Assessing the Need for Youth Spaces: Perspective from Baltimore City Public School Graduates

Abstract

Baltimore City was one the first cities in the US to enact redlining policies, which restricted where certain minority groups could live. Ultimately, this led to the proliferation of vacant houses, uninhabitable due to abandonment or lack of owner investment that exerted a heavy cost on neighborhoods and the City as a whole. Importantly, there are significant public health costs associated with vacant properties such as lead poisoning, asthma (from mold, vermin, and droppings), and poor mental health outcomes. All of which have an enormous impact on the resident’s quality of life.Further, redlining has contributed to the unhoused crisis and a lack of youth empowerment via recreational centers within Baltimore City. As such, the active recreational centers are not up to date, and the ones that are privately owned, in most instances are located in areas that make it difficult for youth to attend. A possible solution for the issue of vacant properties and to improve community health is repurposing these vacant properties into youth spaces for Baltimore city students. Some of the services that these Baltimore City Youth Spaces (BYCS) would provide are extracurricular activities such as art, technology, gardening. Additional services would be tutoring and emotional/mental health support for youth who might need it. Before the establishment of BYCS, we will survey and interview current Baltimore City Public School alumni to assess their interest in and feedback on the components of youth spaces.