Hogan to bulldoze blight (Baltimore, Columbia: homes, neighborhood, buying)

[bus man]

Originally Posted by Parsec

What happens to the people who still live in these neighborhoods? Do they get bought out for $20k which doesn't allow them to buy a home elsewhere?

Originally Posted by Woodlands

I think they are only taking down vacants... not occupied homes.

Though I suspect you're correct in general, Parsec raises an important question. For this plan to work, there will have to be some occupied homes that will have to go. (If you have a block of 15 abandoned shells and one occupied rowhome, there really is no economically viable way to save that one house.) Eminent domain laws could presumably be used, but the "market value" of most of these places would amount to the loose change under the sofa. I do think that some plan needs to be in place to provide for the relocation of the residents that will need to be displaced, without leaving them even more impoverished than they already are. (I have not seen the details of Hogan's plan, so it's certainly possible that this has already been addressed.)

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by bus man

Though I suspect you're correct in general, Parsec raises an important question. For this plan to work, there will have to be some occupied homes that will have to go. (If you have a block of 15 abandoned shells and one occupied rowhome, there really is no economically viable way to save that one house.) Eminent domain laws could presumably be used, but the "market value" of most of these places would amount to the loose change under the sofa. I do think that some plan needs to be in place to provide for the relocation of the residents that will need to be displaced, without leaving them even more impoverished than they already are. (I have not seen the details of Hogan's plan, so it's certainly possible that this has already been addressed.)

If you lived among blocks and blocks of vacants.. there is a strong likelihood that you are "trapped" in the neighborhood as opposed to simply choosing to remain. Even so, I am sure that the handful of folks that are there can be relocated to adjacent blocks or given the option to move into the new development. The City has both low interest loan and grant programs that could be beefed up by the State.. that can assist with this and if people want to remain in the neighborhood.. I do not doubt that they can and should be able to do it..


This is Baltimore not DC.. there will be no wholesale gentrification in this neighborhood.. There are Plenty.. let me repeat... Plenty of other neighborhoods.. mainly working class white communities that will fall to Big Gentry before Sandtown will. If anything a mixture of new and middle to lower income housing will be built for homeowners and renters... Heritage Crossing, Uplands, Orchard Ridge, Frankford Estates, the new infill near Pennsy and Baker Streets just three blocks from Ground Zero of the riots are all examples of mixed income communities that have been built over former slums/public housing. Most of these communities are still predominately African American and better off than what was there before.. I see no difference in Sandtown.


Now, they need to tear down Gilmore Homes as part of this effort as they build the new housing in the adjacent areas. Allow those tenants that qualify and want to move into the new community to move in before Gilmore is formally torn down to minimize the trauma of displacement.. This stuff is not rocket science.. Anyone with half a brain and a heart can make it happen...which Baltimore Politicos tend to lack both....

[westsideboy]

Originally Posted by bufflove

It's not really $700M; it's $75M (spread over 4 years) in state funding to bulldoze and then $600M available in loans/tax incentives for new projects. Who knows if developers will even take the state up on that available financing. I'm not optimistic this will accomplish much. >$20M a year isn't that much money for a city that size and at the end of the day it'll probably just be turning a negligible % of the neglected vacant rowhomes into neglected vacant lots.

Glad I am not the only one who caught that. Developers LOVE incentives, but they still won't build unless there is demand.

That said $75M for demolition isn't chump change. Cumberland just passed a bond bill for 2 million dollars to demolish 60 houses and grade the land in one contiguous section of our city. No doubt rates will be different downstate, but that money should be sufficient to tear down 1000-2000 blighted structures. Not enough to eliminate the problem, but plenty to target big swaths of decay for redevelopment, or simply to help "right size" the city's housing inventory based on population projections.

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

Glad I am not the only one who caught that. Developers LOVE incentives, but they still won't build unless there is demand.

That said $75M for demolition isn't chump change. Cumberland just passed a bond bill for 2 million dollars to demolish 60 houses and grade the land in one contiguous section of our city. No doubt rates will be different downstate, but that money should be sufficient to tear down 1000-2000 blighted structures. Not enough to eliminate the problem, but plenty to target big swaths of decay for redevelopment, or simply to help "right size" the city's housing inventory based on population projections.

