Making Baltimore look good on the Internet

Submitted by perceptron-addict t3_yv0eda in baltimore

I moved to Baltimore in August of 2021& I love this totally awesome, unique and wonderful city. Upon moving here (from Seattle), almost every person I told had a negative reaction to hearing "Baltimore", to the point that even I was apprehensive by the time I got here. Obviously, the city is wonderful but nobody seems to realize this anywhere else in the country. I've wanted to make Youtube videos showcasing the great city that we all get to see today and finally started a couple of weeks ago. So far, I only have videos of me cycling around the city but am looking for more ideas for content. I've heard multiple people not from Baltimore refer to the city as a "war zone" and I think it's important that they get a "boots-on-the-ground" perspective. I think the news hypes up Baltimore as a terrible place because it's exciting/gets clicks.

I've thought about doing interviews and tourist-y pieces on certain landmarks or attractions. My channel can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9T2cm2R1XE2R14BxHeQ0pQ any feedback would be greatly appreciated (as would any ideas for pro-Baltimore content).

If you like Baltimore & YouTube, I would also suggest following the Baltimore History Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/BaltimoreHistoryChannel410 They have great old news clips from the 50s-90s, mostly in the 80s. It's very fun to see the same old landmarks from way back when.

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NoImpact3813 t1_iwc102n wrote

two things can be true at once, and i think that gets lost around the conversation of baltimore.

is the crime and violence absolutely heartbreaking and terrible? yes.

are there good people here trying to bring the community together? wonderful businesses and culture? also yes.

and to your point, when the media only shares the one side of violence and crime, it seems people think of the city as a hopeless cause.

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perceptron-addict OP t1_iwc1si7 wrote

>and to your point, when the media only shares the one side of violence and crime, it seems people think of the city as a hopeless cause.

I think you summed up the problem I'm trying to describe. Media only shows one side of Baltimore. Other cities like New York, DC, Chicago, etc. have reports on both violence and fun/exciting things. Baltimore seems to get mostly negative or nothng from the national press.

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myislanduniverse t1_iwc79sv wrote

This is also the case for Detroit, which in many ways reminds me a lot of Baltimore.

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bluejegus t1_iwd8yeh wrote

I was just laughing at a Detrioters bit earlier today that gave me big Baltimore vibes.

A scene where two of their out of town friends are exploring the city and ask if an area is safe. The Detroiters scoff and say "it's not a damn warzone" then the friends ask if it's ok to walk there and they immediately change their tone "well God no don't do that"

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FrancisSobotka1514 t1_iwdlbej wrote

I felt way safer in detroit ,And its a ghost town downtown at night.

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VolumeViscount t1_iwgzhix wrote

I’m a transplant from Detroit, definitely felt safer there as well, and it was less horrible to drive through than Baltimore, but I also hate city driving in any city so there’s that. Anecdotally, I’ve known way more people to have been victims of violent crime (self included) in Baltimore than in Detroit, but there are confounding factors for that that I don’t necessarily want to get into so just take it as you will.

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FrancisSobotka1514 t1_iwh8o2k wrote

Im still trying to figure out how to get a pizza from pizza papalis shipped to me .

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savethewale t1_iwcoe7w wrote

I don’t know if you are aware, but there is a common thread amongst locations you have listed. The cities people call “war zones” are majority black cities. News media/suburban America is more than happy to shit on majority black cities while seemingly giving more leeway to places like Philadelphia, NYC, even when levels of violence/crime are comparable.

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LR_DAC t1_iweu0dq wrote

Murder or homicide rates for...

Baltimore: 58.27 per 100,000

Philadelphia: 22.47 per 100,000

NYC: 5.5 per 100,000

US: 4.5 per 100,000

Sources:https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/murder-map-deadliest-u-s-cities/10/https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/violent-crime-statistics-for-every-city-in-america/https://www.nyc.gov/assets/nypd/downloads/pdf/analysis_and_planning/historical-crime-data/seven-major-felony-offenses-2000-2021.pdfhttps://www.nyc.gov/site/planning/planning-level/nyc-population/nyc-population.page

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savethewale t1_iwjiffs wrote

This isn’t the gotcha moment you think it is. However, it is a good way to bring up the inherently tricky nature of reporting crime statistics. For example, if you search cities by murder rate, you don’t always get the same top results due to methodology; New Orleans is sometimes listed as the top city. However, you can also list cities by violent crime rates. Little Rock Arkansas, Milwaukee Wisconsin, Cleveland Ohio, & Kansas City Missouri are frequently listed in the top ten on these lists, but they are not frequently described as “war zones” in the media. Incidentally, they are also not majority black cities.

