Community shares feedback on affordable housing needs in Baltimore

BALTIMORE -- The Department of Housing and Community Development in Baltimore held the first in a series of town hall meetings Monday to seek community input about housing needs across the city.  

Community members gathered inside the Historic Cherry Hill Elementary and Middle School to provide feedback on the Comprehensive Housing Plan being developed.  

The plan aims to ensure people have a safe and affordable place to live, according to Alice Kennedy, the Baltimore City Housing Commissioner. 

"We're developing a housing plan that will clearly articulate an action-oriented, data-driven and community-centered, which is the most important thing, vision for housing," Kennedy said.

In an announcement this summer, the Baltimore Mayor's Office said the final version of the housing plan could released in early 2025. 

Revitalizing neighborhoods

The department's focus is to revitalize neighborhoods for all residents, at all income levels, but without causing the displacement of people through development, Kennedy said. 

"We want to ensure that as we're doing that work and continuing to drive the number of vacant properties down that we know and have the guardrails in place to ensure that people can also afford to live in the communities that they live in," Kennedy said. 

The strategy will roll in the $3 billion public-private investment plan designed to solve the city's vacant housing crisis over the next 15 years, which was announced by Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD) and Greater Baltimore Committee in December 2023.

"Affordable price"

Baltimore resident and realtor Aaron Johnson shared at the town hall his first-hand experience of what many residents want.

"The availability of homes at an affordable price," Johnson said. "Right now, home prices are extremely high, especially with the interest rates, so people just want a great home, great neighborhood with things that are convenient for them at affordable costs."

Next town hall

The next town hall meeting is scheduled for October 5 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. You may join the meeting virtually. 

For more information on the next meeting and a housing plan feedback survey, click here.