Has Charles Center Already Run Its Course?

Ah Charles Center, the Great Grand Daddy of urban redevelopment in Baltimore may have worn out its welcome.
Back in the 1950s Baltimore's Skyline and Downtown was out of date and in need of redevelopment. Urban America was entering its decline and every city had a different way of trying to stem it. Baltimore decided to invest in its Central Business District. Baltimore wanted to keep its upper class jobs centralized. Although this was successful Baltimore's industrial jobs became decentralized and or disappeared and its residents of all income levels fled.
The Boundaries of Charles Center are Saratoga St. to the north Liberty St. to the west, Charles St. to the east, and Lombard St. to the south. This makes the site that would be Charles Center appear to be square or rectangular in shape. With Liberty St. running diagonally the site is actually triangular in shape. Mayor Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr. accepted the plan with open arms in 1958.
Charles Center was to be built in phases. In the late 1950s and early 1960s the demand for office space in the city wasn't huge. Tenants took large portions of buildings to keep occupancy up and tenants were occupying Charles Center as a big favor to someone whether on the public or private sector. Urban planning at the time as it does emphasized on walk ability. The buildings had sky ways connecting them together and courtyard plazas tying the buildings together.
With Charles Center still not finished in 1973 when Mayor Theodore R. McKeldin decided to turn things up a notch. He thought that a public and private partnership could be used to redevelop the Inner Harbor the same way with Charles Center. The Inner Harbor plan was also accepted with open arms. Charles Center did not encourage revitalization of neighboring communities like the Inner Harbor did. Mayor William Donald Schaefer introduced the $1 row home imitative to revitalize surrounding communities which was a stellar success that I think should be duplicated in neighborhoods that are currently blighted.
With focus still on the harbor, Charles Center was deemed complete in 1986. It was meant to be and may still be a major transportation hub. When the metro subway opened in 1986 it ran from Owings Mills to Charles Center. The Charles Center station located under Calvert Street was meant for another line to connect to it (The Yellow Line?). The metro subway was quickly extended to Johns Hopkins Hospital. In the 1990s, the west side of Downtown received what it thought was a major shot in the arm with the addition of the Central Light Rail Line. Downtown the Light Rail runs at street level along Howard Street. The Light Rail has a Charles Center stop but being on Howard Street rather than Calvert Street it could not be a transfer station to the metro subway. Come to think of it there aren't any transfer points for Baltimore's two rail lines.
The Inner Harbor began draining business and vitality from Charles Center very slowly from the get go. Businesses both commercial and retail began moving southeast to near the water. The Inner Harbor became the city's show case. Big mixed use development projects like Harbor Place Inner Harbor East and Silo Point that the Inner Harbor spawned only made the trend to continue.Charles Center was always meant to be almost exclusively office space with ground floor retail, (there is an apartment building in the complex but that wasn't really planned.) Planners of the late 1950s and early 1960s couldn't have possibly predicted the desirability of high density mixed use development. Another thing they couldn't have predicted was that Baltimore wouldn't have redeveloped its rail transit system better after the demise of the streetcar. Parking Garages are now a big and in my opinion unwelcome part of the city's landscape.
Now what does the future hold for Charles Center? Well the trend of mixed use developments near the harbor will continue. Canton Crossing, Westport and Locust Point are a few of them that come to mind. Turning Pratt Street to allow two way traffic will continue to draw people away from Charles Center because they won't go above Pratt Street where they currently don't go above Lombard Street. Earlier in the post I said that surrounding communities haven't benefited from Charles Center. Now these communities are becoming for a new generation of city dwellers. The West Side of Downtown, Mount Vernon, Bolton Hill, Station North, Seton Hill and the State Center redevelopment proposal will be sure to bring attention back to Charles Center.
The answer for Charles Center is if you can't beat 'em join 'em and that what it's essentially is being done. Buildings that were once for offices are beginning to become hotels, apartments, condos, and tourist attracting retail. Then there are the plazas, they have become outdated and are in need of a 21st century make over. One lessen about Charles Center that the new developments can learn is underground parking garages. With the density of Charles Center and the congestion and lack of parking spaces the buildings were forced to dig parking garages, something I'm in favor of. As far as the initial question I posed "Has Charles Center Already Run Its Course?" Not in this life time!

Will Big Projects Produce Catalysts For Surounding Blight?