Additionally, this methodology is also predicated on an assumption that per capita is the best way to report crime. However, if you look at total homicides, for example, Philadelphia had 561 homicides in 2021 compared to Baltimore’s 337, almost double the amount of homicides. Put another way, an average day in Philadelphia has almost double the number of murders compared to Baltimore. NYC had 485 (depending on source) You can also look at it by area. If you use Philadelphia’s 561 murders and divide it by 142.7 square miles, you get 3.9 murders per square mile compared to Baltimore’s 3.66 per square mile or Milwaukee’s 1.99.

Using the term “war zone” is also sensationalist and disingenuous. For example, the current death toll in Ukraine is north of 200,000. All that is to say, more than one thing can be true. Baltimore can have a high crime rate and still have cool things that the media doesn’t report on, other large cities can have cool things and lots of crime that isn’t focused on as much in national conversation.

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krupke t1_iwccm5s wrote

Same situation in New Orleans

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RayeofMoon t1_iwd1m19 wrote

My coworker and I recently went to New Orleans and were saying the same thing. Baltimore does have culture and is a cool city with the potential to be a tourist destination especially given it’s proximity to big east coast cities. NOLA is shown as a destination for music, food, culture, etc even though they also have a lot of crime. Obviously Baltimore isn’t as special as NOLA and we don’t have Mardi Gras, but I think if local businesses, art, and other things unique to Baltimore were funded and allowed to thrive then Baltimore could definitely be a tourist destination in its own way.

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krupke t1_iwd5o5f wrote

Yeah, it’s funny because living in Nola, I feel like the negative gets mentioned so much, but you’re right that we do get a bit more love on the tourist front. My wife used to live in Baltimore and is always singing its praises, for what it’s worth!

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Timmah_1984 t1_iwdfdet wrote

NOLA actually has a bigger crime problem right now. They defunded the police department and as a consequence are short on cops. Response times are over an hour and that’s if they don’t downgrade your call and show up the next day to take a report. Baltimore has its own issues with the police but at least they’re funded. Hopefully with the new states attorney we can get crime rates down again. It sucks for both cities because there’s a lot to love and I do think the leadership means we’ll. Unfortunately a lot of bad policy gets passed and the people bear the brunt of it.

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Notpoligenova t1_iwg5ipg wrote

This!!

I was in Germany with a group of students and had to almost pull out a PowerPoint to explain why Baltimore isn’t a shithole city where everyone gets murdered. I also had to do this to people in Munich as well.

It’s a massive shame people can’t see the history and culture the city has and instead focuses on the crime that, let’s face it, every major city has.

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Apprehensive_Neat418 t1_iwbuw8n wrote

Shhh. This is how we keep the assholes out

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perceptron-addict OP t1_iwbxb07 wrote

Keeping assholes out = good

perception as warzone = bad

Right? Or is it worth the negative perception because the city stays affordable, lively and interesting? I think there must be some middle ground to be had

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[deleted] t1_iwc98o3 wrote

[deleted]

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rockybalBOHa t1_iwdguey wrote

>We’ve had so many high profile attacks and random violence, plus everyday obvious nuisances like the squeegee folks, that it really drives home the “war zone” image

Re: random violence, though I have no way to prove this, my perception is that we do not have more random violence on a per capita basis than other cities. My hypothesis is that our bloated crime statistics are due to Baltimore having a high percentage of people who are simply up to no good or who live in a world where violence in a reasonable problem solving strategy. I know all cities have such people...I just think Baltimore has relatively more.

To illustrate what I mean re: random violence - NYC has had 22 instances of people being pushed onto subway tracks this year alone. These are about as random as it gets. Imagine that happening even once in Baltimore in a five year span. We'd never be able to live that down.

I do agree that the squeegee boys have a HUGE HUGE HUGE effect on public perception. When people I know tell me they won't go into the city, it is more likely they will mention squeegee boys than murder.

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[deleted] t1_iwegblk wrote

[deleted]

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rockybalBOHa t1_iwh12ob wrote

In a weird way, the increase of violence in cities across America has helped Baltimore. We no longer seem to be an outlier. There is horrible shit happening everyday all over the country. Cities that had stellar reputations -like San Fran and Portland -get drug through the mud on a daily basis. Even NYC which has statistically much lower crime than the vast majority of cities has a horrible perception problem right now. The NYC suburbs are almost entirely responsible for flipping the House to the GOP. And crime is the reason why.

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No-Success7693 t1_iwnqvda wrote

I must say, I don't get San Francisco's stellar reputation.

That place sketched me out worse than almost anywhere I've been on the East Coast.

Just felt chaotic and aggressive.

