Talk about an identity crisis. For years, people in Loch Raven thought they lived in no man's land.

Wedged between Towson and Parkville, Loch Raven residents watched as government dollars poured into those communities while their neighborhoods were swamped by crime, blight and budget cuts that closed their library and senior center.

It would have been easy to ignore it, many residents say, and even easier to move. But they stayed. And in a series of victories that residents view as an example for other aging neighborhoods, they managed to turn life around in their community.

The library is back. So is the senior center. Open-air drug markets have virtually disappeared. Business is reviving. There's a new Police Athletic League center, and the area is preparing for a $5 million revitalization project.

"We've worked hard to create an identity," said 30-year resident Donna Spicer, 50, head of the Greater Loch Raven Community Council. "We say, if you want to be heard, stand up, wave your hand and say something.

"If you get up in the morning, go to work, come home, shut the door and go to bed, then you get what you deserve," Spicer said.

No longer considered Parkville's hangnail or Towson's uglier cousin, scrappy Loch Raven is practically shouting, "See us? Good schools. Nice homes. Safe neighborhoods. Strong businesses."

And it seems to be getting its message across. It's hard, county officials say, to ignore residents, business people, school officials and nonprofit organizations working together, asking for the same things.

P. David Fields, head of the county Office of Community Conservation, talks with members of the Loch Raven Business Association and Greater Loch Raven Community Council once every couple of weeks.

"We are prepared to help people help themselves," said Fields, whose group deals specifically with revitalizing older suburban communities. "Loch Raven is a terrific example of that. They don't sit around, whine and complain. They get things done."

Loch Raven was once dotted with farms, cattle and orchards. But during World War II, companies such as Bendix -- now Raytheon -- and Black & Decker Corp. began building homes for thousands of people who worked there, transforming the area into small-town suburbia.

Homes in the Loch Raven community -- which is loosely bounded by the Baltimore Beltway to the north, Perring Parkway to the east, Goucher Boulevard to the west and the city line to the south -- sell for about $50,000 to $300,000.

Problems began in the 1980s, as older residents died or moved away, leaving many homes empty. More apartment complexes were built; residents became more transient. Businesses started closing, and crime increased.

In 1992, in a sign of how far things had fallen, Officer Pete Hanlon was shot and wounded while filling out paperwork in his squad car, parked in an area near Hillendale called the Solar System because of its astronomically inspired street names.

'People were afraid'

"People were afraid for themselves," said Capt. Charles W. Rapp, commander of the Towson Precinct. "It was a red-flag area."

For residents, losing the library and senior center were evidence that Loch Raven was becoming a long, bleak, concrete runway of decaying strip malls.

"It was dirty and nasty the way they told us," recalled Laura Ruby, a 79-year-old from Loch Raven Village who used to frequent the old senior center. "They called us into the cafeteria and told us, 'Tomorrow's your last day.' Everybody cried."

How, residents asked, could an area represented by two state senators, six delegates and two County Council members fail to get political attention?

Residents decided they'd had enough. They resurrected neighborhood associations and pulled together the community council and the business association.

They did research and assembled handouts, maps, graphics and letters. They sent those packages to the county executive, County Council and various agencies. They appeared at hearings and publicized their pleas.

The result? A minilibrary reopened last year. So did a senior nutrition center, open two days a week. Both are limited operations, community members admit, but it's a start.

"I think it's wonderful. It's better than nothing," said Catherine Kandefer, 79, a volunteer aerobics instructor at the nutrition center. "We love it. We all took it very hard when they closed it down. We never thought we'd get it back."

Every small victory is accomplished through a concerted effort.

"They know who to get information to and they know to hit everybody from every direction," said Wayne M. Skinner. He was president of the community council for three years until his election to the County Council last year as the greater Towson area's representative.

A private, nonprofit loan and counseling group called Neighborhood Housing Services Inc. moved into the area and helped hundreds of people buy homes in Hillendale.

Loch Raven and Hillendale Elementary schools were turned into academies that offer magnet programs to help children do better. Schools have improved dramatically, officials say.

Hillendale was designated a crime "hot spot," opening the area to federal funding for crime-prevention programs. A Police Athletic League opened near Halstead Academy, as did a minisubstation in the Ravenwood Shopping Center in the Four Corners shopping complex at Taylor Avenue and Loch Raven Boulevard.

Drop in violent crime

From 1997 to last year, total violent crime in the hot-spot area dropped 28.2 percent. Robberies were down by 38.5 percent and property crimes down by 29.2 percent, police said.

On the commercial front, Towson Marketplace is undergoing renovation, as did Pleasant Plains Shopping Center in the Four Corners complex. There are still many empty businesses in the corridor, but CVS has broken ground for a building there and Rite Aid is preparing to move in across the street.

Even a recent fire that destroyed the headquarters of the Loch Raven Optimists Club has not dampened spirits: Some see it as a chance for further renovation in the area.

Still, Loch Raven community members say there's more to do. Design work for the area's revitalization project will begin in the spring. That project will add trees and brick sidewalks to soften the area's concrete image and will link the Four Corners shopping centers with pedestrian walkways.

Said Mary Poehlman, 70, who has lived in Hillendale for 40 years: "Things are more than up. They are good."

Pub Date: 3/07/99