Western Maryland

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Western Maryland gets what it deserves for voting Republican.

Hagerstown City Council is majority female, and 2/5 are POCs:
https://www.hagerstownmd.org/134/Meet-the-City-Council

The mayor is a single mother supporting LGBTQ causes:
https://www.hagerstownmd.org/133/Meet-the-Mayor

NP..IMO, Hagerstown isn't that bad. It's fairly diverse, seems to have some decent paying jobs, and yes, votes blue.

I'm not white, in a biracial marriage with kids. I've been to Hagerstown numerous times, and don't feel like we stick out at all. It's also on the way to White Tail, so I think Hagerstown probably sees a lot of folks going to White Tail.

Cumberland, oth, wow. We stopped over there on the way to Deep Creek, had lunch, and walked around their town. It was definitely a sad town, but the thing that stuck out at me was the dirty look we got from this old guy with a MAGA hat. We've only ever lived in a diverse area, so it was a bit of a surprise to get that kind of reaction.

Hagerstown is closer to Bethesda geographically than it is to Cumberland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was recently in Cumberland, MD. It was my first time. I was so shocked by the poverty juxtaposed to the beauty. To the despair as compared to the potential for that town. The bones are there. It’s in a beautiful setting. Can it be revived? I could see people moving in and buying cheap houses and setting up cafes and breweries and small shops. Not sure that will help the locals but I’d love to see this happen to that town that has good bones.

I’m the PP that lived in frostburg. There is this persistent hope that this will happen - people would talk about this potential a lot - but it never materialized. The infrastructure just isn’t there: there’s not even a Target for chrissakes. There is an awful, awful dearth of professional roles, and even professors at the university are underpaid relative to professors nationally. It’s just depressed in every way imaginable.

It's sad, but towns that depend on "old tech" like coal have died. As a PP stated, towns that refuse to adapt and progress get left behind. This problem is not isolated to the US. It happens everywhere.

It's a bit of a catch 22 -- people who work remotely could move there, but they don't want to move there because there is little infrastructure to attract professionals who wfh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Western Maryland gets what it deserves for voting Republican.

Is this where we are as Americans? Party over country?

The more appropriate question in this case is, did the people voting for the Leopard Eating faces party not realize they had faces?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Western Maryland gets what it deserves for voting Republican.

Is this where we are as Americans? Party over country?

The more appropriate question in this case is, did the people voting for the Leopard Eating faces party not realize they had faces?

I actually do not think thats the more appropriate question.

[Anonymous]

Cumberland and Baltimore are two sides of the same coin; both ruined by industry leaving, both dealing with politicians who do not care, both dealing with brain drain.

The only difference is that Baltimore HAS stuff going for it, like the Port of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins, etc. to keep it afloat and at least relevant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cumberland and Baltimore are two sides of the same coin; both ruined by industry leaving, both dealing with politicians who do not care, both dealing with brain drain.

The only difference is that Baltimore HAS stuff going for it, like the Port of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins, etc. to keep it afloat and at least relevant.

the extreme poverty in parts of Baltimore is also due to redlining though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cumberland and Baltimore are two sides of the same coin; both ruined by industry leaving, both dealing with politicians who do not care, both dealing with brain drain.

The only difference is that Baltimore HAS stuff going for it, like the Port of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins, etc. to keep it afloat and at least relevant.

the extreme poverty in parts of Baltimore is also due to redlining though.

But even more due to similar problems as plague Cumberland, with a much larger number of low-skilled, poverty-stricken residents who blame others for all their problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cumberland and Baltimore are two sides of the same coin; both ruined by industry leaving, both dealing with politicians who do not care, both dealing with brain drain.

The only difference is that Baltimore HAS stuff going for it, like the Port of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins, etc. to keep it afloat and at least relevant.

the extreme poverty in parts of Baltimore is also due to redlining though.

But even more due to similar problems as plague Cumberland, with a much larger number of low-skilled, poverty-stricken residents who blame others for all their problems.

Where have you found that low-skilled, impoverished people blame others for their problems?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cumberland and Baltimore are two sides of the same coin; both ruined by industry leaving, both dealing with politicians who do not care, both dealing with brain drain.

The only difference is that Baltimore HAS stuff going for it, like the Port of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins, etc. to keep it afloat and at least relevant.

the extreme poverty in parts of Baltimore is also due to redlining though.

The bigger problem was that the blue collar jobs went away. Redlining exacerbated the problem, but the city would be fine if the jobs still provided a living wage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cumberland and Baltimore are two sides of the same coin; both ruined by industry leaving, both dealing with politicians who do not care, both dealing with brain drain.

The only difference is that Baltimore HAS stuff going for it, like the Port of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins, etc. to keep it afloat and at least relevant.

the extreme poverty in parts of Baltimore is also due to redlining though.

But even more due to similar problems as plague Cumberland, with a much larger number of low-skilled, poverty-stricken residents who blame others for all their problems.

Where have you found that low-skilled, impoverished people blame others for their problems?

You can't be serious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cumberland and Baltimore are two sides of the same coin; both ruined by industry leaving, both dealing with politicians who do not care, both dealing with brain drain.

The only difference is that Baltimore HAS stuff going for it, like the Port of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins, etc. to keep it afloat and at least relevant.

the extreme poverty in parts of Baltimore is also due to redlining though.

But even more due to similar problems as plague Cumberland, with a much larger number of low-skilled, poverty-stricken residents who blame others for all their problems.

Where have you found that low-skilled, impoverished people blame others for their problems?

You can't be serious.

I am dead serious. I suspect you don’t actually know any people who fit that description.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was recently in Cumberland, MD. It was my first time. I was so shocked by the poverty juxtaposed to the beauty. To the despair as compared to the potential for that town. The bones are there. It’s in a beautiful setting. Can it be revived? I could see people moving in and buying cheap houses and setting up cafes and breweries and small shops. Not sure that will help the locals but I’d love to see this happen to that town that has good bones.

