{ALLEY HE AD HERE}
Inspiration struck three years ago,
when Mayo happened upon a nearby al- ley between North Luzerne Avenue and North Glover Street enclosed by hand- some, custom-made iron gates. Peering in, she saw an inviting enclave with trees potted in colorful steel drums, park benches and well-tended gardens. Mayo recalled that she had read about gated alleys as an innovative buffer against urban ills. When former neighbor Sharon
Reynolds, who still owned and leased the house next door, sought Mayo’s ap- proval to install anti-climb spikes on the wall between the homes’ back yards, Mayo proposed another solution: “Why don’t we gate the whole alley?” Reynolds, 35, readily agreed. She
lived a mile away and diligently main- tained the rental property on the vul- nerable corner of East Baltimore and North Bond streets. Most of Mayo
and Reynolds’s neighbors approved of the gating idea, but not with the same ardor. It would take nearly a year of halting progress before the women dis- covered an invaluable source of support — Community Greens, an initiative of the Arlington-based Ashoka, a founda- tion for social entrepreneurship.
Baltimore’s nearly 600 miles of alleys
— originally conduits for the delivery of coal and other goods and services — began to deteriorate in the 1950s, as middle-class families fled the city. For 40 years, a violent drug economy has flourished in that vacuum, destroying dozens of stable neighborhoods. Many alleys were left for dead. But where oth- ers see dead space, Community Greens sees potential for social renewal. Piloting a program that it plans to
replicate across the country, Commu- nity Greens promotes alleys as com-
mon ground where neighbors socialize, flowers bloom and children play. Gates are meant to define boundaries: Strang- ers are prohibited; residents have keys and are free to use the space. The alley gating process is designed to raise com- munity pride and property values. Al- though no concerted alley gating cam- paign has emerged in the Washington area, Community Greens is supporting efforts among D.C. residents to plant greenways and rain gardens. In Baltimore, there are 91 gating
‘‘
26 The WashingTon PosT Magazine | MAY 16, 2010
projects in development in three areas of the city undergoing concentrated gentrification. But proponents are find- ing that their brand of civic enterprise may not appeal to residents who say al-
Suddenly, you had conversation. Isn’t
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