Baltimkre city resident here. The suburbs do not love the city. There is a very long history of racial and social divides between the city and the suburbs. A lot of people, and I mean a lot, thoroughly despise the city. It’s unfortunate but also understandable. |
So many hateful people on this thread. We are one state. When murder in a part of the state is suddenly skyrocketing, while it’s dropping nationwide, it’s not smart to spew racist generalizations and ignore it. There are children in Baltimore who need a safe space to grow. I live in MoCo but Baltimore’s kids are part of my village. |
Again, thanks for explaining my community to me but your stereotype is just as off as the other one. Most of my neighbors work inthe city, send their kids to private schools in the city and by no means despise the city. You have to go out to the rural outer suburbs to find the attitude you are describing. |
Oh, well THAT will definitely convince people of the merits of your argument- calling them names. Let me guess... you were the captain of your debate team at your Ivy, amitite? |
I'm not racist and I don't hate anyone. I just think spending more and more money on social programs in Baltimore when it's been shown that this isn't having any affect is a stupid waste of money. That doesn't make me racist. I resent your accusation. But it's typical. When all else fails, and you don't have facts or reason, then just call your opponent a racist. Pathetic |
Or Parkville, Perry Hall, White Marsh, Essex, Dundalk, Linthincum, Owings Mills (and, of course, leaving out the northern Baltimore suburbs and Carroll and Harford and AA counties, and Howard might as well be on a different planet). I'm not quite sure what community you're referring to as the region isn't a single community but 2.5 million people, of whom the vast majority, as borne by census data, do not work in Baltimore city but live and work in the suburbs and are more likely to work in other suburban counties than Baltimore City. I grew up in Baltimore City. It's my home. I own property in Baltimore City. I love Baltimore. But I'm in no denial when it comes to the realities of city/suburban split. And even within the city. Do you think the good folks of Roland Park live in the same "community" as the people in Park Heights or Belair Edison or Sandtown-Winchester? The "White L"is a real thing. So many people who love Baltimore City live their lives within the "White L" and rarely stray east or west of it. People may talk the talk but when it comes to reality, it rarely translates into anything more than good feelings and not effective policy. When I was growing up in comfortable North Baltimore we used to joke that you needed a passport to go to other parts of Baltimore, for that was how strange it was to us, even if it was only a few miles (or less) away. As for the suburbs, I grew up listening to so many suburbanites talk about their old childhood neighborhoods in Baltimore (or their parents) and how it used to be nice at one time but sadly no more (and of course the unsaid but implied bit left out was that the black people moved in and ruined it). I worked in Baltimore County for years with residents of Towson and Cockeysville who refused to come to the city and had no idea that places like Roland Park existed. The typical county resident looks at the city news, hears about the violence, shrugs and thinks, typical for Baltimore and doesn't care beyond that. And now it's not just the white flight, but the large black middle classes that have moved out to the suburbs too, eager to leave behind the city and its problems. In other words, you cannot easily dismiss the contempt or indifference of so many people in the counties for the city. And it is understandable. People see the city as dysfunctional and helpless. They see much of the city's problems (high taxes, crime, drugs) as consequences of the actions of the people in the city. And why should it be their problem? It's an ongoing dysfunctionalism that's now lasted two generations with no end or solution in sight. The Baltimore suburbs voted for Hogan in the last election. The suburbs voted for Ehrlich heavily when he first ran, and when Ehrlich lost his re-election four years later, even then the suburbs narrowly voted for him over O'Malley, despite O'Malley's advantages of a popular young mayor during a time when the city seemed to be rebounding and also, of course, running during the staunchly anti-republican wave of 2006. There will certainly be people (like you) angry with Hogan for not doing more for Baltimore, but for the rank and file of Baltimore suburban voters, it makes no difference. They will be judging Hogan on other grounds, not the city. |
PP, you’re obviously thoughtful and unlike so many on DCUM are informed about the topic you’re discussing...thank you for the post. Do you have any thoughts on ways to reverse the decline in Baltimore? |
Why is it everyone else's duty in the state of Maryland to worry about Baltimore?
I'm in Calvert. I couldn't give a damn about Baltimore. As I'm sure people in Baltimore couldn't give a damn about my tiny little town. Why would they? That's dumb. |
Touche. Baltimore voters certainly are not thinking about Calvert, let alone Montgomery and not even Baltimore counties when they head for the polls. |
Part of your village? Lol. Baltimore might as well be a foreign country when you live in montgomery county. Don’t think for one moment the bulk of us care a single bit about the city. Maybe we visit the aquarium or children’s meuseum once in a great while. But even the harbor area Is filthy and not worth the time or money to visit. What I and most people care about is what is montgomery for me. I pay huge taxes but my road hasn’t been paved in 15 years. That’s way more important to me then Baltimore. As others said. Baltimore City doesn’t care about me. And I sure don’t care about them. Ask young people. Baltimore is a foreign land. When I was young I’d rather go to dc to date Or even drive into Virginia for a girl. Drive to Baltimore? No way. It’s just a whole different world Bal’’more girls had no understanding of real life in dc or near by montgomery county. So I’m short no one cares about the slums. |
This is utter and complete nonsense. No one in Towson or Cockeysville doesn’t know where Roland Park is unless they are a complete moron, and a substantial number of them send their kids to school in Roland Park as it is literally a few miles away. Towson directly borders Baltimore city, for God’s sake. I don’t know who you worked with, but they sound like idiots, and certainly weren’t representative of the County. Your assertion is like saying residents in Bethesda don’t go to dc or know where Cleveland Park is liocated, completely ridiculous. The overwhelming majority of people in this area of the County work in Baltimore. And guess what, more than a quarter of the county population is African American, and close to half is non-Caucasian— so of people are here to avoid minorities as you claim, they didn’t do a very good job of it. O’Malley won in 2006 because he won Baltimore County. The Baltimore County executive has been a Democrat for many years. Ehrlich and Hogan won because the democrats nominated particularly weak candidates. When Ehrlich had a record to run on, he lost. |
Because it is where a good chunk of the population is employed and a healthy Baltimore would attract more business to Maryland, making it less dependent on the federal government for employment. |
The Baltimore suburbs encompasses more than just Baltimore County. Your single minded fixation on the city probably suggests you do not think about the needs of other counties so I won’t judge voters from other counties for not prioritizing the needs of the city. |
If only the Maryland leadership - practically all Democrats for the last half century - had only thought about that! |
Look at a map of Maryland. I live in a little no-stoplight town on the Bay called Cove Point. I work in DC. Most people here work either at NAS PAX River or other places in southern MD, or in DC. I don't know a single person who even knows anyone who works in Baltimore. You make Baltimore sound like some kind of commerce hub for the entire state. It isn't. It's a medium sized city with a violent crime/drug problem, awful schools, terrible property values, a struggling economy (outside of banking and healthcare) and a suffering tourist industry because of the reputation of the city. It means nothing to me, or anyone else I know here 60 miles away |