Abstract:
For the first time, Middle East Baltimore residents were invited to speak at a Hopkins campus about concerns they have with area development - changes they feel that are destroying their community....
This is a very real issue impacting residents in East Baltimore. Interestingly enough I was contacted a few weeks ago by a landlord who is concerned that his ballooning property taxes will make it impossible for him to keep renting to low-income families because he will need to raise the rent out of economic range to make any profit of the rental unit.
I don't think anyone is against adding more green spaces and new housing for residents. The current renovations and park additions are beautiful. Unfortunately, most of the former and current low-income residents of East Baltimore aren't benefiting from these modifications. Wouldn't it have been great if Hopkins had included the creation of a Community Educational Center in each sector of its development? Each center could have housed a computer lab, classroom space for GED programs, and provided satellite office space for social workers, workforce development counselors, and family support staff to assist neighborhood residents in getting resources to enhance their quality of living. Thus as the neighborhood changed for the better, so would the lives of the people who have historically lived in it.
The bottom line is Hopkins, EBDI and the city could care less about the residents. This is about money, period point blank. Im rehabbing a house that is right in the redevelopement zone on a preservation block and they are trying to take it and not even pay off my mortgage. The real crooks are the ones taking peoples property for profit. http://www.fliprent.com/category/johns-hopkins-biotech/
Spring Break
Lynn Pinder
posted 10/18/08 @ 2:39 PM EST
I don't think anyone is against adding more green spaces and new housing for residents. The current renovations and park additions are beautiful. Unfortunately, most of the former and current low-income residents of East Baltimore aren't benefiting from these modifications. Wouldn't it have been great if Hopkins had included the creation of a Community Educational Center in each sector of its development? Each center could have housed a computer lab, classroom space for GED programs, and provided satellite office space for social workers, workforce development counselors, and family support staff to assist neighborhood residents in getting resources to enhance their quality of living. Thus as the neighborhood changed for the better, so would the lives of the people who have historically lived in it.