Our Common Wealth

20From Alleys to Commons

In Baltimore, inner-city neighbors are starting to close off alleys and turn them into protected commons for socializing and children’s play. The move is an answer to a number of problems many city dwellers face. They don’t know their neighbors. They feel confined in their apartments. Their children lack safe places to play. Crime flourishes in the social void.

But look out back. There’s an alley running right through the interior of the block. Probably it is a mess. Drug dealers hang out there; junkies shoot up. It’s not a place you like to spend time.

But it’s space. What if you could fix it up, even turn it into a park? What if neighbors lowered their back fences and opened up their yards to the new space? What if ...