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six decades of the century, the target neighbourhood declined. The neighbourhood's once-booming commercial strip lost many businesses during 1960s and 1970s. [n the 1980s the entire New Orleans area experienced a severe economic downturn due to its heavy dependence on the struggling oil and gas industries, which was followed by high abandonment and foreclosure rates. This ci[ywide depression resulted in further decline of the Uptown area: From 1980 to 1990, [he neighbourhood population decreased by almos[ 25 percenL.. In 1990, [he neighbourhood had a popula[ion of 2,529, o( which slightly over 90 percent were African Americans. The unemployment rate increased from 7.7 percen[ tn 14.8 percen[, and [he poverty ra[e rose by almost 10 percentage points be[ween 1980 and 1990; the 1989 median household income in the neighbourhood was $14,104... The New Orleans economy improved slowly dunng the 1990s. The depression, however, had [aken a toll on loca] neighbourhoods (ibid. p.85-86). 2.2.4. Baltimore: Classic Case Studies in Decline The article Afiandoned Housing: Exploring Lessons from Baltimore (Cohen 2001) examines three declining Baitimore neighbourhoods — Sandtown-Winches[er, Harlem Park, and Historic East Baltimore. Like many of the na6on's older industrial cities, Baltimore has been losing population: since 1950, the city has lost over 31% of its residents. The inner-city population became impoverished as a result of decline in the manufacturing base and the loss of middle-income households. Raising the homeownership rate has been slowed down by high settlement costs, property ta�ces and limited access to capital for construction and renovation (ibid.). The early 90's evidenced rising statistics of murders and violent crime. Residents of the inner city say that crack cocaine, crime, sanitation and lack ofjobs are among the most persistent problems they face. The level of racial geographic segregation is also alarming (The Enterprise Foundation 2001). This pattern of decline left large areas of the city vacant: between 12,000 and 43,000 housing units have been abandoned. In addi[ion to Baltimore's empty derelict houses, the city has nearly 14,000 vacant lots. Much of this housing is in the form of high-density row houses, some of which are only 12 feet wide. These units require either demolition or expansion (Cohen 2001). All three neighbourhoods were constructed in the second half of the 18'" century. Sandtown-Winchester and Hazlem Pazk were built as white, middle-class suburbs; Historic East Baltimore was constructed for workers in the city's manufacturing, port, and railroad facilities. Due to a combination of factors — including racial zoning in the early 1900s and restrictive covenants in other neighbourhoods until the early 1960s — the three neighbourhoods became almost exclusively black by the early 1970s (ibid.). The loss of manufacturingjobs in Baltimore, through 1'actory closing and structural change, along wi[h fair housing laws [hat (acilitated the fligh[ of middle- and upper- income blacks from inner-city neighbourhoods, con[ributed [o the area's physical and economic decline. For example, Sand[own-Winchester, once home [o over 3Q000 people, saw its population decline to 10,300 by 1990 (ibid. p.424). --, .-.