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J_Sauce t1_iwgwjm9 wrote

Yeah, I agree on the random violence part. Seems to be on par with other cities we usually get compared to. Actually, since the yuppie hordes haven’t taken over Baltimore’s majority-AA neighborhoods, there’s probably less of the stuff of the genre you hear about in DC- where fans are literally getting shot outside Nationals games and the like. (Can you imagine if that happened here? The reaction would be so different.)

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Apprehensive_Neat418 t1_iwbzaky wrote

poverty is definitely a problem and that causes violent crime. But that isn't just a Baltimore problem. Is it worse here ? i dont know (tbf i live in the county)

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J_Sauce t1_iwdjh2v wrote

Baltimore has a poverty rate of 21.2%, comparable to Columbus (19.5%), Houston (20.5%), Pittsburgh (20.5%) and Atlanta (20.8%), and less than Philadelphia (24.3%) and Cleveland (32.7%), to name but a few. All of those other cities have significantly lower violent crime rates than Baltimore.

Even “safe” East Coast cities have a lot of poverty- see Boston (18.9%) and NYC (17.9%). source: US Census Bureau 2021 and FBI Crime Data 2019).

There aren’t consistent or serious penalties for criminal behavior in Baltimore, which means the culture bred by poverty has an outsized influence on the lived experience here. We just let our problems fester more than other places with a similar proportion of miserable assholes.

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thethighshaveit t1_iwm930d wrote

It's not just poverty, but wealth inequality that creates desperation and breeds violent responses. When it seems (or is) unjust that others have what you know you never will, it's easier to justify antisocial behavior to survive. If, instead, we developed and invested not just money but our own time and humanity in collaborative, humanizing, prosocial solutions, the justification for antisocial behavior would begin to evaporate. Instead, we treat antisocial behavior with antisocial punishment, increasing antisocial behavior.

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bmore_conslutant t1_iwc81rh wrote

i mostly don't give a shit that idiots think we're a warzone

it's mostly fox news types anyway

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pk10534 t1_iwcew2v wrote

The perception that Baltimore is very unsafe doesn’t tend to be exclusive to one political party.

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bmore_conslutant t1_iwci5fx wrote

i've never heard a liberal call it a warzone unironically

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pk10534 t1_iwcigen wrote

A war zone? Yeah me either, I’ll grant you that. But I still get the same looks when I tell progressives in DC or NYC I live in Baltimore lol. They may be PC enough not say it, but they definitely don’t think it’s a safe place to live

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pestercat t1_iwg2jxw wrote

War zone, no. A lot of careful "but are you sure that's safe?", however, yeah.

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saltysomadmin t1_iwbzum5 wrote

I mean, Baltimore is top 2 in terms of murder rate. There's definitely cool stuff in the city but the perception isn't going to change until we change the statistics. How we do that beats the shit out of me.

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NewrytStarcommander t1_iwc42mg wrote

I agree it needs to change- but I think the OPs point stands. New Orleans has one of the highest homicide rates in the US and has for a while, but still has a lot of positive image- you don't hear the same level of rhetoric about New Orleans as Baltimore, and more of a focus still on a fun place to go.

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perceptron-addict OP t1_iwc0zai wrote

Yeah the problem is multifaceted and complicated. I don't know where to begin to solve the whole thing. I'm hoping to just focus on one contradiction I've observed: the rest of the US sees us as a war-zone, and after living in the city for over a year, I think it is anything but. About 5 years ago, my cousin who worked in HR visited Baltimore on a business trip. She stayed in Inner Harbor, and the company told her not to leave the hotel. I know multiple people who say they're afraid to visit here. I just think it's sad. It's true the murder rate is bad, and something really needs to be done about that because it's a black eye on the city.

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DirtyPolecat t1_iwc40bd wrote

Within the first year of moving here I had tools stolen out of my truck, my car's hood stomped flat, and someone murdered in the back alley behind my house.

Reeeeally depends on where in the city you live. I'm sorry, I'm not seeing this "awesome" Baltimore from where I'm at.

I'm only here because I'm also a poor man, and housing is cheap.

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taketheleap22 t1_iwcnbyz wrote

I've lived here 5 years and have never seen the such. Absolutely love it here. I think that's the OP's point. So sorry that stuff happened to you though.

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DirtyPolecat t1_iwcng8b wrote

Brooklyn/Cherry Hill is brutal.

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Timmah_1984 t1_iwdh21f wrote

I live in Brooklyn, shit happens here but it really goes block by block. Generally speaking it’s quiet where I am and I haven’t had any major issues. I’m sorry your car got messed with, that’s irritating. I hope you don’t have any more problems.

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taketheleap22 t1_iwcp65p wrote

I love the park in cherry hill actually! I read there sometimes.