Baltimore has and has had a lot of big development and redevelopment proposals on the table over the years. They have delivered results beyond the expectations of officials on both the private and public sectors. Now these results are in some cases only limited to the land the new development sits on or in some cases has produced massive reinvestment and redevelopment in neighboring blighted communities. Here I intend to examine each monster development past present and future to see if it produced or will produce a catalyst for its surrounding neighbors.
The Inner Harbor is the mac daddy of them all. We all know that its surroundings far and wide have benefited spectacularly from its transformation.The Hippodrome, the whole Westside of Downtown's transformation in my opinion can be attributed to its renovation and reopening. Not Camden Yards.
HOPE VI developments, not so much in fact they have had the opposite effect. Displaced public housing residents flooded the surrounding neighborhoods creating more blight. The exceptions are Albermarle Square, Broadway Overlook, and the soon to be Orchard Ridge.

Canton Crosssing, so far the First Mariner Bank Tower has been the only completion of this but Canton had already made a comeback when Canton Crossing began.

Camden Crossing, well someone had to take the risk and move development west of MLK Boulevard and into Pigtown. Pigtown or to the yuppies Washington Village has made an amazing turn around in the past few years and Camden Crossing with the combination of Washington Boulevard a main street and being voted the best neighborhood in the city have played a big part in it.
Mount Clare Junction Shopping Center, although mere blocks west of gentrifying Pigtown the mixed use development has not spurred much investment in the Mount Clare neighborhood. In fact the shopping center itself has struggled with vacancies and low attendance.East Baltimore Biotech Park, they have hit the nail right on the head with this one. From Middle East, to McElderry Park, to Old Town Mall there has been interest in development and rehabbing.

State Center Redevelopment, with the demolition of McCulloh Homes, the joining together of Upton, Madison Park, Bolton Hill, and Mount Vernon with a brand new transit oriented mixed income development I don't see how it will fail. I have hopes that this will spur revitalization of Pennsylvania Avenue as a vibrant cultural and retail district.

West Baltimore MARC Station, when the red line is built when it intersects with the West Baltimore MARC Station there will be a huge demand for Transit Oriented Development. This is currently a blighted area that may be a hard sell but you know what they say; location location location. It's currently located right in between Downtown and the new Uplands.

Station North, just label a blighted area an "Arts and Entertainment District" and watch the gentrification begin. Artists get tax breaks to work in abandoned buildings and they put in the sweat equity to raise property values. There is however, a double edged sword to Station North. Gentrification has been so swift that the artists who put in the sweat equity and turned this neighborhood into a cultural destination are now priced out and the yuppies are moving in. Just look at the $400,000 town homes being built on Calvert St. The good news is, Baltimore has many blighted areas that can be dubbed "Arts and Entertainment Districts."

Vistas on the Lake, new upscale condos in Reservoir Hill overlooking Druid Hill Park. This is the first time upscale and Reservoir Hill were mentioned in the same sentence. Although it has some of Baltimore's prettiest row homes the neighborhood, although gentrifying by "a new generation of urban dwellers" has a huge of amount of land and buildings that have federal subsidies on them that can hold back additional development on the scale of "Vistas on the Lake."

Westport, Patrick Turner set his sights on the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River with a plan. The plan, is to duplicate the investment, development, and gentrification of the Inner Harbor. It seems easy enough, Westport was once just like the Inner Harbor. They were both industrial waterfronts. Industry has abandoned Westport leaving room for new residential, retail, office, and hotels. Patrick Turner will do just that. As far as existing Westport residents, investors and rehabbers have been knocking on their doors getting them to sell low so in a few years after the gentrification they can sell high and make a fortune. My advice to existing Westport residents would to hold on to your homes as long as you can because you will be rolling in the cash in a few years.

Photo From Developer Website

Waterview Overlook, Cherry Hill has a much smaller piece of developable on the waterfront land than Westport. Even though Cherry Hill consists almost exclusively of public housing and low income housing there is a waiting list to pay for $300-400k to live in Cherry Hill.
Montgomery Park, this Baltimore land mark that was a warehouse for Montgomery Ward has been lovingly restored and put to productive use. Sadly it stands alone as far as investment goes. The Carroll Camden Industrial Park is as blighted as ever.
Gateway South, between the Carroll Camden Industrial Park and Pigtown and their surounding highways this will be a slam dunk and may spur redevelopment of the Carroll Camden Industrial Park that Montgomery Park hasn't been able to.

As far as the original question I posed Will big projects produce catalysts for surounding neighborhoods, well it depends on the project and the neighborhood. Sometimes you just have to be at the right place at the right time.

What Does the Mortgage Crisis Hold for Baltimore?

