Poll: Is the Local Economy Improving?

There have been some signs that the local economy is starting to improve.

Businesses such as The Food Market, Blue Sage Cafe and Artifact Coffee have all recently opened. 

The Mt. Vernon Mill mixed use develoment is underway, while the long dormant redevelopment at the has recently showed new life and a new is being proposed for the 3400 block of Roland Avenue.

But the unemployment rate for Baltimore City has so far averaged 10.2 percent for the year, according to the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. That's compared to 10.5 percent for 2011, 11.9 percent in 2010 and 10.8 in 2009. In 2008, the year the economy collapsed, the unemployment rate for the city was 6.6 percent.