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completethesestreets t1_iwc3srq wrote

Maybe this is facile but if the city starts addressing simpler quality-of-life stuff and the population starts to grow, even if the number of homicides stays the same, the "homicide rate" will decrease because there's more people here.

I don't think it would be that difficult for the city to start prioritizing things like more dense infill development, more charm city circulator lines, fixing potholes and street lights, hiring some people to clean up more often, etc., and I think that would trigger some growth. Obviously we also want the number of homicides to decrease, but I think that fixing these other issues could go part of the way to addressing violence.

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flobbley t1_iwc6rqr wrote

Improved public transportation infrastructure and improved public school performance would have immense effects for the city. Every young couple I've known that has moved out of the city wanted to stay for the lifestyle but felt they had to because of schools, and the larger an area people are able to travel in a given amount of time means a larger area people are able to look for jobs, and a better chance of increasing their income.

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Xanny t1_iwd66kc wrote

Its almost like poverty begets (violent) crime and reducing poverty reduces (violent) crimes.

Really I think the root is the blight. You're right about more circulator lines etc. We should at least get circulator coverage in the 2 mile radius of downtown and let MTA act more as a commuter bus service for further out areas. It also needs better headways, like some cities get bus frequencies down to 4 minutes. We could at least do sub 10.

I think on infill development though the current city building code is crippling. There are like 50 different zoning districts and are allocated on totally arbitrary per-lot boundaries. The biggest thing is to rezone areas within 2 blocks of major transit stops (which would include those high frequency circular stops, imo) to an equivalent of the current TOD-4 zone with no parking minimums. If this actually happened with expanded circulator coverage and the red line it would make a lot of the city a singular zoning code, which would be hugely helpful to attract investors to build here.

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physicallyatherapist t1_iwc2bc9 wrote

It's not always statistics though. Chicago is perceived as a high crime city (mostly pushed by Fox News) yet many other cities are worse.

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sllewgh t1_iwdfuq8 wrote

Statistics don't tell the whole story. Who's getting murdered? Mostly people connected to the drug trade, in places where that trade is happening, at night. If that doesn't describe you, you don't need to worry much about the murder rate.

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No-Success7693 t1_iwnq2h7 wrote

On one level, it's a serious uphill battle just because of the hard line drawn between city and county.

Many other cities would also look awful statistically if they had never been able to annex their inner suburbs.

In many other locations, a metropolitan area like Baltimore's would also have some of its higher-crime areas located in a completely different jurisdiction (think Philly/Camden, NYC/Newark, DC/crappy parts of PG, etc.)

Instead, they're all grouped together in one municipality, with little statistical counterbalance from inner suburbs.

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RobAtSGH t1_iwc0anq wrote

Also check out the Five Minute Histories videos on the Baltimore Heritage YouTube channel.

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tjarrett t1_iwd8lvo wrote

Came here just to share this. One of my favorite YouTube channels. I find Johns Hopkins (the host of the show... yes that's his name) to have an infectious love of Baltimore.

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Lardarius t1_iwc4faq wrote

Baltimore definitely has a PR problem to your point. We don't do a great job marketing ourselves and the great things to do here. Yes, Baltimore has its issues. But, there are also so many good things about this city.

I honestly think your best bet might be shorter form vertical videos (IG reels, Youtube shorts, Tiktok) in hopes of getting younger people to consider coming to visit (or live in) Baltimore. These could be quick snap shots of things to do/places to visit/things to eat around the city.

I am by no means a social media expert, but I think this is the way to go. We aren't going to get older people to change their perceptions (IMO) but could start to change the mindset of younger people.

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EthanSayfo t1_iwctcfi wrote

Maybe having a Governor who isn’t rabidly anti-Baltimore will help!

I mean shit, the new Governor went so far as to kind of exaggerate his youthful ties to Baltimore City. This could be seen as boding well!

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ordinary_love t1_iwdk6t8 wrote

Please don’t do any PR. The second a place becomes “hip,” it is no longer the place.

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Lardarius t1_iwdniyz wrote

Yeah but we also need tourists to come here and spend money, we need taxpayers to move here, entrepreneurs to come here and open up new businesses, etc etc.

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thethighshaveit t1_iwm86bk wrote

You don't need entrepreneurs to move here, you need to make funding and venues accessible to the entrepreneurs already here. Entrepreneurs aren't some magical other that live elsewhere.

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Lardarius t1_iwm91y9 wrote

I agree and by "come here" I meant open businesses in the city, not literally move here.

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rockybalBOHa t1_iwcl8pv wrote

I have a lot of family and friends who live in and around Philadelphia, and they visit me regularly in Baltimore. This generates an interesting dynamic that is very telling about how people perceive places, namely cities.

