This fall, the Planning Department is launching a Planning Academy program for interested Baltimore City residents. The application period for the inaugural Planning Academy cohort closes this month on July 27. We have been overwhelmed by the interest from the Baltimore community! To date, over 200 of you have applied for the 30 available seats. This speaks to the strong interest that city residents have to better understand and navigate the planning and development process. 

We are looking forward to working with the first cohort of participants this fall, and will be finalizing speakers and content over the coming weeks. And we will be carefully reviewing each application - our hope is that the first cohort will be a diverse group of passionate City residents excited to dig into challenging topics and conversation with us. 

As you can see from the items below, summertime does not necessarily mean a slower pace of activity here at the Planning Department. From community art opportunities to resident-driven policy work on corner stores to research and analysis on neighborhood real estate markets, the Planning Department team remains actively engaged with communities and stakeholders across all sectors of the City.

In closing, I want to share some news about my position as Planning Director. Earlier this week, I announced that I will be retiring from City Government after 30+ years of service. Nearly a decade of that time has been spent serving as Director of this great Department, and as Executive Secretary of the Planning Commission.  It’s really been an honor and a privilege to serve in these roles, to work with such dedicated and talented staff and colleagues, and to play a role in Baltimore’s ongoing evolution and progress.  I’ll be forever grateful for this opportunity.

I want to offer my heartfelt thanks to all of you who work every day to make your communities healthy and your businesses successful. It is through your individual and collective efforts that the Planning Department will be empowered to fulfill its ongoing mission: To build Baltimore as a diverse, sustainable and thriving city of neighborhoods and as the economic and cultural driver for the region.

Launched in 2017, the Resident Food Equity Advisors (RFEA) are Baltimore residents who work with the Baltimore Food Policy Initiative (BFPI) to collectively drive equitable food policymaking. Sixteen advisors were selected out of 80 applicants and were compensated for their time. 

Baltimore's Department of Planning is launching a Planning Academy in September and we want you to apply!

This is a FREE six-week class designed to introduce participants to planning and development process in Baltimore. 

The application is now open and we invite Baltimore residents to apply by July 27 (Friday!).

Youth Works is Baltimore City's summer jobs program, offering thousands of youth ages 14-21 a five-week job experience with non-profit, government, and private sector employers. Here at the Baltimore City Department of Planning there are three youth workers this summer.

The youth workers are paired with people within different divisions to help take on many projects: some are working on social media and others are assisting with some of the environmental and historic preservation work of the Department. 

The deadline for the 2018-2019 Lots Alive outdoor sculpture program is fast approaching - it is July 28, 2018.

Lots Alive supports the creation of temporary outdoor sculpture sited on vacant lots within the Baltimore City limits. For this grant cycle, seven vacant lot sites have been identified for artist activation in the Park Heights neighborhood (on Park Heights Ave).

Winning proposals will be eligible for grants up to $5,000.

More information is available here.

The Bocek-Madison East End Community Association just completed several murals throughout the neighborhood, supported via a Coca-Cola grant. One of the murals honored President Rocky Brown, who works tirelessly with young people on efforts to improve the neighborhood. The project is a collaboration with Arts and Parks and more can be read here about each mural piece. In total, eight new murals were created. Park benches, tables and a pavilion are also a part of the project. 

Baltimore's Housing Market Typology (HMT) update for 2017 was recently made available to the public. The HMT is jointly developed by the Baltimore City Planning Department, Department of Housing & Community Development, and Reinvestment Fund.

The typology is a housing market analysis based on quantitative data and a statistical process called "Cluster Analysis." Data studied include vacancy, median sales price, foreclosure, building permits, and owner occupancy, among other variables. The descriptions of each market identified in Baltimore for 2017 can be found here.

The typology is a critical tool used by the Department of Housing’s Vacants to Value program to address city-wide vacant housing challenges. The typology is also used by the Housing Code Enforcement Division to tailor market interventions and strategies to neighborhood conditions. The typology can also used to inform local neighborhood planning by helping neighborhood residents understand the housing market forces impacting their communities.