East Baltimore Strikes Back!

Five new homes dedicated in Oliver

The first new homes to be built in a half-century in East Baltimore's Oliver neighborhood were dedicated yesterday, a sign of progress, officials said, in a blighted swath of the city once notorious for drug dealing...

..But the community was galvanized after seven members of the Dawson family were killed in a 2002 fire set by drug dealers they had been battling. Churches in Oliver, organized by the social action group Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development, raised $1.2 million to rebuild their community. Residents turned out in force yesterday, crowding the street for the ribbon-cutting and then swarming into the new homes.

This gives new meaning to the term "Fire Sale". They are practically giving houses away. I'm not opposed to the idea either, lord knows we need to give the middle class some incentive to move back into the inner city (and an interest free closing cost loan for a crappy FHA loan isn't enough).

East Baltimore, just south of North Avenue has never been a good area of the city. The tragedy of 2002 seemed to be the final nail in the coffin for the neighborhood. So I do have to commend the citizens of the neighborhood for all the energy they have put into this and I only wish them the best...

...Saying that, there is NO WAY I'm moving into that war zone! If for no other reason, I say this for financial reasons. Buying into the Oliver community is an insanely high-risk venture. 150k might be a steal for for a rowhouse that could double in value in a few years, but if the criminals fight back for turf again you truly would not be able to give that pile of wood away, unless you physically demolished it yourself and sold it as fire wood on a cold winter's night. As a gut reaction, I would only buy once of those houses if they came with a free concealed weapons permit.

However, don't let my foolish negativity stop anyone else. If you would like to play russian roulette yourself (For Fabulous Prizes!!!) you can check out these bad boys yourself. They do look quite nice...