For one, they almost all have negative, hopeless feelings about Philadelphia. BUT they all have positive, almost dreamy feelings about Baltimore. The reasons for this are simple - they are inundated with constant negativity about Philly (especially from the local Philly media) and because they live there, they see all of Philly's warts.

When they visit Baltimore, they are only doing fun things and seeing our best neighborhoods. They don't have access to our local media, social media, etc. and the people they know aren't shit talking Baltimore on a daily basis. In their day to day lives all of that negativity is reserved for Philly. Meanwhile, their feelings about Baltimore are based solely on positive, curated experiences. This leads to an intense "the grass is greener" kind of feeling that isn't 100% "valid", but their feelings aren't necessarily wrong either.

Baltimore is great. Philly has it's challenges. But Philly is also great...and Baltimore also has its challenges. Perspective matters a lot.

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mindfulminx t1_iwc9mg9 wrote

One of my dreams for my hometown is to see it become safer and more accessible for cyclists and pedestrians. Since you bike around Baltimore City you have a unique perspective on the city. Maybe you could talk about your experiences from biking Baltimore? Maybe stop and interview people you see regularly who seem interesting? Maybe stop in the small stores you pass and interview the workers or the owner about what it is like to do business in Baltimore? I have found that most people have an interesting story to tell if you take the time to have a conversation with them. There are many people in Baltimore City who are good people and working to make it a better place. We need to hear those voices, if nothing else this creates better opportunities for collaboration. Also, I recommend interviewing your city representatives for your channel. Baltimore is known for its corrupt politics but I know for a fact that there are good people elected to office. We need to hear those voices, too. And thank you for your affection towards Baltimore-- it can be loveable.

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perceptron-addict OP t1_iwckqqy wrote

>Improved public transportation infrastructure and improved public school performance would have immense effects for the city. Every young couple I've known that has moved out of the city wanted to stay for the lifestyle but felt they had to because of schools, and the larger an area people are able to travel in a given amount of time means a larger area people are able to look for jobs, and a better chance of increasing their income.

Wow thank you so much for the ideas! This is really great, I'm going to start trying to implement some of those types of videos.

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Kaffikup t1_iwc1oqg wrote

wow seriously ive been saying this, im planning to move there next year, Its cheap for housing, close to DC virginia and even new york. From what I understand you just need to be careful and youll be fine.

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spicekatz t1_iwceho7 wrote

You can be careful and still run into issues. That said, I still love the city and will support it. Head is always on a swivel.

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perceptron-addict OP t1_iwc20j4 wrote

yep, same as every other large city. Be smart, keep your head on a swivel. Best part is you don't even have to drive, you can take trains to all those places!

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moderndukes t1_iwc9olr wrote

As the saying goes, the cheapest DC neighborhood is Baltimore

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A_P_Dahset t1_iweep7m wrote

Yeah...heard this before, as well as Baltimore being DC's most "Charming suburb." We honestly should have never reached a point where these sayings could exist given the 200+ years of history where Baltimore was ALWAYS a bigger city than DC---that streak came to an end with the 2020 Census. Baltimore really needs to invest in infrastructure to rebuild and regrow.

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iamnotaprettygrl t1_iwcas9n wrote

It’s one thing to sit around and talk about Baltimore’s PR problem and another to actually be subject to the injustices of Baltimore. I’m talking systemic racism, sexism, poverty. It feels like the Wild West out here. Try depending on public transportation or being a DV victim bullied by a district court judge. The things I’ve experienced in this city I’ve never experienced in any other part of the country. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to do my damndest to try and make it better but it does not serve anyone here to paint it out to be something it’s not. We must keep critiquing.

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fijimermaidsg t1_iwcj23o wrote

Speaking of "boots on the ground" and warzones - have you been to parts of Baltimore like Pennsylvannia Avenue, Upton? Try cycling there... ok no don't... It all depends on where you live and Baltimore changes from block to block. Ride the subway from Lexington Market to Reisterstown... They've tried to gentrify Lexington Market but across the street, it's still an open air drug market.

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perceptron-addict OP t1_iwclsvz wrote

Great idea, I'll go check it out. What's considered the "worst" area in Baltimore? I know it's easy to focus on tourist-y areas as nice, and obviously there are some not-so-nice areas. Would be good to show everything. I used to live in Seattle and I'd be surprised if the "boots on the ground" here was substantially worse than in Seattle. Downtown Seattle is lawless, also open-air drug market and with shootings rapes in broad daylight and people defecating in the middle of the sidewalk. But Baltimore has a much worse reputation than Seattle.

