Expanding the five-district Howard County Council to three members per district
Another approach to expanding the Howard County Council, still using five districts but now with three members per district.
howardcounty
Final thoughts on my Howard County Council redistricting proposal
In this last post of the series I talk about why I care about this, and why I did it.
Questions about my proposal for Howard County Council redistricting deserve answers
My proposal for Howard County Council expansion has raised a lot of questions. Here are my answers.
What might a more diverse and inclusive Howard County Council look like?
Here’s one example of what a more open, fair, and inclusive approach to Howard County Council redistricting could produce.
A more inclusive Howard County needs a more inclusive approach to redistricting
A county that cares about inclusivity needs an approach to council redistricting that is open to all, transparent, as fair as possible, and not controlled by...
A Howard County concerned about equity needs a more equitable way to elect its county council
Let’s elect the Howard County Council in such a way that every voter has an equal chance to express their preferences and have them matter.
A more diverse Howard County needs a more diverse county council
When we expand the Howard County Council let’s make it more reflective of the people it serves.
A bigger Howard County needs a bigger county council
Let’s expand the Howard County Council to make it more responsive to the larger population it now serves.
Remembering Michael McCall, developer of the Chrysalis
On the occasion of Michael McCall’s death I reflect on his signature achievements in Columbia, Maryland.
No more “Civility and Truth”
I’m renaming my blog and closing down my Substack newsletter.
A new plan for Symphony Woods
The Inner Arbor Trust is revising its plans for Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods to reflect new realities.
Electing the Howard County Board of Education by districts makes no sense
Yes, this is another post promoting ranked choice voting.
Ranked choice voting questions and answers
I answer questions about ranked choice voting raised by the Howard County Charter Review Commission and others.
A better way to elect the Howard County Council
Tweaking the council redistricting process is the wrong solution. Ranked choice voting is the right one.
Howard County: divided by density?
Some areas of Howard County are over a hundred times more densely populated than others.
Which areas of Howard County are most and least affluent?
I look at median household income within Howard County, Maryland, and how it has changed.
How affluent is Howard County, really?
Looking at median household income in Howard County, Maryland, over time compared to other local jurisdictions. [UPDATED]
Getting down with data
Everyone can now work with data and visualize it. Should you?
Soulful Symphony elevates Howard County
Merriweather Post Pavilion gets its own resident orchestra
Subscribe to Civility and Truth
Update 2021/06/19: This post is now obsolete.
How do schools and parents matter?
I explore the ideas of Judith Rich Harris as they apply to the roles of parents and schools in Howard County and elsewhere.
Howard County campaign signs 2018, part 8: And the winner is …
I reveal the winner of the vote for best-looking Howard Couny 2018 campaign sign.
Howard County campaign signs 2018, part 7: Election day special
After you vote in today’s 2018 primary, vote for the best-looking campaign signs among those that made it to the final round.
Howard County campaign signs 2018, part 6
Here’s my final set of reviews of Howard County 2018 campaign signs.
Howard County campaign signs 2018, part 5
I’m in the home stretch now in the race to review Howard County 2018 campaign signs.
Howard County campaign signs 2018, part 4
My reviews of 2018 campaign signs in Howard County continue.
Howard County campaign signs 2018, part 3
We’re halfway through my reviews of 2018 campaign signs in Howard County.
Howard County campaign signs 2018, part 2
I continue my look at 2018 campaign signs in Howard County.
Howard County campaign signs 2018, part 1
I take a look at 2018 campaign signs in Howard County.
Now that the Chrysalis has been created
I have some final thoughts after completing my series on the Chrysalis and the background to its creation.
Creating the Chrysalis: Timeline
A timeline of significant events in the history of the Chrysalis and its surroundings, from 1962 to the present, with references.
Creating the Chrysalis: Details, details
Getting the details right on the Chrysalis, featuring Living Design Lab and Mahan Rykiel Associates.
Creating the Chrysalis: What comes next
Now that construction of the Chrysalis is complete, what are the next steps to fulfill the vision of Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods?
Creating the Chrysalis: Attracting the public
I discuss how the Chrysalis and Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods can attract visitors, based on research conducted by Integrated Insight.
Creating the Chrysalis: Subfloor and related construction
I present more details on the Chrysalis foundation/basement or “subfloor” and related construction, featuring the work of Whiting-Turner.
Creating the Chrysalis: Shell skin
I explain how the skin of the Chrysalis was fabricated and installed by A. Zahner Company.
Creating the Chrysalis: Shell structure
I explore the steel frame underlying the skin of the Chrysalis, as designed by the structural engineering group of Arup.
Creating the Chrysalis: Theater
I discuss how the Chrysalis will function as a professional stage, as designed by the theater consulting group of Arup.
Creating the Chrysalis: Design
I explore the design of the Chrysalis and the work of Marc Fornes, its designer.
