JUST AS the campaigns for mayor and City Council are about to begin, Baltimore is on the verge of a major real-estate take-off. Consider:
Construction in the empty Key Highway area of the Inner Harbor is turning vacant land into townhouses. Developers are studying a nearby parcel for a luxury hotel and the HarborView condominium complex is exploring expansion.
A $100 million capital commitment by NationsBank, bolstered by the Weinberg Foundation's $71 million redevelopment proposal, shows the long-awaited renewal of the Howard Street corridor no longer is a pipe dream.
Developers are showing serious interest in two vacant waterfront parcels in Fells Point that total nearly 40 acres.
This promising activity contrasts starkly with what's going on in many traditional neighborhoods. Each month, about 1,000 people move out of the city , leaving behind deteriorating communities and vacant houses that become magnets for vandals. As residents flee, so do retail businesses. Even as big food chains have added supermarkets, it is nearly impossible to buy household linens and draperies in the city.
The next mayor and City Council must act to stop this hemorrhage. Unless the exodus of middle-class residents is reversed, Baltimore will lose its tax base and viability.
During his six years as housing commissioner, Daniel P. Henson III has come to recognize this. Increasingly, he is talking about the need to have "people with wallets" living in Baltimore for the city to thrive.
Several neighborhoods -- including Mount Washington, Roland Park, Canton and Federal Hill -- are doing fine. Many others, though, need help. Here is a partial list: Bolton Hill-Reservoir Hill, Union Square-Franklin Square-Hollins Market, Lafayette Square, Howard Park-Forest Park, Ednor Gardens-Waverly-Lakeside, Patterson Park-Highlandtown, Montebello-Belair-Edison, Windsor Hills-Walbrook Junction, Govans, Edmondson Village, Irvington, Pigtown, and Morrell Park.
This extensive sample shows the problem the next mayor and City Council face. That's why all the candidates must outline what they would do to make neighborhoods stronger throughout Baltimore.
Among the key questions is the role the government should play. Since the 1960s, urban renewal here and elsewhere in the United States has been driven by government programs. Preference has been given to big construction projects instead of trying to repair and strengthen the fabric of existing communities.
City Hall still has enormous powers. But much of the successful action has moved to the private sector, due to the Community Reinvestment Act's requirement that financial institutions provide loans in underserved communities.
Baltimore should take better advantage of that source for capital. An infusion of private money, coupled with imaginative housing policies, could be key to strengthening city neighborhoods.
Pub Date: 3/21/99