One Plus One in Central Baltimore

The new city wide sanitation services, known as One Plus One, start Monday, July 13, 2009. For the Central Baltimore neighborhoods of Barclay, Charles North, Greenmount West, and Old Goucher, the new system will be implemented in the following configuration:

• Neighborhoods below North Avenue to Mt. Royal Ave: Trash will be picked up on Wednesdays and recycling on Fridays.
• Neighborhoods above North Avenue to 25th Street: Trash will be picked up on Fridays and recycling on Wednesdays.

For more information about the One Plus One program and for a complete set of maps reflecting the new days of waste collection service city wide click on this link: http://cleanergreenerbaltimore.org/

New development coming to Greenmount West

Great article by Edward Gunts in the Baltimore Sun about the new City Arts development planned for the Greenmount West neighborhood of the Station North Arts & Entertainment District led by Central Baltimore Partnership partner, Jubilee-Baltimore, http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/real-estate/bal-re.arthousing21jun21,0,5408799.story

Greenmount West Mayor's Spring Cleaning Event

On Saturday, April 18, 2009, the New Greenmount West Community Association (NGWCA) sponsored a spring cleaning event for the community in coordination with Mayor Dixon's Annual Spring Clean-Up event for Baltimore City. This event, which will serve as the spring board for other sanitation/clean streets initiatives in the Greenmount West community, was organized by the members of NGWCA with assistance from the Central Baltimore Partnership VISTA, Constance Maddox. Participation included not only area residents, but the Principal of the Montessori Public Charter School, Allison Shecter, staff, students and board members of the school as well as Keisha Trent from Baltimore Housing. In addition to cleaning problems areas in the community, the work crews also completed surveys of problem spots around the community to forward to the Baltimore Department of Public Works to address through their 311 Blitz system.

3 Neighborhoods Due Rehab Grants

A news brief was published in the April 14, 2009 Baltimore Sun about the Community Legacy and Annie E. Casey Grants received by the Central Baltimore Partnership. Click on the link to read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-bz.briefs141apr14,0,1192280.story

SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL INVESTMENTS ANNOUNCED FOR DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN CENTRAL BALTIMORE

The Central Baltimore Partnership has been awarded grants from the Maryland Community Legacy program and the Annie E. Casey Foundation totaling $410,000. The funds will be used for redevelopment projects in several Central Baltimore neighborhoods.

Through the Baltimore Neighborhood Collaborative, the Annie E. Casey Foundation has awarded a $50,000 grant for a pilot program that will better connect Goucher College, Johns Hopkins University, Maryland Institute College of Art and the University of Baltimore to ongoing community development efforts within Central Baltimore neighborhoods.

Additionally, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley has announced that the Community Legacy program will invest $235,000 in Central Baltimore. And Jubilee Baltimore, a non-profit community development organization, is committing $125,000 in Community Legacy funds it received in 2008 for the redevelopment of the Greenmount West Community Center. “We could not be more pleased at the infusion of both capital and confidence by these institutions,” said Joe McNeely, Executive Director of the Central Baltimore Partnership.

“With support of the Mayor and our elected officials, the Central Baltimore Partnership has created an impressive momentum for revitalization in a very short period of time. The work of the Partners – the community organizations, the universities, the city agencies – has been the backbone of that success. The Community Legacy and Anne E. Casey funds will take that momentum to the next level and help us create a critical mass of long term change,” said Fred Lazarus, President of Maryland Institute College of Art.

Community Legacy Foundation Grant

Grants of $235,000 from Maryland’s Community Legacy program will be coordinated through Jubilee Baltimore, a non-profit development and community revitalization organization. The funds will:

• Assist with the renovation of the historic North Avenue Market and the façade restoration at Load of Fun, a popular artist collective, studio and performance space on North Avenue.

• Support physical improvements to the Baltimore Montessori Public Charter School, located in the Greenmount West neighborhood in a formerly abandoned building that needs considerable work.

