The Disappearing Baltimore Neighborhoods (Laurel: low crime, contractors, inspection)

[Woodlands]

What I found interesting about some of Baltimore neighborhoods is that some neighborhoods expand and take over other neighborhoods sometimes through gentrification or sometimes via blight and cause the names of some of these areas to cease to exist. But where people in Baltimore say they live is an interesting social experiment. I have read several books on bmore neighborhoods that have provided some insight, but I am curious of what some residents think on this topic..

Example: Patterson Park is a park surrounded by neighborhoods according to some city maps/databases. Butchers Hill, Highlandtown, Canton, and Brewers Hill are very distinct neighborhoods around/near the park.. but places such as McElderry Park, Patterson Place, Baltimore Highlands, Baltimore Linwood seem less visable or known though benefiting, in parts, from the association with Patterson Park "neighborhood"?

In NE Baltimore there is Gardenville which seems to be more well known than the larger area of Frankford that encompasses it which by most accounts it appear that (Frankford) is not as widely mentioned or marketed by realtors. I have heard people say they live in Gardenville but not Frankford..Hamilton does not exist on some maps and is less pronounced than Laurelville though it has it has a fairly large commercial core bearing its name. And places like Christopher, Woodring, Westfield, Glenham-Belford may be even more obscure. The attached map shows numerous neighborhoods that are likely to be consumed (if not already)by larger more well know more marketable neighborhoods or in some cases brought down by association. Clyburn and Levindale in Park Heights are examples. Both are wonderful neighborhoods just east of Pimilco Rd, west of Greenspring and just south of Sinai Hospital on Northern Parkway.I have been told by some contractors/service industry that they would not set foot in this area because it is Park Heights.. though upon closer inspection, and viewing crime reports, these are both very stable neighborhoods with a solid housing stock and low crime rate that simply share boundaries with what is called "Central" Park Heights.

Does it appear that what constitues "the neighborhood" in Baltimore is becoming more and more a part of city planning/law enforcement/bureaucracy and realtors than it is about what people actually consider to be their "neighborhood"?

http://www.ci.baltimore.md.us/government/planning/images/Neighborhood%20Map.pdf (broken link)