Long ago, Waverly was a peaceful country neighborhood two miles from the city, the perfect haven for city dwellers hoping to escape the summer haze.
Now a mix of rowhouses, farmhouses and old Victorians, Waverly has been swallowed into Baltimore.
History abounds in the community, but residents have an eye for the future. A senior housing center, a community playground and a YMCA are taking over the old Memorial Stadium site, and a Giant Food store opened on 33rd Street last month.
"It's a neighborhood that's been depressed for years, but there's some great housing stock," said Brian Hannon, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Roland Park. "There's a lot of positive things going on. In my opinion, it's one of the next neighborhoods to turn around, like Hampden and Ednor Gardens."
Greater Waverly, composed of two neighborhoods, is divided by the commercial strip of 33rd Street. The areas are known by the organizations that represent them, the Better Waverly Community Organization to the south and the Waverly Improvement Association to the north.
"For the most part, it's good, solid working people that are trying to make their neighborhood better," said Carrie Brennen, secretary of the Waverly Improvement Association.
"The highlight for me is the family atmosphere," said Amber Wagner, a teacher who has lived in Waverly for six months and can often be found playing with the neighborhood kids. "It's friendly. People are always outside on their steps. It makes it nice to be outside and hang out."
Most visitors miss the best aspects of Waverly, residents said, because many of the neighborhood's gardens and its distinct architecture are invisible from the commercial strip on 33rd Street.
Waverly forms a corridor between the Johns Hopkins University's Homewood and Eastern campuses, and is flanked by the old Memorial Stadium site. Nearby, two forested watersheds - Herring Run and the Jones Falls - offer relief from city life.
"Those are really wonderful, hidden gems, that few people really know about," said Joe Stewart, an organizer with the Belle Terre In Waverly community organization. "You can go a mile or two miles from the concrete part of the city and be in the woods."
Residents' involvement in the approximately 30-block neighborhood runs high. Waverly is battling blight, fighting against run-down rented homes, crime, litter and the lack of activities for youths.
