Baltimore's Dollar House Program
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BALTIMORE’S BRICK WALLS AN OBSERVATION OF BALTIMORE’S DOLLAR HOUSE PROGRAM BALTIMORE CITY, MARYLAND A CREATIVE PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE MASTER OF SCIENCE IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION BY JENNIFER A GERDOM DR. ERIC DAMIAN KELLY, PROFESSOR OF URBAN PLANNING – COMMITTEE CHAIR SCOTT TRUEX, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF URBAN PLANNING – COMMITTEE MEMBER LOHREN DEEG, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF URBAN PLANNING – COMMITTEE MEMBER BALL STATE UNIVERSITY MUNCIE, INDIANA DECEMBER 2015 Baltimore’s Brick Walls An Observation of Baltimore’s Dollar House Program Figure i: Illustrative drawing of Otterbein neighborhood when complete. Image extracted from the Otterbein Homestead Area Guidelines For Exterior Restoration. http://www.theotterbein.org/wp/wp- content/uploads/otterdocs/OCA%20Guidelines%20for%20Exterior%20Restoration.pdf i Acknowledgements There have been many people throughout my academic career who have guided and supported me, and helped me finalize this paper. I would like to acknowledge some of them here. I wish to express my sincere appreciation to my thesis committee, Dr. Eric D. Kelly, Professor Scott Truex, and Professor Lohren Deeg, who have all been incredibly encouraging, and remained committed to my education throughout the writing of this paper. They have provided me with knowledge and memories that will never leave me. Mr. M. Jay Brodie was responsive to my many questions regarding this paper, and I am grateful for his time. He shared with me his excitement and passion for this topic, which became instilled within me. I would also like to express my gratitude to my husband and father-in-law, both of whom helped me focus, and pushed me forward. They have truly helped me stay on task. Thank you to my parents, who have always been my biggest fans and have continuously supported me throughout my college endeavors, and in life. Finally, my past professor, mentor, and life-long friend, Rhonda L. Deeg, has helped me pave my way through this field, and showed me what it meant to be passionate about preservation. I could not have done this without her, and for her support, I will be forever thankful. ii Table of Contents Abstract ____________________________________________________________________ 1 Chapter Summaries ___________________________________________________________ 3 Chapter 1: Dollar House Program Introduction _____________________________________ 4 1.1 Baltimore City Overview _______________________________________________________ 9 1.1.1 The Row House ____________________________________________________________________ 16 1.2 Objective __________________________________________________________________ 28 Chapter 2: Terminology and Key Concepts ________________________________________ 29 2.1 Historic Preservation & Urban Planning _________________________________________ 29 2.2 Gentrification & Displacement _________________________________________________ 32 2.3 Urban Renewal _____________________________________________________________ 36 2.3.1 How does Urban Renewal relate to the Dollar House Program? _____________________________ 40 2.4 Urban Homesteading and Related Terms: What do they mean? ______________________ 42 2.4.1 Urban Pioneer ____________________________________________________________________ 43 2.4.2 Sweat Equity ______________________________________________________________________ 44 Chapter 3 – Baltimore’s Dollar House Program ____________________________________ 49 3.1 Baltimore and Beyond: Program Introduction ____________________________________ 51 3.2 Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, Section 810 _____________________ 56 3.2.1 Program Requirements _____________________________________________________________ 57 3.3 Program Goals & Objectives ___________________________________________________ 61 3.4 Guidelines: Administrative & Architectural _______________________________________ 62 3.5 Funding ___________________________________________________________________ 65 3.5.1 Rehabilitation Environmental Assistance Loans __________________________________________ 66 3.5.2 Section 312 _______________________________________________________________________ 68 3.5.3 Sweat Equity ______________________________________________________________________ 69 Chapter 4: Case Studies _______________________________________________________ 71 4.1 Stirling Street _______________________________________________________________ 73 4.1.1 Context and History ________________________________________________________________ 74 4.1.2 Dollar House Program ______________________________________________________________ 85 4.1.3 Visual Assessment of Present Day Neighborhood _________________________________________ 89 4.2 Otterbein __________________________________________________________________ 96 4.2.1 Context and History ________________________________________________________________ 97 4.2.2 Dollar House Program _____________________________________________________________ 101 4.2.3 Visual Assessment of Present Day Neighborhood ________________________________________ 109 iii 4.3 Barre Circle _______________________________________________________________ 115 4.3.1 Context and History _______________________________________________________________ 116 4.3.2 The Dollar House Program __________________________________________________________ 121 4.3.3 Visual Assessment of Present Day Neighborhood ________________________________________ 125 4.4 Beyond the Case Studies _____________________________________________________ 130 Chapter 5: Observations ______________________________________________________ 133 5.1 Doubts and Criticisms _______________________________________________________ 133 5.2 What became of the program? _______________________________________________ 136 5.3 Was the Dollar House program successful? ______________________________________ 139 5.4 Raise the question: Can The Dollar House Program be resurrected in Baltimore? _______ 148 Chapter 6: Conclusion ________________________________________________________ 162 Appendix - A _______________________________________________________________ 165 Appendix - B _______________________________________________________________ 167 Bibliography _______________________________________________________________ 177 iv Abstract Creative Project: Baltimore’s Brick Walls, An Observation of Baltimore’s Dollar House Program Student: Jennifer Ashley Gerdom Degree: Master of Science in Historic Preservation College: Architecture and Planning Date: December 2015 Pages: 193 This Creative Project describes and examines the brief history of the Dollar House Program, an urban revitalization program implemented in Baltimore, Maryland, starting in 1973 and lasting into the 1980s. Three of the Baltimore neighborhoods which were included in the program, Stirling Street, Otterbein, and Barre Circle, are described and discussed. This paper explains how Baltimore helped the program to become nationally recognized, and describes the impact the program has had within these neighborhoods. When implemented nationally, what began as the Dollar House Program eventually became known as the Urban Homesteading Demonstration Program. It allowed cities throughout the United States to apply for federal funding under Section 810 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. In the fall of 1975, the national program took effect, and twenty-three cities utilized this program. Within this document, the author presents the funding methods, goals, and guidelines which helped define the Dollar House Program, focusing on Baltimore’s adaptation. While the 1 program’s guidelines proved it to be well-structured, they also allowed officials representing the cities involved to put some of their own ideas into practice. In order to make this program affordable, Baltimore found that not only was federal funding necessary, but funding from the city would also be crucial in the efforts to incentivize middle-income suburban families to move into the homesteads. Key components of both the national program and that of Baltimore, which helped make urban homesteading possible, are discussed. The author found the ideologies of urban pioneering and sweat equity, for example, were essential to the process of building communities and the establishment of pride in home ownership throughout the rehabilitation efforts. Each case study will review its neighborhood’s history and their implementation of the Dollar House Program, as well as provide a present-day assessment of the area. This will help to establish the impact of the overall program on Baltimore. At the conclusion of the presentation regarding the Dollar House Program, the author presents her doubts and criticisms pertaining to the program, and also conveys the fate of urban homesteading under the 1974 act. The degree of success the program achieved is discussed at the neighborhood and city levels, and is explored through topics including current market values, past resident income levels, and the city’s dedication to the program and its homesteaders. Baltimore’s efforts to manage abandoned properties after the Dollar House Program was terminated are then examined. These observations ultimately lead to the question of whether or not the program could be reestablished in modern-day Baltimore. 2 Chapter Summaries Chapter one introduces and summarizes the overall concept of the Dollar House Program prior to going into detail in following chapters. The brief description of Baltimore