Public Housing Family Developments:A Phase Out Plan

All Photos From Google Earth Unless Otherwise Noted

This is a very difficult topic for me to write about mainly because it's hot button issue any way you look at it. However, in order for massive change to take place big usually controversial ideas are what brings about. My idea is too rid the city of all public housing family developments. The mixed population development which is for seniors and the disabled will remain in place. I think of this as a social change rather than that of physical redevelopment. I think public housing has failed its residents and their children for generations and they represent all the ills of Baltimore and Urban America as a whole. True, these developments will demolished, the majority of what will go in their place will be market rate whether it's home ownership or rentals but in order for my proposal to be a success we must examine why public housing has failed on a social level and right those wrongs so the need for public housing family developments will diminish if not disappear. With the election of President Obama there has been a new wave of hope among African American children in poverty stricken areas like Baltimore where children are convinced they too can become president. Lets help them realize this potential because as it stands now that potential won't be realized.In order to solve the social problems of family development public housing we must first identify them. These problems are listed in no particular order. The drug trade and all the gun violence and addiction that goes along with it, school truancy, lack of High School or College Diploma, lack of male role models/father figures, lack of after school activities, lack of positive parental involvement, lack of day care centers, lack of job training options/post high school education options and lack of good nutrition and health/dental insurance.I Took This Picture

Now lets address possible solutions and outcomes that will be in the best interest of the public housing resident. Not all problems apply to each resident and his or her family so they will have to be evaluated on a case by case basis. First of all, drug addiction has plagued Baltimore for too long and our residents can't improve their lives if they're actively using. Those who are addicts will be taken to a rehab facility free of charge and monitored after release. Public Housing developments will be given a special status where if caught dealing/selling drugs will fetch a higher criminal charge than if they were dealing else where. There will be a spike in Police foot patrols to enforce this. Closely affiliated with the drug trade is guns. Landlords can enforce all kinds of regulations on their tenants including gun ownership and in the case of public housing, the city is landlord which gives them all the more authority to enforce its laws. Registered gun owners with criminal charges will have to give up their weapons. Granted, only a fraction of guns in Baltimore are legally registered so residents with gun charges and no registered weapon will be subject to home searches. It's drastic but so is Baltimore's gun problem. In this case the ends do justify the means.Photo From Cherry Hill Master Plan Next there's truancy, truancy is responsible for putting juveniles on the streets and getting them into the vicious cycle of the drug trade. Truancy is very hard to combat, one way that I'm privy to would be to ban School suspensions. The School Board and the Teachers' Union will hate me for this but look at it this way, if students can't escape School through getting suspended or expelled they'll have no choice but to advance through the grades and graduate High School bringing the City's graduation percentage way up, College may interest them as well. Also with parents clean and sober they can take a more positive roll in their child's education. The parents themselves may be enrolled in school themselves (read more about that later.) While we're on the subject of education, there are too many adults in public housing who don't have High School or College Diplomas. That's one of the biggest barriers that keep them from getting a job that pays enough that they don't need public housing. After obtaining a GED residents will given the same opportunity as rich kids get when the graduate High School, the opportunity to map out their college and career paths. This could be a simple Trade School or Medical School and anything and everything in between, It's up to the individual. Once residents stop qualifying for public housing the developments will empty out and ultimately be demolished.

I Took This Picture

There will be a number of programs to assist residents before and after they move out. They include health and dental insurance, after school programs with positive male role models, child care, classes to discipline children without physical violence, and proper resume building and job interview exercises.Due to the astronomically high cost of such an initiative, this will have to be done one development at a time. Once the development is emptied out and demolished and the land is sold off to developers the program can move to another development. The funds from the sale of the previous development will be earmarked to continue the program. It will be a pay as you go type venture.The first development will be Cherry Hill Homes then McCulloh Homes (not the towers), I took this Picture then LaTrobe Homes

I Took This Picture

and then Gilmor Homes. Those are the big four that cover the most land while at the same time are near gentrifying areas of the city.

Next will be smaller developments like Westport Homes (I Took This Picture)I took this picture

Douglass Homes,Brooklyn Homes, (I took this picture) Perkins Homes, The Rosemont, and Poe Homes. Finally the smallest developments like Oswego Mall, TheDukeland. Now why did I name this post "Don't Get too Comfortable?" Well there's nothing like a controversial head line to draw in readers. Now that I laid out plan to drastically reduce urban ills and decay in Baltimore it's time for you the reader to rip it to shreds.