The United States has dug itself into a big hole. Buying overpriced and inflated homes they can't afford. From 2002-2005 the prices of homes have sky rocketed due in no small part to record low interest rates and new shaky interest only mortgages. Buyers now more than ever have to depend on the assumption that their homes value will increase. Well guess what happens when you assume. Now that home prices aren't going up and since so many people (nearly 1/3 of all new mortgages are interest only) they haven't paid down the actual price of their home.

Baltimore is no different. During the years in question 2002-2005 many Baltimore neighborhoods gave gentrified. Canton, Pigtown, Reservoir Hill, and Patterson Park have now seen an alarming number of foreclosures. New development, whether here or in neighboring communities have also played a part in the inflation and therefore the foreclosures. In the not so distant past, land and the homes that sit on them were dirt cheap, no pun intended. The practice of flipping one or homes has become common practice. Flippers have often lost it all because they need to get rid of the house or houses to save their skin. Baltimore's up and comers are now in Jeopardy for the time being.
Charles Village for one has scaled back numerous development plans including turning $700,000 condos into rentals. The Westport development may have to go on the back burner for a while too.Now don't fret too much, it's not all bad. Baltimore still has a pent up demand for new quality afdordable housing.Baltimore can and already has started to look else where. This is a great oppurtunity to show case neighborhoods that have, for too long gone under the radar. Some such neighborhoods and developments include: Athena Square in Greektown, The new Uplands, Orchard Ridge (Freedom Village/Claremont), Station North, The new O'Donnell Heights, The new Park Heights, Penn North, McElderry Park, and Middle East. All of these neighborhoods either are or will be offering new housing at relatively affordable prices. New housing is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to affordable housing. Neighborhoods around the harbor owe their sucess almost exclusively to homesteading. The option of homesteading can make or break an older neighborhood trying to rebound.
More good news, when the housing market turns around again, development in Baltimore's glitzy neighborhoods will continue where it left off while at the same time other neighborhoods have turned during the mortgage crisis. In the long term it's a win win for Baltimore, it may be hard to picture but just think of the year 2010, it will have panned out just like I said.

UMB Biotech Park: Not Enough By Itself

There is a new wave of urban renewal sweeping the nation's older blighted cities. The wave is Biotech Parks. Now why Biotech Parks? Biotech Parks provide lots of jobs and new residents to struggling cities while at the same time providing jobs to existing residents that don't require a lot of formal education. Baltimore is no different when it comes to bio sciences. Two Biotech Parks are being constructed one on the west side the other on the east side. The park in question is on the Westside. The University of Maryland is crossing Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to build its Biotech Park in the highly distressed neighborhood of Poppleton.
Poppleton fell when Baltimore's Black middle class fled for the outer city second hand suburbs leaving Poppleton to be left with high concentrations of poverty and disconnect through parkways and failed interstates. Today, a few blocks due south of Poppleton in Pigtown there have been signs of reinvestment and development with Camden Crossing and "Main Street" designation of Washington Boulevard. Even Poppleton has seen recent reinvestment with renovation of the Poe Homes public housing complex,The renovation of Poppleton Place subsidized apartments, and perhaps the best of them all the tearing down of the Lexington Terrace high rises and their replacement the Townes at the Terraces (terraces). Although this investment in the community has been great it has done very little to raise the 17% home ownership rate and the 48% of residents making under $10,000 a year.

Across Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard sits the University of Maryland Baltimore Campus. This ever expanding campus has done wonders for the southwestern edge of Downtown. The constraints of space however eventually took its toll on future plans for expansion, particularly in the Biotechnology field. The University took a bold leap of faith and decided to build its biotech park in Poppleton. Crossing west of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard was not something for the squeamish a few years ago. Never the less acquisition commenced and demolition began. In 2005 the first building opened. When completed the park was to have 6 office buildings with ground floor retail and a parking garage but pretty quickly the size was bumped up to 10 buildings. The second building is set to open this year. The park's location is on West Baltimore Street where new development is desperately needed.

In stark contrast to the Biotech Park is West Poppleton. All of the investment and development occurred and is occurring on the eastern edge of the neighborhood with frontage on M.L.K. Boulevard. West Poppleton is severely distressed with vacant boarded up homes and lots with trash strewn about. The question is Can West Poppleton rebound with the eastern edge in its current state? The current state of Poppleton's eastern edge is poor. It is almost exclusively low income housing. To attract new middle and upper income residents to an area where there are concentrations of poverty is a liability. My suggestion for the eastern edge of Poppleton is to create a broader income mix.

