Armistead Gardens, Baltimore

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Armistead Gardens is a neighborhood located in the far eastern part of Baltimore, Maryland. It is located north of Pulaski Highway and east of Erdman Avenue. It was originally built by the Housing Authority of Baltimore City as public housing for people coming to work in industries supplying World War II. The first section was built 1939, with two additions in 1941. Even though now more than 60 years old, many of the homes are still in good shape and many are still occupied by owners who lived there in the 1950s and 60s.

In 1956, a cooperative (Armistead Homes Corporation) was formed by the residents and the 1500 homes were acquired from the Housing Authority. Because of the unit construction with common utilities, homes are not individually owned, but rather members have a 99 year lease with two 99 year options. Many of the current members are second and third generation.

The neighborhood changed little over the years with mostly drug related offenses and theft becoming a problem in the area. It offers prospective home owners the chance to acquire a home at prices so low, they wouldn't be able to afford elsewhere. Even with aformentioned problems, Armistead Gardens is viewed by many as a fairly decent place to call home.

Armistead Gardens is home to a four churches and Armistead Gardens Elementary School. The nearest major highway is Pulaski Highway (U.S. Route 40) and Erdman Avenue.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 3,150 people residing in the neighborhood. The racial makeup of Armistead Gardens was 91.4% White, 2.5% African American, 0.1% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 2.7% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.1% of the population. 78.1% of occupied housing units were owner-occuped. 8.5% of housing units were vacant.

40.0% of the population were employed, 7.1% were unemployed, and 52.9% were not in the labor force. The median household income was $25,123. About 21.8% of families and 21.5% of the population were below the poverty line.