Brooklyn/Curtis Bay:Back to Main Street America

Before suburbia there were Small Towns, a few thousand people at the most living on streets that stemmed from a single main street that housed all of the Town's services. Everybody knew each other and watched over each other. That was small Town America of yesteryear, the pride and joy being Main St.Now take a City like Baltimore, Baltimore's an old city with an old infrastructure of densely developed streets that follow a classic urban grid. Before suburbia resulted in a net loss for population Baltimore's topped out at 987,000 in 1957. Today, and for the past few years the population has hovered at 640,000. Small town America and Baltimore are seemingly at opposite ends of the spectrum but maybe within Baltimore there lies an example of what was once Small Town America and could hold that title yet again.
Brooklyn/Curtis Bay is just one example of how small town America has knitted its way into the fabric of Baltimore City. Built to house workers from the Fairfield Shipping yards on the Middle Branch, the water is much deeper than that of the Inner Harbor. Industry flocked to the area in droves in the late 1800s. They included Southern Baltimore Wheel Company, an Oyster packing plant (whose owner developed housing in the area too), Davison Brothers Chemical Company moved to Curtis Bay as did the Maitheson Chemical Company. Bethlehem Steel built a shipping yard here during World War I. This caused railroad service to begin constructing lines that reached Brooklyn/Curtis Bay. This connected Brooklyn/Curtis Bay to Baltimore, which it still wasn't a part of. The official annexation wasn't until 1919. The residences grew with the industry. my guess is that there were a lot of different builders because the style of houses is different on every block. You can't say it's predominantly row homes or single family homes because it's an even split. It's a checkerboard all across the two neighborhoods between row homes and single family homes. In Brooklyn retail began to grow along Patapsco Avenue and in Curtis Bay, the Pennington Avenue and Curtis Avenue couplet.Industry continued to flourish even through the great depression since most of the businesses could cater to World War II. All good things must come to an end however. I'm not saying World War II was a good thing I'm saying that the success of businesses in Brooklyn/Curtis Bay. The decentralization of jobs and the post World War II industrial slowdown sent Brooklyn/Curtis Bay into a slow decline. This is most prevalent along the communities' Main Streets and Fairfield, which is the designated name for the industrial area. The residential and retail component have been demolished.
Today the Main Streets of Brooklyn/Curtis Bay consist of vacant storefronts and businesses that give the neighborhood a poor run down image. The neighborhoods of Brooklyn/Curtis Bay have experienced decline and a rise in crime but I think their retail can be a improved upon to give the residents the oppurtunity to shop in their neighborhood and boost the perception of the neighborhood. After all a neighborhood is only as good its retail.

The biggest thing that needs to be done on the retail sector is in Curtis Bay not Brooklyn. The couplet of Pennington Avenue and Curtis Avenue should be redone. Pennington Avenue should be made into a two way street and Curtis Avenue rezoned to residential only. The intersection of Pennington and Patapsco Avenues should be upgraded to reflect this change.

Just because Brooklyn and Curtis Bay aren't wealthy neighborhoods we can certainly give their residents good neighborhood services like they had in the neighborhood's heyday. A full service grocery store at Potee St. and Patapsco Avenue. I'm thinking a MARS, they're clean and reputable but aren't over priced. That would be a perfect addition and anchor to the Brooklyn/Curtis Bay neighborhood. As for Patapsco and Pennington Avenue, we should look to the past and bring back Main Street America. New retail should include Dry Cleaners, Banks, Florists, Bakeries, Pharmacies, a Subway, a Marshalls, Sit Down Restaurants, a Book Store, a new Library, and a Bike Shop. In Brooklyn there should be a Police Substation as a crime deterrent. Retail should mimic row homes and have a residence above them. Retail that should be scaled back if not done away completely should be Dollar Stores, Laundromats, Check Cashing Places, No name Cell Phone Dealers, Bail Bondsman, Auto Oriented Businesses, Beauty Supply, "Corner" Grocery and Liquor stores. Stores should not have bars and tacky advertising in and on the windows.The streets themselves (Patapsco and Penington) would receive complete makeovers as well. They include but aren't limited; to repaving, a landsacped median, new sidewalks, brick crosswalks, bus shelters with seating, and new updated traffic signals with count down pedestrian signals. Neighborhood identification signs would also be put up where necessary. Patapsco Avenue will be narrowed down to one travel lane in each direction for on street parking. Parking meters will not be installed. With Pennington Avenue being converted to two way traffic there won't be any room for on street parking.

Away from the Main Streets of Brooklyn there is room new development. Brooklyn should be expanded to include more houses above Patapsco Avenue. There is room for infill development on Pontiac Avenue.