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Xanny t1_iwd7vx6 wrote

There are regions of hyper blight all over the city and its all basically the same thing. Sandtown, Carrollton Ridge, Broadway, etc. Mostly collapsing vacants or empty lots, streets where nobody actually lives there where all the foot traffic is just crime operating where nobody else goes for the most part.

The easiest way to find them is to look for the areas where there are literally zero commercial stores of any kind open within a one mile radius.

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fijimermaidsg t1_iwdk4lq wrote

I think the murder rates in Bmore are higher because the city has a relatively small population. And there's shows like The Wire and We Own This City (ok, that's a true story) that give Bmore the reputation. When people think of Seattle, they think of Starbucks and cafes? Traverse North Avenue -- people from out of town get freaked out by the abandoned rowhouses.

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No-Success7693 t1_iwnuv4v wrote

Also, the worst parts of Seattle aren't in Seattle.

They farm out their negative statistics to Tacoma.

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jnyerere89 t1_iwcqj90 wrote

These are the types of posts I wish I saw more of on this subreddit. Thank you for doing what you do. I've been in Baltimore for 2 yrs and I love it. I'm wondering if those of us who moved here as adults have more love and appreciation for this city than many of those who've been in the area their entire lives.

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AMildPhenomenon t1_iwde994 wrote

I would document all the events that take place here. On any given weekend there are multiple festivals taking place, most put together by locals themselves. This time of year is great for Christmas villages and festivals. Baltimore communities are really tight knit and that doesn't get showcased a lot.

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JohnBarleyCorn2 t1_iwdk3to wrote

Baltimore is my home town - Detroit is my wife's home town.

You are absolutely correct - Baltimore is a great town going through a hard time.

Would things be different if the news showed the great things in Baltimore? Like Camden Yards or Washington Monument and the Walters or Fells Point or the Katyn Monument or the Aquarium or all the great places to eat? I think so.

That said it would be doing a disservice to anyone wanting to visit or move without also adding that Baltimore does have its issues.

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Honeyblade t1_iwcdv2o wrote

This is wild! I had almost the exact same experience. I moved to Baltimore from Seattle in March of 2019, which is a trip all by itself (I can't recommend moving at the beginning of a global pandemic, but I'm still glad I did). This is so cool, and I love it!

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toaurdethtdes t1_iwcm4ab wrote

I love public transit content online and never see much about Baltimore transit so I think you could find a niche in there along with your Baltimore cycling content if you’d like. The public transit isn’t what it should be so I get why people don’t talk about it online but I would love to see any content about it at all. Maybe show what does actually work in the system there is now despite its flaws along with critiques of what doesn’t

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kimjongev t1_iwc0tf5 wrote

Thanks for the YouTube channel link, sounds fun to check out

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dingusamongus123 t1_iwc4rcv wrote

You could share how baltimore is working on providing mentoring and job training to the squeegee boys so they can build skills and earn a dependable income. This is a much better program than simply outlawing squeegeeing (there are a few no-squeegee zones however), leaving squeegee boys to find other, often more dangerous, sources of income. Poverty is a major issue in baltimore city and this is a good step in bridging that gap

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krodriquez02 t1_iwcdhu3 wrote

I agree with you 100% I started posting my videos on Instagram with the intent of making our city look better online and sharing the beauty of our city. I think as long as we continue the truth about our city everyone will see the beauty. It's not called Charm City for nothin

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ocean-eyes90 t1_iwckcpj wrote

Neat idea, excited to see your channel develop! To have something like @/newyorknico on Instagram would be really cool to highlight/celebrate all the different personalities, passions, and quirks of our people and the city. Good luck!

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shane013088 t1_iwcx1cv wrote

I work in Baltimore, doing pest control. I've never had any real issues. If you have a little bit of street smarts you're most likely going to be just fine.

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MbenedictR t1_iwdbxnj wrote

check out the “out of the blocks” podcast. they interview everyone on a given main st in a different neighborhood each episode.

its super interesting how different the neighborhoods all are here-each one has its own flavor!

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FuckPrinevilleOR t1_iwc9vsv wrote

PNW transplant here. I'm from Portland so I know far too well how the media can run with a narrative that paints a disingenuous picture of what a city is actually like. Despite the very real violence and crime I do think Baltimore is an amazing place though, and community wise its leagues better than Portland. Glad to see you here!

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Infinite_Magnetic7 t1_iwdb30e wrote

Growing up in Baltimore in the 1970's and 80's was fun, exciting and interesting (tho' slightly dangerous, too!). Many neighborhoods had their own character, eccentricities and charm. That's kinda faded away now. The people I grew up with left Baltimore for better opportunities (NYC, LA, Europe, etc.) I, myself, left for Houston in the early 90's for college, but came back to help family. While the city remained stagnant, most outgrew their neighborhoods.

