There are some parts of Old West Baltimore that have seen lots of reinvestment and redevelopment on both the public and private sectors.
They include Upton's Marble Hill District, Druid Heights, and the
eastern edge of Sandtown Winchester, and Heritage Crossing. On the flip
side there are areas that have not seen much in the way investment including the western edge of Sandtown Winchester, Upton that isn't the
Marble Hill District, and Harlem Park. Although Upton and western
Sandtown do require a lot of work I will discuss them in the future,
today is all about Harlem Park.
Harlem Park's biggest problem is population loss. It seems as
though if Residents want to live somewhere else they simply move away
rather than try to put down roots and improve the Neighborhood. As of
the 2010 census Harlem Park is about 45% vacant. When I say that vacancy
and population loss is the biggest problem that Harlem Park faces I
open a HUGE can of worms as to why the population has dropped so
dramatically but how can Harlem Park begin to experience growth if we
don't get to the root of the problem?
There may be a small glimmer of hope for Harlem Park. The
redevelopment of the West Baltimore MARC Station shows the southern
border of Harlem Park slated for redevelopment as the Red Line
construction begins TOD make eventually take Harlem Park by storm but
that could take years, personally I think Harlem Park should a draw on
its own.
As I'm sure you're aware, Harlem Park wasn't always in bad shape,
in fact it was once one of Baltimore's finest Gentlemen's Communities
housing some of Baltimore's business elite most of the year except for
the summer when a large portion of Residents left the City for their
summer homes. At the turn of the 19th/20th century, the mostly White
German Neighborhood of Harlem Park began to see White Flight both to the
west where Neighborhoods such as Easterwood Park and Rosemont were in
their infancy or to the north where the Roland Park Company was building
large estate homes in what would eventually be Guilford, Homeland,
Original Northwood, and the titular Roland Park.
Although White Flight was in full swing before the start of World
War I, Harlem Park was still thought of as an elite Gentlemen's
Community only now it was becoming home to Baltimore's Black elite.
Although new Black Residents were paying a pretty penny for their new
homes perhaps more than a comparable home in a White Neighborhood would
fetch, I wouldn't call this "blockbusting" since there were no corrupt
Realtors trying to make a quick buck off of White fears and the lack of
housing options in the Black Community.
By the roaring 20s Harlem Park (as did all of old West Baltimore)
had turned into a mixed income Black Community with wealthier Residents
living in the grand row house mansions while Residents who were more
working class took residence in the "alley homes." Pennsylvania Avenue
served as a Downtown Area for Old West Baltimore as a whole featuring
the City's best Jazz Clubs and Movie Houses.
By the 1930s the Great Depression had taken its toll on Harlem
Park, there were fewer and fewer well to do Residents as they had either
moved west beyond Fulton Avenue into the Easterwood Park and Rosemont
Area (white Residents from there were moving to Edmondson Village) or
the depression had taken its toll and Residents who used to be more well
to do had become poor.
After World War II, the White flight to the suburbs and the subsequent Black repopulating of White Neighborhoods on the outskirts of
the City was in full force. Since Harlem Park is not and hasn't been on
the outskirts of the City for decades, its population was beginning to
thin out as there was no real source in which a new population influx
could be found. Another blow for the Neighborhood was what was then
called "slum elimination" which was actually the erection of the
notorious public housing high rises of Murphy Homes and
Lexington Terrace.
Slum elimination can come in many forms, in the 1950s and 60s it
came in the form of Interstate Construction. I feel bad calling it "slum
elimination" because to construct the "interstate" that effects Harlem
Park it wasn't slums that were eliminated. It was working class and
middle class homes between Franklin and Mulberry Sts. The Home Owners
who lived where the proposed interstate was going were given very little
for their homes and given that so many people's net worth is wrapped up
in their homes, the once middle class Residents became poor thanks to
this supposed "miracle interstate."
