Charles Village, in the north-central area of Baltimore, Maryland is a middle-class area sitting immediately to the east and south of the Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus. Many of the university’s staff and students live here and, perhaps because of the number of students, the neighborhood has a somewhat bohemian flavor. It’s also one of the more racially-diverse neighborhoods in the city.
Charles Village is an active neighborhood, with a strong sense of identity and a strong local business climate. The smaller neighborhoods of Abell, Harwood, and Old Goucher are considered part of Greater Charles Village.
The area was first developed as a streetcar suburb in the early 20th century. Its large row houses were priced from $4,000 to $7,000, and tempted buyers with a 20-foot lawn in front of every building. At the time, the area was known as Peabody Heights; it developed rapidly, especially along the Olmsted-designed Charles Street boulevard.
During the 1960s, the area experienced a renaissance as new residents became attracted to the area’s architecture, convenient location, public transportation and prominent institutions. In 1967, local resident Grace Darin created the new name, Charles Village, from Charles Street, the area’s major north-south corridor.
The neighborhood enjoys a special tax district created in 1994 to provide supplementary sanitation and safety services to residents and promotes Charles Village as an attractive place to visit, live, work and play. The benefits district covers a hundred-block area bounded by 33rd Street to the north, Greenmount Avenue to the east, 25th and 20th Streets to the south, and Johns Hopkins and Howard Street to the west.
Schools here include Barclay Elementary/Middle School, Margaret Brent Elementary/Middle, The GreenMount School and Johns Hopkins University.
Charles Village enjoyed its 15 minutes of fame when a New York Times author ranked scenic drives through the area and wrote, “A city boulevard, the 12-mile historic Charles Street in Baltimore, made the list of comfortable drives because the journey north, from the Inner Harbor to the Baltimore Beltway, encompasses about 400 years of history …”*
The community sponsors a large number of events each year, including “The Snowflake Tour of Charles Village Homes.”
* “Are We There Yet? Who Cares! Enjoy the View,” New York Times Travel section, August 2011
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