Federal Funding Case Studies > Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore, Maryland

Issue Overview
Baltimore, Maryland, located in the center of the state, is home to several famous American landmarks including Harborplace, Camden Yards, and the National Aquarium.  Outside of the commercial corridors of Baltimore, however, lies some of America’s poorest communities.

The area known as East Baltimore, an old industrial area, was scarred by vacant warehouse and storefronts.  The neighborhood, about 30 percent residential, lacked amenities such as recreational facilities and grocery stores.

Public housing was home to nearly half of all East Baltimore residents.  More than one half of these households lived in poverty and more than one-fourth received public assistance. Less than half of the working-age adults were in the labor force and violent crime rates in the area were approximately twice that of the whole city.

Strategy & Result
The conditions of East Baltimore’s public housing were not suitable or safe for residents.  The Housing Authority of Baltimore City was committed to bettering the quality of life for its public housing residents and set out on an ambitions plan to improve housing, reduce crime rates, and foster employment opportunities.

The housing authority applied for a $50 million grant through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOPE VI grant program to transform Lafayette Court, a public housing facility, into the community of Pleasant View Gardens, an area consisting of both public and privately owned homes for low and moderate income families.  The Housing Authority also used funding to improve access to social service programs by working with service care providers to offer primary care, mental health, dental, eye care, health education, emergency and clothing, and other services to the community as a whole.

Since the HOPE VI revitalization began, the median household income at Pleasant View Gardens has risen by more than $2,500, while the number of household heads earning wages increased from 14 percent to 26 percent.

A new police substation built with HOPE VI funds is staffed by community support officers from housing authority police services. As a result, arrests in the community dropped 94 percent and calls for service dropped 75  percent.

For more detailed information of Baltimore’s HOPE VI success story, please refer to HUD’s “Hope VI: Community Building Makes a Difference" (February 2000, 96 p.)