Creating the Chrysalis: Politics and process
I discuss the various institutional activities related to implementation of the Inner Arbor plan
Creating the Chrysalis: Vision and strategy
I explore the vision for a new park in Symphony Woods and the strategy to implement it
Creating the Chrysalis: Symphony Woods
I recap the history of Symphony Woods and the various attempts over the years to develop it as a park.
Creating the Chrysalis: Introduction
In this series I explore the conception and construction of the Chrysalis amphitheater and Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods.
Raising the roof at Merriweather Post Pavilion
Merriweather Post Pavilion gets ready for the 21st century, and the Howard County Design Advisory Panel offers its advice.
The Chrysalis and Its Cousins
As construction of the Chrysalis amphitheater begins, I look again at the structure and its architect.
Welcome to Civility and Truth
Update 2021/06/19: This post is now obsolete.
Get your county government data at the OpenHoward portal
Howard County government ups its game in providing data with a new web site opendata.howardcountymd.gov. Next stop, HoCoStat?
The Crescent development by the numbers
The Crescent development in downtown Columbia is going to be a (very) big deal.
How politicians see Howard County
The map of Howard County looks very different if you’re looking for votes. Cartograms help you see like a politician.
Useful datasets for Howard County election analysis
I release two useful Howard County election datasets in preparation for future posts.
Fun with Howard County building permit data
I have fun creating graphs and maps with building permit data from data.howardcountymd.gov.
Howard County government by the numbers
As we wait to hear more about Allan Kittleman’s HoCoStat proposal, you don’t have to wait to download lots of useful county-related data at data.howardcounty...
The year of blogging sporadically
Don’t expect many blog posts from me in 2015. Those I do post will be on micro-local issues like Merriweather Park, with a smattering of other stuff of inter...
Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods plans approved
I testify in support of the plan for Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods and the Planning Board approves it (note that correlation is not causation).
I support the plan for Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods
Dear Planning Board, I support SDP-14-073, the site development plan for Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods, and you should too. (signed) Frank
Thank you Tom Coale
Tom Coale deserves our thanks for showing us the best aspects of politics, in a world in which we so often see the worst.
Making Howard County government data of value to us all
Before Howard County’s next county executive goes off on a high-profile “open government data” initiative, they (and we) should think more about what such a ...
A public service announcement
Vote for Tom Coale for Maryland House of Delegates, District 9B.
The CA board and the Inner Arbor Trust
What I planned to tell the CA board about the Inner Arbor plan.
Chrysalis designer wins World Architecture News 21 for 21 award
Yet another indication that the Inner Arbor Trust did a good job of selecting its design team.
Campaign signs 2014: Final results
I’ve looked at and commented on lots of Howard County campaign signs during the 2014 primaries. I end my series of posts with some final winners.
Campaign signs 2014: Howard County Executive
In the battle for Howard County Executive, whose sign reigns supreme?
Campaign signs 2014: Howard County Council District 1
I look at campaign signs in the 2014 primaries for Howard County Council District 1.
Campaign signs 2014: Howard County Board of Education
My thoughts on campaign signs in the race for Howard County Board of Education.
Campaign signs 2014: Maryland State Senate Districts 12 and 13
I look at campaign signs for the 2014 primaries for Maryland State Senate Districts 12 and 13.
Campaign signs 2014: Maryland State Senate District 9
I turn to another of my home districts to look at campaign signs for the Maryland State Senate, District 9.
Campaign signs 2014: Maryland House of Delegates District 13
I look at campaign signs for the 2014 primaries for the Maryland House of Delegates, District 13.
Campaign signs 2014: Maryland House of Delegates District 12
There are lots and lots of campaign signs in the primaries for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 12.
Campaign signs 2014: Maryland House of Delegates District 9B
I look at campaign signs in the 2014 primaries for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 9B.
Campaign signs 2014: Maryland House of Delegates District 9A
I look at campaign signs for the Maryland House of Delegates race in my home district, District 9A.
Campaign signs 2014: Howard County Judge of the Orphans’ Court
I continue my focus on Howard County local races with a look at campaign sings for the Judge of the Orphans’ Court positions.
Campaign signs 2014: Howard County State’s Attorney
My next “sign-off” is for the race for Howard County State’s Attorney, in which incumbent Dario Broccolino faces fellow Democrat Rich Gibson in the 2014 prim...
Campaign signs 2014: Howard County Sheriff
OK, the preliminaries are over, and here’s my first campaign sign 2014 face-off. I’m starting with the courthouse races, and in particular the race for Howar...
Campaign signs 2014: Judging criteria
Here are the criteria I use when judging 2014 campaign signs.
Campaign signs 2014: A call for submissions
Pity the poor political candidates of Howard County. It’s hard enough running a campaign as it is, but they also have pesky bloggers grading their performanc...
