I live in Reservoir Hill. I love living here. The housing stock is incredible and the potential of the area is limitless. I have lived here for six interesting years. We have a major drug dealing problem that has yet to be properly addressed by the numerous funding organizations that pour money into projects in this neighborhood. We have city leaders who have used this area as a political tool and have sold us out to incompetent so-called developers. My video focuses on the parts of Reservoir Hill that politicians and the housing department will never mention. The world must know that the security concerns of this 94% black neighborhood have not been addressed when they simply could be handled with a redistribution of foundation money toward hiring an off-duty policeman to patrol our neighborhood. This is a simple solution which the various public and private "poverty pimps" of this city wish to avoid because it would mean potentially losing their money, their jobs, their power, and their elected offices. Foundations and leaders that are supposed to be helping our neighborhood need to wake up and do what they are paid to do instead of keeping a 94% black neighborhood dangerous because of their distorted morals and greed. Enjoy the video:
Comments
This is sad. I grew up on Whitelock and Brookfield in the 1940s. Spent a lot of time in the Brookfield Pharmacy. I left the area when I was 8 years old. This was a lovely area back then. Safe. I was able to walk to school, and to the park without my parents being concerned.
The house I lived in has since been torn down. This is really hard to believe.
Why don't you come shoot your next video down in my harbor east neighborhood? Or are you only focused on exposing the areas that aren't going well?
Hey Double B: there wouldn't be much of a POINT in Adam coming and shooting in your prosperous, well-heeled Harbor East neighborhood, when plenty of other local media (The Urbanite, The Sun, etc) tout it all the time. I don't think it needs the help. You couldn't have more completely missed Adam's point, which is simply that it's time for attention to be turned to the "forgotten" and struggling places in Baltimore city, which the city "leaders" don't want us to notice or talk about! I wouldn't say he's focused ~only~ on areas that aren't going well, but he certainly WILL focus on them when the REASON they aren't going well is largely because people we elect make things worse by their poor decision-making and actions! Do you not get that?
Sailing Girl: I live in the neighborhood too, like Adam -- I was wondering if you happen to have any photos of your neighborhood/house from back then? I'm very interested in the history of this area, especially that "inner core" of Reservoir Hill which is harder to find old photos of. Thanks-
Hey sailing girl you better not walk that area now, you're subject to raped and pillaged. They are slowly selling the property to out of state builders from NY and DC who are soaking up the property and spending their weekends down in B-more. Absentee landlords and owners all over again. While real homeownership goes down the tube because the city made a deal with one of the biggest foreclosure fraud companies Hells Wellsfargo who will forclose on you behind in a minute if you fall behind. Also, there repayment catchup plan is fixed so that you will be forced to sell or be foreclosed on. Also encase anyone wants to know they own so many front companies that when researched they all run back to them. Hey Baltimore, you should have sue them in behalf of the CITIZENS of B-more. Oh! I forgot they gave kickback money to a bunch of their cronies to drop the charges.
another great video adam; very moving
Hey Scoopnewsworthy: interesting take on it from a conservative such as yourself (going from your past comments, anyway) -- most of the conservatives on the Baltimore Sun Talk Forum were disgusted that the city was going to sue Wells Fargo; they thought Wells Fargo did nothing at all wrong, that the problems were ~entirely~ the fault of the homeowners (who were stupid, taking out mortgages they couldn't afford). For the record, though, the DC "developers" being in Reservoir Hill is kind of old news at this point....they've been here in droves at least since 2004 or so....NPR even did a story on it a few years back. what's been happening recently is that with the falling property values, prices have dropped enough that I think it can finally get back to homeowners buying the houses again, taking out the middleman who just skims all the profit out of the house, jacking up the price, and leaving us with vacant, poorly-rehabbed houses.
Interesting video and thoughts but I think a broader and more detailed conversation is needed. First of all, many if not most big developers, are from other states/areas and are in it for the profit, obviously. Other cities have them too so it's really not their fault that our neighborhood looks like this. Callow Homes are still vacant b/c the developer cannot make a profit on the sale after rehab. We can't expect him to invest that much money on a losing venture. Further, lenders would probably not go for it either; just look at that condo complex on Lakeview. Developer and bank lost big time on that.
So what's the solution? Should (or can) the city re-aquire the homes in the SCOPE program that haven't been developed? What provisions would allow or no allow for that to happen? How else can the city get these places rehabbed and owner-occuppied? Baltimore's low wealth is a limiting factor; our budget is so tiny compared to similar sized cities.
I grew up presstman and Poplar Grove Street in the 60/70's. The Popular trees were astounding. Now when I visit Baltimore I am in a daze.
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