Every day, Johns Hopkins University students board shuttle buses for shopping trips, a trend that has disturbed merchants near the campus and sparked efforts to give North Charles Village the flavor of a college town.
Students travel to the Rotunda for groceries, Fells Point for drinks and music, and Towson Town Center for books and clothes.
"We've had a definite downturn in the traffic around here the past few years," said Jerry Gordon, the owner of Eddie's Supermarket in the 3100 block of St. Paul St. "The students don't seem to enjoy coming here as they once did."
A community organization will meet tomorrow to discuss expanding the neighborhood's commercial district into the 3200 block of St. Paul St. The idea would be to fill the block with stores catering to college students such as Peter M. Dolkart.
"Johns Hopkins students are not particularly proud of their social life," said the senior from Miami. "Part of the reason is because the neighborhood is so dead."
Last year, Mr. Dolkart told the Greater Homewood Community Corp. that the area lacked a small bookstore, cafes, boutiques and record stores -- places where students could not only buy things, but also hang out.
A bagel shop and a record store have since opened up in 3100 block, but there isn't room for much else. With Chris Ryer, a city planner and Charles Village resident, Mr. Dolkart began working on the idea of opening up the rowhouse-laden 3200 block for commercial use.
Together, they came up with a proposal that Mr. Ryer describes as a balance between "great discretion and great flexibility."
Instead of opening up the area to any business, the proposal would clearly define a list of permitted uses, conditions and exceptions. Businesses would submit applications on case-by-case basis, he said.
Fast-food restaurants shouldn't even apply.
"We want to do rezoning, but we don't want McDonald's to demolish a half a block of rowhouses," said Mr. Ryer, 39.
But fast-food restaurants are the type of stores that many students crave. "I think a Taco Bell would make money hand over fist," said Andy Dubroff, a junior from Philadelphia.
Not only do they want fast food, many students want more bars (which probably will be allowed) and live entertainment (which probably won't).
The potential for noise and violence frightens some longtime residents in the 3200 block.
"The quality of life in the block will change so completely we will have very little choice but to move," said Judith Kreiner, who has lived there more than 20 years. "I was really prepared to live in that house for the rest of my life."
Not all longtime property owners agree with her. Dr. William F. Renner, who has owned an office in the 3200 block since 1960, said, "I think more businesses would probably be good. To me, personally, I like the students."
Tomorrow, Greater Homewood, an umbrella group of community organizations in North Baltimore, will hold an open forum at 5 p.m. at Homewood Friends Meeting at 3107 N. Charles St. to discuss the plan.
Whatever the neighborhood decides, expanding the business district to the 3200 block of St. Paul St. won't be easy.
Most rowhouses, for example, have front steps and enclosed porches that are not well suited for stores. Most houses are individually owned and would be converted into businesses one by one.
Mr. Gordon, the owner of Eddie's, envisions a boutique and another small business separated by four residences. That would not have a big impact on his store, he said, adding that he doesn't expect the plan to go into effect, anyway.
"I don't really see it happening," he said. "But I would like this to be a college town."