Case Study 2.5: Conclusion

From now on I plan to do concluding posts for my case studies, not just to sum up the feature neighborhoods but also to showcase a few images of areas which have commendable streetscapes but perhaps not universally so. I hope my Baltimore case studies have shown a different side of the city from what one sees on television. I'm not going to deny the serious issue of crime in Baltimore (the statistics speak for themselves), but there's much more to the city than that. It's one of the most historical cities in the country with beautiful architecture throughout. For the most part, the neighborhoods I've shown are on the low side of crime, helped in part by active neighborhood associations which have encouraged residents to renovate their homes and streets and cultivate a sense of community. And yes, they are relatively affluent areas, full of young people who choose to live an urban lifestyle. 

Hopefully my case studies will prevent at least some people from choosing the suburbs. The more people stay in cities, the greater the tax base and hence the greater the services. As I started researching Baltimore, I came upon an article in the Baltimore Sun about the city's property tax rates, which are twice as high as the surrounding county. San Francisco was in a similar situation years ago and took the risk to lower taxes. Subsequently, the population of the city shot up drastically and they were getting more from taxes than ever before, despite the lower rate. Today, hardly anyone would recognize the crime ridden city San Francisco once was, and the city is able to offer the full gamut of amenities. Good public transport, competent government which listens to residents, etc. I'm confident Baltimore too can get out of its doldrums, if they are serious about it. 

Without further ado, some of the other nice streets in Baltimore.

Riverside (sometimes called Federal Hill South)

Fell's Point

Overall my favorite neighborhoods in the city are Bolton Hill and Federal Hill. I had expected to like Mount Vernon a great deal more, but unfortunately that part of town didn't meet my expectations. When all is said and done, however, Federal Hill has my vote for best neighborhood. Bolton Hill is undoubtedly a great example of inner city living, but its elegant architecture and well-maintained streets cannot make up for the lack of amenities. It's simply not as walkable as Federal Hill, which has a wide variety of shops, restaurants, and other businesses in the vicinity. Not to mention Federal Hill Park, the waterfront, and closeness to downtown. Sure it's got a few rough patches and looks a bit unkempt occasionally, but the good far outweighs the bad. It is, for example, one of the few inner-city neighborhoods that can be considered a good place for a family.

I'm looking forward to a renaissance of sorts in Baltimore. There are still many streets in the city with beautiful historic architecture just waiting to be revitalized. Just as Federal Hill was close to ruins in the 70's, homes on the verge of collapse, so too can these other streets be renovated, cleaned-up, and made habitable. It really doesn't take much. A bit of tree planting, widening sidewalks, cleaning up and repointing brickwork, and showing full support to local small businesses. Many cities have successfully brought areas back to life by offering homeowners or owners-to-be micro loans to kick start development. And that horrible grey formstone has to go.

A bit of a break from case studies now. Next up Boston, Philadelphia, or perhaps Toronto? We'll see.

Case Study 2.4: Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon was once the heart of affluent Baltimore, host to the city's elite and their elegant mansions. Sadly, that is no longer the case. Today, both Bolton Hill and Federal Hill are more exclusive and more impressive architecturally. Except for the area surrounding the 1829 54 meter high Washington Monument, much of the neighborhood has not survived unscathed through post-war urban renewal. Parking lots now dominate many blocks, stark testament to the dominance of the automobile in the past 50 years. I've seen Mount Vernon described as a residential neighborhood, but that's a hard case to make. Pockets of residences certainly do exist, a few blocks here and there, but much of the area's one-time homes have given way to alternate uses. Around the parks surrounding the monument, then as now the best addresses in the area, very few buildings are still in use as residences. Most now house institutions, clubs, offices, etc. On surrounding blocks are libraries, universities, schools, shops, galleries, museums, banks, and performance spaces. In short, it's the cultural heart of the city. Rowhomes have been converted into offices for lawyers, publishing firms, architects, and fund managers. The publishing company Agora occupies several historical buildings in Mount Vernon. The multitude of businesses have spawned a market for lunchtime cafes and restaurants and afterwork bars and clubs. This has left little room for homes, but nonetheless there's plenty of good examples of streetscapes. The borders of the neighborhood are roughly Franklin Street on the south edge, Jones Fall Expressway east, Eager Street north, and probably Howard west. The Midtown-Belvedere neighborhood, which stretches northward from Mount Vernon to Mt Royal Avenue, is often included as part of the neighborhood so I also feature images from there.

