Barclay is primarily residential with active local churches and strong community organizations, including the Greater Greenmount Community Association.  Residents have worked together to maintain gardens and greenspaces for children and adults to enjoy.  
 
Barclay is a vibrant community with strong architectural and cultural histories, and in 2004, the Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation designated two blocks on East 22nd Street as a Maryland Historic District named, Barclay-Greenmount. The district protects the beauty of the rowhouses dating back to the late 1890s.
 
The community has excellent access to public transit, as Penn Station is only blocks away, and the intersection of North Avenue and Greenmount Avenue is the fifth-most used bus transfer hub.

Barclay is situated at the southern boundary of the Station North Arts and Entertainment District and a 15-minute walk from the city’s premier cultural district, Mt. Vernon.

The neighborhood is anchored by major institutions such as: the Johns Hopkins University to the northwest, the University of Baltimore to the southwest, the Johns Hopkins Hospital to the southeast, Baltimore City Public School Headquarters to the immediate west, and the Maryland Institute College of Art to the west.

Barclay is growing significantly with its eclectic mix of housing stock including affordable, moderate, and market-rate properties, as well as historic and newly constructed homes.

A snapshot of the Barclay community captures the idyllic rowhouse of the late nineteenth century. The designs include Queen-Ann, Stick, Richardsonian Romanesque, Second Empire, Colonial, and Classical Revival. These classic designs represent the functionality and sophistication of that period. The homes at the 400 and 500 blocks of East 22nd Street, for example, are three-story-plus-basement, swell-front rowhouses.

Before becoming a part of contemporary Baltimore, the area was home to a large population of wealthy German printers, merchants, manufacturers, and brewers. It was referred to Britain Ridge and functioned as a country retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city. It was not until 1888 that Barclay became a part of Baltimore. In 1908, Boundary Avenue, the road at the neighborhood’s southern edge, became the present-day main artery known as North Avenue.

The community continued to thrive well into the 1960s. Following the 1968 riots, Barclay’s population decreased significantly with every year. In the past decade, several organizations have worked to redevelop the vacant houses left behind: People’s Homesteading Group, Inc. Greater Baltimore AHC, Inc., St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center, Telesis Corporation, and Greater Homewood Community Corporation.

Barclay is proud of its award-winning elementary school, Dallas F. Nicholas School, located on North Calvert Street and East 20th Street. In 2007, Irma Johnson, the principal of Dallas F. Nicholas School, was named “Maryland Principal of the Year.”