community : Buzz

Online grocer Relay Foods has gotten a fresh round of capital, which Forbes says it is planning to use to expand further in Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

The Charlottesville, Va., company has raised another $8.25 million, from Battery Ventures, TomorrowVentures and many smaller shops, Forbes says.

“'It’s huge for the company in that this more than doubles our funding and allows us to expand aggressively into the D.C. and Baltimore markets,'" Relay CEO Zach Buckner tells Forbes. 

In addition to offering traditional grocery items, Relay delivers dairy, produce and other products made locally. It also sells eco-friendly products like Seventh Generation cleaning supplies. It is one of a handful of companies that are taking the buy-local food movement online.

Baltimore may not be as pedestrian friendly as New York or San Francisco, but it's more walkable than Denver or San Diego.

That's according to Walk Score, which ranked the 50 largest cities according to walkability. The Big Apple and San Francisco took the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, followed by Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia.

Walk Score came up with the rankings based on whether a city's residents can walk to nearby amenities and manage without a car. The Seattle organization promotes walkable neighborhoods.

Maryland's oyster population is growing again, thanks to Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts, writes the Daily Times of Salisbury, which ran an Associated Press story.

An oyster survey from the Department of Natural Resources showed population increases and that two oyster diseases are below long-term averages.

"DNR Fisheries Service Director Tom O’Connell said oysters may be developing a resistance to the diseases, helped by the establishment of sanctuaries that provide adult oysters 'with a safe place where they can handle the stresses of disease and the ups and downs of reproduction,'" writes the Daily Times.

You can read the entire story here.

"I grew up on stories about the glory days of Jewish Baltimore, when, in my father’s telling, Jews were really Jews," writes Jennifer Moses in the New York Times. 

Moses says Jewish Baltimore is on the rebound, in both the city and the suburbs. She points to the Jewish Museum of Maryland, Attman's Deli and Eutaw Place Synagogue. 

"Happily, Jewish Baltimore is on the rebound, and not just in the suburbs. On a cold day in February when I went in search of the settings of my father’s stories, I landed in a place where perseverance, preservation and memory have conspired to keep that vanished world available," Moses writes. 

You can read the entire story here. 

Wanna know where to find all the farmers' markets in your area? The Maryland Department of Agriculture has released a database of the state's 131 farmers' markets, MDBizNews writes. 

"The Maryland’s Best website now includes extensive, searchable information on market locations, hours, producers, vendors and product listings. A paper version of the 2013 Maryland Farmers’ Market Directory will also available in mid-May from MDA’s Marketing Division in Annapolis," MDBizNews says.

To find your local farmer's market, go on the Maryland's Best website and enter "farmer's market" in the search category. 

Woodberry's Artifact Coffee is one of the best places to get your java jolt, according to food and drink blog the Daily Meal.

The Spike Gjerde-owned venture comes in at No. 15 on its list of Best Coffee Shops in America. The Daily Meal raves about Artifact's " 'barn chic,' farm-to-table vibe" and its BYOB dinner service. (Read about Artifact's plans to serve beer and wine).

The blog editors asked shop owners and baristas to pick their favorite coffee joints based on quality of food and coffee, atmosphere and customer service to come up with its list of 33 shops and chains.

Coffee shops in Portland, Ore., and New York took the No. 3 and No. 2 spots. Ultimo Coffee in Philadelphia came in at No. 1.

College seniors graduating this May from area universities should consider staying put.

A recent study from the Business Journals places Baltimore No. 4 on its list of top cities for young adults on the East Coast. Washington, D.C., came in at No. 1, followed by Boston and New York.

The study factored the strength of the job market, cost of living and number of young, college-educated, employed adults to come up with its ranking.

In its national ranking of 102 cities throughout the U.S., Baltimore came in at No. 23. Austin, Texas, came out on top, followed by San Jose, Calif., and Washington, D.C.

You can read the entire story here.

An Annapolis company called Solar Wind Energy Inc. wants to build a massive energy tower on the U.S.-Mexico border, Forbes reports.

"Known as a downdraft tower, the project by Solar Wind Energy Inc., is an untested and hugely ambitious endeavor," Forbes writes. "It has, however, attracted some heavyweight partners, including GE Energy and Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., which has built everything from steel foundries to the Baltimore Ravens’ football stadium."

You can read the rest of the story here. 

Orioles' fans heading to Camden Yards on Opening Day will have another spot where they can grab a post-game brew.

