In the middle of West Baltimore along Route 70 you will find the road that is called, "The Highway to Nowhere." This disaster of an urban renewal plan terminated in the middle of a community and thus disrupted the lives of untold people. It turned homeowners into renters. It sapped the legacy wealth from a group of people of people struggling to buy homes. It turned communities into a wasteland. It caused the lost of three churches. The failed plan was adopted by the City of Baltimore from the infamous Robert Moses. His track record of disrupting New York neighborhoods should have been enough to have left him alone. But entwined in his rational was an insidious plan to tear apart the emerging political power of the African American community by ripping apart homogeneous neighborhoods. He succeeded in this portion of West Baltimore and many of the people who were displaced moved into Park Heights and thus overpopulated that community. "The Highway to Nowhere" was a disaster all the way around. The political winds have shifted and occupying the White House is President Obama. The African American political leadership is more astute than when this plan was concocted. Governor O'Malley and Mayor Rawlings-Blake are to be complemented, along with the persistent community leaders remaining in that community for seeing this day come to fruition. Federal stimulus money played a key role in having the resources allocated to tear down the eyesore and reconnect these communities once again. Hip Hip Hooray!
0 comments