Promoting the Inner Arbor plan
I lay out some thoughts on how best to promote the Inner Arbor plan for Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods.
Renovating Merriweather Post Pavilion: The schedule
Are you wondering when the renovation work on Merriweather Post Pavilion will be done? Wonder no more.
On the Inner Arbor plan, listen to the people, not the protestors
There is a “silent supermajority” in Columbia in favor of the Inner Arbor plan for Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods.
Renovating Merriweather Post Pavilion: Projects and costs, part 2
I conclude my two-part series on the proposed Merriweather Post Pavilion renovations.
Renovating Merriweather Post Pavilion: Projects and costs, part 1
Why Merriweather Post Pavilion is being renovated, what’s being done, and what it will cost.
Talking about the Inner Arbor plan at Wine in the Woods
Guess what? Ordinary people in Columbia and Howard County like the Inner Arbor plan for Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods.
A better plan for Symphony Woods
If you really want to “save Symphony Woods” then the Inner Arbor plan is the best one on offer.
How not to save Symphony Woods
Would the Cy Paumier plan “save Symphony Woods”? I don’t think so.
Looking back at the Paumier plan for Symphony Woods
I take an in-depth look at the details (such as they are) of the Cy Paumier plan for Symphony Woods.
GGP, CA, Cy Paumier, and the battle over Symphony Woods
How overreach by GGP and blowback from CA led to Cy Paumier’s plan for Symphony Woods.
A walk in Symphony Woods
I take a lonely walk through Symphony Woods in order to get a feel for what it is and might be.
Five thoughts on Symphony Woods
Some semi-random thoughts about Symphony Woods and the controversy over its future.
Symphony Woods and sacred lands
Why is the controversy over Symphony Woods so heated? Because at least in part it’s about questions of “sanctity” and “violation”.
The Crescent development in downtown Columbia: Areas and phases
The information in this post is now out of date based on the approved final development plan for the Crescent neighborhood phase 1. For more current informat...
No fooling, Columbia’s becoming a city
Columbia is well on its way to becoming a real city with a real downtown.
Parking at venues comparable to Merriweather Post Pavilion
How parking is handled at Jiffy Lube Live and other venues comparable to Merriweather Post Pavilion.
Parking and the future of Merriweather Post Pavilion
Merriweather Post Pavilion will continue to be a centerpiece of downtown Columbia. But where are Merriweather visitors going to park?
Two visions for Symphony Woods
Is Symphony Woods really an untouched (and by implication untouchable) piece of natural woodlands? I think not.
The Howard County Design Advisory Panel approves the Inner Arbor plan
You already know that I like the Inner Arbor plan. Now you know that the Howard County Design Advisory Panel like it too.
The Inner Arbor plan takes shape, part 9: Piecing together the Chrysalis
This post continues my ongoing series on the evolution of the Inner Arbor plan, this time looking at the Chrysalis amphitheatre.
The Inner Arbor plan takes shape, part 8: Revising the plan
In this post in my ongoing Inner Arbor series I look at revisions to previously-proposed designs.
The Inner Arbor plan takes shape, part 7: The Butterfly
Metamorphosis produces the Butterfly, as I conclude my comments on the features of the Inner Arbor plan as presented at the pre-submission meeting on Decembe...
The Inner Arbor plan takes shape, part 6: The Chrysalis
After the Caterpillar comes the Chrysalis, as I continue my comments on the Inner Arbor plan. For context and more information see other posts in this series...
The Inner Arbor plan takes shape, part 5
I now turn to the most prominent features in the Inner Arbor plan, starting with the Caterpillar. For context and more information see other posts in this se...
The Inner Arbor plan takes shape, part 4
Today I focus on the Picnic Table and the Lily Pads as I continue my look at structures and other features proposed as part of the Inner Arbor plan. For more...
The Inner Arbor plan takes shape, part 3
Today I look at the proposed structures and other features proposed for Symphony Woods as part of the Inner Arbor plan presented at the pre-submission meetin...
The Inner Arbor plan takes shape, part 2
After reviewing concerns expressed about the Inner Arbor plan, it’s now time to take a closer look at the proposed design. Andrew Metcalf has done a great br...
The Inner Arbor plan takes shape, part 1
Last Tuesday night the Inner Arbor Trust revealed a clearer picture of what’s they’re proposing for downtown Columbia. I attended the pre-submission meeting,...
Howard County 2012 income and inequality, part 2
In my previous post I discussed the very high median household income in Howard County in 2012, and noted that median household income is only part of the st...
Howard County 2012 income and inequality, part 1
When I started blogging about Howard County issues just over five years ago it was in response to a post by Dennis Lane quoting Alan Klein on the “wealthy fe...
