Meghan McCorkell always formally educated Nestor about the charm of the Enoch Pratt Free Library but recently became the Executive Director of “Live Baltimore” and came to Faidley’s on the Maryland Crab Cake Tour to tell him all he never knew about the “I Love City Life” folks’ 30th year aiming to attract and retain residents by highlighting the city’s 278 neighborhoods and offering home ownership incentives like down payment assistance programs. The city’s affordability, cultural richness and community spirit get no argument from the host.
Nestor Aparicio interviews Meghan McCorkell about her transition from the Enoch Pratt Free Library to Live Baltimore, a nonprofit promoting Baltimore City. Live Baltimore, celebrating its 30th year, aims to attract and retain residents by highlighting the city’s 278 neighborhoods and offering homeownership incentives like down payment assistance programs. McCorkell emphasizes the city’s affordability, cultural richness, and community spirit. She also discusses the importance of information literacy and the role of librarians as initial “Googles.” Nestor shares his personal connection to Baltimore, highlighting its unique charm and the benefits of city life.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Live Baltimore, Enoch Pratt Free Library, city life, homeownership, neighborhoods, community, Baltimore City, down payment assistance, trolley tour, cultural institutions, food scene, affordable housing, nonprofit organization, civic pride, economic development.
SPEAKERS
Meaghan McCorkell, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:00
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T. Am 1570 towns of Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. I am in the epicenter of positivity. We are actually the weather’s holding up. We’re here at Lexington market, the new Lexington market. We’re at faintly seafood, doing the Maryland crab cake tour in a cup of Super Bowl because I was, I’m a little tardy in this particular performance here. It was supposed to happen a month ago. I’m gonna apologize to Megan McCorkle here from the Baltimore momentarily. So I brought to my friends at the Maryland lottery. I have the magic eight ball, and I’m rubbing the magic eight ball and it says, Will Megan McCorkle still be employed by the Enoch Pratt Free Library when I reschedule the show? No, it will not. You were between gigs when I invited you last month. Life changes quick. Everybody knows. Megan, hello, channel 13, WJ, Z on the scene, and then you were at the library. Like a good long time, eight years. Can you believe it? You always be media. Megan, to
Meaghan McCorkell 00:57
me. No, I know people always still recognize me from TV, which is lovely. So now I still get to do media, but I get to tell great stories. So
Nestor Aparicio 01:04
I’m dressed up today. And you thought I dressed up for you. I didn’t let my hair out. Well, I mean, yeah, I mean, I’m always looking to press you, but tonight is the addies. It’s the it’s the advertising Grammys. I’m not up for any awards. I’m not even getting any money. I’m not even getting any money. I’m not probably not even getting any business from media works or I Heart Radio, but I will be there and I put my good threads on the night. I’m gonna fix my hair when you leave, see and be seen. Yeah, little Aqua net up air, and I’ll be fixed up just like kiss was back in the day. Live Baltimore, and I love to talk Enoch Pratt with you, because my friends, John Eisenberg and John Miller were there last night on my dad’s birthday, do a little Earl Weaver. I’ve had them both on the show last couple weeks. I know you do a lot of things with Aaron over there with no picks. This transition for you, like you’re never gonna stop talking about the library. You still read, but you don’t stop reading
Meaghan McCorkell 01:56
books. No, of course not. Listen. I will be a library stand forever, and I always was. So honestly, for me, the very first job I ever had. It wasn’t like a job, but, you know, when you were a kid and you did, like, community service in your in your hometown, you did bookmobile. I know I worked at my, like, local public library, like shelved books and helped, and that was when I was a teenager. So the library is, like, in my blood to stay.
