HIGHWAY TO SOMEWHERE

Michael Rich

Michael Rich

HIGHWAY TO SOMEWHERE

Highway to somewhere 1, 2

Baltimore City, Maryland

Population, 2010: 620,961Percent below poverty level: 25.6% Percentage of H.S. Graduates below poverty line: 24.2%Percentage of College Graduates below poverty line: 6.5%Unemployed residents: 43,985Residents who have never been employed: 188,696Vacant Properties: 16,000*Data received from government census*

2010 Crime (Actual Data)

Arson: 347Burglary: 7,798Robbery: 3,707Forcible Rape: 158Violent Crime: 9,664Property Crime: 29,510Aggravated Assault: 5,561Larceny and Theft: 16,741Motor Vehicle Theft: 4,624Murder and Manslaughter: 238Crime Rate (Total Incidents): 45,513*Data received from Baltimore Police Department*

An abandoned foundry which employed thousands of Balti-more Residents during the 20th century.

Clipper Mill, Baltimore.

Highway to somewhere 3, 4

Renewed Baltimore rowhouses surrounded by ruin.

Druid Heights, Baltimore.

Vacant properties in East Baltimore.

East Baltimore Midway, Baltimore.

Highway to somewhere 5, 6

An abandoned school bus in an untamed lot.

Druid Heights, Baltimore.

A condemned Baltimore home.

Callaway-Garrison, Baltimore.

Highway to somewhere 7, 8

A dismantled vacant property missing a roof.

East Baltimore Midway, Baltimore

A feral lot and broken down properties.

East Baltimore Midway, Baltimore

Highway to somewhere 9, 10

R.I.P. mural of Greenmount West.

Greenmount West, Baltimore

An ongoing mural in Greenmount West.

Greenmount West, Baltimore

Highway to somewhere 11, 12

Pontella Mason’s mural of great black leaders.

Druid Heights, Baltimore

Construction for The Baltimore Design School.

Greenmount West, Baltimore

Highway to somewhere 13, 14

An ongoing Mural on a vacant property.

Greenmout West, Baltimore

In a city that is home to estimated 620,961 inhabitants there is an unusually high violent crime rate, wide-spread drug addiction, poor economic opportunities and a failing school system. Baltimore, Maryland is a cosmopolitan paradise in the Mid-Atlantic. However it has fell under hard times. With 25.6% of the population falling below the poverty line, 16,000 vacant properties and the FBI’s ranking of the 5th most dangerous city in America Baltimore has lost it’s glimmer and the new road in life in which some seek here has been weathered and broken. Through a unified government and residen-tial effort and strong community involvement this bro-ken road can be restored and a highway to somewhere will be brought into existence.

Baltimore, Maryland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maryland and was once the second leading port of entry for immigrants to the United States. The city was once seen as a beacon of hope for those who saw im-migration to the U.S. as their only way of escaping harsh conditions and religious persecution. Unfortu-nately harsh conditions engulfed Baltimore during the second half of the 20th century and still continue to devastate the city today. The cosmopolitan city was once a point of entry to a new road in life. The beacon continues to flicker and light the roadway today but it does not flourish as it once did.