But who would frequent those businesses to keep them afloat? The locals wouldn't be able to afford those types of businesses. Who would be their customer base? Cumberland is too poverty stricken to make it a weekend getaway type destination.

Plus, how would it help the locals? All these cute stores wouldn't be able to provide a living wage to support a family for years and years. Creating a tax base would help - until the local politicians start blabbering about how taxes are too high/taxes need to be cut on businesses to attract even more businesses. Then the locals fall for that, vote for it and the cycle continues.

I guess I am thinking rich dmv folks would live there. Buy up the houses, fix them and work from home from there and provide jobs to locals. With work from home becoming more prevalent, I’d consider a move like that….once my kids leave the nest but Cumberland as it is doesn’t feel safe. I just can see it turning. It needs a lot!!!

If they’re WFH how would they be providing jobs to locals?

One spouse is working from home; other spouse opens a cafe. There’s potential and ideas but it needs to happen as a trend or it won’t work. But people are tired of dmv prices. People also love the outdoors. Cumberland isn’t oppressively far from occasional trips into dmv area for work etc. Cute towns close to the dmv in nova have all gotten an influx of “revival” because people want breathing room. I see the potential for Cumberland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what happened to Cumberland



Maryland legalized marijuana ans enciyraged grow houses and dispensaries which attract drug addicts who can at least get pot if not meth and heroin

LOL. Get out of here with that bs.

Tell me you have never been to Cumberland in the last four years. I am an emergency physician and take extra shifts at the hospital there. Drugs are a big problem there. The older generation who are hanging on on are decent people who put their kids through college and they have left the city. The young that are left are pretty useless and the city can’t begin to cope with the prpblem. LaVale is okay but most of Cumberland is like a poor version of West Baltimore where I also work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cumberland and Baltimore are two sides of the same coin; both ruined by industry leaving, both dealing with politicians who do not care, both dealing with brain drain.

The only difference is that Baltimore HAS stuff going for it, like the Port of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins, etc. to keep it afloat and at least relevant.

the extreme poverty in parts of Baltimore is also due to redlining though.

But even more due to similar problems as plague Cumberland, with a much larger number of low-skilled, poverty-stricken residents who blame others for all their problems.

Where have you found that low-skilled, impoverished people blame others for their problems?

You can't be serious.

I am dead serious. I suspect you don’t actually know any people who fit that description.

LOL, you don't think that many folks in this situation blame undocumented immigrants, for example? I'll bet YOU don't know anybody in this situation, not me!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was recently in Cumberland, MD. It was my first time. I was so shocked by the poverty juxtaposed to the beauty. To the despair as compared to the potential for that town. The bones are there. It’s in a beautiful setting. Can it be revived? I could see people moving in and buying cheap houses and setting up cafes and breweries and small shops. Not sure that will help the locals but I’d love to see this happen to that town that has good bones.

But who would frequent those businesses to keep them afloat? The locals wouldn't be able to afford those types of businesses. Who would be their customer base? Cumberland is too poverty stricken to make it a weekend getaway type destination.

Plus, how would it help the locals? All these cute stores wouldn't be able to provide a living wage to support a family for years and years. Creating a tax base would help - until the local politicians start blabbering about how taxes are too high/taxes need to be cut on businesses to attract even more businesses. Then the locals fall for that, vote for it and the cycle continues.

I guess I am thinking rich dmv folks would live there. Buy up the houses, fix them and work from home from there and provide jobs to locals. With work from home becoming more prevalent, I’d consider a move like that….once my kids leave the nest but Cumberland as it is doesn’t feel safe. I just can see it turning. It needs a lot!!!

That sounds lovely but not realistic. A lot of the infrastructure needs to be built up before you could attract the rich DMV empty nesters. Someone upthread mentioned UPMC taking over the hospital so I guess that is a good first step but what is the health care community like? How many specialists call Cumberland home? How good is the hospital?

Does Frostburg have a lot of cultural opportunities for the surrounding communities? How is the transportation infrastructure? Do they at least have a Greyhound bus service that takes them to other cities?

(Side note - the decline of Greyhound bus service is a sad, sad thing for these poor rural communities. With the decline, these poor rural communities will just become more and more isolated. The federal government needs to subsidize Greyhound just like they do Amtrak)

These jobs (the cafes, breweries, small shops) won't provide health care/401ks. Going really sexist here, but those aren't good jobs for middle aged men. Those middle aged men (and even younger guys in their 20s) will feel excluded.

Rich DMV people moving in will just raise the prices of everything. Then the locals will be priced out of their communities. That is the problem with gentrification.

It does suck. That part of the country really is beautiful but solving the poverty is extremely tricky.

Anyone with major medical needs in Cumberland will get sent to Meritus in Hagerstown. It's by the state as the major hospital for the entire region, and is quite good. Trauma cases end up medevac'd to Fairfax Inova or Cowley in Baltimore if Meritus can't handle it.

There are parts of Cumberland that are coming back, like the area just around the end of the canal. Some nice shops and restaurants there. But you walk up "main street" and that's not doing well at all.

I had a friend who grew up in Smithsburg and moved to NYC then back to Hagerstown to open a restaurant right in downtown. The issue he faced was lack of customers. There just weren't enough people to patronize a half-decent sit-down restaurant in the area. For Hagerstown, that will slowly improve as they are basically becoming a DC exurb (and for the PP who mentioned Target, they have 1 of those and 2 Wal-Marts). Cumberland and Allegany county have it a lot tougher because they're just too far from any major population center. A friend of mine who lives in Cumberland and is middle class comes to Hagerstown when they want to go out on the town.