The vacant lot in the unit block of N. Port Street lacks landscaping and looks like it’s been a dumping ground for trash.
Not much to look at? Not according to Cindy Voss. The local resident says the present sight that greets neighbors is a lot better than what used to be there: two derelict rowhouses that became a magnet for crime in the community.
The houses, which were 25 and 27 N. Port Street, had been abandoned for years, said Voss.
“The building at 27 was apparently a bar at one point,” said Voss, “and it burned down and took the building at 25 with it. So we had these two burned-out shells on our block with no windows, with boards hanging off.”
The derelict houses attracted drug activity and vandalism. (Photo courtesy Cindy Voss)
Voss, who has lived in the neighborhood for about two and a half years, says the fire happened around four years ago. Unfortunately, she adds, although the rest of the neighborhood was in renaissance, with rehab work going on and new families moving in, the buildings at 25 and 27 lagged behind.
“Most of the houses on the block were being rehabbed by Patterson Park [Community Development Corp.],” Voss said.
Many of the houses, which were narrow, were rehabbed as ‘double wides,’ or one house for every two lots, creating more spacious homes for the new residents. The buildings at 25 and 27 were intended to be a part of that design, added Voss, “but 25 was privately owned and 27 was owned by the city,” meaning that negotiations for purchasing the properties dragged on. Then the real estate market bottomed out and the two houses were neither purchased nor rehabbed.
And that, said Voss, was creating a problem in the neighborhood.
“We had a lot of nuisance loitering around those houses by young people who did not live in the neighborhood.”
The houses, which had not been securely boarded up, became a magnet for drug activity and prostitution, and the yards around them became sites for illegal dumping.
“And you could see evidence of all this,” said Voss. “There were syringes, needle caps, condoms, trash, just a lot of crime activity.”
The neighborhood, Patterson Place, wanted something done, but lacked the means to do it.
“We got a little bit restless,” said Voss, who is the vice president of the Patterson Place Neighborhood Association.
One day, some neighborhood residents were attending a meeting regarding a temporary homeless shelter in the area. They suggested a deal with the city: They would support the shelter if the city would do something about 25 and 27 N. Port Street.
“The city started talking with us,” said Voss.
Eventually, the houses were approved for demolition. And that really got the neighborhood residents fired up. Particularly when they learned that the houses would be down in time for the fall clean-up in October. The neighbors decided to help beautify the neighborhood by putting in an urban garden, and they applied for, and received, a $1,000 grant from Banner Neighborhoods to help make it happen.
Now that the houses have been demolished, Patterson Place will make the lots into a garden. (Photo by Anna Santana)
The houses came down and the rubble was carted away. And although the area is not yet the garden that Voss and other community members have envisioned, it has given residents hope for better things.
“We’re targeting greening and cleaning,” said Voss, “here and on the 100 block of N. Port Street, where there are four vacant lots that are also causing problems.”
Empty, unimproved lots tend to become dumping grounds, and can attract loiterers, but Voss and her community would like to create “a gorgeous flower garden” that would stimulate neighborhood involvement and discourage illegal activity. They would also like to look into programs such as alley gating.
At this point, the neighborhood is waiting for the city’s contractor to create a support wall on the side of the lot in the unit block of N. Port before they can begin their greening and gardening efforts there.
“Our plan would be to start before winter,” said Voss, “but we’ll see.”
Even if it takes longer than that, she added, the neighborhood has still scored an important victory.
She credits a number of agencies including the Baltimore Police, the Department of Housing, The Department of Public Works and the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods, as well as groups like Patterson Place and Banner Neighborhoods.
“What we learned from this is how the city and community can work together to make change possible.”
by Mary Helen Sprecher
newsroom@baltimoreguide.com
