Mail Call: Why Shouldn’t We Develop the Dual Highway?
Why build another building on Dual Highway?
To the editor:
A beautiful piece of property at the point of Mount Aetna Road and Dual Highway has been wiped away, with numerous trees cut down only to build another office building.
Is it really needed? While other buildings sit empty on Dual Highway and the newest office building has yet to be finished?
There is so much talk about going green, it would seem that at least a couple of trees could have been left if the property had been planned better, but the only thing that matters is the green dollar.
It is a shame to see Dual Highway becoming more commercialized every year.
Carolyn Blitz
Hagerstown
Why shouldn’t the Dual Highway be developed? It seems to me that we need Hagerstown to bring in some new, more commercially viable office space so we can grow the service sector of the economy rather than try and pretend that manufacturing is going to keep this area alive. The only thing that is going to make Hagerstown thrive once again is the constant influx of technology driven businesses that need good office space to conduct their business in, without it we rely on businesses like Volvo Power Train to keep the economy is moving. Unfortunately, this is not going to be a long term solution since manufacturing is driven to the lowest cost economic center which is not Hagerstown, Maryland.
What will sustain Hagerstown? Technology, and despite what you may think, global warming. Hagerstown could actually regain its place as a major transportation hub in the region if the railways become a favored method of transportation because of fuel efficiency. If Hagerstown could bring in CSX and companies that make railway electronics to fuel the reemergence of the industry, we could be on the forefront rail transportation revitalization. So bring in new office space and encourage the development of office based service companies, after all do you want Washington County to have a 10% unemployment rate?
Is Hagerstown Improving?
"I have a question for our city fathers. If downtown Hagerstown is being improved so much, why are people moving from that area to the outer edges of Hagerstown, where I live? And people that moved into my area all tell me the same thing: They have to get away from the traffic congestion, no parking and the extremely loud stereos up and down the streets all the time. Now we have a couple (of people ) with loud stereos occasionally driving by, and some speeders, of course, but the times I've driven through downtown Hagerstown, I see no improvements." - Hagerstown
This is an interesting question to ask yourself as you drive through the town center and around 40 East and West. I think the simplest answer to this question is yes, the town is improving slowly but surely. The point I would emphasize though is that the progress is slow due to the state that Hagerstown deteriorated into after the 1970's when the rail yard went away. The economy in Washington County has been so bad for so long that there is no such thing as a quick fix to the situation that we find ourselves in currently.
If you look at the renovation occurring at some of the major buildings around North Potmac street, you will see the face of the Hagerstown to come in the next 10 - 15 years. The transformation will not be overnight, but it will come.
Are their loud stereos in the city? Almost all the time.
Are the streets overly congested? Every weekday rush hour.
Is there a high poverty rate? Absolutely.
For all of these reasons I don't live in the city center. Actually I live very close to Smithsburg because I like the space and the people that live around me. But then again, as more money gets pumped into downtown, it will become cleaner, more affluent and appealing to young professionals like myself who want to be in a more urban setting. Small, well maintained cities are great places to live and there are plenty of people who want to be in that environment. Hagerstown is moving in this direction and will get there in the next several years.
It seems that all too often people forget that improvement on this type of scale is not fast moving, nor does it always benefit the people living in the town currently. To revitalize a city of Hagestown's size takes years and lots of capital from outside sources which means the first companies and people to invest in the area are taking a substantial risk. The investors willing to take this step are not easy to find and like almost any business decision there must be a cost-benefit analysis done before any actions are taken. There is enough new money moving into the area now that this analysis is beginning to look favorable to more investors who are slowly trickling into the area.
Keep watching over the next 10 years and I bet you will see an increasing number of projects cleaning up downtown and making it into a much more trendy and cosmopolitant place to live.
Hagerstown City Council Boosts Incentives for Living Downtown but not the Ones That Matter
The council’s decision will increase incentives from $100 to $150 per month for people who rent downtown properties.
For home buyers, the city will increase the amount of loans that it offers from $1,500 to $2,500 for homes selling at $150,000 or less. Loans will increase from $1,500 to $5,000 on homes selling from $150,001 to $250,000.
This article appeared in the Herald Mail today and it strikes me as odd that these types of incentives are viewed as helpful for revitalizing downtown Hagerstown. As much as I like Hagerstown, what really needs to happen is to have some real business money injected into the commercial spaces that will force the continuing cleanup of streets like Potomac and Franklin. We need to see more commercial services firms move in and setup shop in the town before it can hope to expect to attract residents with the money to put into home improvements, especially with the way the economy is going. The other issue is the incredibly high property tax rate within the city itself which needs to be lowered to encourage growth.
Until the city center is cleaned up a bit and the population starts to shift towards a more middle-income demographic I don't think you are going to see much change in downtown. I would love to see more high-tech firms come to Hagerstown that don't really need to be based in a major city since much of their business is conducted over the Internet. Not only is the commercial office space cheaper but their is a workforce that is begging for these types of jobs to come to the area. Otherwise you have people like myself who are commuting 100 miles a day because finding a Manager of Information Technology job in Hagerstown is impossible. If Hagerstown can attract these firms based on the lower operating costs in the area, then we will see real growth and improvement downtown.
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