On November 26, 2012, Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Raymond A. Skinner and Maryland Department of Planning Secretary Richard E. Hall announced the designation of Baltimore City under the state's Sustainable Communities Act of 2010.  

Program Overview

The State’s Sustainable Community (SC) program is a geographic designation to more efficiently allocate and concentrate resources to support coordinated revitalization efforts.  The program is managed by the State Housing Department’s Division of Neighborhood Revitalization.  Click here to view the current Sustainable Community map.  Designation as a Sustainable Community is required to be eligible for such grant programs as Community Legacy, Strategic Demolition and Smart Growth Impact Funds and for Sustainable Communities Tax Credit. 

Sustainable Community designations are submitted by and awarded to jurisdictions.  Organizations whose projects are located in a Sustainable Community area are then eligible to apply for grants, tax credits or other resources.  In order to be designated as a Sustainable Community, jurisdictions submit a Sustainable Community plan that consists of a specific geography and a broad set of revitalization goals that support housing, transportation, economic development and neighborhood revitalization and strategies to achieve these goals. 

More information on the latest designation is available here: Sustainable Community Modification Update

Background

As part of its commitment to smart growth, the State of Maryland adopted the Sustainable Communities Act of 2010.  This legislation resulted in a variety of state programs, such as Community Legacy and Designated Neighborhoods, which were consolidated under the umbrella of the Sustainable Communities program. The Act established a way to coordinate State grant, loan and tax credit investment tools in a targeted way to better revitalize Maryland’s older communities. 

For municipalities like Baltimore, this program means added support for strengthening redevelopment initiatives, stimulating the local economy, and creating job opportunities in the Region to help reduce the City’s unemployment rate.  Under the Sustainable Communities program, the Department of Planning coordinated Baltimore’s application to the MD Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) for designation, by strategically identifying geographic areas as Sustainable Communities.  Areas included within the Sustainable Communities boundary will therefore have priority or enhanced access to state funding and incentive programs.   

Based on the requirements of the program, some areas were automatically included in the SC area, including: Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Zones and State designated Transit Oriented Developments (TODs). 

Designation Process

Baltimore’s designated Sustainable Community area is be based upon the Baltimore City Sustainable Action Plan that assesses baseline conditions (e.g., physical assets, coordination of investment, economic conditions), a five-year strategy, and includes a city-wide resolution.  The Action Plan is intended to serve as a multi-year framework for investment and coordination of public, private and non-profit investments that seek to revitalize the Sustainable Community areas. 

As part of the application process, the Department of Planning formed a Workgroup to guide the development of the Action Plan and to oversee its implementation. The Work Group, which included members representing City Agencies, nonprofit organizations, and foundations, has met regularly to develop the Sustainable Communities’ vision and strategies to achieve it.  The group also identified programs, policies and initiatives that can be implemented as part of the Action Plan. 

The City’s overall Sustainable Communities goals are:

  • Enhance the City’s economic competitiveness, inclusiveness and workforce development;
  • Build upon existing strengths, assets and amenities;
  • Support transportation efficiency and access;
  • Promote access to affordable housing; and
  • Leverage and coordinate policies and investments

To achieve these goals, the Baltimore SC Workgroup identified the following six targeted strategies:

  1. Support Main Streets and commercial areas by targeting investments in Middle Market Neighborhoods
  2. Target investments in Healthy Neighborhood areas
  3. Target investments along major transit routes
  4. Target investments in arts and entertainment districts
  5. Invest in areas surrounding anchor institutions and major redevelopment areas
  6. Facilitate investments in emerging markets near areas of strength

Additional Information & Links

For more information about Baltimore’s SC designation and programs available under this designation please see the following links:

Maps of the Baltimore SC area and target areas

Revitalization Strategies

Strategy #1: Support Grow Baltimore by targeting investments in Main Streets and commercial corridors to support Middle Market Neighborhoods

Map areas: 

  • Main commercial corridors in Middle Markets (apart of the Housing Market Typology) and the Main Streets program areas
    • Note: commercial corridors aligned with BDC enterprise zones, TransForm commercial zoned areas, and lie within Middle Market neighborhoods.

Revitalization Goal(s): 

  • Economic competitiveness

Strategy #2: Healthy Neighborhoods

Map areas:

  • Healthy Neighborhoods Program targeted areas

Revitalization Goal(s): 

  • Value Communities and Neighborhoods – Building upon assets and amenities

Strategy #3: Target investment along major transit routes

Map areas:

  • Proposed TOD districts in the draft TransForm Baltimore zoning code around existing and planned transit stations
  • BRAC areas included

Revitalization Goal(s): 

  • Support transportation efficiency and access

Strategy #4: Target investment in arts and entertainment districts

Map areas:

  • Highlandtown, Station North, Bromo Tower 

Revitalization Goal(s): 

  • Support existing communities
  • Enhance economic competitiveness

Strategy #5: Investment in anchor institutions and major redevelopment areas

Map areas:

  • Redevelopment areas: Oldtown, Greenmount West, Westside Downtown, Uplands, Barclay, East Baltimore Initiative, Park Heights, Poppleton, O’Donnell Heights, Johnston Square, Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello
  • Anchor institutions: TBD per City-wide application process

Revitalization Goal(s): 

  • Support existing communities
  • Promote access to quality affordable housing

Strategy #6: Facilitate investment in emerging markets near areas of strengths 

Map areas:

  • West Baltimore MARC/Red Line.  Proposed areas include: 
  • Lanvale, Franklin, Monroe, Pulaski, Edmondson, Franklin, Bentalou and Franklintown Road.  
  • Coppin Heights.  Proposed areas include: North, Warwick, Thomas, Smallwood.  Coppin Heights should also be considered one of the City’s development priorities.  
  • North Avenue Gateway.  Proposed areas include:  Walbrook, Dukeland, Ellanmont and Poplar Grove.  
  • East Baltimore Vacants to Value.  Proposed areas include: Milton Montford community with an emphasis on the 2300-2500 blocks of East Eager Street; and Bethel Street corridor bounded by Bond, Broadway, Lanvale and Oliver Street.  This area falls within multiple larger redevelopment priority areas: EBDI and Oliver.   

Revitalization Goal(s): 

  • Support existing communities
  • Promote access to quality affordable housing
  • Coordinating and leveraging policies and investment

Note: Revitalization goals are based on and align with SC goals as identified in the application.