Nestor Aparicio 02:18
Were you a part of the fine system? I mean, you know, I was always getting fined 10 cents a day. I
Meaghan McCorkell 02:22
was a I was pretty good at returning things on time. But I will say this, you know, the Pratt library does not have any fines, and so, and
Nestor Aparicio 02:30
still free Enoch, Pratt Free Library is the middle
Meaghan McCorkell 02:34
name, yes. And so, yeah, they don’t have fines at all. And we still find that people return their books on time, because they know that somebody else is waiting for them. So
Nestor Aparicio 02:43
there’s a responsibility that comes along with education, that we all have more of a holistic approach when we’re educating
Meaghan McCorkell 02:49
honor system, right? Like, if you hold that book for a long and then you start thinking about another person who has been waiting for it, you know, I feel super guilty overdue book. I’ll go up to the front desk when I used to work there, and I would just feel like, I would feel like they knew if my book was overdue. So So yes, I try and get through them pretty quick. Can I make an
Nestor Aparicio 03:09
admission? I don’t think I’ve ever made on the air, because my dad’s birthday, my dad got me into reading when I was a little boy, right? So I’ve read at a really high level when I was a kid, like in kindergarten, I could read the newspaper like that kind of kid, right? So I love books and I like going to the library, but we had to the library wasn’t walkable from where I lived, at East Point Mall. We had, like, the North Point library was a long way, let me too long even, like, take our bikes, maybe get a little older. But the Enoch Pratt library, that is now the Frank Zappa library, is in Highland town. It used to be on Eastern Avenue, little known. Like it was one point as a child, I went there looking for the book after I saw the movie summer of my German soldier. It was a World War Two female written book about Georgia and a girl growing up there who fell in love with the German soldier, who was brought here as a POW. So, like it was a movie, and I went looking for that book, and I wanted to read the book. And back in the day, like 1978 I’m 1011, whatever you had to, like order it you, I went, remember going to the library and meeting Miss Megan, it was, and saying, Can you get this book? Well, it’s on loan from this live. So when you would get the book, you’d wait for it. It would come and have all these names in it, in the right and
Meaghan McCorkell 04:26
the back. I did sort of love that, like spying who actually read the book. I know
Nestor Aparicio 04:32
it’s not like that anymore. And then we had the bookmobile in the neighborhood, but like the ubiquitous nature of the Dewey Decimal system being like in my phone now I can just put in your name, my name, live Baltimore and learn things, which I’m gonna do in a minute. I’m just always blown away by how much education is available and how poor our leadership has become. Well, it’s
Meaghan McCorkell 04:54
interesting. I mean, we always say librarians were the initial Google and librarians are still the source that you know. That are getting you the truth and the facts. And that’s not all you would ever get from the internet if you don’t know that already. And so I mean information literacy is something you can really learn at the library, and I think it’s more needed than ever.
Nestor Aparicio 05:11
There is her library speech. She’ll always be with the always
Meaghan McCorkell 05:16
be a fan of the library. I’ll always speak all of the great things about the Enoch Rodri, well, one
Nestor Aparicio 05:21
of the cool things about Baltimore positive not just having former reporters, reformed reporters, who are actually
Meaghan McCorkell 05:26
serving the world, recovering, recovering, recovering.
Nestor Aparicio 05:29
I think we went through that first time we got together about what you miss and what you don’t. Yeah, live Baltimore and Enoch Pratt, obviously good gig at Enoch Pratt. You’re really good at it. You’re out in front of it. I love that you were that person, and you are that person, like that encourages people to read books. You make this career transition again. Third one that I know about, at least in the beginning. I’m assuming, as a little girl, you grew up to be a journalist, to make it to channel 13, right? You probably that was probably your real ambition, right? I loved telling
Meaghan McCorkell 05:56
stories, and so I think in every career move that I’ve made, I’ve utilized that skill of telling stories, and still at live Baltimore, I get to tell a lot of Baltimore story now, and I think that that’s a real honor for me as well.
Nestor Aparicio 06:11
All right, so what is live Baltimore? I lived in Baltimore for 19 years. I lived at the top of harbor court. I remember sort of live Baltimore being this bumper sticker.
Meaghan McCorkell 06:22
And I’m like, I love city
Nestor Aparicio 06:24
life. I love city life. I love city life. I live in the county now, but I’m standing there in the city. I am Mr. City guy. I would move back to the city in a heartbeat if we had trees and windows and like deer and Fox and the things that we’ve been enjoying recently. Well, there’s lots of neighborhoods the city. So live Baltimore, I always thought of as being like sort of this Federal Hill thing in my in my mind, it felt like a Federal Hill entity to me all the time. I lived in federal come back into camera and tell me what’s going on. Sure.
Meaghan McCorkell 06:56
So live Baltimore is a nonprofit organization. We’ve been at it for almost 30 years. 30 years? No, yeah, it’s been, it’s been going on for 30 years. And that famous I love city life logo that everybody loves has been, has been with us for for many, many. Yeah, I’ll get you one. That’s the one thing. That’s how I know the organization is popular, is because when I started four weeks ago, you’re about like the three dozen as for swag, because everybody loves the I love City Light logo. So the mission of live Baltimore is to attract and retain residents here in Baltimore City. So we are basically the cheerleaders of all of Baltimore’s 278 neighborhoods. There’s 250 neighborhoods that have houses in them. And so we are letting people know that there is something for everyone here in Baltimore, that it’s a great city, and we want people to move in, live here, raise their families here in Baltimore City.
