Mondawmin is affordable, intriguing (Baltimore: real estate, apartment, city hall)
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In 1948, after the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed the enforcement of racially restrictive covenants, the real estate industry and the Afro-American newspaper designated areas northwest of Fulton Avenue for black expansion. Rapid racial change ensued. By the time Mondawmin Mall opened in 1955, original merchants at the city's first enclosed mall were canceling their leases because most of the shoppers were black and not white, as had been promised.
I mention this history to underscore the significance of what I am saying next: Mondawmin is in the throes of radical change and this change is good. A brand new Shoppers supermarket is about to open next to the mall and the mall itself is being partially demolished to make room for a Target and Marshall's. Meanwhile, across from the mall, the old March Funeral Home and other nearby warehouse type buildings have been razed to create a humongous building lot that will facilitate expansion by Coppin State.
I have no idea as to how all this will end, except that to say that there are incredible housing opportunities in the area, if one believes that all this investment is going to revitalize the neighborhoods. When the Mondawmin area was Jewish, the recently built rowhouses were of quality construction and not cheap.
Mondawmin has a Metro station and lots of bus connections. Its location is splendid, enabling relatively easy access to Washington. Also nearby is the community college. From the stately mansions overlooking Lake Ashburton, one can see the spires of downtown. Lake Ashburton itself is ideal for jogging.
The huge institutional investment now going into the Mondawmin area is one of the most exciting things I have witnessed in my 40 years in Baltimore. Neighborhood turnaround is never easy, and it is particularly time-consuming in Baltimore. But for those who are not spooked by race, these neighborhoods are worthy of serious consideration.
Healthy Neighborhoods: Mondawmin (http://healthyneighborhoods.org/pages/mondawmin.html - broken link)
The houses just to the east around Druid Hill Park are absolutely amazing, although some could use some TLC. These enormous townhouses were obviously mansions at one time. I've read that this area was where the wealthier Jewish families lived when they were unofficially restricted from some of the exclusive areas in town. The houses to the west along Gwynns Falls Parkway in Hanlon Park and Windsor Hills have a more suburban feel and seem to be generally well cared for. I'm not sure what it's like as you get further into the community, but it looks like you could purchase a very large house for a lot less than what you'd pay in Bolton Hill or Roland Park. You would also have pretty easy access to the Metro and the west Baltimore MARC station.
Location: Pigtown!! Washington Village Does NOT Exist.
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Druid Hill Park has come a long way, even in the short time I've lived here. When we first arrived, it was pretty dicey...and I think there were even a few bodies found in the park. Now, if you walk through there, you'll see kids playing on the new playground equipment, people walking on the trails, having picnics...and making good use of the tennis courts. It's really a delightful park, and when you throw in a trip to the botanical garden (recently renovated) and maybe the zoo...it makes for a wonderful day.
rudy_d mentioned Hanlon Park, which borders on Lake Ashburton. There are some great single family homes available there, off Carlisle. If you go, take a look at 3101 Carlisle Avenue, a nondescript brick house. That's where William L. Adams moved in 1949, becoming the first black to move to this corner of Forest Park (no one called it Hanlon Park in those days). Adams, who is still alive and pretty much forgotten, was Baltimore's wealthiest black man. The source of his wealth were numbers, an illegal lottery he ran.
Here is my story about Little Willie. I visited him at his home around 1978. I then saw him at a City Hall function around 1999. I said hello and explained who I was. He said nothing but we chatted for a while amicably.
He then fixed his steel-gray eyes on me and said: "So you are the fellow who likes to walk around the reservoir."
Amazing. This is what happened: In 1983 I was walking a dog around the reservoir about 6 a.m. one morning and saw Mr. Adams ahead of me. There were no other walkers. He was deep in his thoughts. When he heard my foot steps, he turned. Seeing a white guy, there was nothing but fright in his eyes. I said good morning and explained who I was and wished him a good day. I guess he thought I was a hit man. . .
This is how lasting memories are made.
Location: Pigtown!! Washington Village Does NOT Exist.
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Barante, your stories are amazing. It was so nice to meet you and your wife today -- please don't ever stop sharing Baltimore's history with anyone who will take the time to listen.
Like others have said, beautiful area with some neat houses and apartment buildings, just needs to be cleaned up (and needs some more businesses). But if you're near Druid Hill Park it's kind of cool to be walking through the city and suddenly hear an elephant's blast! (The Zoo is right there.) Also, one day I was walking my dog there and she absolutely froze, staring at something. When I turned around to see what she was looking at: it was an ostrich! I don't know if it's still this way, but a few years ago the edge of the ostrich pen came right up to the park area, and there was nothing but a chain link fence separating us from this beautiful (but kind of scary) animal.
Beautiful, amazing historic homes near the entrance of the park, but in dire need of some financial help for restoration. Drive back past the zoo and see neighborhoods in pain, houses boarded up and rotting into the ground while people still live in or beside them. The zoo is now also sad and unfortunately desolate. Most of the animals are gone from the last couple of years. 5 years ago we had a great time there. However, I went to the grand reopening that they had (this year?) and was exhausted by the time that I saw the first animal. We must have walked 2 miles, passing empty pen after empty pen to do so. Why can't the zoo get federal funding like the DC zoo? Just curious.
This area is beginning a major transition. Restored horticultural center in the park, new paving and new bikepaths in the park, new plantings and trees, lots of changes occuring in Reservoir Hill, Mondawmin getting a major change with Targets, Shoppers, and new restaurants and streetscaping, entirely new athletic field and campus for Coppin all along Gwynns Falls Parkway, even the old portables behind the grade school (Gwynns Falls) have been torn down and new windows, doors in the building; rumors about Lemell Middle Closing and BCCC expanding their campus in that direction. Lots of changes. I have even noticed some rehabbing occuring across from the park. And don't forget the complete restoration of all of those beautiful apartment buildings facing the park. I drove down one of those Reservoir Hill streets the other afternoon and witnesses a Vanmom unloading the kids from a private school and ushering them into one of those newly rehabbed homes. That area will be really sharp in about 5 years or so.
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