Briefing Papers Number 23, October 2013 | Página 4

are no strategic plans or prospective programs to
draw upon,” the report stated. “In the absence
of examples of planned activities that attracted
83
immigrants…Baltimore must base its plans on
y
si Hw
those inherent characteristics that appear to have
Pulak
Orleans St
40
made these cities different.”21 Another report on
E Lombard St.
E Baltimore St.
immigrants in Baltimore stated that the impact
895
Patterson Highlandtown
of a pro-immigration city government campaign
BALTIMORE
Park
150
Eastern Ave.
was questionable: “It is…less certain how much
2
Fleet St.
Bo
this official, top-down pro-immigration stance
sto
nS
translates into the actual lives of Baltimore’s
Fells Point
t.
foreign-born.”22
Inner Harbor
Baltimore residents who work with immigrants agree that manual labor jobs and afford395
able housing make the difference. “Immigrants
tend to look for opportunity, a lot of them are entrepreneurs,”
percent of its population. Partly in reaction to this decline,
95
one of the city’s worst ever, in 2002 the Baltimore-based said Patricia Hatch, a program manager at the Maryland
Abell Foundation identified the importance of immigrants Office for Refugees and Asylees. “The ones that are coming
to stemming population decline, calling them “essential.”19 in as [manual] workers are the ones looking for affordable
But Census data and social science are not the only evi- housing.” Jose Ortiz, who is originally from Puerto Rico
dence of the impact of immigration on the city. Residents and who built his own construction company in the city,
see it all the time. “[Baltimore neighborhood Fells Point] said that immigrants were attracted by the combination of
was very blighted…you would really not feel comfortable or blue-collar jobs and low-cost housing. “Rent was cheap and
safe walking down the street,” said Luis Borunda, founder the work was there, that’s really the bottom line,” he said.
of the Baltimore Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “Slowly, “That’s why I grew so rapidly, [Baltimore started] developing
Hispanic owned-businesses started opening up and really everywhere…sports were coming in…the stadiums…the Inner
changed the landscape. It’s…attracted other [non-Latino] Harbor…that’s how I got my break.”
Jose Rivas also traces the immigrant influx to a growth
businesses.”
Latin American immigrants have focused on the Fell’s in construction work in the city that began about a decade
Point and Highlandtown sectors of Baltimore that were ago. “During the early 2000s…there was construction that
home to immigrants from Eastern Europe, Greece, and Italy was picking up a lot in the area,” Rivas said. “There were
a century ago. The impact of the new wave of immigrants is buildings, roads. Most of labor was Latino. Also the cost of
palpable. “The apartments around here are all full…Places living is very low. Housing is very inexpensive.”
are being repopulated,” said Lisa O’Reilly of St. Anthony’s
Baltimore’s public outreach to immigrants may not be the
Catholic Church. Jose Rivas, vice president of the Hispanic decisive factor in attracting them, but it can only enhance
Chamber of Commerce, also noted the change in the two the city’s natural attractions for immigrants. Some Rust Belt
neighborhoods. “I remember when I first came here [in communities experiencing more severe poverty and popula2000]… the Eastern Avenue corridor…was dead at that point, tion loss, however, are trying to attract newcomers without
all the businesses were shutting down. Now it’s a vibrant government outreach.
community (see Figure 1).”
Figure 1  Highlandtown and Fells Point Neighborhoods, Baltimore, MD
151

N Broadway

e
Av

N Central Ave

St Paul St.

nia
lva
sy
40

Ru
ss

ell

St.

S Haven St.

S Charles St.

295

The Silicon Valley of the Early 1900s
Unplanned Success
Why are immigrants moving to Baltimore and how can
the city attract more newcomers? Most observers say that
the real attractions for immigrants in Baltimore are economic; they run deeper than a municipal public relations
campaign. Specifically, immigrants go to Baltimore for
manual labor jobs and a low cost of living; many also have
family connections.20
The 2002 report by the Abell Foundation mentioned
above found that most cities that reversed population decline
through immigration had not planned for this success. “There
4  Briefing Paper, October 2013

Like Baltimore, Detroit was founded in the early 1700s.
In the early 1800s, it received waves of immigrants from
Germany, Scandinavia, and Poland. Industrialization and
immigration accelerated after the Civil War. By 1870 almost
half of Detroit’s population of 79,577 was foreign-born.23 By
the late 19th century, before the growth of the automobile
industry, the city developed a manufacturing industry based
on building stoves, machines, and other goods. But it was
automobiles that transformed Detroit from a second-tier
city in the 1800s to the center of America’s most important
industry by 1950. The immigrant influx to Michigan during