Anime worth watching: Silver Spoon and school on the farm
Continuing my intermittent series of recommendation posts, today we’ll put aside more intellectual topics and focus on entertainment, albeit with a bit of a ...
Cafes and bakeries in Ellicott City, going and coming
To get back in the blogging habit, a quick note on what’s going on food-wise in my part of Howard County, namely Route 40 in Ellicott City and the historic d...
Looking back at 2010 Howard County campaign signs, part 3
We conclude our tour of campaign signs from the 2010 Howard County elections by looking at some of my favorites. (For more signs see part 1 and part 2.)
Looking back at 2010 Howard County campaign signs, part 2
Continue down memory lane with me as we look back at the campaign signs for Howard County local elections in 2010. (For more signs see part 1 and part 3, and...
Looking back at 2010 Howard County campaign signs, part 1
Now that the local Howard County political campaigns are starting to heat up, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at the last local elections in 20...
Tom Coale for Delegate in District 9B
Last Tuesday Tom Coale announced that he’s running for the open House of Delegates seat in the newly-created District 9B in (parts of) Ellicott City. Unfortu...
Should the nation’s best library go to the mall?
Congratulations to the Howard County Library System for being selected the 2013 library of the year by Gale and Library Journal magazine. Note that the cover...
Repairing my personal infrastructure
They say America is suffering a crisis of ill-maintained infrastructure prone to occasional failure. Closer to home I’ve been having my own infrastructure pr...
RIP Dennis Lane
I knew Dennis Lane only slightly: I occasionally commented on his blog, he commented on mine once or twice, and I met and talked to him several times at Howa...
The long game in Columbia
One political faction obtains a solid majority and uses it to push through a far-reaching initiative, only to have their dominance threatened in a subsequent...
Martin O’Malley has his eyes on the prize and off the ball
I don’t usually comment on Maryland politics beyond Howard County, but this Washington Post story on Martin O’Malley’s approval rating reinforces an opinion ...
The library as spiritual experience
I think this is a record for me: Three posts in one day, and all about libraries to boot, to mark the occasion of the “Evening in the Stacks” fundraising eve...
Turbocharging downtown Columbia with a new Central Branch library
I couldn’t stop thinking about the possibilities that might be opened by a new Central Branch of the Howard County Library System, so I’m taking the unpreced...
Could Howard County libraries help grow Howard County’s economy?
Unfortunately I won’t be able to attend the Evening in the Stacks fundraiser at the Miller Branch of the Howard County Library System. However that won’t sto...
Columbia is not a gated community
Over at Columbia Compass Bill Santos has written a great post that brought into focus some of my thoughts around the proposed Inner Arbor project for Symphon...
From Symphony Woods to the Commonwealth of Belle Isle
For the most part I’ve stayed out of the debate over the “Inner Arbor” plan proposed for consideration by the Columbia Association Board of Directors. For th...
Calculating growth rates (for Howard County or otherwise), part 5
In part 4 of this series I discussed the general problem of estimating growth rates for periods less than a year, and using Howard County’s population in the...
Calculating growth rates (for Howard County or otherwise), part 4
In part 3 of this series I recapped the method derived in part 2 for estimating growth rates (using Howard County’s population in the 21st century as an exam...
Calculating growth rates (for Howard County or otherwise), part 3
In part 2 of this series I discussed a more correct approach to the problem of estimating growth rates, using Howard County’s population in the 21st century ...
Calculating growth rates (for Howard County or otherwise), part 2
In my last post I introduced the problem of estimating growth rates, using Howard County’s population in the 21st century as an example. I took a simpleminde...
Calculating growth rates (for Howard County or otherwise), part 1
[I’m interrupting my series of “weekend reading” posts to bring you an actual blog post.]
Weekend reading: Family ties from the Shipleys to Sasquatch
This week my theme is the search for one’s ancestors and the surprising places it can take us: The founders of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, Maryland...
Weekend reading: Dense Democrats, supercharged cities, and rural reaction then and now
This week my theme is the urban-rural divide in U.S. politics, both present and past:
Why Maryland Democrats should vote NO on Question 5
Recently my fellow HoCo blogger Tom Coale strongly recommended voting against Maryland Question 5, the state ballot question asking voters to approve or reje...
Michael Chabon on Columbia and Obama
I saw this on Andrew Sullivan’s blog and thought it interesting: Michael Chabon’s interview at Salon where he talks about his new book Telegraph Avenue and n...
Participatory budgeting in Howard County?
If you could vote on exactly how Howard County spends $10M (just over 1% of its operating budget), would you take advantage of the opportunity? What if you c...
Ensuring the integrity of Maryland elections
I’m interrupting my blogging hiatus again to point you to an important report that I think everyone interested in Howard County and Maryland politics should ...
Korean fried chicken at BonChon in Ellicott City
No deep analysis tonight, just a brief report on my visit today to BonChon in Ellicott City to try out their fried chicken. The place still hasn’t officially...