As public housing residents move out of Terraces the city can sell that unit at market rate or offer it as subsidized home ownership. Subsidized home ownership can be offered to existing terrace residents as well. Given that the Terraces are new homes their marketability is relatively easy. As it stands now Terraces have 250 public housing units and 100 market rate home ownership and 41 market rate rentals. What i'd like to see is 75 public housing units, 75 subsidized home ownership, 75 market rate rentals in addition to the 41 and 66 market rate home ownership in addition to the 100. Terraces has a peice of land with frontage on M.L.K. Boulevard that was never built on that can used for additional units. Now if the city sells off some of its public housing units it will have turned a profit right? Now how can the city spend this money to benefit the area? Redevelop Poe Homes? Yes, although modernized in 1989 Poe Homes is still the city's oldest public housing development and its units would be harder to sell than Terraces. In place of Poe Homes would be the mixed income community of Edgar Allan Place with a mix of income and housing types. The new development would reopen Poppleton St. between Lexington and Saratoga Streets where the current Poe Homes has it closed off. Income types would range from public housing and subsidized home ownership to market rate home ownership with an even split between the three. Housing types would be two two story town homes stacked over top of each other for four level structures and two story town homes over top of a one story apartment. One thing that happens when public housing or any blighted urban housing is torn down what goes in its place is of a lower density therefore suburbanizing it. The new Edagr Allan Place I'm proposing keeps density high maintaining its status as an urban neighborhood. The third low income development is the privately managed Poppleton Place. Poppleton Place just went through a renovation by its owners Hampstead Properties whose portfolio is exclusively low income developments. I don't propose changing Poppleton Place. Now that the concentration of poverty on the eastern edge of Poppleton has been broken up we can focus on the west side.

West Poppleton, although void of public housing has farred much worse. There are very few intact blocks that can be saved and sold for rehabbers. Also in West Poppleton are two schools housed in the same building. The schools are James McHenry Elementary and Southwest Baltimore Charter School. In my never ending quest to close and rebuild new city schools I have a plan for the site that the school(s) sit on. The current engulfs part of the block of Saratoga, Schroder, Carolton, and Lexington Streets. The current building would be torn and rebuilt to house additional school populations. In additional to James McHenry and the Southwest Baltimore Charter School, Lockerman Bundy and Franklin Square Elementaries resulting in their closures. The new school would be renamrd Poppleton Elementary/Middle and house grades PreK-8. In my other never ending quest to keep density high the new shcool would have underground parking and its playing fields on the roof. Back to housing since much of the housing has been demolished the only choice would be to build new. New housing would consist of town homes that are two to three stories maybe with an apartment or condo underneath to keep density high. Housing would be built to attract a diverse array of buyers and renters some of which will be working in the new Biotech park.

Now why haven't I talked about the Biotech park much in this post and only talked about the neoghborhood of Poppleton? Well the master plan for the Biotech park only addresses the Biotech park buildings and not the sourounding community. In stark contrast, the East Baltimore Biotech park does adress the issues of the sourounding neighborhood of Middle East by building and rehabbing 1200-1500 housing units as welll as retail, open space and a new a school. Now if the Poppleton Biotech park did this I wouldn't have to write this post and employees of the new Biotech park might actually move into Poppleton.

Oldtown Mall: You Tube Worthy

What would you do with Old Town Mall? That's the question that's on the mind of a few young women who travelled the severely vacant and distressed property with a video camera asked themselves and each other. Each member of the group put in their two cents about what would be done with the property and then they gave panoramic views of just how bad the property is. One can also that nobody else was there. The mall was trash ridden, the stores were shuddered and the center square with the mall's logo, was obsolete and dated. The video, two of them actually was submitted to you tube and while I was gathering info about Old Town Mall, I just happened upon it.First a brief history of Old Town. As its name suggests the neighborhood is old. It was one of Baltimore town's earliest settlements because of its proximity to the harbor and the Jones Falls. Throughout the 1800s Old Town played host to German, Irish, Italian, Polish, Russian, and Lithuanian immigrants. The neighborhood was poor and living conditions were rough but each group of immigrants persevered and eventually prospered. Once residents made enough money they left for a more prosperous neighborhood, usually uptown to the northwest and then a new poorer set of immigrants repopulated the neighborhood. During World War I the city's black population continued to grow and Old Town became a black neighborhood. Old Town, always being a working class neighborhood always thrived but being at the city's center it began to decline after World War II. As the flight to the suburbs got into full swing the population of Old Town swelled especially the poor population. Old East Baltimore plays host to the highest concentration of public housing in the city. As part of "blight elimination" and "urban renewal" of the 1960s Old Town Mall was built. Old Town Mall is a pedestrian only plaza that used to be the 400 and 500 blocks of Gay Street. Old Town Mall opened in the 1960s catering to the area's poor population. It was surrounded almost completely by public housing or privately owned subsidized housing. The mall catered to this and offered goods and services at discount prices. The architecture screams retro urban renewal of the 1960s and 70s. The never really thrived but it held its own for a while. It was spared during the riots following the MLK assignation.

