Other cities such as New York have already created zones to use the bonds.
Officials initially considered designating the entire city a recovery zone, but instead decided to use existing designations for "distressed" areas that qualify for other federal programs plus a city analysis of local foreclosure trends to determine which parts of the city would be eligible for the new bonds. The result is a broad area of east, west and southwest Baltimore that only excludes the pockets of wealthy neighborhoods in downtown, Federal Hill, Fells Point, Canton, Bolton Hill, Ashburton and northern Baltimore.
"The idea was to have more recovery rather than less," explained Brodie. "We don't want to have to come back for additional legislation."
