Urban waterfront

[dianavilliers]

Just about every family in Wellington also had the bright idea to go for a waterfront stroll or, in the case of the under-fives, roll. The kindergarten brigade seemed to come with an average of about 3.75[1][2] wheels each and a fierce determination to demonstrate Newton's first law of motion. 

[1]The ones on rollerblades bumped the average up. There was one young lady on a unicycle, but she was about  eight I'd guess, and had mastered the concepts of speed and direction. I was duly impressed.
[2] 97.652% of all statistics are invented.

Comments

[wcg.livejournal.com]

That's a beautiful waterfront. Is it accessible to the general public? I gather from what you say that it is.

[dianavilliers.livejournal.com]

Yes, it is completely public. Private beaches are almost unheard of here, to the point where many people believe they have a legal right to all beahes, lakes and rivers (http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/MultipageDocumentPage.aspx?id=39368).

[wcg.livejournal.com]

I know that in Canada all waterfront is public. I think it's a wonderful thing. Alas, here in Maryland things are very different. Very little of our waterfront is accessible to the public.

[dianavilliers.livejournal.com]

I'm a bit boggled by that. I see from that map you posted that your place is within, what, five miles or so of a fair amount of coastline - is the waterfront considered private land? How far would you have to go to launch a boat, or get your feet wet?

[wcg.livejournal.com]

I can get my feet wet at Downs Park, out at the end of the peninsula. The nearest boat launching ramp is about four miles north of me, at Clear Water beach. (Actually, I suppose I could wade in the water there too. But I prefer to go to Downs Park.)

Yes, almost all waterfront in Maryland is private property. Property with water access costs about twice as much as it would otherwise. There are homes within a half mile of my house that sell for over a million dollars US. (Mine, by contrast, would go for about a third of that if I wanted to sell it.)