A few things contributed to the down fall of Old Town Mall. First, the opening of Harborplace and the Gallery at the Inner Harbor. Although the glitzy new shops of the Inner Harbor didn't cater to the same market as Old Town Mall, there was a definite drop off in patronage. Second, crime since Old Town Mall is located in the middle of several low income housing development crime was almost inevitable. At this point I'd like to list just how many public housing developments are near Old Town Mall they are or in cases were; Flag House Courts, Lafayette Courts, Broadway Homes, Douglass Homes, Somerset Homes and Extention, Monument House, Latrobe Homes, Clay Courts, and Lester Morton Courts. This bring me to my third factor HOPE VI. Although HOPE VI helped with crime and blight in its targeted developments, it lowered the density in its targeted developments at the same time. Fewer people living near the area means fewer shoppers. Since the 1990s there have been proposals to redevelop Old Town Mall but nothing has to come to fruition. Lots of high hopes for the future turned into broken promises. Old Town Mall is about 70% vacant according to a recent article.One reason plans haven't left the drawing board is because they only contain the small pedestrian mall. What needs to be done is take a comprehensive look at the mall and the surrounding neighborhoods.My plan for redevelopment includes the entire Old Town Neighborhood, Penn Fallsway, and Douglass Homes. Current conditions can't support the businesses of Old Town Mall, so we change current conditions. Old Town is a neighborhood comprised almost exclusively of public housing, Penn Fallsway is nothing but office buildings with sprawling almost suburban like surface parking lots. Douglass Homes, located in the Dunbar Broadway neighborhood, which according to the 2000 census has a 40% vacancy rate. There are many things that can be favorable to this area. First, in Penn Fallsway there are many surface parking lots that can be used to increase density. Second, its proximity to Downtown.

The proposed demolition of the Jones Falls Expressway will make this area an extension of Downtown. Third, the proximity to mass transit. The Metro Subway runs underground and has a stop at the Shot Tower and Johns Hopkins Hospital. My plan includes creating an Old Town Mall station in between the two. Fourth, lack of historical buildings. The blight elimination of the 1960s and 1970s that created these deep concentrations of public housing and poverty demolished many buildings that could have been considered for historic designation. Old Town Mall and its suroundings today will hardly be missed. Lastly, the East Baltimore Biotech Park. The East Baltimore Biotech Park will have a domino effect on surounding areas thus creating a demand for housing of all types.Normally when public housing is demolished what goes in its place are fewer housing units at a lower density. In this case it will be just the opposite. When you add up the number of units demolished in Douglass Homes, Somerset Homes and Extension, Monument House and Latrobe Homes the number is staggering. Although the end result will mean fewer public housing units the overall number of units will be higher. The new development will use the traditional urban grid and contain mid to high rise apartments, condos, office buildings and a hotel, all with ground floor retail and underground parking garages. In short the site will be mixed use in and mixed income with some public housing units sprinkled throughout. Unlike Old Town and Penn Fallsway the Douglass Homes site will feature town homes with two floors stacked on top of each other for a total of four floors per structure. Since the Old Town Mall area isn't too close to the harbor it can get away with taller buildings. Baltimore's skyline will surely expand and cover more ground once complete.

Now what would you do with Old Town Mall? I look forward to watching your responses on You Tube!

Integration: Are We Finally Making Progress?

