUSTS ---we imagine a local economy filled with employment with small businesses and corporations not having a goal OF KILLING ALL ABILITY TO OWN HOMES AND LAND.
The homeowners in 1960s many being manufacturing labor were majority WHITE 99% WE THE PEOPLE. Today, we see a smiling 5% black freemason/Greek player as a majority of homeowners in US cities are our 99% of WE THE BLACK CITIZENS.
WATCH OUT 99% WE THE NEW TO US BROWN IMMIGRANT CITIZENS.
Co-Creating the Future: Lynn Ross, Sunrise on the Mississippi Keynote Speaker, on Reimagining the Civic Commons
August 17, 2018 by Tom Evers
Every year, the Minneapolis Parks Foundation brings an inspiring leader to town to be our keynote speaker at our annual Sunrise on the Mississippi breakfast. This year, we’re proud to host Lynn Ross, a lauded urban planner working to transform cities by reimagining how our city design can heal communities together.
I first met Lynn through the Salzburg Global Fellowship, when we both attended a Global Seminar titled Child in the City: Health, Parks, and Play. After serving within the Obama Administration Department of Housing and Urban Development, Lynn has grown into a national leader in Reimagining the Civic Commons, a new initiative helping to shape local community-derived strategies to co-creating the parks, libraries, and other gathering places that connect us as humans to each other and the world around us.
Here in the Twin Cities, as we take on generational transition of the Mississippi riverfront and create new parks and public spaces lining the river, including Water Works, the Great Northern Greenway River Link and the Upper Harbor Terminal, Lynn’s experience couldn’t be more relevant to how we weave together our public spaces and common ground.
We asked Lynn to give us a primer on Reimagining the Civic Commons ahead of her talk at Sunrise, as well as share with us some ways that parks in particular have impacted her personally. Read on for some powerful insights and learn even more when you join me at Sunrise, Thursday, September 6.
--
(Parks Foundation) What are the civic commons and what does it mean to reimagine them?
(Lynn Ross) Our civic commons are the places that bring us together: parks and open space; plazas; libraries; community and recreation centers; sidewalks, paths, and trails; waterfronts.
Reimagining the Civic Commons is a three-year initiative with demonstration projects in five U.S. cities that seeks to revitalize and connect civic assets to demonstrate the power of the civic commons. The four national foundations (The JPB Foundation, Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation and The Rockefeller Foundation) are working with a network of local, on-the-ground project teams. These teams are multi-sector by design because this reimagining goes beyond investments into the physical spaces, but also to changing the way we collaborate to program and manage the civic commons in partnership with residents.
Teams in Akron, OH; Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; Memphis, TN; and Philadelphia, PA, are each working collaboratively to transform a portfolio of assets to achieve four key outcomes: civic engagement, socioeconomic mixing, environmental sustainability, and value creation. So, the reimagining is not prescriptive; there is no one recipe that will lead to success. The work is authentic to each community, but the common set of outcomes help to catalyze transformation that is intentionally inclusive and equitable.
Why is now the right time for an initiative like Reimagining the Civic Commons? Why are the civic commons important to cities in the 21st century?
As an urban planner, I know that a strong public realm is essential to vibrant, inclusive public life and the many benefits that can have. And there are plenty of surveys out there illustrating the fact that more people—across generational breakdowns—are showing a preference for living in walkable, bikeable, transit-rich neighborhoods. People want to live in proximity not only to family, friends, school, and work but also to those special third spaces—our commons.
However, as communities have become more segmented by race and income, and other priorities have shifted, support for civic assets has declined. This underinvestment has meant that many of our civic assets are no longer positioned to provide the connective tissue that brings us together and anchors neighborhoods. The result is more than overgrown ballfields and lackluster libraries. Research shows that Americans spend less time together in social settings and interact less with others whose experiences are different.
We are opting out of public life and, I would argue, one of the results is that we trust each other less. Trust is fundamental to inclusive, equitable community building and we need places that foster that trust in physical spaces through shared experiences. Our civic commons can help us do that.
As the Reimagining the Civic Commons effort unfolds, how will you know it’s successful or if you need to course correct?