To piggy back on that.. the State should work with the City to explore taking over major parks such as Leakin Park, Druid Hill, and other large urban forest.. and make them State Parks. The City should then be required to focus on City Parks (neighborhood parks) and the creation and MAINTENANCE of newly created city parks and urban prairies that could replace blocks of vacants that are torn down and there is no market for the creation of new housing for the foreseeable future.

[westsideboy]

Originally Posted by Woodlands

To piggy back on that.. the State should work with the City to explore taking over major parks such as Leakin Park, Druid Hill, and other large urban forest.. and make them State Parks. The City should then be required to focus on City Parks (neighborhood parks) and the creation and MAINTENANCE of newly created city parks and urban prairies that could replace blocks of vacants that are torn down and there is no market for the creation of new housing for the foreseeable future.

Urban gardening is something to be considered too. The whole "food desert" thing is a impediment to improving the most blighted neighborhoods. Not only would growing fresh fruits and veggies on vacant land help get better food to more people, but it creates the sort of environment that helps both attract urban pioneer types, and improve the lives of locals that DO wish they could have access to healthier food.

I watched a show on PBS that showed HS students in the South Bronx working in urban gardens. It gives kids something to keep them motivated in school. Getting outside, working with your hands, seeing the literal fruit of your labor, was empowering to the kids in the show; they felt a real sense of pride in what they had accomplished.

[bufflove]

Originally Posted by LoveToRow

Of course you're not optimistic about the plan - after all, it's been proposed by an evil Republican. What proposal have you and other Maryland Democrats floated to address urban blight in Baltimore?

Incidentally, I'm not optimistic about it either. The culture of dependency in Baltimore City has been so ingrained by liberals that this money is probably just going to be flushed down the toilet. But the proposal pretty much puts to rest the talking point from the left about how conservatives don't care about Baltimore City or blacks who live in Baltimore City.

You agree with me, yet still can't help but troll? Wtf? Why would I care that Hogan's a Republican? Why do you have such an inferiority complex about it?

[BMoreJuice]

Build baby build!

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

Urban gardening is something to be considered too. The whole "food desert" thing is a impediment to improving the most blighted neighborhoods. Not only would growing fresh fruits and veggies on vacant land help get better food to more people, but it creates the sort of environment that helps both attract urban pioneer types, and improve the lives of locals that DO wish they could have access to healthier food.

I watched a show on PBS that showed HS students in the South Bronx working in urban gardens. It gives kids something to keep them motivated in school. Getting outside, working with your hands, seeing the literal fruit of your labor, was empowering to the kids in the show; they felt a real sense of pride in what they had accomplished.

The same is happening in Detroit: One of the country’s poorest cities is suddenly becoming a food mecca - Washington Post

[bus man]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

Cumberland just passed a bond bill for 2 million dollars to demolish 60 houses and grade the land in one contiguous section of our city.

Where is this? I realize that Cumberland has its issues, but I wasn't aware that there were any parcels where there would be 60 contiguous houses that would need to be knocked down.

[westsideboy]

Originally Posted by bus man

Where is this? I realize that Cumberland has its issues, but I wasn't aware that there were any parcels where there would be 60 contiguous houses that would need to be knocked down.

In the Rolling Mill neighborhood, or if you have a map handy, the section of town delimited by I-68 to the South, Martin's Supermarket to the North, Maryland Ave to the east, and Park St. to the west.

And no, it doesn't "need to be knocked down." Some weird stuff is happening up here. Long story short, the city has farmed out Econ. Development to a private group with "pay to play" membership and zero accountability to make their decisions and meetings public or on the record.

This group has a LOI from a developer for the parcel. The city agreed to follow the plan, and is in the process of buying out the owners (probably 70% landlords) and just passed the bond bill to get the money to level and grade it.

There are hold-outs, so expect Eminent domain to be used..........even though the mayor and city council refuse to admit that this is a possibility, answering all direct questions to that point with silence or mush mouth statements about still being in the negiogiation process. The fact they already borrowed the money reveal their real intentions.

To me, that is a lot of money and effort just because an LOI exists. Non-binding interest from a developer that requires the demolition of an entire neighborhood and 2 million in debt sounds like a bad deal.

None the less, the powers that be in town nearly all agree on this course of action, and attempts to get the citizens to rally to save the neighborhood have gone nowhere. The sad truth is that most people would probably see the destruction of one of the worst neighborhoods in town as an improvement regardless of whether or not the land is turned into a higher valued use.