How to win an STV election for Howard County Council, part 2
Thus far this weekend I’ve suggested revamping the way we elect the Howard County Council as the price for extending the time council members can serve, prop...
How to win an STV election for Howard County Council, part 1
Walking around the neighborhood after publishing my last post I had a sudden pang of anxiety: Were the things I wrote about STV (or “ranked choice”) election...
Electing a council that reflects Howard County, part 2
In part 1 of this two-part post I discussed my proposal to replace the current way of electing the Howard County Council with a new scheme to elect council m...
Electing a council that reflects Howard County, part 1
In my previous post I proposed a bargain between the voters of Howard County and those who want to extend the time Howard County Council members can serve: T...
Beyond term limits for the Howard County Council
As noted by HoCo Rising, Calvin Ball recently proposed allowing Howard County Council members to serve four terms instead of three. The usual opinionating en...
Is there something you’d like to learn (that I can teach)?
As some of you know, I like to learn new things. For example, I’m trying to re-learn some of the statistical knowledge I’ve forgotten over the years, and as ...
Are you a “statist”?
Some people are fond of using the term “statist” to describe their political opponents. (I’ve never heard of anyone using it to describe themselves.) For exa...
Should Howard County Board of Education candidates take the “Audrey Test”?
Technology and education is a funny topic. On the one hand technological innovation in education holds out the promise of helping students learn better and t...
Howard County executives and council redistricting
As reported by the Howard County Times, county executive Ken Ulman “decided not to sign” the council redistricting bill passed by the Howard County Council b...
Online education in Howard County
I’ll interrupt my blog hiatus briefly to note today’s article in the Howard County Times, “Coming soon to Howard County: a digital school system”. The headli...
Creating hyper-local Howard County ebooks
The gist: I spent 100 hours writing a book that sold 10 copies; you should too.
Previewing my Howard County blogging in 2012
Following my review of my 2011 Howard County blogging and related activities it’s time for a look ahead to 2012. I did a similar preview last year and will ...
Closing the book on 2011
Last December I took the opportunity to review my Howard County-related blogging in 2010, and I thought it would be fun to repeat that for 2011, including pr...
Should Howard County elect council members at large?
This is my fifth and final post in Dividing Howard week on my blog, as I discuss some topics related to my new book on the history of county council redistri...
Can we take the politics out of Howard County Council redistricting?
This is my fourth post in Dividing Howard week on my blog, as I discuss some topics related to my new book on the history of council council redistricting in...
Council gerrymandering and the Howard County selectorate
This is my third post in Dividing Howard week on my blog, as I discuss some topics related to my new book on the history of council council redistricting in ...
Did the Howard County GOP help dig its own grave?
I’m continuing Dividing Howard week on my blog, as I discuss some topics related to my new book on the history of council council redistricting in Howard Cou...
No Columbia, no Howard County Council?
This is Dividing Howard week here on my blog, as I discuss some topics related to my new book on the history of council council redistricting in Howard Count...
My new book on Howard County Council redistricting
For those of you who enjoyed my blog posts on Howard County Council redistricting so much that you’d like to read them all again in one convenient package, y...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 23
In part 22 the redistricting commission created an initial set of proposed council district maps. In this post the commission makes its final recommendation ...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 22
In part 21 in this series we saw Democrats succeed in taking back both the Howard County Council and the county executive position from Republicans. In this ...
Weekly reading
Here are more recent links from hecker.tumblr.com. This week (actually, more like two weeks) was somewhat random, to say the least.
A letter to Ken Ulman
Dear Ken,
Revisiting Howard County 2010 general election predictions
Back in October 2010 pollsters were dueling over their predictions in the Howard County race for county executive, with pollster Patrick Gonzales of Gonzales...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 21
In this post I continue the story of the 1998 elections for Howard County Council that I began in part 20 of this series.
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 20
In part 19 of this series we saw that in 1996 the voters by referendum adopted a change to the Howard County charter to have a redistricting commission creat...
Changing my (blog) name, plus Plus
For those following this blog, note that I’ve changed the canonical site name from blog.hecker.org to frankhecker.com. Any links and feed URLs referencing th...
