Contributor Opinion By Tim Gilday: Beall's Grant Embodies Core U.S. Values

>The following Contributor Opinion is by Tim Gilday:

It’s been my privilege living at Beall’s Grant over the past year: the residence provides warmth, exceptional convenience and a decent, welcome atmosphere. Certainly no place is perfect, but the management team noticeably strives to maintain and continuously improve the facilities, all while keeping an admirable rate of communication with its residents about changes and issues. I’d go so far as to say that the most expensive neighboring apartments and condos would do well to have such an active team tending to them. My (relatively) wealthy friend complained about the difficulty of obtaining service on a leak under his sink for 6 days. I don’t recall seeing more than one or two business days pass for my requests here.

What prompted this letter, then, was a feeling that there exists a certain lack of awareness and a few unfortunate misconceptions held by local community members about the quality of the residents at Beall’s Grant. The only vague truism that could honestly be thrown is that those living in non-free-market-rent apartments likely earn less than the average community member (myself included). And I grant there is little doubt that a meta-study focusing on income and its relations to crime would probably reveal statistically significant results; so that being said, I have empathy and no ill feeling towards those opposing Beall’s Grant II. Nonetheless, it is a broad leap to some of the assumptions I’ve heard made about us and about what will occur to the neighborhood if Beall’s Grant II is successfully constructed. The only desire I have is to allow them to see through my eyes what Beall’s Grant and its residents truly represent.

Thanks to the careful selection of Cliff Bailey and team, the residents of Beall’s Grant are composed of an extremely diverse cross-section of individuals. I’ve met people from all walks of life, some with thick accents and the aroma of their country’s food wafting through their door. If a thick accent and an exotic smell are indicative of anything, I’d say it’s progress. If people want privacy, they close their doors and keep to themselves. But if they care to associate with others, then all I’ve ever met are people working their way through life: some in continuing education, some working tough evening hours, even one woman with a baby who has to travel two hours each way by mass transit to get to her nursing job in Baltimore and back to study and take care of her child. If you want to put it poetically, I see a lot of inspiration.

So, to make a long story short: if one desires to maintain a strong, healthy neighborhood, they need not exclude those who exhibit the core values that the United States was founded on. The only thing we need to do is make sure we check ourselves from time to time to make sure WE are still upholding those values while enabling the betterment of others.

My appreciation,

Tim Gilday

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