Pedaling Towards Progress: A Community Ride and Design Day for The Equitable Network
The crisp October morning began with nearly a dozen riders gathering by the Parks and People campus near Druid Hill Park, their voices mixing with the sounds of arriving bicycles as they prepared to embark on The Equitable Network.
Connecting Druid Hill Park and Carroll Park: The Vision of The Equitable Network
The Equitable Network is a multimodal trail. The proposed trail seeks to connect Druid Hill Park and Carroll Park – two of West Baltimore’s major and historic parks – by integrating pedestrian and cyclist transit, in addition to other upgrades to the streetscape intended for rest, community gathering, and green space. While ongoing efforts such as The Rails to Trails Greenway Network plan to connect Baltimore’s largest parks located primarily outside of the city’s core, the Equitable Network addresses an unmet need for access directly through West Baltimore.
Addressing Redlining and Divestment: The Equitable Network's Impact on West Baltimore
On the morning of October 12, Darius White, Parks & People’s Director of Park Projects, led riders along a route of proposed nodes for redevelopment along the Equitable Network, highlighting the community’s complex history with infrastructure development rooted in a problematic history of redlining and divestment. Failed attempts in the past to connect various interstate highways throughout Baltimore, now coined as the “Highway to Nowhere,” instead led to the displacement of local residents and continue to divide neighborhoods in West Baltimore today.
This experience allowed some participants to reflect on their own challenges with transportation in the city, including Kristina Williams, who had spent part of her childhood in West Baltimore and later, on the leadership team of Urban Land Institute (ULI) Baltimore.
“As I got older and a little bit more independent, I was able to take public transportation on my own. I utilized the subway and buses a lot. That actually really excited me to be able to…get to the library downtown, or after school when we get out early, I would take the subway to Owings Mills and go to the movies or the mall. So it gave me an independence growing up that I truly value,” Williams commented. “But there were no bike lanes growing up. There just was no infrastructure in place that encouraged any other mode of transportation besides taking public transit or getting in a car that felt safe.”
Reflecting on her current use of varying modes of transit for recreation, Williams added, “Our public transportation just doesn't feel as connected to where recreation typically exists… I love walking, so I tend to drive to places where I can walk, versus being able to walk right out my door to recreation spaces.”
Design Day Highlights: Community Input on The Equitable Network
Following the bike ride, participants gathered over fresh coffee and breakfast at the Bons Secour Community Works, a vibrant multi-use community center located near a proposed node on the trail. In the conference room, The Design Day kicked off with overall context for this green infrastructure project, led by Darius White, and Courtney Morgan, Founder of SCRD. Large maps were neatly spread across tables, serving as canvases for participants to directly visualize their proposed improvements with colored markers and stickers.
Animated discussions filled the room, with topics of conversation ranging from the importance of emphasizing a greater sense of shared community culture, to infrastructure development that could doubly serve as resources for flooding. Participants highlighted the value of The Equitable Network beyond just passage, envisioning its ability to celebrate existing spaces to rest, gather and connect.
Creating Shared Community Spaces in West Baltimore
“From what I observe in West Baltimore in terms of community spaces, it tends to be spaces that are not exclusively identified as community spaces, [but rather], third spaces. It can be a community resource center or recreation center, but you also see people utilizing their steps where people tend to all gather,” Williams explained. “[We should be] creating more room for people to gather in informal spaces because that's culturally what you see happening already. It's less about creating a space, but making room for those spaces to organically manifest.”
Williams also highlighted the importance of community ownership, stating, “It's important that as we're doing this with the community, the community doesn't feel like it's being done in a way that excludes them, that they really are a part of the conversation. [We have to] build infrastructure in the city services to ensure that we're getting the same outcomes for everyone. So people feel confident in their ability to advocate and to ensure that their community is getting the needs that they have.”
Revitalizing West Baltimore: Insights from Senator Antonio Hayes
Senator Antonio Hayes, whose family has lived in West Baltimore for over four decades, likewise described the importance of highlighting cultural centers with particular historical significance, like Pennsylvania Avenue – otherwise known as the “Broadway” of old West Baltimore, where Black art and entertainment thrived and was celebrated by the community [1].
“I grew up here in West Baltimore all my life. I love the city, love West Baltimore, love the history and culture. West Baltimore is where many middle to upper class African-American communities thrived, ...so it's been heartbreaking to me in my lifetime to see so much vacancy and underinvestment, but I think we're on the upward curve of that and starting a renaissance to revitalize and bring back the energy that my aunties and all used to talk about back in the day about how West Baltimore used to thrive,” Hayes shared. “Back then, when we had institutions like the Royal Theatre or the Sphinx Club on Pennsylvania Avenue, it brought communities together into one location to get to know [and] respect each other. And since the ‘68 riots when many of those institutions were lost, I think those hubs of community activity have been extracted from the community.”
In sharing his vision for the future of West Baltimore, Hayes added, “Baltimore has a different level of grit and resilience that no matter what you throw its way, it will survive. And many of my neighbors, friends, classmates and others have seen the good, the bad, the ugly, of what society could bring its way. But still, we rise – we continue to see activity and people be attracted to these spaces and places, and especially uplifting the history and culture that's so deeply rooted in these communities. I would love West Baltimore to return back to the glory of yesteryear. I hope that one day we don't have as many vacant houses, that the vacant houses are filled with families who will walk down the street to local bodegas or restaurants or art and culture opportunities here in their community.”
Public Health Benefits of The Equitable Network: Promoting Physical Activity and Reducing Urban Heat
Beyond the impact on increased connectivity and modal choice, The Equitable Network also offers significant public health potential. Research consistently highlights that well-connected, walkable communities can encourage increased engagement in physical activity [2]. This, in turn, can help reduce stress levels, promote improvements in cardiovascular health, and foster greater residential empowerment [2]. Furthermore, increased access to green space can help provide relief on excessively warm days and mitigate the increased temperatures often experienced in urban areas, called the “urban heat island effect” [3].
How to get involved with The Equitable Network
As the design day concluded, the shared energy behind the project was palpable. At its heart, The Equitable Network represents more than a recreational or multimodal transit project – it is a step toward improving health equity, increasing access among historically divested neighborhoods, and strengthening community connectedness. Rooted in an ongoing commitment to community co-stewardship, the next phases of the project will involve transforming community visions and needs into actionable plans. This process will continue to be iterative, welcoming insight from residents along the way.
For those interested in supporting or learning more about The Equitable Network, follow our journey on Instagram (@ten.baltimore) and our website (https://tr.ee/qqCtD3OH-3), where there will be opportunities to sign up for virtual conversations with the project team.
Citations:
Glaze, A. (2023, February 3). Pennsylvania Avenue: Where Black art and entertainment was celebrated in Baltimore. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/pennsylvania-avenue-where-black-art-and-entertainment-was-celebrated-in-baltimore/
Smith, M., Hosking, J., Woodward, A., Witten, K., MacMillan, A., Field, A., Baas, P., & Mackie, H. (2017). Systematic literature review of built environment effects on physical activity and active transport - an update and new findings on health equity. The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 14(1), 158. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-017-0613-9
Wilson, B. (2020). Urban Heat Management and the Legacy of Redlining. Journal of the American Planning Association, 86(4), 443–457. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2020.1759127