What Happened to Baltimore Maryland?

What Happened to Baltimore?

References:

US Census

Library of Congress
Jim Pickerell

Baltimore Museum of History
US Navy

Images:

"Front, 'Lexington Street, Shopping District, Baltimore, Md.' Postcard" by Baltimore Heritage is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.

"Bellowing Steel" by Dave Hosford is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

[edwardhudgins]

I'm a native Marylander. The reason Baltimore's economy didn't transition is politics. It’s usually in the Top 5 of America’s most dangerous cities. Each year, over 300 individuals, mostly blacks, are murdered there. In 2020 more than half the city’s 32 candidates for mayor, running to replace Catherine Pugh, who’d pled to criminal charges, themselves faced criminal charges. A Pugh predecessor, Sheila Ann Dixon, resigned as mayor in 2010 after her criminal convictions. The mayor between those two criminals, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, in 2015 endorsed the criminal rioters burning the city, declaring “We gave those who wished to destroy, space to do that.”

But the real crime is what is done to young minds—77 percent black, 14 percent Hispanic—in the city’s schools. A 2018 survey found that of some 1, 300 Maryland state schools, 35 received a low rating of “1” out of “5”; 23 of those schools were in Baltimore. Some 13 Baltimore high schools had zero students proficient in math. Bullying and violence in those schools are endemic. In one shocking case, a student in Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts, a city high school, only passed three classes in four years, yet was still in the top half of the class and was passed to upper grades. And the problem isn’t lack of funds; the city spends about the same per pupil as does prosperous Montgomery County, which has some far higher-rated schools.

[thelradame]

I live in Baltimore, one thing no one is talking about is lack of maintenance. Our roads, sidewalks, and services are in disrepair. So many blackouts and potholes. The public pools have green water and broken pumps. Do they seriously have no money or workers to fix this? Its awful.

[malicahraimey]

It's sad to see my city go down by the years. I'm currently 17 years old; born and raised in Baltimore. I know that this city can strive for greatness, when I go to college, I want to become an Architect for my major, and make the buildings to make them look bigger (Like New York, Chicago, Singapore, Shanghai). More job and oppportunities.

[RobertDGordon]

Baltimore born and raised - moved away in 2004 at age 33... Things simply got to a point where it wasn't beneficial for me and my family to remain there. I still visit, albeit less frequently over the years - every trip highlights just how much the city has fallen. It's pretty sad to see.

[josephmogavero]

Baltimore was the first place I lived and taught after college. I love the area with all my heart, but living there constantly broke it. I have never seen people so numb to the suffering around them or content with mediocrity.

[roosatlgany]

Downtown Baltimore near the Inner Harbor was relatively safe in the mid to late 90s, but today, I wouldn't take long walks in the day or walk to my car at night alone.

[PowerSuitNinja]

Been living in Baltimore for a while now. I think there are parts of it, like Fells, Canton, Fed Hill, etc that are some of the nicest and most affordable neighborhoods I’ve been to. Many capture the idealized “middle density” housing with the classic Baltimore rowhome and walking around these neighborhoods with their interspersed cafes and restaurants can be idyllic. The fact that the city hugs the harbor and how water can be seen from many neighborhoods is really unique among American cities, and is quite beautiful. It’s also a historically important and interesting city. There’s really a character about the city that you don’t get from the overly commercialized or prim DC next door, having also lived there for a while.

But those are affluent areas and I can appreciate that much of the city clearly struggles with stark poverty, due to a history of racial segregation and divestment. And now, through a lack of both political will and an impoverished tax base it’s challenging to dig out of the hole. Especially when it comes to foundational services like education and infrastructure to bring people in and provide opportunities to reduce crime.

Like all things, it’s not wholly bad or wholly good. Feels like the city is getting better in some areas and worse in others. I just hope we can figure it out and make progress, even if it happens slowly

[windhamwood]

I think a better question is what didn’t happen to Baltimore

[LexDiamond]

Everything is closed in Baltimore Harbour. It’s ashame there really is not a reason to visit anymore.

[BluetheRaccoon]

This is my motherland. I relocated to PA as an adult and then briefly returned before moving to Oregon with my kid. I wish it didn't have to be that way, I do miss it. My father worked for Beth Steel. Portland is now experiencing what Baltimore already has, and it scares me.

[seanpercival]

Watching ‘The Wire’ is about as close as I ever want to get to Baltimore. Great documentary.

[sammyday]

The answer is SO obvious yet not allowed to be discussed.

[georgej.dorner]

No mention of the highest drug addiction rate of any major American city--15%.

[zackmcd]

I live in Carroll County west of Baltimore. The suburbs like here, Howard, and Hartford counties are really some of the best and richest in the country. Downtown Baltimore has seen some redevelopment over the years, they recently built the 2nd tallest high rise in the city and Maryland. But the crime and the politics have killed many potential for this city and its people. Also the way the road system is set up, like I-70 ending at a park and ride and not continuing to I-95, forces everyone on the beltway which makes traffic nearly as bad as DC sometimes. However, being near DC has contributed to Baltimore's metropolitan area growing nearly 5% still over the past decade, so Baltimore could maybe improve. I honestly think the riots back in 2015 was rock bottom, but it barely has gotten better since.

[gregoryadamo]

I am a native New Yorker who has lived in Baltimore for the past 11 years. I love it here! Great restaurants, parks, and really nice people. Yes, we have our problems, all reflective of what has gone in so many other places in the United States. But Baltimore is one of the most affordable places to live and has lots of potential.

[louc]

I currently live in Baltimore as I go to school at Hopkins, and its really sad to see how much potential the city has. When it comes to academics and related opportunities, the city is incredible, especially if you want to go into medicine (Johns Hopkins Hospital is one of the best in the world) or law (close proximity to DC), but it seems like so many of these opportunities are simply not available to the people who live there. This is blatantly obvious when I walk around the city and find myself near the "bad places", which are so incredibly run down and broken compared to the affluent areas around Inner Harbor and north Baltimore. The difference is astounding. I have some friends who went to high school in the city, and they've told me stories of how horrific these environments are for students and the terrible scores these schools have as a result. I really do not know all the details of why such a interesting, and at times beautiful, city has fallen the way it has, but I hope that at some point the city will put as much money into public schools and neighborhoods as it does the rich areas around the Harbor and universities.

[flea]

Most people who live in Maryland only go to Baltimore when they have to.

[kpkx]

Some of the "renaissance" of the late 80s and 90s was a break for young people to buy houses, $1 if you put $10000 into restoration. Canton, Fells, Federal Hill...lots of working people in their 20s did this, coming in from surrounding counties. Problem was, these people then aged, got married, and had kids. Faced with the choice of exorbitantly expensive private schools or the worst public schools in the US...back out to the counties they went in the 2000s. High crime went higher (it was never "down", statistics were fudged in the O'Malley era) and a soft stance on crime reversed a lot of progress. It was unheard of for any crime at the Harbor even in 2010...not so much now. Look no further than city hall and the city council...it is one-party government at its worst. The city is in dire need of actual leadership and investment in new industries to turn it around again.

[dshooter]

I never seen 500 people standing on a street corner, doing absolutely nothing, until I went to Baltimore!

[aresef]

I love Baltimore. Its big problem is that, unlike Pittsburgh, it hasn't yet sorted out the "what next" after manufacturing and steel left.