Case Study 2.3: Federal Hill and Otterbein

These two neighborhoods have quickly become the destinations of choice for affluent young professionals desiring an urban lifestyle close to downtown. They're within walking distance of businesses and just across the harbor from popular locations such as the aquarium. Two professional league sports stadiums are a few minutes drive away across the highway. Perhaps one of the greatest advantages over, say, Bolton Hill, is the large presence of restaurants, cafes, and shops on Cross, Charles, and Light Streets. Cross Street Market, first established in 1846, has dozens of stalls selling fresh produce and seafood. It's easily manageable to fill most weekly needs without leaving the area. And of course there is the area's namesake, Federal Hill Park, with views over the entirety of downtown and the harbor. 

Federal Hill wasn't always the affluent neighborhood it is today. Bordering the harbor, historically it's been home to merchants, dock workers, and the military. Consequently you don't find the sort of elegant blocks of rowhomes that Bolton Hill has. Rather, the homes here are of mixed sizes, styles, and eras, with a few not even built of brick but timber. Timber homes were not outlawed until the early 1800's. When the docks lost their importance after WWII, the neighborhood fell into decay and was nearly bulldozed to make way for new highways. Luckily, a strong backlash forced the highway westward and the historic homes were slowly rehabilitated and renovated, thanks largely to the government which encouraged the initiative by selling homes for under $10,000. Today some of the largest homes sell for over $1 million although a fixer-upper can be found for around $200,000. 

Otterbein is technically a separate neighborhood but nowadays the two are quite dependent. It's the same shopping and social circle. The neighborhood is after all just a few blocks, having suffered more development in the past several decades. Many homes were destroyed before commencement of a homesteading program, which offered homes for $1 in exchange for an active role in rehabilitating the neighborhood. The remaining empty plots were turned into small parks and modern townhomes and condos. Today Otterbein has the highest average property prices in Baltimore city.

Case Study 2.2: Charles Village

Charles Village is not one of Baltimore's hot spots, nor does it attract a particularly affluent crowd. What the neighborhood does do effectively, however, is create a community feel among its inhabitants. For that it was named a Great Neighborhood in 2008 by the American Planning Association as part of their Great Places in America initiative. Charles Village owes much of its vitality to the presence of John Hopkins University on its western border, one of the most renowned universities in the country. Many students and professors live in the neighborhood. Just south of the university is the Baltimore Museum of Art, home to the world's largest collection of Matisse paintings and open to the public for free. Bordering these two institutions is the Wyman Park Dell, designed by the Olmsted brothers and popular with walkers and joggers. The neighborhood is bordered by the university on its western edge,  E 33rd Street to the north, Guildford Avenue east, and 25th Street south. Sometimes the area below 25th Street is included but generally speaking that area has an entirely different character and is sometimes called South Charles Village or Old Goucher. Travelling down Charles Street, downtown is about 2 miles away. 

Charles Village was founded in the late 19th century as a streetcar suburb, with long plots of land  sold to various developers. Thought to be one of the first examples of tract housing, the result is streets with homes in the same style, proceeded by a street with an entirely different style. While this may have been slightly odd when first constructed, today heavy vegetation masks the similarities. One of the unique things about the neighborhood in recent times is the creation of a community benefits district funded by a small addition to property taxes and pays for increased security and sanitation services. Since the district came into place in 1994, crime has halved. In 1998 the neighborhood launched a competition for most colorful home, hence the bright colors found on many homes. A block of rowhomes on Guilford Avenue is perhaps the most famous of these, locally referred to as "Painted Ladies" in reference to colorful Victorian homes in San Francisco.

Case Study 2.1: Bolton Hill

Just northwest of downtown Baltimore, Bolton Hill contains a large amount of the city's restored rowhomes. Block after block of bright red elegant brick rowhomes. In a city of hundreds of thousands, however, the 2,000 or so residents of the neighborhood don't constitute a significant share, but they do offer one of the best examples of 19th century living in the 21st century. Once home to notable people such as Woodrow Wilson and F. Scott Fitzgerald, it's nowhere near that exclusive today, but what characterizes Bolton Hill from many other rowhome areas in the city is not just the harmonious architecture, but the care the community has shown over the past few decades. Manicured gardens abound, and lamp posts mimic the Victorian age. None of that modern, horrid utilitarian stuff. One of the best features of Bolton Hill are the sidewalks, which are often red brick and make what would otherwise be a bland bit of concrete into a highlight. A few small parks pepper the neighborhood and a strong neighborhood association keeps things in check and organizes events. Students from nearby MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) inhabit many apartments and the college owns several buildings in the area, adding vitality to the neighborhood.    

