Snapshot of Baltimore: housing, people and more
Data lovers, start salivating: The newest "Vital Signs" report on Baltimore -- out Tuesday -- has information (or, if you prefer, market intelligence) on neighborhoods across the city.
Here are some of the findings, put together by the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance at the University of Baltimore's Jacob France Institute:
· Though citywide population dropped 2.4 percent from 2000 to 2009, results varied dramatically at a more local level. "A few neighborhoods, including Greenmount East, Sandtown-Winchester and Midway/Coldstream, lost residents by double-digit percentages, while others, including Downtown/Seton Hill (16.6 percent), Fells Point (8.1 percent) and South Baltimore (7 percent) experienced population growth," the University of Baltimore said in its announcement.
· During the same nine-year stretch, the violent crime rate in Baltimore fell. It was 15.3 violent offenses per 1,000 people in 2009, down from 26.2 violent offenses per 1,000 people in 2000. (Biggest improvements: "The greatest decreases in the violent crime rate occurred in the Perkins/Middle East, Downtown/Seton Hill, and Patterson Park North and East neighborhoods.")
· Abandonment rose citywide over most of the last decade, but not in all neighborhoods. Canton and environs, for example, are exactly where they were in 2001 (with just under 1.2 percent of residential properties vacant and abandoned). And in the area in and around Patterson Park, the vacant-and-abandoned rate actually dropped, to about 7 percent. (The Vital Signs report uses "community statistical areas" that don't match up exactly with official city neighborhood boundaries.)
· This will surprise no one, at least no regular reader of real estate news: The city had nearly twice the number of new foreclosure proceedings in 2009 than in 2005, when the housing market was hot to trot.
· And home sales? Down 28 percent in 2009, compared with the year before.
Some of the statistics show the effects of the severe recession. Others show improvement, noted Vital Signs author Matthew Kachura.
"Baltimore's population is not going to bounce back to its post-war highs, and the kind of industry boom we saw here in the 1940s and '50s is not going to return. Instead, we're showing resiliency by strengthening our neighborhoods in ways that improve the quality of life, whether it's a program to rehab vacant houses or an effort to encourage high school students to graduate on time," Kachura said in a statement. "In an era of limited resources, the city has managed to stay viable by these and dozens of other strategic investments."
City folks and suburbanites alike: How has your neighborhood changed in the last few years? What's better, what's worse, and what -- for better or for worse -- is the same?
Categories: Neighborhood and neighbors
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Comments
Some of my friends were born & raised in Pigtown, when they come to visit my place, they are amazed at the progress and how much nicer Pigtown is now. You do see the struggling of the families that have been there forever who don't want or who are leery of change and the new comers like me who are all for change. I pick up trash every day from the front of my house but when you have the babysitters who let the kids throw trash & someone who lets their dog use my flower garden the neighbor hood takes a step back. I will say I'm impressed at the community organization COP (citizens of Pigtown) they are pretty active to clean the area up.
Jamie, maybe you could get a community assocation to guest blog.
Posted by: Pigtown Girl | April 21, 2011 8:51 AM
Canton looks better every year. I've been here about 6 or 7 years now. The Natty Boh and Broom bldgs have been restored with shops added. Every year more properties are rehabbed and and also new rowhouses are being built. Parking is getting a little better as more streets are converted to angled parking instead of parallel. The age of the population seems to be a few years older since people are stuck with underwater row homes.I see more people with babies than ever before.
Posted by: Anonymous | April 21, 2011 10:27 AM
Hmm I had a conversation at a gas station in a rural area a couple of days ago. Gas is REALLY expensive now. Anyway, the woman behind he counter said "It's ridiculous." and she said it would be better just to live in a place where you don't have to drive!
IMO that's one of the HUGE pluses of city living if your job is within walking distance.
Jamie can you PLEASE blog about the urban gardening initiative? I have a comment to post LOL and the other story is rejecting my comments with a page not found error.
Posted by: JuanitaBeasley | April 21, 2011 12:11 PM
As far as "Patterson Park area" i s concerned, i think that it depnds on what part you are talking about. From what ive seen, the area around Santoni's grocery store in Highlandtown has filled many of its vacant housing.Mainly due to the influx of latino immigrants.
But in my opinion, the area right above the park [ N. Rose Street,ect] now has more vacant housing then it did 10 years ago'
As i mentioned here before, i do interior demolition.So to drum up business, i put my business card under the door of any vacant house that i saw in a half-way decent area.
I put out over 2,000 cards.And that was in the nicer areas.I pretty much skipped West Baltimore.
In my experience for every house that is boarded up, there are two houses that are vacant, but not boarded up.You can tall that they are vacant because of the 6 month old phone books on the steps and the dozen pizza fliers stuck in the door.
My point is that im guessing that a lot of those houses arent officially considered "vacant". Even though no one has lived in them for over 5 years.So i am sceptical of some of the official statistics on vacant housing
For what its worth, Canton doesnt have many vacant homes. Upper Fells Point does on its side streets.And the saide streets above the Park have a lot of vacants as well.You cant put a dumpster on those side streets.And its hard to rehab them because of this.Add the fact that they will get less money because oflack of parking.So not many people will touch them.
Hamden doesnt have many vavcants.But Remington has many.And Pigtown is full of them.Most of the Pigtown vacants were houses that speculators bought,started to work on, and then abandoned. And Highlandtown has quite a few.But mainly east of East Ave.
Thats just my anectdotal experience with vacant houses
Posted by: Pete from Highlandtown | May 1, 2011 4:57 PM