The children playing kickball on the field at The Orchards at Severn know the rule: When the ball crosses over the fence and lands in Arwell Court, the game is over.

They're not supposed to climb the wrought-iron bars that separate their quiet community of affordable salmon-and-khaki-colored rental townhouses from one of Anne Arundel County's most dangerous streets.

Here, they learn to stay away from the back yards of Arwell Court, where daytime shootings and drug deals are all too common.

"It's dirty down there, and they have got a lot of dogs," said Ashley Sewell, 12, who frequently visits her grandmother at The Orchards, a few doors down from the field.

"It's a lot different here, a lot cleaner. This is basically a quiet place."

The Orchards struggles daily to keep it that way, even as crime and blight seem to engulf the rest of the area known as Pioneer City.

Like Arwell Court, just a few feet away, The Orchards caters to low- to middle-income residents, charging between $650 and $945 a month for its townhouse apartments.

But while Arwell Court residents endure neglectful landlords, boarded-up property, vicious dogs and loiterers, Orchards residents live in relative peace.

"It's like night and day," said Larry Lloyd, Anne Arundel County Housing Commission director. "When you go down Pioneer Drive, you can see the difference."

One major factor, say Lloyd and others, is who owns the property.

Although Arwell Court was built in the 1970s to attract low-income, first-time homebuyers, crime and drugs prompted many owners to sell to large landlords over the years.

Dozens of landlords own the street's 134 properties, creating a hodgepodge of standards that put neat flowerbeds next to yards strewn with discarded appliances.

Despite the condominium association's ban on pit bulls and Rottweilers, the dogs still roam.

Several years ago, the state took Arwell Court's largest landlord, Mohammad Zuberi, to court for failing to screen his tenants. The county Health Department is suing the Ellicott City resident for failing to make more than 1,000 repairs in 30 homes he owns on the street.

Arwell Court has become so dangerous that landlords can no longer accept Section 8 housing vouchers, and the military won't let soldiers at nearby Fort Meade redeem housing allowances there.

In contrast, one company - Tri-City Management of Hunt Valley - owns all 500 units at The Orchards and all 200 at Somerset Woods, a sister community on the other side of Arwell Court.

Since 1997, the company has spent more than $3 million upgrading The Orchards' brick-front townhouses.

A 'different setup'

Tri-City, which prohibits pets, also conducts criminal-background checks on all its tenants. About a third of the residents use Section 8 vouchers; another quarter of them are military personnel, according to Tri-City.

The Orchards has suffered its share of crime over the years. But unlike Arwell Court, the site of five shootings and one stabbing since 2000, police report few problems at The Orchards these days.

"When you have a lot of different landlords collecting rent versus one agency, it's just a whole different setup," said Western District police Capt. Athena Marpel.

A large part of the community's success hinges on its strong management staff, particularly Tri-City Regional Vice President Kristina Nelson.

Though Nelson oversees 33 communities in the region, she calls The Orchards her "baby." It is the only property she manages where residents hug her on the street.

"I don't have the same connection with any other property, and I don't take it lightly," said Nelson, who began her career as The Orchards' property manager 10 years ago. "We are succeeding here despite the obstacles."

Those on fixed incomes in a county with little affordable housing say they're thrilled to find a place where low-income doesn't mean rundown.

Valerie Thomas and her son, Kyron, moved to The Orchards from the Bywater community in Annapolis four years ago after she separated from her husband. Thomas, who walks in the neighborhood for exercise, said she doesn't worry about Kyron, 12, riding his bicycle around The Orchards.

"They have really upgraded this neighborhood from what it used to be," she said. "You ride through here and you ride through [Pioneer City] on a given day, and it looks like you're in another zone."

Ruth Payne has stayed 10 years, raising four children in her townhouse. She appreciates the maintenance staff so much that she occasionally cooks them a lunch of ribs and potatoes. Payne, 48, knows firsthand the difference between Arwell Court and The Orchards: Her mother once lived on Arwell, which Payne calls a "hellacious terror." Her daughter still lives there.

Thornton and Alice Marshall have rented at The Orchards nearly 30 years, moving in shortly after the community was built.

They're aware of the shootings on Arwell, but haven't let it disturb their lives. Recently, the Knoxville, Tenn., natives decided to retire in The Orchards.

"We would think about moving, and then we'd say, 'Why don't we just settle here?' We've been here so long, this is like home anyway," Alice Marshall said.

Building fences

To enhance the separation between the two communities, The Orchards erected the wrought-iron fence a few years ago, replacing a chain-link one. But it isn't a complete barrier.

Thomas and her neighbors still hear gunshots. On Pioneer Drive, they can't help but notice the mattresses and couches thrown in the yard - a sure sign another family has been evicted. And Nelson won't soon forget the time she saw a dog hanging from a tree.

Robert Farmer, president of the Warfield No. 3 Condominium Association, which governs Arwell Court, said he and Nelson have discussed the problems.

"They had a situation where people would come to The Orchards to rent a place, miss the rental office, and then turn around on Arwell. Then they would not want to rent," Farmer said.

Tri-City once considered buying Arwell Court's properties, then abandoned the idea because of resistance from large landlords there. But that may be changing.

Zuberi, who declared bankruptcy four years ago, now wants to sell his properties. More than 20 are boarded up - the Health Department won't let him rent them until he makes the repairs, which he says he can't afford - and the rest will become vacant in a few weeks.

Nelson is watching the court case closely and is not ruling out another overture to the board. And while that might not further the county's goal of increasing home ownership in Pioneer City, Farmer and other landlords say one good owner could lift up the whole neighborhood.

"I would love to see Arwell Court become something completely different," Nelson said.