Creating a blueprint for growing Maryland jobs
How can Maryland promote job growth and the well-being of its citizens as the economy languishes and Federal spending shows every sign of declining, never to...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 19
In part 18 of this series Republicans overcame the disadvantage imposed on them by the recently-adopted redistricting plan and gained a majority on the count...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 18
In part 17 of this series the Howard County Council ended an over two-year battle by finally adopting new councilmanic district lines based on the 1990 censu...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 17
As we saw in part 16 of this series, 1992 ended with the Howard County Council still divided over how to proceed with redistricting in the wake of the ruling...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 16
Part 15 of this series ended with the trial about to begin that would decide whether the Howard County Council had acted illegally in passing the Democratic-...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 15
As we concluded part 14 we’d seen a move by the Democratic council members (adopting their preferred redistricting plan as a bill), a counter-move by the Rep...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 14
As we saw in part 13, the fallout from the 1990 Howard County general election ensured that the path to creating new council district boundaries would not be...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 13
The recent publishing of proposed revised Howard County Council district lines has pushed me to try to finish this series before the new lines are actually a...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 12
Part 11 of this series took us through the 1990 party primaries for the second election year featuring county council districts; in this part we see how the ...
A personal milestone in math blogging
A continuation of my history of Howard County Council redistricting series is coming soon (I promise! really!), but after an evening at the HoCo Blogtail par...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 11
After a long hiatus, I’m happy to announce that I’m resuming my series on the history of County Council redistricting in Howard County (which is also, as in ...
Columbia Borders to close in next two months?
I happened to stumble on this New York Times article this evening: Calling Off Auction, Borders Plans to Liquidate. According to the article, Borders said it...
Columbia and the structural shift to walkable urbanism
Now that I’ve set the scene for Chris Leinberger’s presentation on the shift to walkable urbanism, let’s move on to the actual talk. I took notes during the...
A symbol of Columbia
Tonight I attended the presentation by Chris Leinberger on walkable urbanism at the Spear Center in the Howard Hughes Corporation building in downtown Columb...
In Howard County, should charity really begin at home?
A month or two back I donated in support of HoCo Rising’s personal End Homelessness in Howard County drive, and have through the years also donated to other ...
Reimagining Columbia’s village centers for the 21st century
Yesterday HoCo Connect posted an interesting article on whether Columbia’s village centers are still relevant, including a look back at the original village ...
Bleeding heart libertarians
For those of you who haven’t heard, the Howard County local blogosphere has a new entrant, as Corey Andrews has started a new HoCoLibertarian blog, to get a ...
HoCo Rising takes on HoCo homelessness
HoCo Rising has been teasing us all week about his big announcement. It turned out that he’s not just raising consciousness through his blog but he’s also ra...
Maryland says, no DTC genetic testing for you
I’m interrupting my blog hiatus to discuss direct-to-consumer (or DTC) genetic testing, an issue that has recently become a cause celebre (at least among the...
Where should I bank in Ellicott City?
After posting lots of information it’s time for me to turn around and ask my few readers a question: I’m currently considering establishing a new bank accoun...
OpenGovernment.org comes to Maryland
I hadn’t seen this mentioned in any other local blogs, so I thought I’d note it here for the benefit of all you political anoraks out there: The folks who br...
Back to the future in Howard County politics, part 1
Quick, guess in which year the following events occurred in Howard County:
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 10
In the previous part 9 of this series we reviewed the Howard County Council races of 1986 up to the time of the party primaries. In this part we continue the...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 9
Part 8 of this series covered the Howard County Council’s first exercise in drawing council district lines. We now turn to how that effort affected the 1986 ...
Happy New Year to Howard County bloggers
My last two posts were all about me, so I wanted to switch gears and wish a Happy New Year to all of the local Howard County bloggers and other local media m...
Looking forward to Howard County blogging in 2011
In my previous post I reviewed my Howard County-related blog posts in 2010. Now it’s time for a sneak preview of 2011.
My Howard County blogging in 2010
This is the week for everyone to do looking back at 2010 reviews, and I’m no exception. I thought this would be a good time to review my past year (really, p...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 8
1985 was a busy year in Howard County Council districting news, so busy I’m having to split it into two parts. Part 7 covered the creation and public unveili...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 7
As we concluded part 6 of this series proponents of electing Howard County Council members by districts had finally achieved their goal of amending the count...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 6
In part 5 of this series nothing much happened in relation to actually doing something about council districts (as opposed to just talking about their potent...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 5
In part 4 of this series proponents of Howard County Council districts failed to get a referendum on the ballot in the November 1980 general election. In thi...
Preserving Howard County’s history, digitally
Thursday I happened to be in the vicinity of the Miller branch of the Howard County Library system at the time of the topping out ceremony for the new Charle...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 4
In part 3 of this series Columbia’s new-found political power was tested in a referendum in 1976 on a proposal to expand the Howard County Council from five ...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 3
At the end of part 2 of this series Columbia Democrats had finally achieved political power within Howard County: The 1974 general election produced a 5-0 De...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 2
In part 1 of this series I discussed the formation of the Howard County Council as part of an bipartisan effort to modernize Howard County government at the ...
Howard County population growth, 1950-2009
In doing research for my series on the history of Howard County Council redistricting one thing that became apparent was the major impact that the founding o...
