Reflections on Baltimore and a City’s Identity

“We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.”

-Winston Churchill

What gives a city its soul?  What gives a collection of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people a collective identity?  What does it mean to be “from” Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, or New York?  How does this identity shape our actions, our perceptions, and our buildings?  Why does the general attitude of a San Francisco native differ so dramatically from someone raised in Detroit?  And are these differences real, or are they just our perceptions, the labels we place on others in order to make sense of our scrambled, complex, incomprehensible world?

For the past two weeks, I have been in Baltimore.  In many ways, Baltimore immediately struck me as being similar to St. Louis: huge disparities between the haves (mostly white) and the have-nots (mostly blacks), widespread post-industrial decay, and beautiful early 20^th century buildings now crumbling from neglect.  Yet Baltimore is very different from St. Louis, Cleveland, Detroit, or other post-industrial rust belt Midwest cities.  It was, and to a lesser degree, remains, a major port on the Eastern Seaboard.  Baltimore’s Harbor remains central to its identity, and residents here seem keenly aware of their connection to larger Chesapeake Bay. 

So what makes Baltimore “Bmore,” “The Charm City,” or the self-proclaimed “America’s Greatest City?”  How do Baltimorians come together to form a collective self-image?  And is there even a singular image for the city?  After all, Baltimore has 212 unique self-identified neighborhoods.  Perhaps in this city of 637,000, there is no identity, and the neighborhood reigns supreme.

In some places in the city, you can immediately tell exactly where one neighborhood changes into another neighborhood.  While some large swathes of Baltimore are poor and other areas are rich, a rich neighborhood may be located adjacent to a poor neighborhood and abruptly transition.  While riding my bike home from BNEC headquarters in Clifton Park (a relatively poor, mostly black neighborhood), I pass through CHM (aka, Coldstream, Homestead, and Montebello).  This neighborhood is even poorer than Clifton Park, as evidenced by decaying homes, litter in the streets, and shoddily constructed traffic lights.  Going up the Alameda, a main thoroughfare in Baltimore, I pass through two more neighborhoods, with conditions slightly better than CHM.

Yet, when I cross over from the Woodbourne-McCabe neighborhood into Homeland, the difference is dramatic.  Immediately, trees appear, houses are better up-kept, and the faces change from black to white.  After I enter into the gated, town-home community in which I have been staying, I can see no sign of the grit or poverty of Baltimore.  With this immediate context, I could be somewhere in my hometown of Schaumburg in the Chicago suburbs.

Another setting: on Saturday night, I ventured with my hosts to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, the City’s main tourist attraction.  The Inner Harbor was once Baltimore’s busiest shipping dock, and now features restaurants, shopping, a science center, the Museum of Industry, and the famous Baltimore National Aquarium.  When Harbor Place, the first attraction of the Inner Harbor, opened in 1980, it helped spur the revitalization of downtown Baltimore.  After trying a crab-cake sandwich for dinner and sampling some Rita’s Italian Ice, I felt quite satisfied and happy to be in the Baltimore.  But is the Inner Harbor really Baltimore?  Is a city defined by its tourist destinations?

Last weekend, I attended a Baltimore Orioles game with a Wash U friend who lives in Baltimore County.  Like my friend and me, most of the fans attending the game were not from Baltimore City proper.  Many were from Baltimore County or in other suburban counties.  Other fans might currently live in Baltimore but did not grow up in the city.  Are these fans, who embody the image of Baltimore as “Birdland,” emblematic of the City of Baltimore?   After all, most are not from the city.  Yet, to the outside world, the Orioles are one of the main images of Baltimore.  Is this then a false perception, a mask of the “real” Baltimore?

During my time spent with BNEC, I traveled through many Baltimore neighborhoods.  I saw many areas that were very poor, but also explored some middle and upper class neighborhoods.  I accompanied a canvassing trip to a middle class residential neighborhood, went on a home visit to a poor woman’s row home in CHM, and listened to parents and teachers at a tabling event at Highlandtown Elementary.  In addition, I ran and biked through the luxurious neighborhoods surrounding Johns Hopkins University, where old homes of brick lined streets with extravagant ponds and well-groomed trees.  All of this diversity is contained within the city limits of Baltimore.  So, which of these neighborhoods holds the “true” identity of the city?

