Race fans park here during Preakness

Pimlico Good Neighbors needs a boost, and some think slots are the answer

By Christine Demkowych | Special to The Sun

May 11, 2003

On most days, Pimlico Good Neighbors is a quiet community of brick rowhouses and free-standing bungalows nestled along tree-lined streets.

But on Preakness Day this tiny neighborhood -- tucked behind the northwest corner of historic Pimlico Race Course -- is transformed into a bustling hub of commercial activity.

Lawns become parking lots, back yards double as concession stands, and kids work as porters hauling coolers and other spectator paraphernalia for race fans.

On Saturday, more than 100,000 people are expected to watch the Preakness, the second jewel of horse racing's Triple Crown.

The racetrack and Pimlico Good Neighbors gained prominence with the running of the first Preakness in 1873. Originally known as Pemlicoe, the area's name eventually was changed to Pimlico.

By the 1930s, the surrounding region had developed into a thriving commercial center and an enclave for upscale Jewish families. But after racial riots in this neighborhood and elsewhere in Baltimore in the 1960s, the community became a victim of white flight, according to Gilbert Sandler, a local historian and the author of Jewish Baltimore: A Family Album.

Since then, delis and grocery stores have been replaced by check-cashing businesses and pawnshops. Boarded-up houses dot neighborhood streets.

Northwestern District police officers said an open-air drug market flourishes in the area, and residents report that a handful of prostitutes do a brisk business on Park Heights Avenue, just south of Northern Parkway.

The schools in the area have taken a beating. Park Heights Elementary School was shut down last year, and Pimlico Elementary is scheduled to close, according to Polly Warren, president of the Pimlico Good Neighbors Association, who blamed budget woes. She said it is uncertain whether Pimlico Middle School will stay open next year.

Fifteen minutes from downtown Baltimore and 45 minutes from Washington, the predominantly African-American community is home to about 1,000 people, according to the 2000 Census and has virtually the same population as in 1990.

A group of residents decided to start a neighborhood association in the 1970s, said Deanna Pridgen, a founding member of the community association, and took Pimlico Good Neighbors as its name.

Northern Parkway separates the neighborhood from Mount Washington, where houses cost more and are more sought-after. To the south of Pimlico Good Neighbors is Park Heights, a neighborhood where more residential and commercial development is evident.

All that gives Pimlico Good Neighbors residents hope that improvements might be on the horizon are the new CVS pharmacy and 7-Eleven stores.

Then there are the slot machines.

Residents -- including those in Queensberry, another small neighborhood near the racetrack -- are waiting to see what will happen to the area if slot machines are brought to Pimlico and other tracks in the state. The slots bill, which did not pass this year, is likely to be considered by the General Assembly next year.

Brenda Strong, 65, has lived in the neighborhood more than 20 years. She paid a little less than $15,000 for the six-room stone and stucco house on Ingleside Avenue, one of the more stately streets in the community. Strong said the slots issue has left her and other seniors feeling unsettled.

"They didn't get them the first time. But the slots will come eventually," Strong said. "And eventually, the track will expand and buy property in my neighborhood. The best thing you can do is maintain your home so you can get a good price on it. Centers for senior citizens are very expensive."

Some residents are aware that the track recently made offers to buy local homes for as much as $150,000. That's why homeowners who are primed to sell are planning to hold out as long as possible, in hopes of getting the best price for their properties.

Florine Robinson, a 32-year resident of Pimlico Good Neighbors who bought her house for less than $10,000 in the 1970s, said, "I know that we can only get prices that reflect the going market. If I'm forced to move, there's no way I can get a new home anywhere in Baltimore with half an acre of land for $50,000. They have to understand that when they make their bids."

Statistics provided by Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc., the listing service used by real estate agents and brokers, include 35 active listings in the greater Pimlico area. The average list price for homes on the market is $53,511. However, in the past year, the average list and sales price was half that amount, which may be attributed to increasing foreclosures, according to MRIS.