Nestor Aparicio 07:50
I’m trying to think of like, the number one things that I miss. I’m thinking of going to New York next week. It’s gonna be 70 degrees, just do a Ferris Bueller day. That’s my thing. Because we’re near the greatest city in the world, and we’re three hours away. And I know you grew up closer than that. I did your little sport on it, you know, because it’s like being near Washington, DC. So like, oh, anybody comes to America, it’s one of the first places they go here. We’re like, the people in Buffalo going to Niagara Falls are like doing that again, Baltimore, for me in the city and walking around. I do miss it. I’m in here. I don’t ever get in my car in town. Gotta go down to town today. I always think, what five things am I gonna do? Am I gonna run over to me cheese and grab some sauce? Am I gonna go over to cafe? Dear Leona, dude, I’m gonna go to oven bird. Do I have a friend that to see? Does kitty, by the way? You know, city pets is still love you Jill. You know, it’s still my girl so, like, I have to get my cat food and my so I’m, I’m still enjoying lots of parts of city life, and I know I’m contributing to the tax base here. Hopefully I don’t get a ticket, but, but for people, there is this demarcation of, oh, you moved to the county. Oh, I see you don’t like the city. I’m like, No one even like that. For me, I never really wanted to leave the city. For me, it was just like, have this land moved it out work. I’m gonna move back to the city. I know. I Yeah. I
Meaghan McCorkell 09:10
mean, there’s something about the city that draws you in. And honestly, for me, I’ve had the unique experience of living in a lot of different places being a journalist. I grew up in New Jersey, I lived in Ohio. I lived in DC. I went to college in DC. And so there is something about Baltimore that’s special. It’s the people. It’s that there’s something about Baltimore that made me not want to leave. And I’ve talked to so many other people.
Nestor Aparicio 09:35
You could have left a journal. You know, you had other places. I
Meaghan McCorkell 09:39
was offered a job that you may go home here, because there was so I loved the people, and I really loved Baltimore. I fell in love with this city. I fell in love with all of the I always say, if you can’t find something to do in Baltimore on a weekend, you’re just not looking hard enough. Because we have the best festivals, the best outdoor experiences, obviously the best food. It’s there’s. Settlement. No, I have no, no. I can’t stand politics. You to be the mayor. I said, if I was the mayor, my only campaign promise would be to time traffic lights, and that’s it. I just want the traffic. I’m
Nestor Aparicio 10:13
making an announcement here. No, sir, I’m making an announcement that next month I was going to run for the mayor of Baltimore, 45 years ago, my, fifth reason I started to run for the mayor. Yeah. So, like, you don’t the fact that I moved to the county has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that, like, my place sold, and we wanted, my wife really wanted outdoor space. So, like, and it just we looked in all the counties I had. Listen, I got Howard County mad at me, Stewart, everybody’s mad that I didn’t move to their county, you know, and but I love the city, and I’m here all the time. For me, I’ve been all over the country. I don’t know. For me, Baltimore is a place that I’m always amazed that people come from the outside and find its charm, right? Because I’m from here, I don’t know from any other thing. And I see charms everywhere I go, even in red states, I find charms sometimes, you know, but like here the crabs, the crab cakes, the funny accent, all of that feels to be either inviting or sort of like, Oh, I’m not one of them, or you were gonna live here for 30 years and feel like you’re not really a Baltimorean. I know all of these transplants you being, especially in media, the car. So is that come from the Upper Peninsula, Viviano, who were supposed to be here. Today’s kids got the flu. Oh, and Mr. St Louis and all that make Marty. Marty’s from Louisville makes a light people that made a life here, that are from other places. Even Peter Schmuck, my baseball buddy, came from Southern California. What the hell are you doing here? You know, people like it here, and I can’t see it the way you see
Meaghan McCorkell 11:43
it. Well, yeah, because you grew up here, and so that is sort of what, you know, what I would say is, I think the people in Baltimore are different than almost any other city. People in Baltimore are very welcoming in such an amazing way, like and, you know, I lived in DC, and I’ve always thought like, DC is the what can you do for me city? Sure you move there, and what can you do for me here in Baltimore? People are like, well, I like you, so come on. Like, let’s go do this. Like, let’s go do this. Let’s be friends. And I’ve had so many people my mom will ask me, my mom’s up in New Jersey, and she’ll say, Hey, so what does your friend blah, blah, blah do? And I go, Oh, I have no idea what they do. I just like them, like hang out, I don’t know, because it’s not really about that. It’s just that people are so welcoming. They’re welcoming you into their fold. And I felt welcome the second I came here. And now it’s really exciting for me. I think when new people come in to make them feel welcome as