Perhaps this search for a Baltimore identity is just a matter of semantics.  Obviously, the idea of Baltimore is different for different people.  For a member of the perpetually poor black underclass, Baltimore will mean something completely different from the wealthy professor at Johns Hopkins.  But I do feel that the City of Baltimore, as with any other American city, does have a strong sense of place.  This summer, I hope to observe this sense of local identity and try to understand how hundreds of thousands of people can come together to create a shared purpose for a city.

This contemplation is not merely for my own amusement.  I believe that understanding place-making, and particularly understanding what makes a city thrive, is essential for our society’s future well-being.  We face tremendous challenges: climate destabilization, soon to be chronic water shortages, rapidly increasing inequalities, continued segregation and oppression of racial minorities, and still burgeoning demands for energy.  If we do not intentionally design our cities in ways that our conducive to our own human well-being, I say no way for us to deal with any of these monumental challenges.  And local culture plays a huge role in the dynamics of place; paraphrasing Winston Churchill, we shape the built environment, but then our buildings go on to shape us.

Baltimore, with all of its problems, is still managing to make progress and to improve.  The city has a developed a comprehensive sustainability plan and has an Office of Sustainability permanently located within the Planning Department.  The City has also managed to leverage partnerships between key community foundations, non-profits, and research institutions to provide services that simultaneously lift people out of poverty and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  I am not sure if this success is due to the determination of Baltimore citizens, charismatic leaders, or innovative non-profits, but I believe that all of these factors are necessary for a city to move forward. Can we learn something from Baltimore’s actions and apply its approach to cities nationwide?

I do not have the arrogance to think that my summer of traveling will yield any answers to the questions I have posed.  People have dreamt of utopian place-making since the dawn of civilization, yet very few cities manage to even satisfactorily meet all of its residents’ basic needs.  However, I do believe that the lessons of the past, as well as the lessons of the present, must serve as guideposts in our struggle to create a better future. 

So Baltimore, whether your identity rests in the decaying houses of CHM or the shiny, somewhat phony facades of the Inner Harbor, thank you for having me.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and I hope that the knowledge you have provided me over the past two weeks will serve me well in the future.

The Baltimore Row Home and Urban Design

As I travel this summer, I plan to reflect on the various architectural and neighborhood designs of the places I visit.  I believe that reshaping the built environment, and our expectations of neighborhoods, is a key component of our effort to create a sustainable future.

While in Baltimore, I was very impressed by the architecture of the famous Baltimore row homes.  To illustrate, here are some pictures of the row homes:

At first glance, these homes reminded me of the “shotgun” houses prevalent in The Hill and other St. Louis neighborhoods.  However, instead of existing as separate boxes, row homes are constructed side by side, so that each home shares the length of two walls with neighboring houses.  Some row homes are ornate, with Victorian style upper extensions and welcoming porches.  Other row homes are simpler, with a vertical front and a small step instead of a porch.  Like older St. Louis architecture, some row homes have been remarkably well maintained, while others are boarded up and have fallen into disrepair.  In most cases, the state of the row home is a good estimation of the state of the whole neighborhood.

According to my friends at BNEC, most of the Baltimore row homes were built in the early 20th century to house factory workers.  The homes seem fairly inexpensive to construct and do a great job at maximizing urban density.  While most row homes are very energy inefficient due to their age, I understand that they can be retrofitted to significantly improve their building performance.

I find something about brick homes and older, turn of the century building to be inherently pleasing.   These buildings feel so much more authentic than the aluminum clad houses or McMansions of suburban subdivisions.  To me, older homes hold a certain level of individual craft and charm.  These homes were built very intentionally, with purpose and care.  Even the Baltimore row homes, which are by in many ways are standardized copies, contain a level of detail I rarely see in modern homes.  Their exteriors are not bland spaces behind which residents retreat to solitarily watch TV.  These buildings have character, with upper windows that jut jauntily out above welcoming porches. 

While biking past row homes on way to BNEC, I often observed people having conversations on their porches, while others simply sat quietly and watched the street.  These were not sterilized neighborhood devoid of life; these were neighborhoods that thrived on social interactions, where people acknowledge one another’s existence.  From my BNEC friends, I learned that most Baltimore neighborhoods have a strong sense of identity, with active neighborhood associations, frequent block parties, and neighbors in constant communication.  These cohesive neighborhood dynamics make it much easier for BNEC to collect pledges from Baltimore residents.  I know few suburban settings that have a similar sense of community.

