Could Bel Air become another Fells Point or Federal Hill? Elizabeth Cook believes the potential is there.
As the executive director of the Bel Air Downtown Revitalization Alliance, predicting a rosy future is arguably part ofher job. But even to an objective observer, evidence suggests the comparison is not as crazy as it would have sounded 10 or 20 years ago.
Until fairly recently, Harford County?s seat was a quaint little town flanked by farmland.
However, the town?s population has increased 60 percent since 1970, according to the Harford County Department of Economic Development, and the outlying rural area just beyond the town limits has grown increasingly suburban, with an abundance of the shopping and dining choices that newcomers want.
Betsy the cow used to be the town?s unofficial greeter, author and historian Bill Bates recalls. FedEx, Kinko?s and Aref?s Oriental Rugs have taken her place.
Chili?s Grill & Bar was the first major chain restaurant when it opened along Route 1 about 15 years ago, said Bob Syphard, the town?s senior planner. It?s since been joined by Ruby Tuesday, Outback Steakhouse, TGI Friday?s, Uno?s Chicago Grill, Red Lobster and Double T Diner, among others.
And in downtown Bel Air, Sean Bolan?s Irish Pub, Ropewalk Tavern, Looney?s Pub North, Dead Freddies and the Main Street Tower have all burst onto the scene in the past few years.
“The sidewalks used to be clear at five. Now we have a night life,” Cook says.
The Downtown Revitalization Alliance?s general development philosophy is to attract restaurants first, then retail and residential components, she explains.
The group wants Bel Air to “be a place people can park and spend the day,” she says “Basically, we want it to be a place people want to drive to, and not through.”
Like Fells Point, she says.
David Bacon, 22, moved into to a condominium in downtown Bel Air two years ago. While Bel Air doesn?t stack up to Baltimore yet for nightlife, he said he could imagine it becoming more like Fells Point. It?s already comparable to Towson, said the Towson University grad.
“I used to go to Towson a lot more before the Bel Air bars popped up,” he said.
“Young people think it?s great, because they never thought anything was happening around here,” said Gail Angel, a local real estate trainer who moved to Churchville, just outside Bel Air, in 1980.
But Angel and others admit to some trepidation about what the future might bring in terms of more crowding, crime and congestion.
“It used to take me eight or nine minutes to get to Bel Air,” said Gill Denn, 62, an Aberdeen resident for 46 years. Now it takes five times as long, he says.
Over the past 32 years, traffic has increased seven-fold near the intersection of Route 543 and Route 22 just east of town, according to the State Highway Administration.
But local officials are optimistic about managing growth while retaining Bel Air?s small town charm and sense of history.
The state recognized Bel Air?s Main Street in 2001 as one of 18 with the historic value and economic potential to warrant state funding. Historic buildings in downtown Bel Air, between Bond and Main streets, are being renovated to attract and house a variety of businesses, according to Syphard.
Meanwhile, the first “mini-skyscrapers” are also in the works ? five-story buildings, higher than anything in town so far, that will have residential, office and retail space. Construction is expected to start early next year.
“People are starting to view the downtown area of Bel Air as a live-work area,” Syphard says. “It?s starting to take on a city mentality rather than a bedroom community.”
