Why can't Baltimore make an urban turnaround? (section 8, apartments)

[dogpark]

Originally Posted by bmorejuice

baltimore at this stage in life can only go up and not down. We have had an increase in population in the last two years for the first time in 30 years. The city has some of the most beautiful homes in the region. Despite the crime, the city is very inhabitable. The restaurant business is booming in the city. Has anybody noticed that the city does not have allot of big box stores? Or even many name branded restaurants? All of that is in the county, and that makes baltimore unique! But, we want more mom and pop businesses, restaurants, entertainment..

15 years from now, yall can visit me in my eutaw palace and look back on how "bad" our city was because it is surely going to get better.

+1

[santafe400]

Why can't Baltimore make an urban turnaround?

Baltimore is simply not a destination city (NYC, LA, SF) that can attract big businesses with massive jobs, nor is a trendy city (Austin, Portland) that can attract entrepreneurs and innovators in large numbers. Also, I think Baltimore's suburbs tend to be more dull than most which makes the area not feel very vibrant or important. Driving down I-83 from Baltimore County, or even I-70 you don't feel like your driving into a major cosmopolitan city.

[pwduvall]

Originally Posted by santafe400

Baltimore is simply not a destination city (NYC, LA, SF) that can attract big businesses with massive jobs, nor is a trendy city (Austin, Portland) that can attract entrepreneurs and innovators in large numbers. Also, I think Baltimore's suburbs tend to be more dull than most which makes the area not feel very vibrant or important. Driving down I-83 from Baltimore County, or even I-70 you don't feel like your driving into a major cosmopolitan city.

I want to echo the part about Baltimore's suburbs. Baltimore County's stubborn stodginess may be the city's saving grace. Except for Towson's semi-urbaneness, the county is mostly, dull, dull, dull. Let's hope the county never wakes up. Despite its flaws, the city is the only game in town.

While Baltimore isn't currently a trendy city, I think it does have the potential to move in that direction. Unfortunately, the city's place in the national psyche has been cemented by the Wire. It will take at least a generation to turn the city's reputation around even if the city actually makes solid progress towards recovery.

[feck]

"Has anybody noticed that the city does not have allot of big box stores?"

I noticed that on Belair Road. You can go blocks without seeing a national
franchise.

[plive202]

It's hard to compare the development of different NE cities because they all have different factors that come into play. I would say DC by far has improved the most (many probably remember that DC was the murder capital of the country and more dangerous than baltimore for the better part of 20 years), mainly due to the cushion of having the Federal Government. Post 9/11 govt spending increased a lot, as did the need for government contractors. And then once things stabilized you see private sector companies establishing roots here.

I do believe that EVENTUALLY Baltimore will absorb more and more businesses and residents who can't afford the outrageous prices in DC. Eventually the two cities will be much easier to connect once they improve the transit options (they are only 35 miles apart but due to the horrific commute it seems much farther away). I know this is way down the line, but there's no way Bmore will continue to be so slummy.

As much as I don't like the negative aspects of gentrification, there are undeniable positives. All you have to do is go into any food or retail place in downtown DC. The vast majority of these employees are from the hood and if not for these new jobs, they would likely be roaming the streets and hitting me over the head for my wallet.

It will take a while, but once a decent population of newcomers is established, new money/jobs will start flowing. They could have requirements like they do in DC where you have to hire a certain number of local residents.

[santafe400]

Baltimore is really a tale of two different cities. Spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon strolling the promenade from Fed Hill to Canton, and aside from a brief stop adjacent the Inner Harbor area you really don't even feel like you are in Baltimore. It would have been nice if the city and developers would have build taller, sleeker, and denser around the entire waterfront area. It would also be nice to see the area around Druid Hill Park Lake morph into a neighborhood similar to the Cathedral Heights section of D.C. I feel as if the area around Druid Hill Park holds the real key for the revitalization of NW Baltimore and the city as a hole.

[the_curious_urbanist]

You can tell Baltimore is still a __hole when less than 5 blocks away from Inner Harbor things start to look iffy. Also, what's the deal with Baltimore's Greyhound terminal location? Couldn't they select a more inconvenient location from downtown?

[Sunflowery]

Originally Posted by the_curious_urbanist

You can tell Baltimore is still a __hole when less than 5 blocks away from Inner Harbor things start to look iffy. Also, what's the deal with Baltimore's Greyhound terminal location? Couldn't they select a more inconvenient location from downtown?

Many folks that live in the city (including myself), would have liked if Greyhound moved to Penn Station. However, Peter Angelos and other powers-that-be didn't want it to be moved there.

I guess that they didn't want too many folks hanging around the station. Baltimore's government would rather "hide" the homeless than to do something permanently about it.

[santafe400]

You can tell Baltimore is still a __hole when less than 5 blocks away from Inner Harbor things start to look iffy. Also, what's the deal with Baltimore's Greyhound terminal location? Couldn't they select a more inconvenient location from downtown?

It could always be worst. You could be coming down from New York to visit some friends who live in the city and come to find out your stranded in the middle of a mall parking lot in White Marsh lol. (see: MegaBus)

[the_curious_urbanist]

Well, that's a problem. If the trains stop near the heart of the city, why can't the buses? Only Baltimore out of the Northeast cities puts bus stops in hard-to-reach areas. The MegaBus was the worst. Who the **** put that think in a parking lot in front of a non-walkable street with no transit connection to downtown?