Lest I only romanticize about Baltimore neighborhoods filled with beautiful row homes, I should note that many, if not most, of Baltimore’s neighborhoods have major problems.  Crime and drugs are widely prevalent, and poverty and unemployment are rampant.  In many places, it seems that a culture of hopelessness, created by years of public neglect, precludes the potential for improvement.  Many people in these poor black Baltimore neighborhoods lack educational opportunities and turn to drugs or alcohol to cope.  In these neighborhoods many row homes are abandoned and crumbling, and the social infrastructure of a sense of community has also decayed considerably.

Yet, the “privileged” children of the suburbs still have a lot to learn from some of the social habits of “inner city” families in Baltimore.  How many of us know our neighbors?  How many of us have ever attended a community block party?  How many of us have ever sat on our porches, simply observing the world, and talking with anyone who walks by?  How many of us even live in houses with porches?

For myself, I have begun to redefine the “good life.”  I now feel that true relationships, being part of a supportive community, and living in a meaningful way hold true secrets to sustaining happiness.  The built environment has a tremendous impact on our ability to engage socially and create a sense of “community” within a neighborhood.  If we build our homes like fortresses and design our streets to be welcoming to cars but not pedestrians, is it any wonder that we do not know more people in our neighborhoods?  If we make it impossible for people to walk or bike to their jobs or to the grocery store, is it any wonder that our nation is obese and constantly irate due to long commutes?

The Baltimore row home, and the behaviors I casually observed of many Baltimore residents, show the great potential for urban design.  By emphasizing livability, density, and community, we can create better neighborhoods.  But it is vital to understand the larger regional context of a neighborhood, and to think about urban design on all levels.  Urban design works well because neighborhoods are surrounded by other neighborhoods, which leads to a larger sense of identity for the whole city.  If urban design principles are applied in isolation, you can end up with something like New Town in St. Charles, MO: a great attempt to capture New Urbanism ideas, but a result that feels rather like a Disney Theme Park attraction surrounded by rural Missouri farmland.

The BNEC Energy Savers Kit

Anyone who signs the BNEC Pledge receives a free BNEC Energy Savers Kit. The kit contains several energy conservation “goodies” that can help residents immediately start saving energy. Below is a list of items included in the kit, along with a short rationale for the item:

·         A BNEC reusable shopping bag

o   According to BNEC, it costs cities an average of $0.17 to dispose of one plastic bag

o   Plastic bags are energy intensive and damaging to the environment (see “the Great Pacific Garbage patch”)

·         An outdoor-rated CFL (compact fluorescent light bulb)

o   CFLs use about 70% less energy and last 4 to 10 times longer than what BNEC terms “old-fashioned” incandescent light bulbs

o   Over the life of a CFL (typically 9-10 years), the bulb can save up to $50 in energy savings

·         Draft stopper gaskets (for switches and outlets)

o   Electrical outlets and switches on the exterior of a home often are not insulated and leak in outside air, thereby reducing the effectiveness of a home’s heating/cooling system.

o   The draft stoppers included in the kit are easy to install, and can serve as a great energy conservation educational opportunity for the whole family

·         A first-aid kit

o   This kit is included to show that BNEC cares about residents’ health and safety as well as energy conservation

·         A toilet tank bank

o   This simple tool can substantially reduce the amount of water used in each toilet flush.  Simply filly up the durable bag with water, plop it into the toilet tank, and you will save about a gallon of water every time the toilet is flushed.

·         Light switch decals to remind residents to switch off the lights

o   These decals remind folks in the home to turn off the light-switch when leaving a room.  While this may result in only minimal energy savings, it helps to instill a culture of energy conservation within the household.

·         A Home Energy Savers Guide from the Department of Energy

o   This comprehensive guide shows residents a variety of ways they can save energy in the home.  For the equivalent information online, see http://www.energysavers.gov/

Each kit provided costs BNEC about $6.  BNEC views this as a worthy investment in order to spur reductions in household energy usage.  The free items in the kit also often provide the incentive needed for Baltimore residents to sign up to take the pledge.  Here is a picture of the pledge kit’s items:

Besides the free energy conservation items, the BNEC Energy Savers Kit also contains a list of “Top Ten Actions” list for easy ways to save energy in the home.  The list includes switching all lightbulbs to CFLs, using a programmable thermostat, and using power strips to eliminate vampire power.  A picture of the the “Top Ten Actions” list is included below:

In addition, the BNEC kit also contains information on the “Top Ten Resources” available to folks to save even more energy.  Many of these programs are specifically targeted for folks with limited incomes.  Programs include:

·         The BGE (local Baltimore Utility) Quick Home Energy Check-Up

o   Provides 15 CFLs, 2 faucet aerators, and 1 low-flow showerhead

·         The federal Weatherization Assistance Program

o   Can provide a complete energy efficient retrofit for residents below a certain income level