This "interstate" turned out to be a curse, it was supposed to
connect to I-70 when it was extended into Leakin Park to meet I-95, the
spur near Harlem Park would connect I-70 to Downtown. Harlem Park at
the time was hanging on a delicate balance between minimal blight and
turning into a major slum. This "interstate" was the final nail in the
coffin not only for Harlem Park but Old West Baltimore as a whole. To
add insult to injury, the connection was never completed thus making
what was built complete useless, this "I-170" is what's known as today's
"Road to Nowhere."
Today the damage done by generations of poverty and poor policy
planning have taken their toll. Harlem Park's vacancy rate as of the
2010 census is 45% which doesn't include all the vacant lots providing
eye sores and a hot bed for trash. It's no secret that Harlem Park is
suffering and the City is letting it go to the dogs as a Neighborhood
that can't be saved. Me? I have yet to find a Neighborhood that isn't
worth saving. It's time for Harlem Park to see its day in the sun.
Lets keep in mind that as part of the Red Line construction there
is a proposal for redevelopment of the Neighborhood's southern borders
with high density Apartments or Condos or TOD if you will. Given how
often the Red Line is tweaked and with funding and construction
dates constantly being delayed, I'm not holding my breath for progress
on that front. Even so, Harlem Park is an entire Neighborhood that needs
help, and doesn't start and stop at the Red Line. I would also like to
point out that as the title suggests, I want Harlem Park to be a draw on
its own.
When creating a Master Plan the first thing to do is draw on the
Neighborhood's strengths. Other than the obvious (close to the proposed
Red Line) I can think of two others; first the "block parks" and the
new Senior Apartments recently built. Most if not all square blocks in
Harlem Park have parks behind the Row Homes. Although they've become a
liability as they've become littered with trash and drug litter. I think
that these block parks can be an asset once again. Neighborhood
Residents can reclaim control by planting flower gardens and vegetable
gardens that could be sold at Farmers Markets. Also there have been two
brand new Senior Apartment developments known as Edmondson Commons and
Harlem Park Gardens. These two developments have been a great help in
Seniors in the area on fixed income find clean affordable housing that
meets their needs. These two success stories can be used as building
blocks for reinvestment and redevelopment in the Neighborhood.
Properties around these development should be first thus allowing new
housing and rehabbed housing to spread like wildfires.
I can't describe the strengths of Harlem Park without discussing
its weaknesses too. Harlem Park has a fleeting population, problems with
drug addiction, high crime, high unemployment, lack of quality retail,
and a lack of constant City Services. I think a decent portion of these
problems can be reduced if not solved by investing in the Neighborhood's
housing stock a la Sandtown Winchester. Sandtown has seen a good amount
of redevelopment and reinvestment in its housing stock with help from
the Enterprise Foundation. The benefits are contained only within the
effected areas. It hasn't had the domino effect people would have liked
but that just means that other areas need that same intervention.
Harlem Park is due for that very same attention and I think it will
spur growth by all stretches of the imagination. One great thing about
the Enterprise Foundation is that it employed existing Residents to
build the new homes which provided jobs to the Community. Baltimore has a
large amount of unemployed construction worker, an issue I came head to
head with while helping a gentlemen run for City Council last summer.
Sure, there are lots of development projects in the works across the
City but they have snubbed the local Construction Unions by bringing in
outside workers. This will not be allowed when rebuilding Harlem Park,
Harlem Park will be a local grass roots efforts from start to finish.
This will also allow for Job Training for those looking to learn the
construction trade. New and rehabbed homes and the jobs they bring may
solve other problems that Harlem Park suffers. Crime and drug addiction
thrive in poor Neighborhoods where there are a lot of vacants and a lot
of Residents are unemployed. With Residents at work and new Residents
moving in who are also employed, the drug trade and the crime it comes
with be dealt a major blow.
We've seen how Sandtown & Marble Hill can benefit from large
investments in the housing stock which in return brings jobs to the
Neighborhood, Improves the appearance of the Neighborhood, and can help
erode crime from the rehabbed and redeveloped blocks. Now it's time for
Harlem Park to benefit the same way, everybody knows it's overdue.
