The City of West Baltimore (Columbia, Woodlawn: appointed, city hall, high crime)

[Woodlands]

Should West Baltimore cede from Baltimore City? I know this is not realistic.. but I commented in another thread about this and wanted to elevate it to the the level of hypothetical not gonna happen discussion. I noted that it could be placed under the control of appointed state appointed commission in partnership with a citizen elected government and function much as the District Columbia does with Congressional oversight .. It would be a "weak council" form of government so .. no one would run for the office expecting to draw an $80k per year salary.It would only be a part time job.. Certainly, the City of West Baltimore would have the population and likely the economy of Chester, PA or Camden, NJ and that alone wouldnt change the poverty or high crime.. That said lets consider the benefits:

1) The community would have oversight over their own affairs..because clearly Baltimore City has failed them. They could work with state officials, economic development authority, community activist etc outside of the meddling of City Hall. The state could give the City of West Baltimore greater latitude when it comes to economic development and have State sponsored incentives along with reducing its tax rate.

2) All property owned by Baltimore City would have to be "nationalized" to the City of West Baltimore. Thousands of vacants houses and lots would immediately be freed from the City's imperialistic control and available for redevelopment via more streamlined process and through other innovative strategies that have worked in other Cities.. Again.. no City Council or Mayoral meddling...favoritism or steering which has clearly worked against W. Baltimore in the past.

3)Public Safety... This could be a tricky one depending on the message the State wants to send.. Do you send in the State Police to provide public safety like what happens in other small cities until you decide how to develop an independent police force? Partner with Baltimore County and do what Camden County is doing in the City of Camden NJ which appears to have reduced crime dramically compared to the corrupt and inept City of Camden Police force which has been disbanded? Again, a smaller geographic area could develop a more effective better relationships with the community and doesnt have the historical baggage of the BPD.

4) A new Central Business District could be constructed over the "Highway to No where" with its own Main Street ending at a redeveloped W. Baltimore Marc Station. If the Red Line is ever built it would be going undereath it giving it immediate access to transit. This Central Business District wouldnt be built to compete with Baltimore City .. but to provide a mixture of housing, retail, and maybe some office but on a more service oriented level. The independent commission and leadership of W. Baltimore could work together with the State ( I guess the State owns the air rights over route 40) to find a developer in a fraction of the time the city takes to develop things like the Super Block and State Center.. which .. uh.. havent been developed for one reason or another.

Yeah.. other things like courts, jails, fire service, Schools, sanitation etc etc have to be worked out but clearly they could privitize things like sanitation and work out cooperative agreements with Baltimore City for the other things or even have schools run completely by charters/private schools...I know that the state would have to subsidize the City of West Baltimore.. but it does that now already indirectly via aid to the City and related resources surrounding the criminal justice system.. IF it becomes a better community.. that aid could decrease over time as the community improves... SO is it worth a try????

Dont feel sorry for Baltimore City.. by taking W. Baltimore out of the City Limits less resources need to be devoted to it and can go else where like Park Heights, East Baltimore or Cherry Hill... if successful.. those areas may pull out too....

[North Beach Person]

It would likely be as successful as East St. Louis.

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

It would likely be as successful as East St. Louis.

Very true.. the difference here is East St. Louis was a successful City at one time then failed... West Baltimore (though its was once a nice neighborhood) would be created out of a failed City System..thus has no where to go but up......... though that doesnt guarantee it would be successful either.. But hey.. atleast East St. Louis has a casino and a light rail...

[bus man]

Why stop with just West Baltimore? Why not put the entirety of Baltimore City under State control? It seems improbable that the State could mess it up any worse than they've already done it to themselves, and maybe things would improve.

Failing that, perhaps they should open up municipal elections to all Marylanders. After all, we the people of Maryland support Baltimore through endless transfer payments taken from our taxes, and we're all familiar with the old "Taxation Without Representation" rallying cry. If the City wants our money so badly, they should let us have a say in how it gets spent.

As for the OP's suggestion, what would be the point of a West Baltimore City? On what basis could the city possibly support itself? (Answer: it couldn't, as the OP acknowledges.) The only major economic draws in that area that I can think of are the Maryland Zoo and Mondawmin Mall, and these are hardly enough to sustain the tax base of an entire city. West Baltimore would be a Ward of the State from Day One, and planking over the Highway to Nowhere would do nothing to mitigate that. (Heck, it would probably be better to just go ahead and finish building I-70 as originally proposed, and connect downtown Baltimore with the Woodlawn area and points west.)