Nestor Aparicio 12:35
well. It’s funny say that because you’re really Megan McCorkle is here. She’s with live Baltimore, formerly of Enoch, Pratt and WJZ. You know her smile and all of her lip Baltimore. So I lived at the harbor 19 years, and when we would take the elevator down from where we live, we would like be on Lee Street, walk around the corner. And obviously, I’m talking we moved in oh three, right? Because of the flood climate change, Loyola symposiums to next Thursday, we got flooded out with Isabel and oh three, you weren’t here yet. I wasn’t okay. So we moved downtown, and I started taking the elevator down. And in the beginning, I mean Oh, 345, say very vibrant downtown, right? I mean very Orioles hangover still kind of there. The Ravens have won the Super Bowl. Harbor East was kind of coming online. The Marriott wasn’t there yet or whatever, but harbor place was still Phillips and ESPN zone was kind of just opening. And so I would walk down to the harbor and see people from all over the world, right? Just being at the harbor was like, sort of being in New York or DC. Were like, Oh, they’re from Taiwan. There’s a bus. Oh, they look like they’re speaking five different languages, in 40 feet of pavement, like right when you would walk through and I took it upon myself, my wife would always call me, you should run for mayor. And I talked about running for mayor. Now I’m gonna run for mayor ROFO fried chicken. That’s gonna be my next campaign is I want to be the mayor of fried chicken for Baltimore, but I would see people who would be a little confused. This is before Google. You know, you could pop in, I want Italian food, and they would show you little littles. That way, these people a little more lost a little more. And even before Baltimore had a reputation of being like, I don’t want to go there alone, or whatever, people be out. And I would offer them something. And my wife, who’s from New Hampshire, would say, you talk to a lot of strangers in this and that for being a public figure and like all that. I’m like, I don’t know. I want them to like my class. I want them to like Baltimore, but I also I want to be the guy they go home and say, this nice guy stopped on the street told me to go over to a meet cheese, and I’d like it, or whatever it would be, where that place that doesn’t happen in New York.
Meaghan McCorkell 14:38
I keep telling people, like, people say, like, oh, well, what are the steps if you’re thinking about moving to Baltimore, what would you do? And I’m like, well, first of all, live baltimore.com. Gives you kind of a whole overview of all of the neighborhoods in Baltimore. But then the best thing you can do is come here and visit and go tour some of those neighborhoods, and then, like, stop by the local watering hole sit down, because everybody in. Neighborhood is going to brag to you about how great their neighborhood is. I always say, everybody says their neighborhood is the best, and they’re all right, right, like, I’m in rivers Hill and I will,
Nestor Aparicio 15:07
I don’t say that when I’m in Essex, because I’m from Dundalk. Everybody knows Peter John’s on the 21st I go eat their pizza, you know? I mean, it’s Essex. There’s
Meaghan McCorkell 15:16
so much civic pride in the city of Baltimore. People are so excited to tell you where they’re from. And like, my neighborhood is this tiny, little neighborhood next to Canton. But when people say we’re in Canton, we’re like, No, we are not. We are in brewers Hill. And I love
Nestor Aparicio 15:28
your brewer. So butcher said, I’m in Brewer see when you said right next to Canada, maybe Bucha,
Meaghan McCorkell 15:33
I’m in brewers Hill, right under Mr. Bow. They just relit him with
Nestor Aparicio 15:37
ledger, since there from so many so if I, if I ran into you under Mr. Bow and you’re pretty girl from New Jersey, you’re like, Hey, you look like a nice guy. Where should I go? I’d be like, well, Chaucer’s that way, and Enoch Pratt library with the Zappa things that way. And I’m telling you, what do you like? Chicken Chicken Rico’s down around the corner. And then there’s Snake River over there. They got these weird sausages, and they got a great ramen joint and a great sushi joint right on Eastern like, and that’s why like, well, if you want to go that way, Deepak Squall is that way. And like, and
Meaghan McCorkell 16:07
there’s some community too. Because honestly for me, I can name like, all of my neighbors on my street if a package shows up, someone’s calling and saying, Hey, there’s a package. Yesterday, in the wind, the flag outside my house blew down. One of my neighbors took it, rolled it up, tucked it up, tucked it in between my steps, sent me a text that it was there Jerry Stolle, but we all know each other. I mean, there’s something really comforting about community like that. Because, you know, I grew up in a pretty like, in a town where, like, the houses were a little bit separated. What town
Nestor Aparicio 16:35
are you from? I’m gonna Google your Brielle,
Meaghan McCorkell 16:39
New Jersey spelled b, r, I, E, L, L, E, Brielle New Jersey. I know a girl named Brielle. Brielle New Jersey, real New Jersey’s where 148
Nestor Aparicio 16:49
miles to Megan’s parents. Yes,
16:51
exactly sure.
