Baltimore

Baltimore, Maryland shares a social and environmental history with many post-industrial U.S. cities such as Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland. For African Americans, historic segregation due to legally enforced separate housing undermined the accumulation of wealth and limited access to city parks, grocery stores, and other amenities (Pietila 2010, Coates 2014, Lichter et al. 2015). More recently, disinvestment on the part of industry and municipal government has led to abandoned housing and derelict vacant lots, creating eyesores that foster crime and contribute to negative experiences in one’s own neighborhood, negative perceptions of safety and nature, and poor physical, mental, and community health and wellbeing (Metro et al. 1981, Branas et al. 2011, Jenerette et al. 2011, Garvin et al. 2013a, Garvin et al. 2013b, Kondo et al. 2015).

Irvington

Located in the southwest corner of Baltimore, the Irvington neighborhood has multiple assets: long-term residents who know one another and have friendly relationships, diverse housing stock, many trees, a number of stable local institutions, and access to bus lines. It also faces myriad challenges reflecting a history of residential segregation resulting in 88% of residents and 93% of public school students being African American. Unemployment, addiction, low incomes, and low education levels are widespread. Much of the housing has been neglected or abandoned, whereas rental units are often cramped (Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance 2014). Irvington also has been officially designated as a “food desert” by the Baltimore Food Policy Initiative and its partners (Buczynski et al. 2015). While the neighborhood contains multiple fast and junk food outlets, it has limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables. A third of households have no car, thus limiting their ability to access healthier foods.

The neighborhood also has a wealth of open space that presents opportunities for civic ecology practices. Irvington is bounded to the south by Maiden Choice Run, a small urban stream, and by two cemeteries, including the 400-acre Loudon Park Cemetery founded in 1857 as part of the American park cemetery movement (Sachs 2013).

Collins Ave.

At the southern edge of the neighborhood, in the midst of the extraordinary urban green area formed by the stream valley and cemetery woods, is the 500 block of Collins Avenue. This street slopes gently downhill from the subsidized apartment complex at the top of the block, passes the Peace Park, and comes to a dead-end at a green space and woods that line the stream.