Community Development
We encourage initiatives that attract resident investment in neighborhoods, promote sustainability, increase economic development opportunities, and nurture entrepreneurial talent. We aim to increase the livability of neighborhoods, the number of residents, the number of jobs, and the size of the tax base. We are interested in programs that address concentrated poverty, racial wealth disparities, and tie the economic health of Baltimore City to the region.
As successful households are key to neighborhood health, we support efforts to:
Abell-Supported Research: Whole Blocks, Whole City
There are nearly 15,000 vacant houses and 20,000 vacant lots in Baltimore City, with many thousands more at risk, the majority of which are found in predominantly Black, low-income neighborhoods. Baltimore can break this cycle of disinvestment through a whole block strategy.
The Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) is designed to preserve public housing and provide the funding necessary for long deferred capital improvements. Has the program achieved those objectives in Baltimore? This Abell Report offers some early assessments.
Vacant houses, uninhabitable due to abandonment or lack of owner investment, exert a heavy cost on neighborhoods and the City as a whole. This report calculates just how steep the public cost is and provides an economic backdrop for future action.
Have questions or want to discuss your idea for community development in Baltimore? Get in touch using the form below.
Header photo courtesy of ReBUILD Metro.