04-02-2024, 11:02 PM
In the 1960s, the neighborhood we now live in (Fell's Point, Baltimore, MD) was a colorful mix of neighborhood bars, visiting sailors, whores, drunks, 18th century houses, wharves, industry, and warehouses. But the city planned to connect I-83 with I-95. The plan as laid out was going to cut a swathe through Baltimore's oldest neighborhoods, including Fell's Point. These neighborhoods were white but they were working class, and developers and city planners didn't really care about them much more than they cared about the people of color who lived in the city.
Then we had the Road Fight, led by future Senator Barbara Mikulski, and Fell's Point was saved. There were tons of empty houses that the city had forced people out of via eminent domain with chintzy pricing, and it was a great place to buy a house CHEAP. And lots of storefronts. People bought places, moved in, opened junk shops and antique stores and consignment shops and head shops and Mom and Pop stores. Edie the Egg Lady from the Johns Waters movies had a shop on Broadway. It was fun and funky and inexpensive.
Then, gentrification hit. People bought the old houses and renovated them and the prices began to go up until they boggled the mind. So of course, here come the developers. They bought warehouses and made them into office buildings. They bought empty land and began to develop it.
The next thing we knew, the newcomers in their renovated manses were rewriting zoning to eliminate as much commercial use as they possibly could, which meant months and months of meetings and battles and having things grandfathered in. God forbid you should own a storefront that wasn't being used as a storefront at that moment, goodbye commercial zoning. Because the newcomers wanted a Quaint Historical Maritime Village.
But the joke's on them, because developers moved in and began building big apartment complexes and getting height variances and parking variances and now they have to fight like hell to try to keep the place Quaint.
There aren't even as many bars, because the newcomers bought houses in the middle of over 100 bars and then freaked out because they were surrounded by over 100 bars. Gradually the little neighborhood bars are all dying out, and mostly only the larger bar/restaurants are still around. As the original owners retire, their businesses are bought and turned into chi chi places for upscale folks in their million dollar private homes.
And there it is. It's evolution, I grant you, but it was driven by money and not by people.
And maybe the old folks DID object to the big apartment buildings. Because they know the neighborhood is going to end up pricing them right out. And taking all the fun and local color away.
Then we had the Road Fight, led by future Senator Barbara Mikulski, and Fell's Point was saved. There were tons of empty houses that the city had forced people out of via eminent domain with chintzy pricing, and it was a great place to buy a house CHEAP. And lots of storefronts. People bought places, moved in, opened junk shops and antique stores and consignment shops and head shops and Mom and Pop stores. Edie the Egg Lady from the Johns Waters movies had a shop on Broadway. It was fun and funky and inexpensive.
Then, gentrification hit. People bought the old houses and renovated them and the prices began to go up until they boggled the mind. So of course, here come the developers. They bought warehouses and made them into office buildings. They bought empty land and began to develop it.
The next thing we knew, the newcomers in their renovated manses were rewriting zoning to eliminate as much commercial use as they possibly could, which meant months and months of meetings and battles and having things grandfathered in. God forbid you should own a storefront that wasn't being used as a storefront at that moment, goodbye commercial zoning. Because the newcomers wanted a Quaint Historical Maritime Village.
But the joke's on them, because developers moved in and began building big apartment complexes and getting height variances and parking variances and now they have to fight like hell to try to keep the place Quaint.
There aren't even as many bars, because the newcomers bought houses in the middle of over 100 bars and then freaked out because they were surrounded by over 100 bars. Gradually the little neighborhood bars are all dying out, and mostly only the larger bar/restaurants are still around. As the original owners retire, their businesses are bought and turned into chi chi places for upscale folks in their million dollar private homes.
And there it is. It's evolution, I grant you, but it was driven by money and not by people.
And maybe the old folks DID object to the big apartment buildings. Because they know the neighborhood is going to end up pricing them right out. And taking all the fun and local color away.