Community Profile

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I choose my lab location because it is the community I live in and did not know much about it so wanted to be a more empowered citizen.  I think this class made me appreciate more Bel Air.

Places - Main Assets: Bel Air Armory, Armory Marketplace, Ma Pa Trail, Parks, Libraries, Downtown area, Festival of Bel Air, Liriodendron Mansion

Events: Christmas Parade, 4th of July Parade, Events at Armory, Wine Festival, BBQ Bash, Festival of Arts

People:    Population of 10.6k people with a median age of 41.4 and a median household income of $66,950. 5 largest ethnic groups: White (Non-Hispanic) (77%), Asian (Non-Hispanic) (4.54%), White (Hispanic) (4.21%), Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) (4.18%), and two+ (non-Hispanic) (3.63%).  (DataUSA, 2024)

Activities: First Fridays, Summer Concerts at Shamrock Park, Town Derby, Holidays

People love the community feel and events.  Bel Air is known as a good place to raise a family because it has good schools, walkable areas and commutable to many of the major cities.

People worry about economic development, health care accessibility, traffic, safety, and education.  As I begin to experience the community more, I have seen more concerns about health care and safety but less on the development.  Many people talk about the large-scale development projects and worry about their impact though still.

How do community members understand and express their views about healthy habitat, healthy people, resilient communities, empowered citizenship, and shared prosperity? The factors fostering livable communities (sustainable habitat, healthy people, cohesive/resilient communities, empowered citizens, and inclusive/shared prosperity) provide you with the basic architecture of your story.

Community members understand and express their views about healthy habitat, healthy people, resilient communities, empowered citizenship, and shared prosperity in many different ways.  They express their opinions in formal avenues like surveys, county council meetings, town meetings, but also informal like online forums, advice, HOAs and more.  The factors of livable communities impact the citizens of Bel Air in various ways.  The cohesive/resilient community theme seems to be the strongest and the healthy people and inclusive prosperity seem to be the biggest areas of improvement.