This weekend I went to Baltimore, MD (nicknamed “Charm City”) for a visit with friends and family.  We had beautiful weather and delicious crab (if you like that kind of stuff).  But as I was wandering the streets of Baltimore thinking about how to get from one part of town to the next… I remember that one of our current MPA students is working on getting public transportation to the people.  Anthony Scott, MPA 2015 is back in Baltimore interning this summer with the MTA and working on the Baltimore Red Line development, a $2.6 billion light rail investment that would connect east and west Baltimore.   One of the most anticipated stations is the West Baltimore MARC Station. Located in the Midtown Edmondson (M/E) neighborhood of West Baltimore, this is the only station in West Baltimore that will connect Baltimore’s local public transit directly to the regional commuter rail, which travels to Washington, DC.

As an intern for the MTA and a self-named community liaison between the MTA and the Baltimore neighborhood, Anthony will be attending a lot of meetings, taking notes, and ensuring information is passed along to the community, and that the community’s concerns are communicated to MTA.  The  overarching goal is to ensure that the gains in transparency and accountability that come with improved communication are sustained.  If you are interested in following Anthony on his MTA summer internship, you can read more about it on his “Development Without Displacement” blog,  http://developmentwithoutdisplacement.com/.