One of the oldest cities in the United States, Baltimore was founded in 1729 by a group of entrepreneurs to serve as a port for the shipment of tobacco from the upper Chesapeake area of Maryland and Virginia. By 1970, it had become the nation's seventh largest city, home to a wide variety of ethnic' groups and industries. Despite its diverse economy, Baltimore faced many problems: housing was old, population was declining and economy seemed to be sagging. As measured by a 1976 study, based on 1970 census data, Baltimore ranked fourth among U.S. cities on a composite index of "hardship."l In a 1979 study for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the city ranked sixth on a "need ll index. 2 Accompanying these problems was a recorded crime rate well above the average for major cities, especially for violent crimes.

This report is part of the collection of scanned historical documents available to the public.