Skip to main content

Who is Safe?




The Columbia Association recently shared an article from Patch which begins:

 COLUMBIA, MD — For the second year in a row, Columbia has been named the "Safest City in America" by the personal financial website WalletHub.

 The article describes how WalletHub arrived at this designation, in case you are interested. As I’ve said in the past, I’m never quite sure how scientific these kinds of awards are. But of course it’s nice to win things. And it’s a great feeling to see our community highlighted in this way.

 You won’t be surprised that this announcement brought some folks out of the woodwork decrying the notion that Columbia is a safe place to live. Social media invites response. One particular comment got me thinking:

 It depends on how you define the word safest.  I don’t go to Columbia at night unless I’m with a group.

 Here we have someone who lives in a part of Howard County that is not Columbia describing it the way I have seen people talk about going into Baltimore City. Is there any basis in fact for that kind of wholesale “Downtown” avoidance? Is “the county” so much safer than Columbia proper?

 On the same page where I saw the comment about Columbia, I also read a conversation that centered on a fear of neighborhood crime. The poster described being in a locked house with an alarm system and indoor cameras. She was wishing she had outdoor cameras, too. She had seen something suspicious. What should she do?

 Both of these posts came from areas of affluence in Howard County. But I wonder how one could suggest that they are objectively safer if we have people sitting in locked houses with alarm systems and cameras who don’t think they have enough security and wonder if they should call the police? That doesn’t feel safe to me. If that’s what it takes to live in that neighborhood, my neighborhood in Columbia is clearly a much safer place to be.

 Back to the original poster:

It depends on how you define the word safest.  I don’t go to Columbia at night unless I’m with a group.

 My response:

 I live in Columbia and have felt safe here for twenty years. But I love the idea of your coming with a group, because: the more, the merrier. Enjoy!

 Come on down, Howard County. Bring your friends. Come out to concerts at the James Rouse Auditorium, plays and other events at Howard Communty College. Enjoy dinner and performances at the Soundry. Walk through the Ice and Fire Festival with your family. Go to the WBAL Concert for Kids at Oakland Mills High School this Saturday night. 

 Columbia has so much to offer and it’s fine if you don’t want to come by yourself. There’s room for everyone to enjoy our downtown. 

 Don’t sit behind locked doors and wonder if you should call the police. What kind of life is that?
*****

 Ice and Fire Festival Advent Calendar 

 https://calendar.myadvent.net/?id=977b90239444b01458c8851c2025a2e2




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...
1 comment
Read more

Getting Fresh

One of my favorite days in the Spring comes when this year’s list of Farmer’s Markets is released. That happened this week. New this year are markets in Old Ellicott City and the “Merriweather Market” which, according to the address, will be located here . I mistakenly thought at first glance that it was in the new-construction part of the Merriweather District. I find the name confusing considering its actual location. I’m going to guess that this market is an initiative of the Howard Hughes Corporation because the name seems chosen more for branding purposes than anything else.  Alas, the market in Maple Lawn is gone. The thread on the markets on the County Executive’s FB page will provide you with quite the education in who actually runs the Farmers Markets vs what people often think is going on. Short answer: they are not  chosen nor run by the county. Each market is an independent entity, sometimes started by community volunteers, other times supported by local businesses...
1 comment
Read more

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...
1 comment
Read more