They are images which wouldn’t be out of place in the opening sequences of the ubiquitous Baltimore crime show The Wire.
Vacant rows of houses; children hanging around on street corners with nowhere to go and homeless people telling stories of disease and crime.
But rather than a fictionalized view of the Maryland city, these pictures reveal real-life scenes from an urban area hit hard by the recession and still stumbling dangerously into poverty.
Street court: This picture taken on April 8 shows a Baltimore boy shooting a basketball into a makeshift basket made from a milk crate
Deserted: Latest estimates say there are approximately 16, 000 vacant buildings in Baltimore and the city has lost five per cent of its population between 2000 and 2010
Homeless: There are approximately 4,000 homeless people in Baltimore. Angelo, who lives in a vacant property, points out a pin he had to have placed in his jaw after being attacked on the streets
The number of Americans living in poverty today hasn’t been seen since Lyndon Johnson was in the White House.
And Baltimore is among the urban areas said to be suffering the most.
The latest statistics released in September said one in four Baltimore residents were living in poverty.
It is better off than the likes of Detroit which has 35.5 per cent of residents living in poverty but that is scant relief to the thousands that live there and the many city natives who see no alternative but to leave.
Abandoned: Empty properties are seen across the city. Many are fearful the city has a long way to go to recover from the stresses placed on it during the recession
Making ends meet: Thousands of Baltimore residents live in homes flanked by abandoned properties as they struggle to stay afloat
Hanging around: Kids are seen making games in the streets between the abandoned homes
Baltimore lost nearly 5 per cent of its population from 2000 to 2010.
Across the city there are an estimated 16,000 vacant or abandoned buildings and in 2011 it was estimated there were 4,000 homeless people in the city.
‘People who were managing have now dropped into poverty,’ said Susan J. Roll, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work told the Baltimore Sun in 2011.
‘The poor are everywhere. They’re not just people living in shelters. They’re the person who poured your coffee. … They’re cleaning your office when you’re not there.’
Last year the poverty rate held steady compared to its worrying upward trajectory between 2009 and 2010.
Childhood poverty: 37 per cent of children in Baltimore are said to be living in poverty
Playtime: There are few places young people can go in Baltimore to escape the urban decay around them
Exodus: Baltimore has lost nearly a third of its population since it peaked in the 1950s
2010 government figures concluded that Baltimore’s poverty rate was 25.6 per cent – 15 percentage points higher than the poverty rate for Maryland and 10 percentage points higher than for the United States.
Even if it holds at that through to next year, many fear the damage has been done to future generations.
More than 37 per cent of young children were living in poverty in Baltimore in 2011 – up from 28 per cent in 2007, according to the Sun.
‘Researchers who have studied recessions in the past are concerned about the long-term effects of poverty on children and youth,’ Olivia Golden, a fellow at the Urban Institute research group in Washington told the newspaper. ‘We may be dealing with this for a long time.’
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