A "no-mow" makeover ...
Above, my front yard, retrofitted in 2020 to provide habitat for pollinators, space for growing food and filtering stormwater, and seasonal interest using native plants. (The back yard contains a large rain garden, which treats stormwater coming from the roof and sump pumps).
... nestled in the "first" suburbs of Baltimore.
I live in Parkville, MD, a "first" suburb of Baltimore, which lies between the City line and one of the oldest growth boundaries in country, the Urban Rural Demarcation Line (URDL).
The first suburbs are aptly named ...
They are the places that settled first when people migrated away from cities, usually along radiating roadways, rail, and streetcar lines, for jobs and housing. There are 29 metro regions around the country with "first" or "inner" suburbs and they are home to 1/5 of America.
... and they are a MESS!
While it's not all a hellscape, government policies designed to create massive amounts of new housing quickly after WWII, separate residential uses from other types, and construct beltways hurt the livability of many first suburbs in the U.S.
Among the challenges ... LITTLE SENSE OF PLACE ...
In discussing a visit to her hometown, the first suburb of Oakland, CA, after a long hiatus, Gertrude Stein famously proclaimed "there is no there, there." Similarly, in presentations I've given showing the photo at left of Route 40 in Baltimore County, many have mistaken it for some other inner-suburban location like Cleveland because it is so banal.
... LOW WALKABILITY ...
Owing to traditional zoning, which separates uses, no first suburb in Baltimore County gets a "walk score" above 58, which is "somewhat walkable." The average is 44, "car dependent." This has negative implications for the health of the county's residents.
... A LACK OF OPEN SPACE ...
The worst housing crisis the nation has ever seen and a post-war economy that stimulated home-buying meant that the creation of parks and trails was largely an afterthought, if it was on anyone's radar at all. As a result, 65% of residences in the inner suburbs of Baltimore County lack access to adequate open space within a 5-minute walk.
... POOR WATER QUALITY ...
A lack of open space and a surfeit of roofs, roads, and parking lots mean that stormwater runoff is challenging to manage and water quality is poor. All but one watershed inside Baltimore County's URDL is impaired by sediment and/or nutrients.
... LOW HOME VALUES ...
The mass-produced bungalows inspired by William Levitt and his Levittowns, which dot the landscapes of many first suburbs today, are now over 70 years old. They are far smaller and less amenitized than newer construction. As a result, median home values in Baltimore County trail those in most other metro-Baltimore juridictions.
... and POVERTY in its many forms.
Poverty has been rising faster in suburbs than in cities for years and, with it, problems like food insecurity. In Baltimore County, 23% of the population lives at or below 200% of the federal poverty line and 11% are food insecure.
Thus, the need to create some there, there ...
... conserving and improving land with parks and gardens, buffering stream valleys, networking our open spaces, planting trees, managing stormwater with green infrastructure, converting lawns to pollinator habitat, and growing more food to create first suburbs that are livable and evoke a sense of place. My name is Barbara Hopkins. I'm a lawyer, landscape architect, and executive director of NeighborSpace of Baltimore County, a nonprofit land trust working in Baltimore County's first suburbs. On this site, it is my plan to share some of what I've learned in 11 years of retrofitting parks, gardens, and trails into the poorly planned and densely populated first suburbs of Baltimore County and what I am continuing to learn from colleagues doing similar work in other first suburbs around the country. I'd love to hear your feedback about the site and your own experiences with retrofitting the inner suburbs. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me at barbara@suburbangreen.org.
