South Baltimore Gains More Than 150 Parking Spaces

Obviously parking will always be an issue in South Baltimore, but the most important thing is that steps are taken in the right direction for the livability of the residents in the area.  Not only have more car-owning residents moved to the area over the years, but Federal Hill is continually cementing itself as one of the top entertainment districts in the region which also brings tons of vehicles to the entire peninsula. By no means is the parking issue relieved, but certainly some steps have been made in the right direction in the last couple months as more than 150 parking spaces have been added to the area.

The first major addition has been the acquisition of 100 parking spots in the Wall Street Garage on the 1200 block of Wall St. by the Parking Authority of Baltimore City.  The Wall Street Garage, which was built in conjunction with 1211 Light Street, was originally offering spots at around $30,000 a piece to the condo owners, but very few of these spots were ever sold.  The spots are now available on a monthly basis by contacting the Parking Authority.  The garage is within one block of Light Street, West Street and Ostend Street and within two blocks of Cross Street, Marshall Street, Patapsco Street, William Street, Durst Street, Clement Street and Gittings Street.

The second major change was the addition of angled parking on the east side of Johnson Street, which runs along the west side of Riverside Park.  It is estimated that the change added a total of 30 spots to the 1600, 1700 and 1800 block of Johnson Street.  These spots are located in the Riverside neigborhood, are two blocks away from the South Baltimore Neighborhood border and convenient for all of the sports leagues at Riverside Park.

The creation of 1901 South Charles has also created many new parking spots for the area as well.  Winder Street has been created along the south border of the building and the 1900 block of Marshall Street was created.  Several parking spots were also created by eliminating Wells Street entrance of the property which was previously used as access to an employee parking for the McCall Warehouse across the street, which will soon become 2 East Wells.  I would estimate these changes added approximately 20-25 spots to the South Baltimore neighborhood.  The 1900 block of Light Street now also has access to their alley thanks to Winder Street and the 1900 block of Marshall.  Though the alley pavement is in really rough shape and isn’t very wide, it does look feasible to turn several of the backyards of the homes into parking pads.

Certainly there have been some other additions to the area, not as significant, but good nonetheless. A 6-car, 10-motorcycle garage was created on the 1600 block of Elkins Lane in South Baltimore, as well as the extension of the Charm City Circulator Purple Line from Ostend St. to Fort Ave. Efforts are also in place to extend it further in the future to Wells St.  The new 2 East Wells development across the street from 1901 South Charles will also be adding approximately 10 feet of alley space to the west side of the 1800 block of Light Street and a section of the the north side of the unit block of E. Barney Street.  The development is also expecting to lease parking spaces to residents in the area; a total will be known at a later date.

Certainly there is a long way to improve parking on the South Peninsula, but some great gains have been made. Please continue to share your ideas about potential angled parking on your street or changes and concerns with Councilman William Cole and the appropriate neighborhood associations as well as Cynthia Griffin with Area 30 Parking.

About the Author: Kevin Lynch

Founder and Publisher of SouthBmore.com, longtime resident of South Baltimore, and a graduate of Towson University. Diehard Ravens and O's fan, father of three, amateur pizza chef, skateboarder, and "bar food" foodie. Email me at Kevin@InceptMM.com and follow me on Twitter at @SoBoKevin.