Maryland governor targets blight in Baltimore with plan to raze vacant buildings

Baltimore

MARYLAND Governor Larry Hogan has unveiled plans to knock down thousands of vacant buildings in Baltimore, replace them with parks and green space, and offer incentives to developers who want to bring new projects there.

Mr Hogan announced last week the joint effort by the state and city governments on a blighted block in Sandtown-Winchester, the childhood home of Freddie Gray, whose death after suffering a severe spinal injury in police custody sparked riots this past spring and became part of a national debate about police treatment of young black men.