Above Photo From Google Earth

Last of all Brooklyn Homes the three blocks directly above Brooklyn Homes and Brooklyn Apartments should redeveloped into a mixed income development known as "Baybrook Overlook" Every low income unit in Baybrook Overlook will have a Washer and Dryer in house. In Curtis Bay there has been new development overlooking the park already. The residential reinvestment in Curtis Bay will take place along Curtis Avenue which will be rezoned to residential only. What is currently vacant storefronts will be converted to row homes once again.
There is a large vacant industrial building that spans a generous portion of Curtis Avenue that will be perfect for loft apartments.
It's safe to say that after this Brooklyn/Curtis Bay will return to its Main Street America roots. Baltimore, being a city of neighborhoods has a lot of former "Small Town America" towns within its boundaries that were built before city annexation, lets see if you can spot them.

Rehab or Rebuild?

Sometimes a simple question has an even simpler answer. Today I'm going to ponder that myth and take you on a tour of some of Baltimore City's Neighborhoods that are faced with the simple question; Rehab or Rebuild? All that needs to be done to answer such a question is to assess the housing stock in the area and see if the market is strong enough to support simple rehabs or if vacancy is widespread enough that rebuilding is the only viable solution. Lets begin our tour.

Brooklyn/Curtis Bay: Rehab

Only exceptions being the neighborhoods' main streets Patapsco and Pennington Avenues. In Brooklyn there is a small area where redevelopment is needed it includes Brooklyn Homes, Brooklyn Apartments and the three blocks above Brooklyn Homes.

Edmondson Village: Rehab
With the new Uplands and the Redline on their way Edmondson Village will once again have a strong housing market. The housing stock is already in good shape with minimal vacancies. There are also public works projects such as streetscape enhancements taking place here.

Forest Park:Both
Rental Complexes are in need of redevelopment as are areas of retail. Single Family Homes which dominate the landscape in Forest Park needn't be touched with the exception of homes along Garrison Boulevard.
Belair Road: Rebuild

Photo From Google Earth

Belair Road was once a retail drag cluttered with car dealerships. An overwhelming number have closed leaving Belair Road desolate. Belair Road is a designated Main St. so redevelopment with mid level neighbor stores in a Main St. setting would be best. It would be void of businesses that make a neighborhood look blighted. There will be streetscape enhancements and updated traffic signals with count down pedestrian signals.

Park Heights:Rebuild

Half the neighborhood has already been demolished with much more to come. The bad perception of Park Heights can only be wiped away with lots of new housing and retail.

Carrollton Ridge:Rebuild?

There's nothing that draws people here anymore. So much of the industry that employed residents has gone oversea so people left looking for work else where. It will be hard even with new housing to attract new residents. I could be completely wrong maybe there are a lot of people looking for a cheap rehab. If that's the case if it's city owned $1 row house time.

Druid Heights: Rebuild

Close to the entire neighborhood has been demolished and new homes are giving this community a much needed facelift.

Penn North:Rebuild

Neiamah Homes redeveloped a few blocks of Penn North in the 1990s. Although successful the stability has been maintained within those few blocks. This is a great site for TOD as well.

Greenmount West:Rehab

Photo From Google Earth

Yes I know the housing stock is in an awful state but it's part of Station North which has been successful west of Calvert St. in rehabbing old row houses and warehouses and turning them into artist lofts. Once property west of Calver St. is occupied artists will be able to get the same subsidy in Greenmount West. Another $1 row home community? I think so!

Broadway East: Rebuild

This neighborhood is too distressed for anything other than a total rebuild.

Any ideas of what you think needs to be rehabbed and or rebuilt in Baltimore just leave it in the comments field.

Greater Upton:From the Ground Up

Forget about Uplands or the Westside of Downtown I got the biggest redevelopment project right here; Upton. Upton has had and will continue to have gentrification at its door steps but it hasn't entered the neighborhood's boundaries. Now it's time to make Upton the mixed income highly diverse and celebrated neighborhood it was and wants to be once again. You can demolish buildings but you can't demolish a community spirit and the history that goes along with it.

