Bulldozing entire neighborhoods to revitalize them seemingly went out of fashion decades ago, after the first mid-20th-century efforts at urban renewal were denounced as failures. But in the blocks just north and east of the vast and expanding Johns Hopkins Hospital here, that is precisely what is happening. The medical institution and Forest City Enterprises, a Cleveland-based building company, have joined forces to demolish a neighborhood to save it. Huge blocks of row houses have been razed, and many more are destined for the bulldozer. As it was, the neighborhood — a shooting location for the HBO series “The Wire” — stood in sharp contrast to the gentrifying neighborhoods of Butchers Hill and Canton to the south.
I’m biting my tongue – holding back to hear what you have to say.
August 6th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Thanks Richard for posting. Here is an interesting discussion on the East Baltimore situation: http://baltimore.indymedia.org/newswire/display/11527/index.php
I like the quote (from a 19th century author) that capital’s solution has always been to “move the poor around”. Seems to pertain here.
August 6th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
So much for diversity. This is a classic case of follow the money. John Hopkins can’t be seen as an island of decency in a neighborhood of slums. The new ‘neighbors’ will project a less hostile image to visiting hospital dignitaries. Re-developing streets one-at-a-time is too time consuming to contemplate. Sweeping change, like plunking a monumental new convention center in the middle of a ghost town, is perceived as the fast-track to growth in the face of seeming irreversible decay. After all, it’s the neighbors fault that there’s potholes in the streets, and the curbs are crumbling from neglect. Had they been more responsible, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.