Funded in the first round of HUD's HOPE VI program in 1994, Pleasant View Gardens was complete and inhabited by its new residents in September 1997. The project was designed in an interactive process with community residents, city agencies and the design team. An accelerated schedule, an ambitious and heretofore untried agenda, and a desire to replace a "project" with a neighborhood, all presented considerable design challenges. Residents then and since have testified that the completed project "lives up to its name."

Utilizing the principles of the new urbanism, the new development replaces a high-rise apartment community with traditional Baltimore rowhouses. New pedestrian-scaled streets were introduced into the project site, subdividing the high-rise superblocks and creating residentially-scaled blocks and open spaces. A community square, the focal point of community activities, was located at the center of the site away from heavily trafficked streets. An existing community center, a new daycare center and recreation center, all located near the square, provide new community resources for the larger neighborhood.

Services

Architectural Design
Code Analysis
Community Meetings
Comprehensive Planning
Design Guidelines
Feasibility/Yield Analysis
HOPE VI
Master Planning
Neighborhood Planning
Process
Programming
Public Hearing
Public/Private Venture
Site Plan Approval
Sustainable Development
Urban Design

Awards

Project Data

21.5 acre site
5 acres public open space
228 rowhouse units
110 unit elderly mid-rise
36 renovated apartment units
daycare center
recreation center
community center
medical center

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