The Hampton Inn is opening the Deck at Camden Yards next to Pickles Pub, the Baltimore Sun reports. Get ready for some company if you head over there. Bar partner Fritz Brogan tells the Sun that he expects about 1,000 on Opening Day. 

"The idea for the bar came from MCR Development, the New York/Dallas-based hotel investment firm and management company that also owns the downtown Hampton Inn," the Sun writes. "Tyler Morse, MCR’s chief executive officer and a self-proclaimed “big Orioles fan,” says the recent successes of the Ravens and Orioles inspired the initial idea for the Deck."

You can read the entire story here. 

Zelda Fitzgerald is the subject of four new novels that are coming out this year, one of which focuses on her time in a Baltimore mental institution.

Erika Robuck's "Call Me Zelda", which comes out in May, is narrated by a nurse who cares for F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife.

"The novel tackles one of the most contentious issues in the Fitzgeralds' marriage —their fight over who had the right to fictionalize their relationship," the Wall Street Journal writes.

The Journal also writes that Zelda wrote her own novel on her troubled marriage to the Jazz Age "Great Gatsby" writer while hospitalized for schizophrenia.

You can read the rest of the story here. 

Baltimore apparently isn't one of those cities where you'll see cash-strapped 20-somethings splurge on a pair of Manolo Blahniks. 

Baltimore ranks No. 8 on Card Hub's list of cities with the best budgeters. Boston, New York, San Diego, San Francisco and Minneapolis were the top five on the list.

The credit card comparison site says Baltimore residents have, on average, a credit score of 738. Card Hub also took into account total debt-to-income ratios; the bankruptcy and foreclosure rates, mortgage debt and non-housing expenses.

Cincinnati, Tampa, Fla., and Orlando, Fla., were in the bottom three. 

Museums and tourism officials are honoring abolitionist Harriet Tubman, 100 years after her death. 

USA Today features some of these homages, including a contemporary art exhibit "Homage to Harriet" at Baltimore's Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History & Culture. It starts March 23 and runs through June 23.

The USA Today also features three other Maryland honors to Harriet Tubman. Earlier this month, officials celebrated the groundbreaking of the 17-acre Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park, just south of Cambridge. 

"The same day, the state designated a 125-mile driving tour, dubbed the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, that cuts through her home turf on Maryland's Eastern Shore," USA Today writes.

Maryland also passed a bill to establish the 5,700-acre Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park on  Maryland's Eastern Shore.

If you're male and between the ages of 18 and 34, you could do worse than living in Baltimore. 

So says Forbes, which features an analysis from Rent.com of the top cities for single men. Baltimore made this list, along with Washington, D.C., Boston, Philadelphia and New York City. Rent.com says these are cities where women outnumber men by nearly 10 percent.

This is what Rent.com had to say about Baltimore:

"This delightful town wakes up locals with enchanting seascapes that capture both hearts and minds."

The Domino Sugar sign floating in the water is surely a nice view, but enchanting SEAscapes?

"Perhaps the call of the Atlantic is the romantic siren that draws so many young, single women to the town and the men in droves behind them."

The call of the Atlantic? In droves?

Hey we love Baltimore as much as the next person but someone needs to tell Rent.com that the body of water at the Inner Harbor ain't the Atlantic.

Meanwhile, Rent.com says all the single ladies need to move out to the West Coast. It cites Los Angeles, Seattle, Phoenix, San Jose and Seattle as the top cities for single women. 

Sarah Hemminger tells Forbes magazine that when she moved back to Baltimore for grad school in 2004, she and her husband Ryan felt like "something was missing."

That something was being part of a loving, nurturing community. That prompted her to launch the Incentive Mentoring Program, which matches a family of committed volunteers with underperforming high school students.

"We must build a reliable social support network by facilitating dependable, long-term relationships among students and caring adults," Hemminger tells Forbes. 

High property taxes and crime? Check. A population of at least 259,000? Check.

Bad weather? Hmm..maybe the recent mild winters is why Forbes' editors overlooked Baltimore in its list of America's Most Miserable Cities.

Detroit, Flint, Mich., and Rockford, Ill., were the top three. Also on the list was Chicago, home of the nation's best pizza. That's according to Travel & Leisure, which also put Baltimore on the list. Can a city with great pizza really be that miserable? Well, in any case we're relieved Baltimore isn't on the list. Heaven knows the city doesn't need any more bad PR.