• Seed a revolving loan fund for the People’s Homesteading Group to rehabilitate six vacant houses targeted for mixed-income home ownership as part of the Anchors of Hope (Phase III-C) project located in the registered Maryland Historic District of Barclay.

In addition to the Community Legacy funds, Jubilee Baltimore will apply $125,000 in remaining funds from a 2008 Community Legacy award to redevelop the Greenmount West Community Center.

Annie E. Casey Foundation Grant

The Baltimore Neighborhood Collaborative, the Central Baltimore Partnership, and the Central Baltimore Higher Education Collaborative are the shared recipients of the $50,000 Annie E. Casey Foundation grant. The money will be used to deepen the engagement of the four area colleges in efforts to address the physical, economic and human conditions of the neighborhoods within Central Baltimore...

Initiatives developed by faculty, students, and staff will contribute to community redevelopment in the near term and cultivate a pipeline of future talent to support this work in the future.

Among the first projects to get off the ground is an initiative by the University of Baltimore that will provide technical assistance to small businesses in Central Baltimore. In another initiative, Johns Hopkins and the University of Baltimore will conduct a workforce analysis that can be used to improve training and job access for area residents.

Get a copy of the Charles North Vision Plan

To view or make a copy of the Charles North Vision Plan, the BTA+ "Charles North - Operations Manual" or the Charles North Vision Plan Brochure click on the corresponding links under the Charles North Vision Plan header to the right of the page - under Partner Organizations.

Mayor Dixon announces Charles North Vision Plan

This afternoon at the Baltimore City Mayor's weekly press conference at City Hall, Mayor Sheila Dixon formally endorsed the Charles North Vision Plan, a multi-phase development initiative to restore one of Baltimore's once great communities and turn it into a key residential, commercial, creative, and entertainment destination point for Baltimore residents and beyond. The Charles North area is at the center of a resurgent city and is a gateway for millions of people who enter Baltimore by rail or via the Jones Falls Expressway. The area is rich with assets in higher education, the arts and entertainment, architecture, transit infrastructure, and mixed-use development potential.

To read more about the Charles North Vision Plan and its potential impact please choose one of the following links: Presentation; Book.

Or read the feature article from the Baltimore Sun by Edward Gunts.

Welcome to the CBP

Central Baltimore is a collection of some of Baltimore's most historic neighborhoods situated between the rapidly developing Charles Village to the north, and Midtown / Mount Vernon to the south. It is, at once, the center of a resurgent city, and its gateway for millions of people who enter Baltimore by rail or via the Jones Falls Expressway.

The area is rich with assets in higher education, the arts, architecture, transit infrastructure, and mixed-use development.

The Central Baltimore Partnership is a consortia of individuals and organizations with interests in this important part of the region. It has quietly existed as a behind-the-scenes advocate for development and positive changes at the community level. In this regard, it is a new model for a Community Development Corporation, or CDC, that enables bottom-up action, not top-down management.

In its short tenure, the CBP has quietly amassed a number of accomplishments, including efforts to encourage market rate housing, foster commercial development, improve delivery of municipal services, and enforce building codes on properties that have been allowed to fall into disrepair. It has built an extensive network of members and partners that includes some of Baltimore's oldest community associations, newest entrepreneurs, and many of its most important foundations, institutes of higher learning, and cultural attractions.

At the heart of the CBP is a strong working relationship with the administrations of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon and Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley. Both have endorsed the CBP's five-point plan to improve its district:

• Foster a critical mass of large-scale, progressive commercial development;


• Measurably reduce crime;


• Improve the streetscape appearance and quality of life;


• Preserve and secure for the future a sustainable number of affordable and workforce housing, including artists housing;


• Promote successful and sustainable new market rate housing.

Improvements are being made in all these areas, and we are preparing to join Mayor Dixon for an exciting development announcement in the coming weeks. Check back here regularly for details and to find out how you can become involved.