This "new", "pre-gentrication" Baltimore is still in question and evolving. I do enjoy the change and interacting in a multi-cultural landscape with more of an international presence. Maybe the transplants, students, new creatives and aspiring residents will be the dawn of something better for the city.

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iamnotaprettygrl t1_iwdcb6v wrote

Sorry but all I can think of right now is “ah yes….the ‘Dickensian aspect’…” 🤔

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S-Kunst t1_iwdrqvs wrote

Yes, it is sad that we have so many, esp from the surrounding counties who are cheerleaders for our failure. Despite so many of their neighbors who are prime instigators of our decay. Many of the decayed buildings are owned by no city residents or entities. The ghettoizing of the city after the 2nd war was to provide the counties with fewer poor and mostly white residents. The annexing of infrastructure, esp sewer and water essentially allowed the county residents a free ride. Too many outsiders fishing at the Baltimore pond, too few restocking.

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_plays_in_traffic_ t1_iwfiyjw wrote

people watch too much tv. news included, without actually taking the time to find out if that clickbait stuff is even remotely true. the wire and homicide and that gttf show didnt help matters either. not to mention our worldwide news coverage for almost a week straight a few years ago

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mtneer2010 t1_iwgcump wrote

You've been here for a year and no offense, seem to have little understanding of what's going on in this city and the history behind it.

TBH you sound like a privileged white liberal who lives in a "safe" area. I assure you it's not just Trumpers from Bel Air calling it a war zone.

Go talk to the residents near Mondawmin or Carrollton ridge. It's definitely closer to a war zone than not.

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battleballs420 t1_iwhg2km wrote

Unfortunately what is considered by many to be the best tv show of all time is about crime in Baltimore. Its really hard to compete with that. But certainly what you are doing will help and is a great step.

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noshowshattuck t1_iwhvt0p wrote

You came from Seattle, so the bar is very, very low.

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DownyOcean t1_iwibwet wrote

I do a lot of work overseas and when they ask me where I live I live and I tell them there is always a pregnant pause.

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Training_Guitar_8881 t1_iwkljfu wrote

There are some really lovely neighborhoods like Roland Park, Homeland, Guilford in Baltimore City where you could take a nice bike ride. Some sites to check out include The Cathedral of Mary Our Queen on North Charles Street, Cross Keys, Lake Roland, Tio Pepe's Restaurant and The Prime Rib, Little Italy, Enoch Pratt Free Library downtown the main branch, The National Aquarium, Sherwood Gardens, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Harborplace. The suburbs of Lutherville, Ruxton and Riderwood in Baltimore County is sooo very nice. If you have any questions just ask: Seasoned Baltimore County Gal.

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Meltorb t1_iwmbyxm wrote

Honestly, please don't do this. People being afraid of the city keeps the rent down and the people here cool. Please don't break the spell

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Junglepass t1_iwc6765 wrote

Here are a few observations from a native.

Like every city, there are bad areas and Bmore is not that walkable. Meaning if you don't need to be there, you can drive through. (having to rely on the poor public transport is reason enough to get a car)

Non drug related violence is not as big of an issue. It happens, but if you are not part of drug culture, bmore is pretty safe.

Ppl that openly decry Baltimore, mostly red county folks or ppl that wished the lived in red county. More than likely trash ppl anyways and best to avoid their toxic personality.

Local politicians are not as helpful as they claim to be, local city bureaucrats, are better than perception.

Our food scene is finally starting to pop, and I am here for it.

The cops are the biggest gang in Baltimore and best be avoided.

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ScootyHoofdorp t1_iwccl9m wrote

To say Baltimore is "pretty safe" if you're not involved in drug culture is highly misleading. Residents of marginalized neighborhoods are leaving the city in droves. Mistaken identity killings, deaths/injuries from stray bullets, people afraid to leave their homes, constant problems from open air drug markets, kids getting recruited into gangs...all these things make Baltimore unlivable for huge swaths of people who have no connection to drug culture whatsoever. It's easy to say that only Trumpians have negative opinions of Baltimore, but that's just what you see in Facebook comments or on Fox News. Thousands of people living here absolutely hate it and are desperate to get out, and to downplay their plight does no one any good. We don't need to convince people that the city is safe if you look a certain way and live in a certain neighborhood. We need to convince them that parts of the city desperately need help, and they should have a shred of empathy for the people living there who are legitimately suffering.

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JohnBarleyCorn2 t1_iwe0qgr wrote

> mostly red county folks or ppl that wished the lived in red county. More than likely trash ppl anyways and best to avoid their toxic personality.

This whole sentence is gross. Baltimore is dangerous...to say otherwise is disingenuous, regardless of what your politics are.

Yeesh.

