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Greenlight Baltimore as Educational Experience
By Paul Wein

The parking lot of the Monmouth Mall was swarming with Fort Monmouth personnel last Saturday as they gathered for Greenlight Baltimore, a day-trip by bus that was meant to introduce that city to those thinking of relocating with their positions to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., as part of the implementation of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) law.

Bidding farewell to the travelers was Maj. Gen. Dennis L. Via, who saw the event as very positive. “I think it’s a great opportunity to allow our employees to be able to go down to Baltimore, to tour some of the neighborhoods, to be able to ask some questions,” he said, ” and to interface with some of the volunteers down there that can tell them about the area……as well as surrounding areas.  Of course, they [volunteers] want to make sure they give as much information as they can as people contemplate the decisions they have to make.”
The event was sponsored by the non-profit group Live Baltimore, a ten-year-old organization working to promote residential development and increase the city’s population. “When we heard about the BRAC initiative and we heard that people had to move with their jobs into Aberdeen Proving Ground or Fort Meade, it made sense to us that a lot of people might want to live in the city,” Anna Custer, the executive director of Live Baltimore, said. Working with a team of eight and a few dozen volunteers, she said everyone involved in hosting the event was pleased to participate.

 “The communities were excited to talk to people and we’re very excited,” she said. “When you see that our city, federal and state partners are all here to make sure that Baltimore is out there, I think that speaks very strongly about the passion which we feel about the city; and the opportunity for people to move as well as the level of commitment…to make sure that folks moving from Fort Monmouth have all the facts they need to make an informed decision about their future home.”

The event began with separate bus rides from New Jersey and Virginia into Baltimore to the Du Burns arena just outside of downtown, where a Community Fair was held. On the buses, the movie “Hairspray” was shown. Filmed in and taking place in Baltimore, the movie tied in with the trip and gave people the opportunity to see some bits of the city where they were about to arrive. Following the movie, a video about Baltimore, its attractions and its history was shown.

With lunch provided by the organization at the fair, guests were greeted by representatives of many of Baltimore’s organizations, schools, neighborhoods and communities, such as the American Legion, Associated Black Charities, and the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts.

During the fair, Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon greeted attendees by welcoming them to Baltimore. Afterward, she walked around the fair shaking hands and taking pictures with attendees. Mayor Dixon said she thought the event was a good way for people to get to know her city. “I think it gives people a good perspective of Baltimore,” she said. “We have great communities throughout the city. When people tour around and see what we have to offer, they really are amazed so we’re going to put everything that we have into inviting people to look at Baltimore as a place to live.”

Following the reception, guests re-boarded the buses and were taken on tours of different neighborhoods. Accompanied by a guide who described each area and pointed out different items of interest, guests were given a two-hour tour and education about each neighborhood they visited.

There were four different bus tours, traveling to different neighborhoods. Guests were invited to choose the tour of their choice, depending on which neighborhood they wished to explore. The red tour traveled to Canton Heights, the green tour visited Ashman’s Hope, the blue tour headed to North Charles, and the purple tour took guests to Northeast Baltimore.
The bus tours culminated with a reception at the Maryland War Memorial across the street from City Hall. Provided with light fare, guests were now introduced to real estate and mortgage professionals who offered information and assistance with finding properties and obtaining mortgages. In addition, guests were once again given information packages and invited to sign up for each company’s mailing list if they wanted additional information or follow-up.

“Baltimore is a wonderful city,” said Aja Walker, a systems analyst for the Logistics and Readiness Center’s Logistics and Engineering Operations Directorate. “It is very historical; there are a lot of new developments. I was given a lot of information today along with the handouts and I plan on going back home and doing more research and I have a lot of cards and e-mails so I can reach out to people.  I feel more informed now, I do.”

Clifford Nguyen, who works for the Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center’s Software Engineering Directorate and had never been to Baltimore before, said he was well educated by the experience. “It was very helpful for me,” he said. “This gave me an opportunity to see the neighborhoods. I chose the red tour and it was very informative.”

”The people are interested,” said Rodney Archable, a community mortgage lending officer. “What we’re doing here is showing them all the benefits of living in Baltimore and showing them different parts of the city.” A Baltimorean himself, Archable said his organization works closely with Live Baltimore on many of their events. “We work with them throughout the year with different types of promotions about Baltimore.”

At the end of the reception at the War Memorial, guests were asked to once again re-board the buses and returned to New Jersey and Virginia respectively, going home with plenty of material to review, as well as plenty of answered questions and a better view of Baltimore.

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