For decades, any talk of downtown revitalization has always seemed to exclude Pigtown. But with just about every neighborhood near the downtown district in the throes of a renaissance, Pigtown may be next in line for some good times.
Although its official name is now Washington Village, the neighborhood still is known to nearly everyone as Pigtown. Its residents point out that the eclectic mix of working-class homes, historic landmarks, parks and industrial buildings is too centrally located to be ignored. Minutes from Interstate 95, Baltimore-Washington Parkway and the MARC trains, the area is ideal for commuters and employers looking to relocate downtown.
And yet, while Pigtown's northern region - mainly the Barre Circle area - has received some of the gilded treatment thanks to those rediscovering urban life, the heart of Pigtown has yet to draw the attention of homebuyers looking to take a chance on cheap housing.
The good news for Pigtown is there doesn't seem to be anywhere else for the downtown renaissance to go.
"Martin Luther King [Boulevard] has cut us off from what I like to call the 8-by-10 glossy of the Inner Harbor," said Gwenyth Padow of Tri-Churches, a Pigtown-based, nonprofit homeownership program. "We are the last neighborhood left, and all along we were the best located."
And also among the most engaging.
"A lot of old ladies walking around in their bedroom slippers" is how Matthew Vadney joyfully describes it. A Fairfax, Va., transplant, Vadney has been marveling at the Pigtown stoop culture for six years "The one thing about Pigtown, it's never boring."
Pigtown is bounded by Pratt Street to the north, Martin Luther King Boulevard to the east, Carey Street to the west and Wicomico Street to the south. It has more than its fair share of empty storefronts and dilapidated housing, but it also has blocks of stable streets with families who have lived there for generations.
The first signs of Pigtown's turnaround are occurring on Washington Boulevard, a one-time primetime shopping area. Jack Danna is the man orchestrating the infusion of new life into Washington Boulevard. Funded by Empowerment Baltimore, Danna is known as the main street manager for the boulevard.
New flower boxes have sprouted. On the way are $275,000 worth of streetscape improvements. A health clinic is planned. And there are hopes for a new coffee shop.