Nestor Aparicio 16:52
Girl, you’re right. Springsteen drove through Brielle New
Meaghan McCorkell 16:57
Jersey lives a few I was so excited when spring scene came to Camden Yards. I was I was there rocking out. I had a great time.
Nestor Aparicio 17:03
Spent one night in Seaguar. I’ve been to Belmar. I fell in love and Neptune right up and down to shore. Your shore girl, yeah,
Meaghan McCorkell 17:10
I’m a sure girl. That is one of the reasons to the Baltimore appealed to me because being near the water, though, makes me feel like home. So it’s so nice from my house to be able to, like, walk down, walk around the Inner Harbor, walk around Fort McHenry. It feels like home to me because we’re near water, and that’s how
Nestor Aparicio 17:28
I grew up. Megan McCorkle is spokesperson for all things live Baltimore. She is, will always be, a spokesperson for Enoch Pratt and recovering media members in the marketplace. Well, so what is live Baltimore from a you know, my white sisters in New Hampshire wants to move to Baltimore. You go to the website, you get but call you as a resource other than T shirts. What is your role?
Meaghan McCorkell 17:53
So I’m the executive director of live Baltimore, but as an organization, we do so much to make homeownership accessible. So the one beautiful thing about Baltimore is that Owning a home is accessible for so many people because the city is so affordable, so much more so than you know. When I lived in DC, there was no way me as a single person could afford a house by myself. There goes your whole paycheck. Yeah, I mean, more than your home paycheck, you’d be so, you know it’s so it was beautiful here when I was able to move here by my own house, affordable house in a unique neighborhood where there is such a community. So live Baltimore will help you find what neighborhood is right for you. But then we also advertise homeowner incentives. So what that means is we will provide some down payment assistance for you under like certain circumstances, cash.
Nestor Aparicio 18:42
Megan McCoy will give her a call. Well,
Meaghan McCorkell 18:43
we work with the Department of Housing Community Development on that and so, but if you’re a first time home buyer, you could potentially qualify for some down payment assistance. When I was working for the city of Baltimore, I did qualify for the downtown or for the down payment assistance. Right now, we have a brand new program that is really cool, called buy back the block. So if you live in one of the 120 plus neighborhoods that are qualified for the program, and you want to buy a house in one of those neighborhoods, you can get up to $20,000 in down payment assistance if you qualify and you’re eligible. So that’s a program that we’re running right now. We just hit the half a million dollar mark for grants given away as part of that program because we want more people to live in our communities, so that we have vibrant, strong, healthy communities across our city. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 19:33
that increases the tax base and increases the amount of money being spent when you live in the neighborhood, you spend in the neighborhood and the bartenders get tipped, well, exactly,
Meaghan McCorkell 19:41
I think so. I know one of the other things we do, because I think it’s really confusing, and it was confusing for me and navigating it is we do webinars, and we have videos that just walk you through home buying. Like, what that process is like, if
Nestor Aparicio 19:54
I had to do it again, I haven’t bought a home in 22 years. It’s like you have to start over. I mean, hold. Hand of a realtor. But like learning it before you begin, before you call a realtor, learn about it. Yeah.