You can talk about the good parts of Baltimore and still mention the parts to keep an eye out for without being "trash ppl".

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Junglepass t1_iwebf0f wrote

Nah, I stick by what I said. Anywhere is dangerous if you're stupid enough.

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TheCaptainDamnIt t1_iwccdwt wrote

NO. Why you trying to price us out of the housing market OP?!

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Xanny t1_iwd80ez wrote

There is plenty of room for housing in Baltimore lol. The city is in rough shape because it needs to be repopulated and rebuilt, and it might just be possible for Baltimore to get its chance and learn from the absolute failures in NYC, DC, Denver, SF, etc to meet revitalized housing demand. Hint: the answers start with transit and vastly reduced zoning codes.

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cornonthekopp t1_iwcjtxj wrote

I kinda don't mind if people think that. Keeps some of the weirdos away

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Infinite_Magnetic7 t1_iwddeod wrote

Baltimore has (and still is) a major problem with race/racism. I believe, it's just as bad, or if not worse than drugs and murder. It's not as bad as it used to be during my parents era, but it's still present within Baltimore's business sectors. People still harbour racist beliefs and dangerous stereotypes that affect daily interactions.

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BoysenberryNo4959 t1_iwc5pgv wrote

Thanks for sharing! Honestly, a lot of the negative press about Baltimore centers on the idea that most in the city are black, poor and therefore violent. Of course, that is not true and it doesn’t represent how many people live and love the city. The media does a lot of fearmongering about Baltimore and while the city does have a lot of crime, that’s the case with every major city.

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sunglasses90 t1_iwc6p7r wrote

Baltimore is statistically much worse as far as violent crime when compared to the majority of American cities. There’s a few that beat us I think only St. Louis and Chicago as far as homocide rates . But I also think the violence there is a lot more contained to certain areas since they are much larger than Baltimore.

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ScootyHoofdorp t1_iwcaryq wrote

It also doesn't help that the mayor literally said that poor people are more likely to be criminals.

EDIT: I misrepresented what the mayor said. Here's his exact quote: "Folks that are experiencing poverty are folks that are gonna commit crimes."

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pk10534 t1_iwcfi4n wrote

You don’t think there’s a link between poverty and crime…?

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ScootyHoofdorp t1_iwcp76v wrote

Well, first, see my edit. Also, I definitely think there's a link between poverty and crime. I don't, however, think that we should treat poor people as if they have no agency and that society has forced them to become criminals, like the mayor, perhaps unintentionally, implied. That's a disservice to the vast majority of poor people that don't resort to crime. There is heaps of evidence that crime rates can be affected by many factors other than poverty. It's negligent to sit idly by and refuse to pursue other avenues of reducing crime simply because poverty exists.

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moderndukes t1_iwc9t8v wrote

> I've heard multiple people not from Baltimore refer to the city as a "war zone" and I think it's important that they get a "boots-on-the-ground" perspective

Those are people who either only watch Fox45 and Fox News, or watched The Wire and didn’t understand it.

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Ambitious-Intern-928 t1_iwctshd wrote

There are absolutely people that live here that describe it as such, you think the people living in the rough areas of the city live in some imaginary fairy land? A 13 year old just died from being shot in the head near Douglas-homes. A 14 year old was just shot in the back in Belair-Edison. Pretty recently a 9 year old fatally shot a 15 year old in Edmonson-Village and the family felt it was intentional. There are BRUTAL assaults everyday and many are just random bad-ass kids looking for trouble. I think pretending everything is rosey is just as bad as completely sh***** on the city. These are REAL PEOPLE, not numbers. The murder rate doesn't even begin to paint the real picture, we have way more non-fatal shootings and many of those victims now require long-term care. Many victims of assault have life-long injuries. I don't understand why people get butthurt when somebody points all of this out. Yes, the same thing is happening in other cities, that doesn't mean our extremely high rate of violence should just be swept under the rug.

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moderndukes t1_iwcxt3z wrote

> I think pretending everything is rosey is just as bad as completely sh***** on the city.

Nice strawman - all I said was that the "war zone" and "boots-on-the-ground" language is parroting Fox News, I didn't say Baltimore is a perfect place.

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Ambitious-Intern-928 t1_iwcyspw wrote

But it's NOT just fox rhetoric, that's my point. Just over the weekend somebebody was telling me how they switched their living rooms and dining rooms to avoid bullets on Preston St (down the hill) and their exact words were, "you gotta do what ya gotta do when you live in a warzone. I've heard people living in Carrollton Ridge decribe their neighborhood as a warzone, this is not isolated, I've heard dozens of Baltimore residents describe their neighborhoods as warzones. You saying people living in Baltimore don't have this perspective is just FALSE.

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