Upton will learn a painful lesson from this post that Druid Heights is learning now and that lesson is; Preserve your housing stock!Upton had some of Baltimore's best architecture but it's too far gone to try and save it. Almost everything west of Druid Hill Avenue will have to go with a few exceptions not including Pennsylvania Avenue. The Avenue Market will remain in place but other than that Pennsylvania Avenue will be demolished.Photo From Google Earth

The 2000 U.S. Census shows Upton at a 22.3% vacancy rate, unlike its neighbors to the east, north, and south Upton has continued to bleed out its population. I would put the vacancy rate at 35% in 2008. both Druid Heights and Harlem Park were at 40% in 2000. Druid Heights is being redeveloped from the ground up much like I'm proposing for Upton (I'd put in more market rate home ownership) which is making it gain population but Harlem Park might have hit the 50% vacancy mark. Upton's average median income is $13,000 with 42% of the population making less than $10,000. After redevelopment my goal is to have the average median income for Upton at $47,000 and 15% of the population making less than $10,000. Upton's population is about 6,000 after its redevelopment I'm guessing it will be at 14,500.Success in neighborhoods that surround Upton hasn't "chipped away at Upton's blight" the way that city officials have hoped. This may explain in part why the Master Plan the City has created for Upton includes very little redevelopment. I'm personally deeming the Upton Master Plan ineffective and not broad enough. It's almost as if the city's unwilling to admit that they have let the housing stock in Upton get to a point where reinvestment isn't feasible. They made the assumption that Upton's colorful history will bring people back but a few people rehabbing a row house here and there is a mere drop in the bucket it's time for sweeping change and that time is now.

Photo From Google Earth

There will be two preservation areas, the first is everything located on and east of Druid Hill Avenue. There are vacancies here but the architecture here is some of the best the city has to offer. These vacant units will be sold to rehabbers for $1.00, yes I'm bringing back the Dollar Row Home Incentive. The second preservation area is on the western edge of where newer town homes were built in probably the 1970s where vehicular has been cut off. I would re open these streets to vehicular traffic seeing as this has been a proven failure citywide. Its boundaries are Fremont Avenue and Myrtle Avenue to the west, Pitcher St. to the north, Wilmer Ct. to the east, and Mosher St. to the south although the 1400 block of Argyle St. will be included. Exterior facade improvements will be made here to make them look compatible with all the new development surrounding it. Vacants will be sold at their market rate.
Now back to the rest of Upton which will meet the wrecking ball. Planning will begin right away and the time line will be as follows demolition will begin in 2011 with the cleanup and site preparation done by 2013. Construction will take place from 2013-2019. The density will be very high but there will be room for "pocket parks" with playgrounds and a public square. The "Main St." will be as it's always been Pennsylvania Avenue. My plan would be widen the road for streetscape median enhancements and left turn lanes. Almost of the buildings will be demolished there will be room to this. There won't be on street parking on Pennsylvania Avenue because it was removed a few months ago and deterred a violent open air drug market. New businesses along Pennsylvania Avenue will include sit down restaurants, take out/fast food restaurants, hair salons/barbershops, banks, pharmacies, dry cleaners bakeries, delis, a small bookstore, a small furniture store, and medical offices. There will also be community space for AA and NA meetings.
One thing Pennsylvania Avenue and all of Upton won't have or will have a limited supply of will be; stores with bars on the windows, bail bondsman, check cashing places, cell phone/pager stores, dollar stores, auto repair shops, junk yards, independent grocers with spoiled merchandise, laundromats, and liquor stores. There will be ample lighting and "flashing blue light cameras" to monitor activity and create a sense of safety. Greenery won't be too tall which can also create a sense of feeling less safe. The facades of Pennsylvania Avenue will look the apartment buildigs in neighboring communities like Bolton Hill, Madison Park, and Reservoir Hill. The buildings will house apartments and condos above the retail component. Speaking of apartments the 1970s style development on Pennsylvania Avenue will be demolished as will Upton Courts. As part of my plan to reduce school capacity Furman L. Templeton Elementary will close along with Eutaw Marshburn and Samuel Coolidge Taylor Elementarys. All three schools will merge as K-8 schools and will be located in the Booker T. Washington Middle School building.
20% of Upton's population will have "affordable housing" 10% rental 10% home ownership. The remaining 80% will be market rate 10% rental 70% home ownership. The market rate rentals rent will start at $850 for a 1 bedroom bath apartment and top out at $1500 for a 3 bedroom 2 bath apartment. For home ownership a 1 bedroom 1 bath condo will start at $110,000 and a 3 bedroom 2 bath condo will go for $160,000. For town homes a 2 bedroom 1 bath no garage no basement home will start at $175,000 and a 4 bedroom 3.5 bath with a basement and 2 car garage will top at $350,000. All homes both rental and home ownership whether subsidized or market rate will include a dishwasher and a washer and dryer.
Well Upton has learned a painful lesson about preserving its housing stock but now it's more than doubled its population, more than quadrupled its average median income and has a Main St. it can truly be proud of. Upton maybe rebuilt from the ground up but it will never lose its community spirit and its colorful history.