Rolling Out the Red Carpet for Teachers

How can the built environment help provide urban students with a better education?

It all started with a group of Baltimore City teachers. Young, passionate, and often overwhelmed, they were (and still are) doing some of the most important work in our cities. Their question to us was simple: why is it so hard to find high-quality, affordable housing in the city, central to the schools where we teach? We saw an opportunity for the built environment to improve the lives of educators, and for vacant, underutilized buildings to be restored as vital structures in their communities. And most importantly, we saw the impact that these improvements could have on the quality of education students in Baltimore City receive. In 2009 we identified a building at 2601 N Howard St. in Remington, a former tin can factory that was 100,000 square feet of lost potential. It had sat vacant for 30 years and was falling apart, infested with various rodents, and a hazard to the community. We knew it didn’t have to stay that way. So, we reached out to members of the surrounding community along with the teachers we hoped would live in the apartments we built. Their constant, important feedback helped shape the entire process. The teachers helped with everything from designing what their apartments would look and feel like, to deciding what the rent should be. They helped us build their ideal housing: apartments available to educators at discounted rates, with the amenities they wanted most, like on-site resource rooms with free copying and printing, gated parking, a fitness center, and shared courtyard space. Through creative financing, including Historic and New Markets Tax Credits, we were able to keep rents affordable and preserve the character of a long-vacant factory. Housing that rolls out the red carpet for the teachers who spend their days educating our city’s children – we think it’s a win-win. Since Miller’s Court was completed in 2009, we’ve had the honor of leading two other projects to provide affordable, high-quality housing for teachers: Union Mill in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore in 2011 and Oxford Mills in Philadelphia in 2012. These projects have served nearly 775 teachers over the years, meaning that thousands of students in Baltimore City Schools have teachers who are living in housing they can afford, close to the schools where they teach. That means less time stressing about home and more time engaging with students. Just how it should be.