As we invest in connected sets of public places around the country, we recognize the importance of demonstrating—with data—the outcomes of a reimagined civic commons. We’ve designed a measurement system to analyze the impacts of these investments on the sites and in surrounding communities and to track progress toward the four main outcome areas I discussed earlier. We are collecting data on 65 metrics and with this information we aim to accomplish three things:
- Learn how a healthy civic commons supports more resilient, less fragmented cities and neighborhoods;
- Demonstrate how investments in connected sets of civic assets impact engagement, equity, environmental sustainability, and economic development; and
- Build the rationale for further investment in revitalized and connected public places.
In addition to the metrics work, we also have a learning network that, among other activities, brings the five teams together regularly for shared learning, peer exchange, and problem-solving. These gatherings allow the network to understand what is working well in each community and where course correction might be needed.
In what ways have nature and the civic commons been important in your life?
Access to nature and the civic commons have been—and continue to be—critical in my life.
OH, REALLY?????? AND DO YOU SEE ANY NATURE IN MOVING FORWARD US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES?
I grew up in Joliet, IL, and some of my earliest memories are of time spent playing in my hometown park system and frequent visits to the library. My dad would sometimes take us to Starved Rock State Park—about an hour from where I grew up—to hike, picnic, and explore. We also lived quite close to a park district facility where I took lessons in everything from swimming to painting. Those early experiences helped me to form a deep respect for shared spaces, meeting new people, and learning outside of the traditional classroom. Those experiences also helped me to develop a greater sense of self because I built up a confidence level for being comfortable in lots of different settings, taking risks, and being attuned to the specific sights and sounds of being outside.
Do you have a favorite park or outdoor activity?
I can’t name a favorite park because there are too many that I love, but my favorite outdoor activity is a simple one: walking. I love taking a long, meandering walk with no particular goal other than just to see what is along the way. I take long walks at home and when I’m away on vacation and business travel. At the walking pace (and eye level), you can experience the community—the sights, the smells, the sounds, the people, the activity—in a way that feels different, more tangible than many other forms of mobility. For me, walking is a form of meditation that leaves me energized.
What do you know about Minneapolis Parks and what are you looking forward to learning more about?
I know that Minneapolis has a large, award-winning parks system that has been around for generations. I’m looking forward to learning more about how that system is evolving to serve the needs of current and future residents and how residents are being engaged to help co-create that future.
___________________________________________
Our US 99% WE THE PEOPLE black, white, and brown cannot survive, build home and family security with what is a deliberate economy tied to our real estate/land/homeownership having goals of cycling homeowners in-----then staging home loses after 15-30 years of paying mortgages, lots of property taxes, fees, homeowner insurance-----
Here is top gun FAR-RIGHT WING GLOBAL BANKING 1% CLINTON NEO-LIBERAL----PELOSI behind all these LAND TRUST/GROUND RENT/HOMEOWNER INSURANCE all policies written to assure the FAIL on our US 99%.
Every global banking 5% freemason/Greek player NGO below works hard to assure all these VERY, VERY BAD houses and land policies do indeed BILK the citizens in their local communities.
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN---oh, yeah----
WHAT? LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS tied to burning CA forests to ground so global mining and fracking can move in! Well, Pelosi as all global banking 1% CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA are ONE WORLD ONE ENERGY/TECHNOLOGY GRID INTERNET OF EVERYTHING needs every metal and mineral in all nooks and crannies----WEST COAST AND EAST COAST MOUNTAINS.
With WORLD BANK/IMF/UNITED NATIONS NGOS pretending to be helping our families, communities, housing, ---who needs PUTIN.
ENDORSEMENTS FOR NANCY PELOSI ----HOUSE SPEAKER
AFSCME, AFL-CIO, CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS, EMILY'S LIST, END CITIZENS' UNITED, THE FEMINIST MAJORITY, HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN, INDIVISIBLE, LPAC, LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS, MOMS DEMAND ACTION, MOVEON, NARAL, PLANNED PARENTHOOD, PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS, PROTECT OUR CARE, UNITED STEELWORKERS.
RSS Feed
