A historic neighborhood fights to protect its identity

Soaring home prices have Sharp-Leadenhall worried By Jill Rosen, Baltimore Sun Staff Originally published January 20, 2005

Not long after Betty Bland-Thomas moved into her home on Cross Street in Sharp-Leadenhall four years ago, she began hauling a broom outside and sweeping the street. Not just the part in front of her home - the entire block."People would come up and ask me what I was doing, saying that's crazy," she says, laughing. "I'd just say I want it to look nice." The determined Bland-Thomas is poised to take on a more daunting task: The community president wants to turn the tide of market forces and block the sky-high home prices of neighboring Federal Hill and the Otterbein from spreading to Sharp-Leadenhall.City planners are trying to help her with a "master plan" that guarantees a number of affordable homes in the neighborhood, one of Baltimore's oldest African-American communities. The Planning Commission will consider the plan this afternoon.

Full Story: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.leadenhall20jan20,1,5243056.story?coll=bal-local-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true