haven

on the

a

block

Gated alleys have transformed urban eyesores into communal oases. But some say the closed gates send a mixed message.

J

unkies smoked crack in Lora Mayo’s alley. At night, the space doubled as a public toilet. Once, a fleeing suspect tossed a gun onto Mayo’s roof, and cops stormed up the rear steps. After someone tried to steal her charcoal grill, Mayo chained it to the deck railing. ¶ In the 25 years that Mayo has lived in Baltimore’s Washington Hill neighbor- hood, a short drive east of the city’s Inner Harbor, nearby blocks succumbed to poverty and neglect. The ensuing tumult overflowed into her alley. Although she and her hus- band installed motion-sensor lighting and called police frequently, as did neighbors,

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