H IG H WAY TO SO M EW H E R E
Michael Rich
H IG H WAY TO SO M EW H E R E
Michael Rich
Baltimore City, Maryland Population, 2010: 620,961 Percent below poverty level: 25.6% Percentage of H.S. Graduates below poverty line: 24.2% Percentage of College Graduates below poverty line: 6.5% Unemployed residents: 43,985 Residents who have never been employed: 188,696 Vacant Properties: 16,000 *Data received from government census*
2010 Crime (Actual Data) Arson: 347 Burglary: 7,798 Robbery: 3,707 Forcible Rape: 158 Violent Crime: 9,664 Property Crime: 29,510 Aggravated Assault: 5,561 Larceny and Theft: 16,741 Motor Vehicle Theft: 4,624 Murder and Manslaughter: 238 Crime Rate (Total Incidents): 45,513 *Data received from Baltimore Police Department*
Highway to somewhere 1, 2
Clipper Mill, Baltimore. An abandoned foundry which employed thousands of Baltimore Residents during the 20th century.
Druid Heights, Baltimore. Renewed Baltimore rowhouses surrounded by ruin.
Highway to somewhere 3, 4
East Baltimore Midway, Baltimore. Vacant properties in East Baltimore.
Druid Heights, Baltimore. An abandoned school bus in an untamed lot.
Highway to somewhere 5, 6
Callaway-Garrison, Baltimore. A condemned Baltimore home.
East Baltimore Midway, Baltimore A dismantled vacant property missing a roof.
Highway to somewhere 7, 8
East Baltimore Midway, Baltimore A feral lot and broken down properties.
Greenmount West, Baltimore R.I.P. mural of Greenmount West.
Highway to somewhere 9, 10
Greenmount West, Baltimore An ongoing mural in Greenmount West.
Druid Heights, Baltimore Pontella Mason’s mural of great black leaders.
Highway to somewhere 11, 12
Greenmount West, Baltimore Construction for The Baltimore Design School.
Greenmout West, Baltimore An ongoing Mural on a vacant property.
Highway to somewhere 13, 14
In a city that is home to estimated 620,961 inhabitants there is an unusually high violent crime rate, widespread drug addiction, poor economic opportunities and a failing school system. Baltimore, Maryland is a cosmopolitan paradise in the Mid-Atlantic. However it has fell under hard times. With 25.6% of the population falling below the poverty line, 16,000 vacant properties and the FBI’s ranking of the 5th most dangerous city in America Baltimore has lost it’s glimmer and the new road in life in which some seek here has been weathered and broken. Through a unified government and residential effort and strong community involvement this broken road can be restored and a highway to somewhere will be brought into existence.
Baltimore, Maryland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maryland and was once the second leading port of entry for immigrants to the United States. The city was once seen as a beacon of hope for those who saw immigration to the U.S. as their only way of escaping harsh conditions and religious persecution. Unfortunately harsh conditions engulfed Baltimore during the second half of the 20th century and still continue to devastate the city today. The cosmopolitan city was once a point of entry to a new road in life. The beacon continues to flicker and light the roadway today but it does not flourish as it once did.