Patterson Park Area

Built just after the Civil War, Patterson Park is yet another of the many historic neighborhoods surrounding Baltimore’s downtown area that have been nearly destroyed by racial tensions, declining blue collar jobs and a poor economy. What makes it special is that, unlike so many of other neighborhoods, the past decade have seen it rise again like a Phoenix out of the ashes of poverty and violence.
Patterson Park’s fight back began in 1986, when the Patterson Park Neighborhood Association organized neighbors to take responsibility for their surroundings and improve what they had. Among its many other project, the PPNA has raised money to finance home improvements that are making Patterson Park’s old styles houses more modern and energy efficient. They have also gated many alleys that were once homes for drug deals and turned them into quiet, park like space where people can relax and garden.
The other player in Patterson Park’s renaissance is the Patterson Park Community Development Corporation, which oversaw renovations on more than 300 collapsing row houses before succumbing to the current economic crisis. This has led to an amazing drop in crime and a tremendous rise in home values. These improvements continue, even though the PPCDC is no longer in operation.