A history of Howard County Council redistricting, part 1
Now that the 2010 Maryland general election is over, the thoughts of Howard County political activists are turning to the 2014 county elections. Adding an ex...
Exploring Howard County election data with R, part 4
In part 3 of this series we constructed a linear model in R to estimate the proportion of voters in the 2010 Howard County general election who are unaffilia...
Exploring Howard County election data with R, part 3
In part 1 of this series I discussed downloading and installing the R statistical package and loading it with Howard County election data, and then in part 2...
Exploring Howard County election data with R, part 2
In a previous post I promised to explore how we can use the statistics package R to produce estimates for the relative proportions of Republicans, Democrats,...
Relative performance of candidates in District 9A and Council District 1
HoCo Rising recently commented on supposed high Republican turnout in the Maryland House of Delegates race in District 9A, and wondered whether Bob Flanagan ...
How many people in Howard County work for the government?
There’s this meme going around that Howard County Republicans fared badly because Howard County has so many government workers, and they all vote for Democra...
Exploring Howard County election data with R, part 1
The Maryland and Howard County general elections are now over, and we (mostly) know who won. However there’s still one major question I’m waiting on the answ...
A Howard County Democrat looks at Ed Priola
As I’ve written before, I don’t plan to urge people to vote for or against particular candidates, and I don’t plan to publicize who I vote for or against. So...
Unaffiliated or independent?
In the course of commenting on voter turnout today, HoCo Rising complained about use of the term unaffiliated to describe voters who don’t register as Republ...
Maryland likely voters in the 2010 general election
HoCo Rising recently highlighted a Baltimore Sun poll showing Martin O’Malley 14 points ahead of Robert Ehrlich in the Maryland gubernatorial race (52% vs. 3...
Howard County bloggers have fun times at Kloby’s Smokehouse
I’m not in any shape to blog anything that requires concentrated thought, but I didn’t want to let the night pass without noting that I had a great time at t...
Howard County likely voters in the 2010 general election, contd.
In my previous post I made some projections about the likely percentages of Democratic, Republican, and unaffiliated and other voters in the upcoming general...
Howard County likely voters in the 2010 general election
Previously I discussed the recent Gonzales poll on the Howard County executive race, focusing on the poll’s margin of error (part 1 and part 2). As I noted i...
Margins of error in Howard County polling, part 2
In part 1 of this post I discussed how to calculate the margin of error on polling results, using as an example the recent Gonzales poll on the Howard County...
Margins of error in Howard County polling, part 1
HoCo Rising recently highlighted a new poll on the Howard County executive race. This occasioned much comment among HCR’s readers on the political implicatio...
How independent are Howard County independents?
Continuing my series of posts related to my political beliefs, today I thought I’d look at the issue of independent voters and what their independence actual...
Public, private, and club goods in downtown Ellicott City
Saturday I went down to downtown Ellicott City for the fall festival, which turned out to be a much more popular event than I thought it would be. (I had to ...
Why government? Public goods
A while back in the course of a comment thread for a HoCo Rising post I promised to write more about my political views, so that people could decide whether ...
The real story on Howard County’s broadband grant
Last week HoCo Rising did a post on a supposed $72M of Federal grant money being awarded to Howard County for a broadband network. Unfortunately HCR was led ...
Howard County Democratic Central Committee 2010 Election Results
After posting about the Howard County Democratic Central Committee candidates I’d be remiss if I didn’t post the DCC election results. So without further ado...
Howard County primary miscellany
Now that the polls have closed in Howard County I thought I’d post a few random comments on the primary election. Since I don’t know all that much about Howa...
Voting for the Howard County Democratic Central Committee
Those few of you who read this blog regularly will recall that I’m a registered Democrat, and therefore one of my missions (should I choose to accept it) is ...
Could Howard County be the Silicon Valley of cybersecurity? Part 3
In part 1 of this series I essayed some initial (negative) answers to the question of whether Howard County could ever become the Silicon Valley of cybersecu...
Could Howard County be the Silicon Valley of cybersecurity? Part 2
In part 1 of this article I addressed the question (originally raised by HoCo Rising), could Howard County be the Silicon Valley of cybersecurity? My initial...
Could Howard County be the Silicon Valley of cybersecurity? Part 1
In the course of analyzing the death of the Taxpayer Protection Initiative HoCo Rising implored the Howard County Republican party to focus on more serious a...
More on same-sex marriage and civic equality
Two recent posts by HoCo Rising and Steve Charing prompted me to jot down a few thoughts to complement my previous posts on same-sex marriage and civic equal...
Requiem for the Taxpayer Protection Initiative
The Taxpayer Protection Initiative is dead. I’ll defer to HoCo Rising (and Trevor) for in-depth analysis, particularly from the viewpoint of fiscal conservat...
Howard County and civic equality in the 21st century, part 3
In my previous posts (part 1 and part 2) I introduced the topic of same-sex marriage as a civil right, discussed how many gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transg...
