By Simone Boyd
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
The city’s $67.8 million plan to revitalize the troubled Park Heights neighborhood in northwest Baltimore has received mixed reviews as developers see it as a potential boom for the community while some residents and urban planning experts worry gentrification can lead to the displacement of long-time residents.
The plan, which was announced by Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young on Sept. 18, consists of constructing 288 housing units, a large neighborhood park, a community garden and an urban plaza on more than 17 acres of city-owned land in Park Heights.
The project is being done in conjunction with the NHP Foundation, a New York- and Washington-based affordable housing nonprofit developer that has constructed more than 9,000 units of low- and moderate-income housing throughout the country.
“I like the revitalization attempts,” said Alex Sedgewick, a resident of the neighborhood and a student at Morgan State University. “But as a person who is aware of the other side to this, it’s unsettling.”
Sedgewick said that while there are some areas in Park Heights that need to be revamped and restructured, he is concerned that the current process could force out residents by pricing them out.
Garrick Williams Sr., a 30-year resident of Park Heights and founder of the Park Heights Saints Youth football program, said it is the individuals who do not live in the neighborhood who are making all the major decisions.
The neighborhood has not been part of the urban planning process, Williams said, adding that he and other residents are worried that the community they know will cease to exist. He said he fears that the corporations that have their eye on Park Heights want to move residents out.
Williams also said that there is a disconnect between politicians and Park Heights residents because of the neighborhoods lack of trust in what is being planned.
“We don’t need nobody coming here to do anything for us unless they come to join forces,” Williams said in an interview.
Willie Flowers, the executive director of the Park Heights Community Health Alliance, a non-profit organization seeking to improve the health of the neighborhood, said he is concerned about the project because of Baltimore’s legacy of redlining and blockbusting – a process in which neighborhoods are broken up and long-time residents are displaced.
He said this legacy has led to some of the problems the city has today, such as a poor education system, crime, and subpar health and human services programs.
He welcomes the idea of revitalizing neighborhoods, but he is suspicious of these plans.
“We’re in a situation where we feel the effects,” Flowers said. The city has a history of forcing African Americans to neighborhoods away from white and/or Middle-Class communities, he said.
“The entire city is a broken planning process,” he added.
He said there needs to be a more deliberate focus on reviewing policies of the past.
Representatives of NHPF see it differently. The company believes the project will create sustainable and affordable housing to low income families and senior citizens, thus improving current community standards.
“The Park Heights Major Redevelopment Area represents a tremendous opportunity to make a real difference in the area,” said NHPF President and CEO Richard Burns. “Park Heights has many of the ingredients that make a great community, and the addition of quality affordable housing will provide an immediate positive impact on the neighborhood.”
“I am ecstatic about any type of development in Baltimore,” said Sammakai Richards Jr., the director of real estate for the Park Heights Renaissance, a nonprofit established to start the revitalization of Park Heights and surrounding neighborhoods. “Total development is a goal we should try to achieve as citizens of Baltimore.”
City leaders say the project will pump “new life” into Park Heights.
“New people will rehabilitate an area that has been slighted, empty, vacant of people,” said Kate Edwards, the comprehensive director of the western district for the city’s Department of Planning.
Michael Braverman, the commissioner of the city housing department, agreed.
“We are excited to see our collective vision for Park Heights being realized and we look forward to the investment in new homeownership and quality affordable housing that we are kicking off today,” Braverman said in a statement released last month.
City officials said an NHPF economic impact study found that the project will generate $47 million in labor income and nearly $130 million in economic output. The study also said that 804 jobs will be created by the development – 360 of which will be related directly to construction.
The Park Heights area has faced hardships for several years. According to the Baltimore City Health Department, 46.4 percent of the residents live in poverty and 23.6 percent are unemployed. The overall economic hardship index is 73.
Moreover, a 2016 health department study found that there are 1,172 vacant lots per 10,000 housing units in Southern Park Heights compared to the citywide average of 677. The number of vacant buildings per 10,000 housing units in Southern Park Heights was 1,374 compared to the 562city average.
The city has spent about $13 million over the past five years buying and investing the land that will be part of the project, which will begin in 2021 and is scheduled for completion in 2025.
Rob Neff, a Towson University professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Planning, said that while there has been some success in revitalizing parts of the city such as Fells Point, Hampden and the Inner Harbor, the city cannot expect the same results everywhere.
“Communities hit hardest by redlining and blockbusting have not received the help they need,” Ness said. “Are we intent in investing in people or places and buildings?”
He said if the city wants to invest in people, there needs to be different strategies, including job training, actual affordable housing, and communication between communities and corporations.
Some residents who were interviewed said they fear that while the project appears beneficial to the outside, some citizens of Park Heights will get left behind.
“They argue that they’re removing ‘bad citizens,’ but most who live in those areas aren’t ‘bad,’ they’re just poor,” Sedgewick said. “But those words tend to be synonymous. Overall, I like it. I just don’t like the execution.”
1 Comment
The people of Baltimore are an integral part of what makes it unique. Hopefully, investors will invest in Charm City accordingly.