What’s Up? Annapolis is looking for an answer, and wants to publish a write-up in a future issue. Senior Editor Mary Felter asks Annapolitans to suggest solutions in a couple recent blog posts. Send your solutions to mfelter@whatsupmag.com!

My answer? I’ve always supported the Maglev solution. I think an elevated train running from the State Circle or Park Place area, up West Street, with stops at Parole, Westfield Shoppingtown, and finally, New Carolton, would be awesome, (although, most likely, extremely expensive to install). There needs to be an easy way to connect these areas, without funneling huge amounts of traffic into downtown, where narrow historic streets snarl commutes.

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I saw it. There is a larger than life Blues Brothers statue in front of a business on West street, going East, just down from Old Solomons Island Road and before the 1901 West development. Maybe this sort of thing belongs in a forgotten, knickknack and curio selling  highway-side town somewhere in rural America, but a massive Dan Aykroyd likeness has no place in the sailing capital of America. I’ll try to get a picture at a later date, but this type of thing simply should not dance in this town!

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Unlike a lot of guys, I really enjoy going out to a club or bar because it usually gives me an opportunity to dance. During my four years of college in Philadelphia, whether I was at a party or a bar, I was usually out on the dance floor tearing it up (or at least making an attempt!)

Since moving back to Annapolis, I have noticed during my limited bar outings that dancing is not really an integral part of the bar scene downtown. I’ve seen a couple of people attempt to dance to the live music at Pusser’s, a bit of dancing at O’Brien’s, and a little bit more at Armadillo’s, but there isn’t really a place, as far as I know, where everyone really gets down.

Am I just not aware of some downtown gem? Have there been places in the past in the downtown area where dancing was the main course for the night?

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The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is making a lot of noise with their “John Smith for President” campaign.

I am incredibly interested in restoring our area’s most precious resource, but I have to wonder if the money, time, and energy that are being invested in the campaign could be better used in another way. I don’t know if the CBF is paying Scott Pierce for his portrayal, or if the campaign videos cost very much to produce, but I get the impression, especially from the slick website, that there was a substantial amount of overhead that could have been better used elsewhere.

Hopefully, the campaign will in some way fulfill its goals of elevating the Chesapeake Bay and clean water issues in the presidential election, but I really doubt it. The farce is an unusually creative idea from the CBF (KUDOS!), who usually resort to simply decreeing that the bay is doomed, but as an environmentally conscious citizen, even I wouldn’t pay for the campaign gear that they are promoting in their store. I don’t think any of my friends or anyone else would really be interested enough to check out the website from promotion on a shirt I might wear or a sticker on my car

I think more effort should be put into raising citizen awareness about their daily impact on the bay, and ways that its decline directly effects them. For a lot of Anne Arundel County residents, I don’t think the state of the environment is a constant worry–and I believe it should be. Also, there needs to be much more education about how individuals can incorporate bay-friendly practices into their own lives.

The doom and gloom approach that the CBF frequently uses makes me feel like maybe, realistically, there isn’t anything anyone can really do about the bay. The CBF needs to show us how important bay issues are, and how we can effect them in ways that don’t involve lobbying. The organization has so much potential, and I hope they can realize it fully by having a deep impact on the current generation.

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I’ve finally settled on my first post-college living situation. I will be sharing an apartment at 1901 West (the former site of the Johnson lumber company). I am excited to move in on July 15th, as the location offers easy access to the downtown area, a quick exit to Route 50, and close proximity to a Washington D.C. bus route.

Arundel Living will grow with me as I experience Annapolis and all there is to do here. My West Street living location will make it easy to explore Annapolis culture. I hope to individually get to know and review each of the city’s downtown bars, and I have been looking for online resources that help citizens like me and visiting tourists find entertaining nightlife around the area.

I’m not sure if it is trying to be an online community (with it’s “Open a tab” feature) or if it is just a resource for locating daily bar specials, but Bars Annapolis is, as far as I know, the only over-21 nightlife resource that currently exists. Annapolis is great in that for such a small city, it offers a huge concentration of bars in the downtown area. Annapolis’ bars also cater to the entire spectrum of ages, ensuring that there is a place for everyone to hang out. I’ll be sure to keep an eye on Bars Annapolis to see how the site evolves.

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My name is Jeffrey A. Haines, and I am the creator of www.ArundelLiving.com!

A little background:

In our busy, interconnected, and global society, people use the power of technology to interact with others from all over the world. Television, radio, and the internet allow instant access to almost any information imaginable, and allow readers to stay updated about the major happenings in the world as they unfold.

In a world that increasingly focuses on planet-wide communications as a big picture, have we lost sight of relationships at a local and community level? Although we now can globally share interests, what about the neighbor in the next town who has the same hobby or is starting a league for the same sport?

Although it is now easier than ever to meet people online and to communicate across geographical divides, I feel that is important to maintain community relationships and unity. Often, people feel as though they cannot make a difference in our society because of the need for large financial backing to accomplish anything at the global level. I want to show people that community matters, and that neighborly relationships with the people in one’s environment can lead to a greater sense of belonging, accomplishment, and meaning in one’s life.

What, exactly, this is:

Arundel Living is a website that will allow neighbors in Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, and the Chesapeake to find out information that directly effects their lives.

There are plenty of good websites that cover national and international happenings. There are even some websites that cover local goings on. Eventually, if there is still a need for coverage of news and events in the Anne Arundel County area, I may seek to expand the site to fill that need, but currently, I want to focus on providing a hub for local information (links to other websites and publications) and to create a blog that focuses on news and gossip.

There are plenty of stories to comment on in our area–the handling of the Chesapeake Bay crisis, high school sports, local celebrities, politics, et cetera–and I plan on focusing on the areas where I can best provide commentary, criticism, or explanation.

So, this site will currently be:

1. A local blog (with more blogs hopefully to come)

2. A collection of links to local information

A little about myself:

I have been a lifelong Anne Arundel County resident, although I spent four years in Philadelphia at Drexel University achieving a Bachelor of Science degree in Digital Media. I have finally moved back to the area I love. While in Philadelphia, I spent six months working for The Philadelphia Inquirer, where I helped to establish major new media initiatives, such as in-house web video production.

In Philadelphia, I learned some great skills, but I also realized that there really is no place like home, and I am extremely excited to re-establish myself in the Annapolis area.

So, stay tuned to the website for information updates, and bookmark this blog’s RSS feed to stay up on my take on local news, politics, and gossip!

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