Betsy Nelson: Living Cities program is gaining ground here
Fall of 2010, when we first announced Baltimore as one of five sites selected to remake America's great urban places and reconnect residents to economic opportunity, I declared that there was no more important work that we could undertake.
New housing sought at EBDI
Private builders are being sought to replace a cluster of rotting, vacant rowhouses in Middle East with at least 45 homes or duplexes that will list for up to $257,000 — the first market-rate housing built at the East Baltimore Development Inc. site since 2009. A request for proposals was released in June by Forest […]
EBDI will break ground Monday on $40M charter school
A $40 million public charter school at the 88-acre East Baltimore Development Inc. site is scheduled to break ground Monday. Construction of the 7-acre campus of the Elmer A. Henderson: A Johns Hopkins Partnership School is expected to officially begin at 5 p.m. in the 2100 block of Ashland Avenue A school has been operating […]
Y of Central Maryland names new board members
The Y of Central Maryland announced six newly appointed members to its Board of Directors at its annual meeting May 3. Kevin Anderson is athletic director at the University of Maryland, College Park, Previously, he held the same position at the United States Military Academy. Anderson is the second Vice President of the National Association of […]
Joe Nathanson: Next steps for Baltimore’s ‘next economy’
Periodically, various academics and think tank professionals have taken a look at the health of Baltimore’s economy. A study by the Washington-based Brookings Institution authored by Jennifer Vey is the latest, and it brings a refreshing new perspective to this line of inquiry. The report, funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is titled “Building […]
Betsy Nelson: Region needs to build on significant assets
Last month, I was fortunate enough to attend the first of a four-part Redefining Capital series hosted by the Federal Reserve of Richmond/Baltimore Branch and a number of community partners — including, proudly, the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers. This forum featured the release of Building from Strength: Creating Opportunity in Greater Baltimore’s Next Economy, […]
Battle brews over EBDI board appointment
A Baltimore City Council member continues to insist that he is appointing a community activist to the East Baltimore Development Inc. board of directors even though the nonprofit’s CEO says there are no openings on the board. “My recommendation stands,” said Warren Branch, whose district encompasses much of the 88-acre EBDI redevelopment site. “It doesn’t […]
Marchers demand jobs at EBDI
Chanting “We want jobs” and “If we don’t work, nobody works,” about 200 city residents marched on East Baltimore Development Inc. headquarters Tuesday, demanding more employment opportunities at the 88-acre redevelopment site. The protest was organized by Baltimore Community Churches United, whose leaders said EBDI executives had canceled a meeting Monday for discussing hiring goals [&he[...]
Editorial: More questions for EBDI
Baltimore City Council member Carl Stokes has called a second hearing to examine the status of the problem-plagued $1.8 billion redevelopment of the Middle East community led by East Baltimore Development Inc. Mr. Stokes has set the hearing for Nov. 9. As far as we’re concerned, it can’t come soon enough. “EBDI and Forest City […]
Betsy Nelson: Nonprofit groups should embrace evaluation
All donors want to know that their investment is making a difference. And we certainly should be channeling more of our scarce charitable resources into what we know gets better results. Several high-profile federal initiatives, such as the Social Innovation Fund, prioritize funding to community-based solutions that can demonstrate evidence of success. The Baltimore Workforce […]
Community challenges new EBDI plan
During a second contentious meeting in two weeks, a group of Middle East residents Thursday night challenged a new plan for the massive redevelopment of their community by East Baltimore Development Inc. For more than an hour, about 50 angry residents of the area questioned the motives and intent of EBDI and Forest City-New East […]
City Councilwoman Clarke leads protest against plan to close 8 Baltimore post offices
This week, City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke led a protest to try and halt a plan to close eight Baltimore post offices, now under review by the U.S. Postal Service. The feds say there is a pressing need to stop red ink in the postal system by closing up to 3,200 post offices nationwide — […]