One criticism I must make is that occasionally the sidewalks don't take priority, often too narrow when one considers trees and other plantings. The roads could easily be narrower or better still a mixed-use surface could be adopted. As is, even taking into account cars parked alongside of the road, three lines could comfortably fit where there are now two. Another minor issue concerns the narrow alleyways, what would otherwise be mews in England. Today they contain garages and an out of sight location to put out the garbage, but whereas in London a mews is just as attractive as the main road, here they're clearly an afterthought, messy with poor pavement and no architectural merit in the garages. It's a shame really, they could really be very nice. It's a waste of valuable land to ignore these alleys. 

Links with more Bolton Hill info:

Bolton Hill Online

Baltimore Timeline

Case Study 2.0: Baltimore

Moving clear across the country to the east coast, my second case study is Baltimore. This is a city which hasn't enjoyed favorable sentiment for many years, a fact reinforced by popular tv shows such as The Wire. Neither is this sentiment helped by statistics, with a murder rate seven times the national average, despite lessening since the early 90's. But this focus on the negative belittles what was once the nation's second largest city, for there are still a lot of rarely reported positives aspects of the city, not least its many fantastic neighborhoods.

For historical photos of Baltimore, see the previous post. 

I owe a great debt to Baltimore for opening my eyes to European style architecture and urban design in the US. In watching a movie set in the city (can't remember what it was), there were scenes featuring many fine row houses or row homes (as they're known in the US, compared to "terrace" in the UK), which I had not previously seen anywhere in the US outside of Manhattan and had assumed to have been demolished long ago. But before me I was seeing not just a few streets of intact terraced housing, but entire neighborhoods. In fact, Baltimore has the most row houses of any city in the US. I was heartened by the movie's portrayal showing the homes as aspirational residences for up and coming young professionals, not just the moneyed elite or fragments of a long gone era. One plus for Baltimore's less than stellar reputation is affordability. A three storey row house in good condition in a good neighborhood can be bought for $300,000, or multiple times less than somewhere like Brooklyn or Georgetown, and a laughable amount for most Europeans. No wonder so many people commute to DC from Baltimore, with Penn Station in Baltimore being within easy walking distance from many homes. The city guarantees an attractive urban lifestyle to those who would otherwise be priced out. 

Baltimore is a city with a rich and varied history and like many large cities on the east coast, has suffered greatly in the years following WWII. Founded in 1729 as a port city for the tobacco trade, it later served as a railroad hub for goods being transported westward. Much as other cities in the US, Baltimore lost much of its population when the shipping industry lost its prominence and subsequent urban renewal brought in highways. From a post-WWII high of nearly a million people, just 640,000 live in the city today, and about 2.7 million in the metro area. It was not so much white flight to the suburbs that drained the city, but middle-class flight, as many well-to-do black people also moved out. Today, Baltimore has a few very nice neighborhoods, ringed by many not so nice, ringed by many suburbs. Nice neighborhoods often abut the sort of places you see in The Wire and admittedly crime is higher as a result. But as most who live in the city will tell you, crime isn't a huge issue if you avoid dark alleyways and use common sense, or so I've read.

The four neighborhoods I'll be looking at are:

2.1  Bolton Hill

2.2  Charles Village

2.3  Federal Hill and Otterbein

2.4  Mount Vernon
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2.5  Conclusion

Be sure to click on each to view the full case study.

Summaries:

Bolton Hill

flickr : taberandrew

Filled with several blocks of elegant brick rowhomes, many consider Bolton Hill to be the most beautiful neighborhood in the city. It's undoubtedly the safe choice for those looking to live in a historical, quiet neighborhood within walking distance to Penn Station. 

Charles Village

This neighborhood thrives on the presence of John Hopkins University, one of the country's most recognized universities. Many students and professors live in the early 20th century housing. 

Federal Hill and Otterbein

flickr : easal

Really two neighborhoods, Federal Hill and Otterbein share a common past, as both were in danger of being lost forever to the construction of I-95. Luckily they survived and today offer many fine rowhomes after emerging from gentrification. Federal Hill in particular has experienced something of a rebirth.




Mount Vernon

flickr : absentmindedprof

Once home to the city's wealthiest residents, Mount Vernon still has an affluent reputation and hosts many of the city's cultural institutions. Closer to downtown than the other neighborhoods, it also hosts plenty of businesses and is generally livelier in the evening hours. 






I might have a fifth Baltimore case study showing singular images of a few other neighborhoods but not full blown case studies. As a further departure from my San Francisco posts, I don't find it necessary to label just about every single image with the street name. I don't think my readers really care about the specific street. The point of this blog is not, after all, a street-by-street tour guide, but rather to show examples of successful streetscapes. You can always check the file name of an image to get the street or explore the neighborhood on your own via Google or Bing.