Integration is something that Baltimore, like many cities has been avoiding for centuries. Whites have always wanted to live near other whites and blacks have always tried to move into white neighborhoods causing the neighborhood to change from white to black. The 2000 census shows certain neighborhoods as bring very diverse and integrated. Could this be permanent integration or the beginning of resegregation?
After the Civil War Baltimore's black population exploded. Former slaves and free blacks alike migrated from the south looking for work. The same can be said about whites from the south. At the turn of the century, the city drew lines of where blacks can live that generally "hugged" Downtown on the east and west. What is now known as "Old West Baltimore" was one of these areas. Old West Baltimore consists of Harlem Park, Franklin Square, Sandtown Winchester, Upton, Madison Park, and Druid Heights. Blacks lived in areas near Old West Baltimore with whites in Poppleton and Penn North as well. On the East side, at first consisted of what is now known as Oldtown, Penn Fallsway, Oliver, Johnston Square, Gay Street, and Dunbar Broadway. A few other black neighborhoods came in to existence like Mount Winans, Morgan Park and Cherry Hill. The city's original black settlement is Sharp-Leadenhall which is in the midst of the gentrified neighborhoods of Otterbein and Federal Hill. Not sursprisingly, as was the case with other cities Baltimore's black neighborhoods became overcrowded, once grand row homes were divided into apartments allowing for denser living conditions. Deterioration set in as well and after World War II blacks were on the move.
Those who could afford it moved into white neighborhoods in hopes of integration. Post World War II America was not ready for integration and Baltimore was no different. As blacks began to show up in white neighborhoods change was afoot. In a few short years entire neighborhoods turned from completely white to black. West Baltimore's demographics changed much quicker and covered more ground than the east side where it was more gradual. First on the west side from 1945-1955 was the Greater Rosemont/Coppin Heights area up to Gwynns Falls Park and Park Circle. From 1950-1955 it was the Walbrook/Mondowmin area. From 1955-1960 it was Allendale, Uplands, Forest Park, and Windsor Hills. From 1960-1965 it was Edmondson Village, Rognel Heights, Penrose/Fayette Street Outreach and Reservoir Hill. From 1965-1970 it was Park Heights, Upper Howard Park, and Westport Homes. From 1970-1975 it was Lower Howard Park, Irvington, and Carroll South Hilton. The sudden change from white to black was no accident, this was carefully planned by a few greedy real estate agents looking to cash in white fear and the housing shortages for endured by blacks. The agents were known as "Blockbusters", they got whites to sell low and blacks to buy high and they kept the difference. Knowing that a black family on their block would instill panic in the white neighborhoods the block was "busted" and within five years the block would be resegregated as a black neighborhood. In 1968 blockbusting was outlawed but the behavoir similar to blockbusting would continue for decades to come.
On the east side, as I said before change was more gradual. A big reason for this was the white neighborhoods were poor to working class rather than the middle class ones in the west side. Whites couldn't afford to pick up and move to the suburbs. On the other hand, like their westside cohort, they didn't like the idea of integration so eventual resegregation was the order of the day. From 1950-1960 it was Berea, Broadway East, Barclay, and East Baltimore Midway. From 1960-1970 it was Coldstream Homestead Montebello and Harwood. From 1970-1980 it was Jonestown, Washington Hill, and Middle East. In the 1980s and into the 1990s it was Govans, Waverly, and McElderry Park. During the 1990s it was Bealir Edison and Upper Reisterstown Road.

During the 1990s is when there was a turning point in integration. The trend of black settlement in all white neighborhoods continued but white flight was much less evident. There may have been initial flight by a few but long time white residents stayed as well as new white settlement. This can be attributed to a new generation of urban pioneers staking their claim in Baltimore. These new urban pioneers could have come from Washington D.C., Philadelphia, or New York where race relations are a little better. Not all neighborhoods are privy to black settlement but the tide has certainly turned. Neighborhoods who have embraced black settlement include Union Square, Hollins Market, Pigtown, The Neighborhoods of Greater Lauraville, Hamilton, Mount Vernon, Charles Village, Hunting Ridge and Ten Hills. It hasn't just been blacks settling in white neighborhoods there has also been white settlement in black neighborhoods as well. Reservoir Hill, Jonestown, Station North, Govans, Washington Hill, and McElderry Park have seen new white residents buying vacant homes or warehouse spaces and rehabbing them. The increase of diversity within neighborhoods is not just confined to blacks and whites. Both east and west of Patterson Park there has been a huge Hispanic population surge. Unfortunately this may not be permanent. The soaring property values of the real estate boom may price this new Hispanic population out of these neighborhoods.

Baltimore has made huge strides toward integration in the past 15 or so years but the fact of the matter is many neighborhoods are still segregated. However, I do think that this trend of integration will continue into the future. Black settlement will continue into outer city neighborhoods and white flight will be minimal. White settlement will continue in inner city neighborhoods as the Inner Harbor momentum spreads and projects like the East Baltimore Biotech Park, Transit Oriented Development, and artist designation continues. As far as integration making progress I believe we've made progress but not perfection.