Today, a conversation about the idea of establishing a Land Bank as a way to solve the persistent problem of vacant and blighted properties that degrade many neighborhoods in Baltimore.
It’s not a new idea; land banks have been set up in many cities around the country. They are typically quasi-government agencies whose mission is to acquire dilapidated properties, clear the titles, and speed up redevelopment. But it’s an idea that has never quite gotten off the ground here in Baltimore. Back in 2009, Mayor Sheila Dixon proposed a version of a Land Bank, but the city council nixed the idea.
Baltimore's vacant housing crisis has not gone away, however, and the city's estimated 15,000 vacant properties still pose enormous challenges to adjacent communities, businesses and city leaders eager to erase the blight.
So what would a Land Bank look like in Baltimore City? Who would run it, and what would it cost?
Baltimore City Councilwoman Odette Ramos, who represents District 14 on the Council, has co-sponsored legislation that would establish a Land Bank. She joins Tom in Studio A to explain how it would work, and what it would mean for our city.
Then, we're joined by a housing advocate and non-profit developer with a unique perspective on land banks. Tom speaks with Bree Jones, a woman who left her job as a Wall Street analyst to work instead to halt the gentrification she saw destroying neighborhoods in her hometown of New Rochelle, New York. After some success there doing non-profit housing redevelopment, she moved to Baltimore, where she felt the need for equitable housing restoration was especially acute. In 2018 she founded Parity Homes, which is currently working to renovate and reclaim houses - without displacing residents - in Harlem Park, on Baltimore’s West side.
Bree Jones joins us on Zoom.
