Tag Archives: Row Houses

Perlman Place and Baltimore, Maryland

I recently traveled to Washington, D.C. to present at the American Society of Criminology annual meeting, around which I tacked a couple of extra days to photograph throughout D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland.

I was particularly interested in following up with Perlman Place, a row house block in Baltimore I photographed when visiting the area in 2010. The product of years of decline and a failed redevelopment project, the city planned to demolish of 67 of the approximately 80 houses on the block. Two images of Perlman Place are below: the first is from the day demolition was initiated in 2010, the second image is from Saturday.

The pair is followed by several of my other favorite images from this recent visit to Baltimore. I will share other images from Washington, D.C. later, but more images from both locations can be viewed on flickr.

Perlman Place – April 16, 2010
Perlman Place, Baltimore

Perlman Place – November 19, 2011
Perlman Place, After City-Initiated Demolition

OTHER IMAGES FROM BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Enter to Worship

Gutting

Baltimore

Brick Harvester

Walther Hall, Man, Cats

On Her Stoop

Y & M Chinese Food Carry Out

Laundromat, Light, Man Leading

Metro Grocery Carry Out

The Row Houses of Baltimore, Maryland

As someone who primarily grew up in the Midwest and has called Chicago home for several years, cities dominated by row houses seem alien. Among those row house cities, Baltimore stands apart for the relative wholeness of these districts — even of those in tremendous disrepair.

Certainly, many portions of the city have been dramatically altered by demolition and redevelopment projects, but the ability to walk down a formerly residential street flanked by uninterrupted derelict row houses is unique to me. In a city like Philadelphia, there would be more pockmarks. Elsewhere, like Camden, NJ, those pockmarks may even dominate the landscape.

Such Baltimore blocks demonstrate that the city has clearly resisted quite a bit of demolition, but it appears the tide is now turning. The first of the three images below are of a block that will soon endure the demolition of 67 buildings. Given the current economic climate and the condition of the neighborhood, I would be surprised if anything fills those slots for years to come. If this block becomes precedent, the city could look very different in just a few years.

Perlman Place, Baltimore

Abandoned Row Houses

Owl's Nest, Row Houses