·         BGE Peak Rewards

o   Provides a free home programmable thermostat if the resident gives BGE permission to briefly suspend the home’s heating/cooling system during periods of peak demand

A picture of the “Top Ten Resources” sheet is included below:

Ultimately, BNEC hopes that the pledge and the accompanying Energy Savers kit help residents change their wasteful energy habits for the long-term.  The BNEC Americorps community organizers follow up with each pledge signatory with a phone call to ask if the resident has any questions regarding the kit or other energy savings opportunities.  However, the level of BNEC support may vary significantly depending on whether the volunteer Energy Captains for the neighborhood are particularly motivated.

For more information regarding BNEC, please e-mail info@baltimorenergychallenge.org

Case Study #1: Overview of the Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge (BNEC)

My first case study for my summer research is the Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge, or BNEC for short.  BNEC is an energy conservation initiative based out of the City of Baltimore’s Office of Sustainability.  BNEC primarily focuses on educating Baltimore residents about low-to-no cost measures they can take to reduce energy consumption and lower their utility bills.  Thus far, BNEC only organizes in select Baltimore Neighborhoods, but it plans to move into a more open city-wide model next year.

BNEC’s central strategy to encourage residents to conserve energy is the BNEC Pledge, which states:

“I pledge on behalf of my household to reduce our energy use and help the city achieve its goal of 15% reduction in energy use by 2015.  I pledge to adopt no and low cost practices to help save my family money and conserve energy.  I pledge to share information that I have learn with my neighbors and friends and to encourage participation in the BNEC program.  I pledge to make my neighborhood a stronger, safe, and more sustainable community.”

 To participate in the program, a resident must simply sign the pledge.  In return for making this commitment, the resident receives a BNEC home energy savers kit.  The kit contains several free items (like a CFL and a toilet-tank bank), as well tips and resources on how residents can save energy in the home.  The BNEC kit also contains information on other energy savings programs that can help Baltimore residents save a substantial amount of energy.  For more information on the BNEC Energy Savers kit, see this post.

BNEC currently has two full time staff members.  Susan Carroll coordinates the program, and Alex Haworth serves as the assistant coordinator for community outreach.  In addition, BNEC has three full-time Americorps volunteers who serve as community organizers for BNEC’s 12 current neighborhoods.  These Americorps volunteers joined BNEC last fall and will complete their year of service by the end of the summer.

BNEC uses a variety of methods to reach out to Baltimore City residents.  One of the most innovative aspects of BNEC is its “Neighborhood Energy Captains,” trained volunteers that recruit their neighbors and fellow community members to be part of the challenge.   To identify potential Energy Captains, BNEC forms a partnership with the neighborhood’s community association or another 501c(3) organization.  BNEC then attends the organization’s meeting and recruits the attendees, who are likely already community leaders, to serve as Energy Captains.  BNEC staff then train the captains in energy saving techniques and provide BNEC kits, assistance, and encouragement to help the captain’s recruit other members of the community to take the pledge.

Through Energy Captains, BNEC can quickly gain the community’s trust and reach many more neighborhood residents than through staff outreach alone.  However, BNEC uses many other outreach tactics, including door-to-door canvassing, individual home visits, and tabling at community events.  BNEC also partners with neighborhood institutions, such as schools or churches, to reach even more residents.  Since BNEC began in 2009, its outreach has yielded close to 1200 pledges.

BNEC formed a partnership with the local utility, Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE), to assess the energy conservation impact of its pledge and educational efforts.  In the initial Pilot Phase, which targeted eight neighborhoods in 2009, pledge households reduced their electricity usage by an average of 6.6% compared to their non-pledge neighbors.  However, BNEC’s effect on natural gas consumption appears negligible, as pledge households in some neighborhoods achieved small reductions while other pledge-households slightly increased their natural gas consumption.  A diagram of the Pilot Round results is included below, with electricity changes in blue and natural gas changes in green:

Overall, I have been very impressed by BNEC.  The staff members are enthusiastic and dedicated, and few captains I talked with were very excited about the potential to save money through energy conservation.  BNEC is about to go through a transitional period and slightly change its program’s structure, but I after my two weeks in Baltimore I am confident that BNEC will continue to increase its pledges and serve as an important part of Baltimore’s effort to reduce its energy consumption by 15% by 2015.

For more information regarding BNEC, please e-mail info@baltimorenergychallenge.org