Meaghan McCorkell 20:05
And we do at three times a year, we do something called a trolley tour, so you get to come. And this year, May 3, we’re doing it at Poly, so just sign up and you’ll show up. And we’ve got all vendors, their lenders, real estate agents, and you can, sort of like, learn from them. We have workshops that show you like, what do you need to do before you buy a house? How do you make sure that your credit is okay for buying? What are the ins and outs of a home loan? And then we actually will put you on a bus and tour you through some of Baltimore’s neighborhoods so that you can see what different types of houses are available at what different price points. Last we did this earlier in February, and almost 600 people showed up. And then the best part is, if you are ready to buy a house, then, and you wind up closing on a house, you can put in for a lottery to get down payment assistance from us. And 20 people who attended the trolley tour will get down payment
Nestor Aparicio 21:00
assistance. Oh, wow. So if you’re serious, this is if
Meaghan McCorkell 21:03
you’re serious and you’re ready to go, or even if you’re so many of the people that show up, or people that are just starting, or they’re people from across the country, this trolley tour, we had people from New York, from Michigan, from all these different
Nestor Aparicio 21:13
bus ride you got to come down and get how they want to like that’s
Meaghan McCorkell 21:17
a great way to see so many different communities, and do it with people who are really knowledgeable about Baltimore.
Nestor Aparicio 21:22
You can ask questions, yeah, of course. Why I qualify for that? I could be, I could be, like, a, you know, a greeter. You could, you know, I’ve been in every name.
Meaghan McCorkell 21:32
We have a lot of volunteers. We have some volunteers that are with us, like every single trolley tour. They know more about live Baltimore than I do. I’m only four weeks in, so I
Nestor Aparicio 21:40
almost want to take it to learn, like, I bet, how I would probably learn a lot. Well, just
Meaghan McCorkell 21:45
because, like, I never knew we have so many neighborhoods, 278 neighborhoods and ones, and every
Nestor Aparicio 21:51
one of them is on the Oriole patch, on that every one of them, though, has
Meaghan McCorkell 21:55
their own unique like flavor, their own unique thing, the houses like, the one thing I love about Baltimore driving through is like you have an area that has row houses that look a certain way. You have like, stand alone houses, you have houses with yards. You have, like, parks, and so there’s just so much to see. And there are so many neighborhoods that I’m excited about because we get to go tour them, as part of my job at live Baltimore, and see places maybe that you’ve never seen before, and talk to the neighbors who love their community so much and can tell you all of the amenities that are available.
Nestor Aparicio 22:25
Girl grew up in a jersey beach, and she came here in a big city. So my wife was from New Hampshire, and she was down here for, like, a convention for work when she was younger, and had that good late 90s experience of, like the thing. She was here, like, three days, just doing a work thing. And then, you know, we fell in love, and I brought her here, and she was always smitten by the arc, just all of it, the water, the architecture, the European look, the vibe, the streets, the diversity, all just every part of that. And now she’s like, since the plague, really into Patapsco Park and really into gunpowder, really into Cromwell and and lock Raven, because she’s into the outdoors and hiking and stuff this area. Every time I have, like, a Maryland person on there, like it’s the best United States and microcosm. We have mountains, we have ocean. We have we have cities. We have crabs, we have all for you a couple points affordability. Big, big. If you can’t afford it, you can’t live there, right? The fact that it’s a city, the fact that the location of it, with Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia, airports, all that. What do you sell for the city? Beyond those things, give me the other five or six things that you’re you’re out pimping on the headline thing to say, This is why Baltimore? Oh,
Meaghan McCorkell 23:43
I mean, I think Baltimore is so unique, like we talked about, the architecture, the history in Baltimore. You know, go to Fort McHenry. It’s such a landmark, and it’s right there for us. We have amazing cultural institutions. I forget how many theaters we have. We have every man center stage, Hippodrome, like so art gallery, culture, million art galleries. I mean, just the arts and culture scene alone in this city, I think, is top notch. And then the food. I mean, we have become a foodie play, have become such a food that’s awesome. Also, like, really opinionated about, like, I love asking people, what’s the best restaurant in Baltimore. I get that one because we, everyone fights about, well,
Nestor Aparicio 24:24
I’m a faith lease Lexington market that you can’t get any more iconic than this. And when I’m here, and you’ll appreciate it. It’s the first time in the new faith, in the new faith, Lisa, 50 weeks. It’ll be, it’ll be 52 weeks, two weeks from now, for opening day. And it’s a beautiful space, and it’s, all brand new. And damy, who’s gonna come on later, loves to tell the story that, you know, there have been a lot of videos shot in fate, the old fates, right? Like all the celebrity chefs have all been there, and her mom and all that, and people see them. And like the Guy Fieri, stuff runs, and people see it, and they come in here, and literally, they walk in, they’re. Like it looks just like it does on TV. And Damien doesn’t have the heart to say it was shot over there. I mean, even the recreation spaces, yes, you know, we’ve even taken Memorial Stadium and moved at the Camden yard somehow improved it, right? Look at the progress harbor place. At some point I hope to live long enough to look at whatever it becomes and say I fell in the harbor the day it became harbor place in 1981 because I did well.
