Pigtown's bright future (Baltimore: section 8, real estate, rent)

[barante]

The coming months may be the best time to buy in Pigtown. Before the crash, there was a lot of speculative rehabbing being offered at ridiculously unrealistic prices. That overhang now will have to be sold, one way or another, by burned investors or by banks. This is really a blessing in a disguise, allowing beer-budget gentrifiers to get in. My prediction: The pace of gentrification will accelerate. Which means that nuisance problems will not go away, but that police response will be better because gentrifiers coomplain and demand action.
My wife and I lived 11 years on nearby Union Square, another great neighborhood. During that time, I walked my dog around the surrounding area, including Pigtown. I remember talking to a fire captain one morning. He operated a laundromat at Ostend and Washington Boulevard and for years on his wedding anniversary painted another declaration of his love to the exterior wall which had something like seven or eight previous declarations. I don't know whatever happened to him or them. But since he also sold coffee in the laundromat, I asked him one morning, "Is your coffee any good."
"It's Folger's," he proudly declared. That's Pigtown -- before Carol Ott arrived.
Anyway, Pigtown is not my cup of tea (to mix metaphors). As as a real estate proposition, though, it has some real merit. It has location, location, location. Near the central business district, stadiums, the University of Maryland, close to MARC and at the end of an Interstate system that will whisk you to Washington or anywhere you desire to go. Clearly depressed prices will be a boon to the neighborhood.
That fire captain said something interesting that morning. "Outsiders think this neighborhood has no money," he told me. "They are totally wrong. There is a lot of money here but people spend it in their own way. They buy boats and vans, instead of the finer things."
My auto mechanic used to be in Pigtown until he sold his properties to a developer who built overpriced townhouses in the alley. His idea of a good time was going to a tractor pull or boxing match.
All this is changing, but change will take a long time. In a decade or so, Pigtown will be another Federal Hill (like Henrietta), except that it will be better because Carroll Park is nearby, with its incomparable view of the downtown skyline) and parking is not such a headache.

[carolott]

I'm honestly hoping Pigtown never becomes another Federal Hill. While I like Federal Hill, I do like that our neighborhood is evolving slower and more organically. I'd like to see the neighborhood revitalized, and not gentrified. To me, there is indeed a difference.

[Be More]

I am starting to love Pigtown more and more. Its funny you posted this barante...but I was actually starting to think the same thing. I think we will get more and more folks moving in here. I don't think it will be quite like Federal Hill....but it will definitely be revitalized. The only problem is Carol doesn't provide enough sandwiches.

[barante]

Like any smart business person, Carol will respond to market demand.

[Augie]

Originally Posted by carolott

I'm honestly hoping Pigtown never becomes another Federal Hill. While I like Federal Hill, I do like that our neighborhood is evolving slower and more organically. I'd like to see the neighborhood revitalized, and not gentrified. To me, there is indeed a difference.

In your opinion, what is the difference between "revitalized" and "gentrified"?

[carolott]

Originally Posted by Augie

In your opinion, what is the difference between "revitalized" and "gentrified"?

Revitalization means a healthy neighborhood with a healthy local economy. Gentrification makes a neighborhood "pretty" but you still have the same problems that were there before. Taking a holistic approach to revitalization allows for long-term sustainability, which I want for my neighborhood.

[carolott]

Originally Posted by barante

Like any smart business person, Carol will respond to market demand.

If I responded to this particular customer's demand, I would be sold out of sandwiches by 9 AM.

[Augie]

Originally Posted by carolott

Revitalization means a healthy neighborhood with a healthy local economy. Gentrification makes a neighborhood "pretty" but you still have the same problems that were there before. Taking a holistic approach to revitalization allows for long-term sustainability, which I want for my neighborhood.

OK, thanks.

Wouldn't gentrification bring in money and an increased demand for new or improved services (both upscale and mundane)? I lived and taught in Hoboken, New Jersey in the late 60's and early 70's when you couldn't give stuff away. The town was a mess with welfare, food stamps, section 8, rent control, crime, illegals, and dreary conditions. Little by little, rent control, etc., were abolished and the gentry realized Hoboken was about 3 miles on the Path train from Manhatten with its exorbitant rents. The rest is history-everything was rehabbed. Today, Hoboken is the "in place" and the Million Dollar Mile. A house I looked at in 1969 that was $29,000 recently sold for
$3 Million!!! The people I know that live there love it.

The only downside was learning to live without the folks that kept the place down for decades. And where did they go? Who knows, but I can imagine...

[barante]

Whatever will happen in Pigtown won't happen overnight, perhaps not even in my lifetime (I'm 64). I have called attention previously to UMd law professor (emeritus) Garrett Power's description of Pigtown as the oldest surviving slum and portions still are. One thing I have learned in my 39 years in Baltimore: Neighborhood improvement here takes much longer than in many other cities, particularly Washington, D.C. That's why D.C. speculators repeatedly get in trouble here, because they misread the dynamics of Baltimore.
That said, Pigtown's location is so compelling that its eventual turnaround is a foregone conclusion.

[Be More]

I could be wrong...but I think what Carol is saying is that instead of folks coming in for "the party" for a few years and fleeing for the burbs..there needs to be people coming in to STAY. I know my wife and I bought our houses with the intention of staying and raising a family. Others in Pigtown have done the same...while others have put their house on the market the second they had a kid. To each his own. We are looking forward to Pigtown's future.