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A Village in a Garden By Avery Harden Some time ago David Nielsen asked me to write my aesthetic manifesto for Loch Raven Village. After much procrastinating and David’s recent harangue and call to action of us masses in the February issue of the Village Crier, I decided the time was now. However, I tend to be a bit wordy. If you have a life and better things to do, by all means skip this. If anyone wants to apply any of the ideas I suggest here and would like my quickie analysis of their situation, let me know. Having heard David’s call to get involved in the community, I am tentatively offering my advice for free. If the response is significant, I may do some haranguing myself and ask some of my half-dozen landscape architect buddies that live in the Village to pitch in and help. I bought a home here in Loch Raven Village in December ‘98. I love it. I wanted to buy a home here 12 years ago but it was never considered good enough for my now ex-wife. We could not afford what she wanted so we wasted our money and rented. I am currently without a manager and am enjoying making all decisions unilaterally about where I live, what toned down color of paint to replace the existing busy-frilly, country-style wallpaper of the previous owner and what sort of non-frilly, non-country, window coverings to use. I recently bought a decent looking, durable, unadorned sofa the ex would never have permitted. I just about have all the major home element decisions made and executed — facts on the ground — and am ready for the input of a new manager to put on the refining touches. I hope she happens along sooner rather than later. From doorknob to doorknob, it takes me about 10 minutes to get to work. Most people I know have at least an hour added to their workday because of a commute —some more than two hours. I like the simple lifestyle Loch Raven Village affords me. I have an affordable, convenient and perfectly comfortable home that is close to all the stores I need. It takes only 15 minutes to get to Hopkins for a lecture or five minutes to the winding roads of the countryside. The best medical care in the world is only minutes away and I can walk when necessary to a very good supermarket and car repair place. I even walked the two miles to work one day for the heck of it. I have a great mix of neighbors; some are elderly and some are young college students. Some are children that walk to Pleasant Plains Elementary or the day-care across the street at Babcock Presbyterian Church. Some are doctors and lawyers, and some go to work in pickup trucks with ladders on top. The Village is a diverse and vibrant, aesthetically pleasing community. (But not perfect. Somebody stole my new ladder recently so those trucks with ladders on top don’t contribute to the landscape in the same way as before. I find myself looking for my ladder.) The Village fits my city-planning ethic. Instead of going out to the countryside to build on top of a farm or forest, we are utilizing what is already built. That is an efficient use of resources. A friend of mine safely ensconced in the confines of his McMansion in the Valley recently said that living in the city is like living in a Holiday Inn. Sure it would be nice to have more space around my house and twice as much floor-space as I really need, but I can’t afford it. Even if I could afford it, I am not sure the bottom line upgrade in lifestyle would justify the effort and cost. I lack a millionaire mind. I am neither able nor compelled to try to make the money to permit myself to become a turbo-consumer. My ex would call that being lazy. Of course, her approach to getting money is no less lazy than my lifestyle; she simply wanted to marry it and be a trophy wife. As justice would have it, two years after the fact and she is still a working-stiff like me. So, I like my new and probably permanent home, but that is not why I write. David wanted me to apply my area of expertise in landscape architecture to the aesthetics of The Village; so let me stop babbling and get to it. The Loch Raven Village architectural style is very good. The larger end units frame the middle in a very appealing classical manner. The doors and window placements have a nice rhythm. The detailing and contrast between wood and brick is good. Cars dominate the visual streetscape but no more than townhomes elsewhere - even more expensive townhomes. The alleys are very convenient and keep most clutter and trash out of view from the front yards and public streets. However, much of the village has a dated, dowdy appearance. With our well-constructed homes and classical architectural appeal, we have the potential to freshen up our appearance and look as good as the fashionable parts of Federal Hill, Bolton Hill, Canton, and Fells Point. We have good bones to work with. We are not like those wrinkled aluminum siding communities with the garbage cans out front that look tired and worn out after 20 years. We have classically designed brick and wood with perpetual potential. It is up to us to realize and maintain that potential. It is up to us to maintain and restore where needed the aesthetic dignity of Loch Raven Village. |