Meaghan McCorkell 25:29
You know what I mean. All cities go through transitions, so it’ll be interesting to see what the transition of downtown is. But even when I first moved here, I’ve moved here 13 years ago, and to look at the amount of development that has gone on in just the 13 years in my neighborhood, all of Canton crossing went in harbor place, Harbor Point. All of those have gone in fire. Peninsula has gone in peninsula COVID. I know, I know, but Lexington market has gotten this amazing makeover. We’re very happy in brewers arena, yes, cfg, arena. Oh, my holy, cash has been here. I know gas. I went the second time I missed the first time I was in New Jersey. The first time. What
Nestor Aparicio 26:10
are you doing tomorrow night? You should come down and see Hank is area, do his Bruce thing. Oh, I had him on the show
Meaghan McCorkell 26:15
this. Oh my gosh, that’s amazing. You know he’s doing that. I didn’t know that. So Hank
Nestor Aparicio 26:19
is area, another fellow jersey. And every Jersey guy, he 60th birthday, he did a Springsteen for his friends. Oh, tour, yeah. Well, he’s a mimic, right? I mean, he does voice. So he conduced. He’s been working on Springsteen, and he thought for his friends, he would put a band together to throw a party. And he said he said he had so much fun that he wants to do it for charity that. So now he’s just shaking his
Meaghan McCorkell 26:45
ass all over the country. I was in Austin, Texas last weekend, and I saw his name up on the Billboard. So I’m like, Oh, I guess he’s on. Do I saw Springsteen
Nestor Aparicio 26:51
in Austin now with live Baltimore. You’re doing, you’re like, seeing some cities and stuff. My buddy Bill Cole from cole roofing, he’s a part of all consortium people that go to Richmond, go to Detroit, go to see incubators in other cities to try to make our city better, all the city organizations of downtown, all those folks look at other places. Austin’s one of those places that the first sign you see is Keep Austin weird, make Austin funky. You know, yeah, that’s what we are. We got to embrace our funky, funky, I mean,
Meaghan McCorkell 27:20
and I think part of it is keeping that too, and making sure you want to keep the charm right, because Austin is blown up. It went from 200,000 to 2 million. Which
Nestor Aparicio 27:31
people in Austin hate that? It’s the austinified now, right? They’re like, they took over my town, yeah.
Meaghan McCorkell 27:37
I mean, like, and you, you notice that, and that’s the one thing I like, love. I think Charm City, like will will retain that. But it’s really important for us to be able to grow the tax base, get new people in here, and get people, maybe that are renting or rented their whole lives, into home ownership. One of the that’s
Nestor Aparicio 27:54
what Baltimore is. It’s a home ownership plan. And we also
Meaghan McCorkell 27:57
help renters find the apartments, because we really want them to be a part of this, because also renting is sort of the first step to home ownership. I rented before I got here, but, you know, before I bought my house. But the one thing I love about Baltimore is Baltimore is just a city of opportunity. There are so many entrepreneurs in this city. There’s so many ways to educate yourself, so many schools and partners and people that are willing to partner with you. There’s like, you know, we’re right on the east coast where a port city. I mean, there’s so much going for Baltimore that I’m excited. I think we’re in a real time of transition in Baltimore. I think we’re going to look back at this time, 1020, years from now and say, like, that was the start of something really great for our city.
Nestor Aparicio 28:42
This is why she’s not in media anymore, because she couldn’t be this positive. You have any thoughts on media and on the way the President’s being covered the way politics is, but just all the degeneration of all because I, like my friend Chris, is running the Towson torch, which is a Towson newsletter, and his whole birth of it was like, I’m tired of seeing on Fox 45 the Towson is getting slog. I think we can all say we’re tired of Baltimore getting slog, sure, but just in a general sense, whether it’s real crime, perceived crime, hit pieces in media there, there’s so many great them. I’m Baltimore positives. Name my brand for an outlet like I wanted to spotlight everything that didn’t lead with crime and death and murder and bad, toxic things, because that was not my experience of living Baltimore. It’s never been my experience of being a Baltimorean. But my experience, much like it’s going to be when I go to Canada later this month to see the Orioles get booed off the field, is to defend the honor of my thing. You know what I mean, whether my thing’s America, whether my things being a Democrat and believing in the things I believe in, Baltimore’s one of those first line of defense, like, look, I can pick on Dundalk, but you better not pick that. I mean, and that’s the way I feel about Baltimore. Yeah.
