Odessa American in Odessa, Texas

Baltimore Homesteaders Challenge Urban Blight on Stirling Street

In Baltimore seven years ago Paul and Marjorie Gasparotti pursued urban homesteading, converting two abandoned houses into a single family home with $42,000 in loans. city officials backed the plan amid a broader push by housing commissioner Bob Embry to revitalize neighborhoods. Since 1974 more than 5,000 families have become urban homesteaders in 93 cities, turning run-down properties into productive homes and boosting tax rolls. Baltimore emerged as a leader, with about 500 homesteads awarded and 40 shopsteads created, reshaping Stirling Street into a preserved 19th century lane near downtown.