SMELL
Lahore is a very happening city that taps all your senses. Once sense Lahore actively engages is smell. Inside the house, you'll be surrounded by smells of fresh tea and food and once you leave the house, it doesn't take very long to catch a whiff of the diesel from all the traffic jams, the spices from Akbari Mandi, the fresh garments from the Azam Cloth Market or all the food from the famous Old Food Street.
The many scents of Lahore
It was with this this background that I approached the next few walks of the neighborhoods around Carroll Park. Having experienced the smell of freshly backed break around Fells Point for the past 3 years, I wanted to put my nose to the test to identify if the Carroll Park neighborhoods had a unique scent to them that could add to the intrigue of one of the smelliest cities in the US (in a good way)
Overview of my neighborhood walks
My journey started at the Carroll Park Mansion which was a plantation house that housed the history of diversity of the inhabitants of the Carroll Park neighborhoods and their struggles in Maryland's prosperity. Despite the history, however, the mansion did not have a unique smell to it. In fact, that was the theme for most of my neighborhood walk. Everything was very sterilized. For instance, Washington Blvd that runs the length of Carroll Park and connects it to MLK Jr. Drive, despite being super busy and at times loud, didn't overwhelm me with smell of gas.
Things seemed to take a turn for the worst as I crossed Bayard Street as the trash and dead leaves overflowed the streets. However, I was surprised that it didn't translate to bad smell for the neighborhood. The crossing of the Bayard Street and the visible differences in sights was also indicative of the phenomena that I experienced for the first time in Baltimore of neighborhoods dynamics changing very quickly. In Lahore, there is inequity but it doesn't transition as fluidly as it does in Baltimore
The neighborhoods on the Sergeant and James Street just a couple of block to the West of Washington Blvd, however, complimented the aesthetic and scent of the park with planted pots
My last neighborhood was on a Friday afternoon and it resulted in the only instance of bad scent. The New City Mart at the intersection of West Ostend Street and Washington Blvd seem to be a gathering spot for youth. As I crossed the West Ostend Street, a bunch of hooligans zoomed past on their bikes, disturbing the peace of the neighborhood and leaving smell of gas in the air. The experience was worsened as I walked through puffs of marijuana smoke
Smell is often one of the most ignored senses in neighborhood planning despite being one of the most sensitive. Smell can have major impact on your mood and your mental health. As the social determinants of health view becomes more mainstream, the impact of scent should not be ignored. Similarly, the planning and rehabilitation of the Carroll Park Mansion and the neighborhoods around it present a great opportunity to curb down on second hand smoking and to find a unique scent for the area.