Howard County and civic equality in the 21st century, part 2
In my previous post I introduced the topic of same-sex marriage as a civil right, only to digress into a discussion of how many gay, lesbian, bisexual, and t...
Howard County and civic equality in the 21st century, part 1
In this post (actually the next three posts—I do run on so) I continue my focus on how the Columbia vision of tolerance and diversity might translate into Ho...
Howard County and ethnic diversity in the 21st century, part 2
In my previous post I looked at the reality of ethnic diversity in Howard County today, and concluded that Howard County is in fact significantly more divers...
Howard County and ethnic diversity in the 21st century, part 1
Continuing my series on Howard County in the 21st century, in my next two posts I address the question of ethnic diversity. As described in an article on Col...
Why does Howard County have an elected school board?
I’m taking a brief break from my series on Howard County in the 21st century to pick up a topic I commented on some time ago at 53 Beers on Tap, namely why d...
Howard County and economic inclusivity in the 21st century
In a previous post I discussed how Howard County and Columbia could be better suburbs, not by the standards of the 1960s and 70s but by the standards of toda...
A visit to Kentlands
Today On Wednesday I had to drive over to drop something off at a co-worker’s house in Kentlands, the neo-traditional residential and commercial development ...
More on the Taxpayer Protection Initiative
I’m still working on the next blog post in my Howard County in the 21st century series. In the meantime I thought I’d take a break and revisit the proposed T...
Howard County and the 21st century suburb
In a recent post I opined that three things made Columbia (and by extension Howard County) the kind of place it was and (to a greater or lesser degree) still...
What is a sense of place?
So far I’ve written two posts discussing whether Columbia and Howard County have (or could have) a true sense of place, and I really haven’t defined what I m...
To the pseudonymous commenters of Howard County
I see the issue of anonymous commenters is heating up again, with Wordbones’s decision to require commenters to have a valid userid with Google or another se...
Fun times at Pure Wine Cafe
Thanks to all those who showed up at tonight’s HoCo Blogtail meetup at Pure Wine Cafe. Blogs represented included Annethologie (more active recently as @Anna...
A sense of place in Howard County? ctd.
In a recent post I questioned whether Howard County and Columbia had a true sense of place and, if not, whether there were anything that we as residents of H...
June 2 meetup at Pure Wine Cafe
I should have mentioned this earlier, but better late than never: I’m co-hosting (with Jessie X) a blogger meetup this Wednesday evening, June 2, at Pure Win...
Doesn’t Wilde Lake have a grocery store?
My apologies, I was going to work on my next post about a sense of place in Howard County, but got distracted by something I read in Alan Klein’s announcemen...
A sense of place in Howard County?
A little over a year ago the Howard County Chamber of Commerce and other local organizations sponsored a presentation by Richard Florida of creative class fa...
GGP and zoning referendums
I meant my last post to be my final word on voter referendums, ballot initiatives, and other forms of direct democracy. However I found something interesting...
What would the Founders think about the Taxpayer Protection Initiative?
I’ve probably already spent too much time on the proposed Howard County Taxpayer Protection Initiative, but there was one point brought up by an anonymous co...
To the anonymous commenters of Howard County
Coming from the world of open source and Internet security to dabble in the waters of Howard County affairs, I was surprised by the predominance of anonymous...
Why the Taxpayer Protection Initiative is a bad idea
Recently Wordbones blogged about a proposed Taxpayer Protection Initiative that Howard County Republicans would like to put on the November ballot. The basic...
Relaxing at Pure Wine Cafe
This is a very rare week (the first one in years) in which I’ve been left at home to take care of the pets and work past my usual stopping time. Tonight I de...
Coal Fire Pizza in Ellicott City
I don’t normally do restaurant reviews, but I thought I’d do a quick one for the Coal Fire Pizza in Ellicott City, since it just opened and I was among the f...
Income inequality in Howard County, part 2
(This is part 2 of a two-part post; for background on the Gini coefficient see part 1.)
Income inequality in Howard County, part 1
(This is part 1 of a two-part post; for the conclusion see part 2.)
Columbia’s account is no longer active
This doesn’t sound good: While researching a Howard County-related blog post today I happened to follow a Google search to www.columbia-md.com (a domain cont...
So Bill Gates walks into Howard County …
In a previous post I investigated the question of whether those in Howard County with annual incomes of $120,000 or more truly constituted the wealthy few or...
The “wealthy few” in Howard County
Last night a post by local blogger Wordbones caught my eye. Based on a story in the Baltimore Sun, it discussed proposed plans for affordable housing in Colu...
Blogging closer to home
For those Mozilla folks and others who’ve been following my full blog feed: I happen to live in Howard County, Maryland, between Washington DC and Baltimore....