The modern apartments decorated with Christmas lights on Baltimore's West Lexington Street stand in sharp contrast to the surrounding neighborhood of boarded-up rowhouses, corner liquor stores and vacant lots littered with trash.
Three years of strict private management and the dedication of tenants -- combined with a lease requiring community service -- have left the apartment buildings in the 1600 and 1700 blocks of W. Lexington St. clean, warm and comfortable.
"In my old neighborhood, there was too much action," said Michiele Means, a 32-year-old mother who works as a loan assistant at the Small Business Administration. "There was a shooting every day. Here, I feel safe. I love where I live."
Like other tenants, Ms. Means must participate in neighborhood cleanups and a block watch as a condition of her lease. She believes the requirement makes her building safer and more neighborly.
That's precisely the theory behind the Baltimore Housing Authority's proposal to require public housing tenants to mow lawns, tutor children and do other community work.
Housing Commissioner Daniel P. Henson III promoted the plan, which would put Baltimore at the forefront of public housing reforms, as an attempt to foster greater community involvement. Mr. Henson, who lived for six years in the Poe Homes project on Saratoga Street, said it would restore a sense of ownership and pride in subsidized housing.
But outraged tenants have denounced the community service requirement as a high-handed attempt by the housing authority to control their lives. After tenant leaders protested to the authority's board and to the mayor, the plan was delayed.
Mr. Henson has promised to meet with tenants to clarify the requirement and work out its enforcement. But some tenants say they will oppose any attempt to include the community service requirement in leases.
"We don't want it to be any part of the lease if it could lead to eviction," said Elizabeth Wright, chairwoman of the tenants board. "The way they have it now, it's more like a penalty, like people who break the law and are given community service."
Amid the packed meetings and emotional outcry, tenants have been performing community work at six low-income apartment buildings in Baltimore.
Developed with state and city funds, the apartment buildings are owned by the housing authority but privately managed. Tenants who want to rent units must sign up for volunteer work.
Jacqueline H. Rogers, Maryland's housing secretary, said the state lease requirement has prompted tenants to "get much more invested in where they live and function more like a community."
Under the program, one of only a few in the nation, the state has provided some $40 million to develop 26 apartment buildings for the elderly, disabled and working poor.
Property managers credit the community service concept with improved maintenance and lower operating costs. But some are skeptical about copying it for public housing developments. They note that the authority cannot be selective about tenants and would have a tough time enforcing volunteer duties.
At Indecco, an old canning factory in Canton that was converted into 45 apartments in 1991, seniors must choose individual community duties when they sign their leases. Some do nothing more than make a call to check on the bingo permit, while others keep the community room clean, plant flowers and answer the phone at the front desk, said Renee Gryzbowski, who supervises the apartment for Wallace H. Campbell management. As a result of the community service requirement, management has not had to hire an on-site supervisor and has saved on other expenses. "But the biggest benefit is the family-like atmosphere it gives the place," she said.
William Antkowik, 74, often takes a shift at the front desk. Even though he's on a respirator after a bout with pneumonia and bronchitis, Mr. Antkowik said he also feels spry enough to go shopping for his more infirm neighbors.
"I think it's good to cooperate, you know?" he said. "Everybody tries to help each other out a little here."
At Franklin Square's West Lexington apartments, community service is structured differently. Unlike the Indecco tenants who choose a duty, residents of the 44 apartments at West Lexington handle the same activities. They must join a block watch and participate in neighborhood cleanups twice a year.
In the past three years, so many tenants called the police to complain about drug activity at the corner of West Lexington and Gilmor streets that the city designated it a drug-free zone, said Jeannette Taylor, the property manager. One group of tenants also organized to prevent strangers from roaming the halls and damaging walls and carpets.
"We became a pain in everyone's side, and they moved on," Ms. Taylor said, as she walked past the corner that once was a popular hangout for drug dealers.
Nevertheless, she's uncertain about enforcing a community service requirement in public housing, especially if the authority moves ahead with customized plans for the 30,000 adults living in 18,000 apartments. It would be difficult to keep track of each resident's participation, she said.
Mr. Henson said last week that he plans to work out the enforcement with tenant leaders. He also has emphasized that volunteer duties would be kept broad and that no specific number of hours would be required.
The lease proposal grew from discussions with state housing officials about replacing the city's four worn high-rise developments with modern apartments. The state has set aside $70 million over the next seven years to build low-rise housing to take the place of Lafayette Courts, Lexington Terrace, Murphy Homes and Flag House Court.
New units built in partnership with the state would have a community service requirement, so Mr. Henson wanted to begin it now to avoid any discrimination.
At West Lexington, many of the tenants who pay $280 to $320 for large two- and three-bedroom apartments consider themselves lucky.
"Community involvement is keeping the neighborhood I live in safe," said Wanda Jones, a mother of two and a switchboard operator at Total Health Care.
Ms. Jones, who used to live in Poe Homes, agreed that it could be difficult to get all public housing tenants equally involved. But she considers it worth the effort.
"If everybody did something, we'd have a better-looking Baltimore."