| Greater Lauraville Overview
The NOGLI neighborhoods of northeast Baltimore are conveniently located to downtown Baltimore as well as the shopping and recreation centers of nearby suburbs. Major bus routes run along Harford Road, Echodale Avenue, and Moravia Road/Cold Spring Lane. Herring Run Park is a bustling and attractive community resource hosting sports teams from the city and county leagues. Nationally known Morgan State University bounds the neighborhoods to the west.
Most of Greater Lauraville's housing stock is greater than fifty years old. In fact, three of the six neighborhoods are either in the process of acquiring or already have their designation on the National Historic Register. Many of the houses feature detailed exteriors in styles ranging from Colonial Revival to Queen Anne to Craftsman; and include both brick and wood framed construction. Interior space ranges from cozy to spacious and most homes have ample yards by city standards. Crime in some categories, particularly crimes against persons, is among the lowest in the city. Despite the lure of lower property taxes and auto insurance rates in nearby suburbs, thousands of middle-income Baltimoreans choose to live here. Many have stayed for decades.
According to a 1996 study by the Morgan State University Institute for Urban Research, 77 percent of the housing units are in "sound" condition, leaving 23 percent as "deficient" in some way. The commercial corridor along Harford Road has tremendous potential, much of it unrealized. In recent years, despite a generally better crime rate than most of Baltimore, community residents have experienced an increase in crime. The local public schools, like those in most city neighborhoods, need comprehensive improvements. And so, Greater Lauraville residents have taken it upon themselves to address these challenges. A grassroots initiative led to the redevelopment of an abandoned bus barn on Harford Road into a thriving Safeway supermarket. It also laid the foundation for the Harford Road Partnership, Inc. (HARP), a community development corporation that promotes business development along the corridor. In 2002, HARP and NOGLI merged to comprehensively address the needs in our residential and commercial communities.
Neighborhood residents, working through their improvement associations and in collaboration with Northeast District police, have established a citizens-on-patrol program. The Garrett Heights Elementary School PTA has become increasingly active in addressing a variety of issues at the school. For many years the Herring Run Watershed Association has organized citizens to keep the park clean and to celebrate the watershed's impact on the Chesapeake Bay in a popular spring festival. Every September the Lauraville Improvement Association organizes a fair that has become an important event in Northeast Baltimore.
Greater Lauraville is a model middle class urban neighborhood, a vibrant, diverse, attractive and economically healthy community that would hold established residents and lure new families to city living. But to maintain this, we must improve the physical infrastructure and enhance the market value of Greater Lauraville's heart: its homes.
|