[ktaadin]

I don't think that would accomplish anything except further isolating an already isolated, impoverished area. Pointless, really.

[BMoreJuice]

Then where will the residents of North West Baltimore relocate too? They are certainly not going to be apart of this new concept.

[feck]

How about Baltimore City government
attending to the needs of ALL parts of
the city instead of a few parts getting
excellent service and what is left spread
thinly? Cities in the U.S., for the most part
distribute services based upon tax bases.
Because it is systematic there will always
be inequities

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by feck

How about Baltimore City government
attending to the needs of ALL parts of
the city instead of a few parts getting
excellent service and what is left spread
thinly? Cities in the U.S., for the most part
distribute services based upon tax bases.
Because it is systematic there will always
be inequities

Nice idea. Why don't you guys who live there demand it?

I'll give this to Don Schafer, he gave a **** about the entire city. His successors, not so much.

[james777]

Originally Posted by Woodlands

Should West Baltimore cede from Baltimore City? I know this is not realistic.. but I commented in another thread about this and wanted to elevate it to the the level of hypothetical not gonna happen discussion. I noted that it could be placed under the control of appointed state appointed commission in partnership with a citizen elected government and function much as the District Columbia does with Congressional oversight .. It would be a "weak council" form of government so .. no one would run for the office expecting to draw an $80k per year salary.It would only be a part time job.. Certainly, the City of West Baltimore would have the population and likely the economy of Chester, PA or Camden, NJ and that alone wouldnt change the poverty or high crime.. That said lets consider the benefits:

1) The community would have oversight over their own affairs..because clearly Baltimore City has failed them. They could work with state officials, economic development authority, community activist etc outside of the meddling of City Hall. The state could give the City of West Baltimore greater latitude when it comes to economic development and have State sponsored incentives along with reducing its tax rate.

2) All property owned by Baltimore City would have to be "nationalized" to the City of West Baltimore. Thousands of vacants houses and lots would immediately be freed from the City's imperialistic control and available for redevelopment via more streamlined process and through other innovative strategies that have worked in other Cities.. Again.. no City Council or Mayoral meddling...favoritism or steering which has clearly worked against W. Baltimore in the past.

3)Public Safety... This could be a tricky one depending on the message the State wants to send.. Do you send in the State Police to provide public safety like what happens in other small cities until you decide how to develop an independent police force? Partner with Baltimore County and do what Camden County is doing in the City of Camden NJ which appears to have reduced crime dramically compared to the corrupt and inept City of Camden Police force which has been disbanded? Again, a smaller geographic area could develop a more effective better relationships with the community and doesnt have the historical baggage of the BPD.

4) A new Central Business District could be constructed over the "Highway to No where" with its own Main Street ending at a redeveloped W. Baltimore Marc Station. If the Red Line is ever built it would be going undereath it giving it immediate access to transit. This Central Business District wouldnt be built to compete with Baltimore City .. but to provide a mixture of housing, retail, and maybe some office but on a more service oriented level. The independent commission and leadership of W. Baltimore could work together with the State ( I guess the State owns the air rights over route 40) to find a developer in a fraction of the time the city takes to develop things like the Super Block and State Center.. which .. uh.. havent been developed for one reason or another.

Yeah.. other things like courts, jails, fire service, Schools, sanitation etc etc have to be worked out but clearly they could privitize things like sanitation and work out cooperative agreements with Baltimore City for the other things or even have schools run completely by charters/private schools...I know that the state would have to subsidize the City of West Baltimore.. but it does that now already indirectly via aid to the City and related resources surrounding the criminal justice system.. IF it becomes a better community.. that aid could decrease over time as the community improves... SO is it worth a try????

Dont feel sorry for Baltimore City.. by taking W. Baltimore out of the City Limits less resources need to be devoted to it and can go else where like Park Heights, East Baltimore or Cherry Hill... if successful.. those areas may pull out too....

If West Baltimore secedes from Baltimore and becomes a separate town, it would make Chester, PA and Camden, NJ look like garden spots of America.

You say, "because clearly Baltimore City has failed them". Do you know of any parts of Baltimore city that the city government has not failed? Baltimore City hall has failed the entire city!!!

By the way, West Baltimore is not a neighborhood. It is a section of the city that is comprised of many, many neighborhoods.

[redd1skng]

Originally Posted by BMoreJuice

Then where will the residents of North West Baltimore relocate too? They are certainly not going to be apart of this new concept.

Exactly. Nothing will improve if the same culture is there.

Woodlands: Are you running for Mayor? At least you have ideas; which is more than the current and previous administrations have had.