ProudBlackMatt t1_is391x4 wrote on October 12, 2022 at 11:52 PM

Do you think cities can reach a point where the water is flooding in faster than people can bail it out? I'm a millennial in IT and while I know many friends who live/have lived in Baltimore their goal is often to have kids in a couple years and move out into the counties after spending a few years bar crawling. They pay taxes and spend money at local small businesses but it doesn't feel like the kind of organic growth the city needs long term.

I have lived in MD for less than 10 years and Howard county for 7 with a single year in Baltimore so my perspective is pretty skewed. Kind of feels like some of the city's greatest challenges are geographic. People who want a place to raise their kids with great schools can move 10 miles away and Baltimore also has to compete with D.C. for people who want to live in a city.

telmar25 t1_is4lqi1 wrote on October 13, 2022 at 7:16 AM

Agree. However that pattern is true in basically every city, which is why cities skew young. There are a large number of powerful factors driving families with kids to suburbs: lower crime, better public schools, larger houses for the money, more land for the money, more convenience for driving and shopping, and lower overall taxes are some of the biggest ones. Cities have to succeed in spite of that, and usually that’s because of appeal to young people, social activities, general appeal of sights/activities/restaurants, and convenience to work. I do think for all its faults that Baltimore is still much more appealing than Columbia for many people 5-10 years out of college. And while DC is even more appealing, that’s where price differences come into the equation.