Meaghan McCorkell 29:57
I mean, I think there. Are so many people in organizations that are doing amazing things for our city, and I’m so happy to be in an organization that is doing that. And it’s like, you know, I wish that we could amplify those stories more. I wish more people knew about some of the amazing nonprofits that are making a difference in people’s lives, these programs that you know you hear about, but you don’t necessarily hear about. Like I said, we hit the half a million dollar mark right with our buy back the block program, which is amazing. Yesterday, we actually increased the amount of some of the grants we were giving out from 10,000 to 15,000 and my staff was calling to let some of these home buyers know that we were increasing their amount, and they feel like they won the lottery. They were like crying. They were so happy. They were thanking us. We have a gentleman who’s over 70 years old, and through this program, is buying his very first home, and he’s ever we have a mom and a son who are buying a home together. Said,
Nestor Aparicio 30:56
You tell a good story. You can’t work in media because you just couldn’t go out looking for cruddy stories, right? You know, to get worn out on that. Even
Meaghan McCorkell 31:05
when I was in media, I think I really tried to do my very best to look at some of the great things. Did you do the murder beat? Or did you do that? I did a lot of the murder beat. Yeah. I mean, a
Nestor Aparicio 31:15
serious news show. I don’t think you were the one always out at the fair or no or the day on the snow thing. That was more like Matt the
Meaghan McCorkell 31:21
stories that I remember most. I think the stories that people do remember most are the stories where people are really making a difference in this city. And I think that it’s happening absolutely everywhere. And right now, I think we’re in a really unique point in time where a lot of those organizations, smaller organizations, that were making a difference, are all kind of coming together. And and I think it’s going to change the face of what we’re doing here. I love
Nestor Aparicio 31:42
that. See you got me off to a good start. I tried to buy your crab cake.
Meaghan McCorkell 31:48
Crab cake. I know I’m stuffed already. Mega
Nestor Aparicio 31:50
McCorkle is one of my all time favorites. You can find her out at live Baltimore. As I my my computer gets unplugged. It’s probably a good idea to plug together. Yeah. I noticed it when it gets to 24% Yeah. Um, find her at live Baltimore. You probably still find you still go. You still have your library card. Of course,
Meaghan McCorkell 32:07
I have my library card. I’ll always have my library but you can visit me at live baltimore.com. Come stop by the we’re on Charles Street, so we’re happy to help anyone who wants to learn more about Baltimore City and come and join us. We’re like Baltimore City’s biggest cheerleaders, the cruise director for all things, Director for Baltimore. Oh, I took that on my car. I’m trying to
Nestor Aparicio 32:26
help you. I’m trying to do what I can do. We’re here at family, so I’m helping the Maryland lottery. It’s all brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery. Have the magic eight ball. I’m going to be giving these away here today. We are going to be at CVP in Towson next Friday the 14th, hopefully celebrating a Towson birth. You wore your gold. That’s good. It’s not for the Steelers
Meaghan McCorkell 32:46
and Baltimore’s color actually the Baltimore is, I love city life like the I love city life logo is yellow, like
Nestor Aparicio 32:52
a mustard. What is that?
Meaghan McCorkell 32:56
Bright Yellow under Big Bird? What would the
Nestor Aparicio 33:01
color be in the crayo Crayola crayon, 64 box
Meaghan McCorkell 33:03
a maze? Would I be amazed? You are amazed. Thank you amaze.
Nestor Aparicio 33:08
There you go. I like that. I am Nestor. We’re gonna sign off from a failings. Come on back here. I have other people to talk to. Viviana was gonna be here. He’s gonna come next week. We’re gonna be pizza John’s in Essex on the 21st we’re gonna be back here, not on opening day, but two days after opening day, because I ain’t working on opening day. I mean, especially now without a media credential, we’ll be here on Wednesday, April 2, when the Red Sox come in. I think VIV is going to come down for that. We’ll have some great guests for that as well. I am Nestor my thanks to Megan McCorkle for stopping by. Thanks to the Maryland lottery and two crab cakes on me next time we are Baltimore positive, W, N, S T, Towson, Baltimore, stay with us more from Lexington market right after this, you.
