A great walk in Patterson Park (Baltimore, Naval Academy: sales, homes, neighborhoods)

[barante]

My Setting Sun Walkers ventured out to Patterson Park today and found it well-kept, clean and simply a delight. The two playgrounds for kids were impressive; the one on a hill close to Eastern Avenue and the Pagoda was also very imaginatively done.
Considering the 10:45 a.m. hour, the park was reasonably well patronized. There were several organized groups of kids cavorting around the artificial lake, which had at least one white swan and lots of ducks.
I noticed something I had never seen before in Baltimore: All signs were in English and Spanish. Indeed, we bumped to a grandma and pa from El Salvador who were taking care of their grandkids for the day. Heard Spanish spoken elsewhere as well.
We also heard something interesting from a resident we knew. To my question how the neighborhood was doing, he answered that things were pretty good "because lots of people cannot leave," i.e. they overpaid and are now stuck. There are worse places to be stuck in.
We then headed to Matthews, where our group of four shared two pizzas. Very tasty. Matthews has been a neighborhood spot since 1943, the year I was born!

[jonjj]

Originally Posted by barante

My Setting Sun Walkers ventured out to Patterson Park today and found it well-kept, clean and simply a delight. The two playgrounds for kids were impressive; the one on a hill close to Eastern Avenue and the Pagoda was also very imaginatively done.
Considering the 10:45 a.m. hour, the park was reasonably well patronized. There were several organized groups of kids cavorting around the artificial lake, which had at least one white swan and lots of ducks.
I noticed something I had never seen before in Baltimore: All signs were in English and Spanish. Indeed, we bumped to a grandma and pa from El Salvador who were taking care of their grandkids for the day. Heard Spanish spoken elsewhere as well.
We also heard something interesting from a resident we knew. To my question how the neighborhood was doing, he answered that things were pretty good "because lots of people cannot leave," i.e. they overpaid and are now stuck. There are worse places to be stuck in.
We then headed to Matthews, where our group of four shared two pizzas. Very tasty. Matthews has been a neighborhood spot since 1943, the year I was born!

I am glad you enjoyed the park. Question: Is there any neighborhood in America that people bought into in the past four or five years that they now feel they overpayed? Although the pace has slowed, homes are still moving and prices have really not dropped that bad in the area. Anyone willing to wait until the financil crisis is over will be well-rewarded. I am not leaving because I overpayed. I am not leaving because I happen to like the neighborhood and I am sure others feel that way-hence, the popularity of it.

[rudy_d]

Originally Posted by jonjj

I am glad you enjoyed the park. Question: Is there any neighborhood in America that people bought into in the past four or five years that they now feel they overpayed? Although the pace has slowed, homes are still moving and prices have really not dropped that bad in the area. Anyone willing to wait until the financil crisis is over will be well-rewarded. I am not leaving because I overpayed. I am not leaving because I happen to like the neighborhood and I am sure others feel that way-hence, the popularity of it.

I'm a bit confused, but maybe it's just a case of diction. There are many neighborhoods in America that people bought in into in the past four or five years where they now feel they overpaid--probably a majority, which includes Baltimore. The plus for neighborhoods like Patterson Park, I think, is that prices have come down but not so far that it's financially justifiable to "walk away." In some parts of the country unfortunately it is, because people who bought recently will probably never break even.

I think what the person who spoke to Barante meant was that there aren't as many sales because the sellers would have have to take a loss. That could be a good thing for some city neighborhoods as people are going to have to make a commitment to staying put for a while. Part of the problem I've found with city living in the boom years was that good people would move in nearby, stay for a couple of years, and then cash in and move on. Longer-term homeowners might have nice neighbors for a while, but that doesn't make for a cohesive, stable neighborhood. We might be seeing one of the pluses of the financial debacle we're living through.

[Be More]

Glad to hear you enjoyed your walk through the park again. It truly is a treasure..and I would argue a national treasure. Good point on "having to stay"....as we are seeing the same in Pigtown and are enjoying the benefits. I have also used this time for people with families to show them that Baltimore does indeed have wonderful schools to send your kids to.

[Zea mays]

Originally Posted by Be More

... Baltimore does indeed have wonderful schools to send your kids to.

For all the boosterisms in this thread, that has to be be most egregious.

[jonjj]

Originally Posted by Zea mays

For all the boosterisms in this thread, that has to be be most egregious.

If you do a little homework, you will see that yes, there are some great schools in Baltimore City. Many schools have met the standards and have students performing at national norms. There are also schools that I would not send my child to.
Yes, as with any city, there are issues with our public school system but it certainly has come a long way and parents do have some choices out there for their children to attend a decent school.
These generalizations about our schools, our city, can obviously get on one's nerves.

[Zea mays]

Originally Posted by barante

My Setting Sun Walkers ventured out to Patterson Park today and ...

"ventured" is the key word.

From the New Oxford American Dictionary: ventured: verb ( intrans. ) —
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀to dare to do something or go somewhere that may be dangerous or unpleasant

[14thandYou]

Originally Posted by jonjj

If you do a little homework, you will see that yes, there are some great schools in Baltimore City. Many schools have met the standards and have students performing at national norms.

As the husband of someone who is earning her master's in elementary education, I can tell you that "meeting standards" and "performing at national norms" do not by themselves a "great" school make. At best, that makes a school "average"--and that would be average in the eyes of the federal standards that have been put in place. This isn't so much a comment on Baltimore city schools as it is the federal standards that have been implemented which supposedly measure academic achievement. Those standards are highly flawed.

[mikey jam]

As a child my biggest thrill is when my dad took us to the park. I grew up 2 blocks south of Patterson Park. Our first stop was known as the small playground. Located were the new one is just north of Montford Av. Next venture daring to climb as it was called "Cannon ball hill". Culmination the Pagoda and the cannons. Spectacular view! We rounded by Baltimore St passing the Pavilion. It burnt in the late 60's. Before a/c neighbors gathered in the park. Next on the agenda the pond lake and the Casino, then to the larger playground near Linwood Ave. Finally circling the Boat Lake and heading home. One memory was the Army camp set up in Patterson Park during the 1968 riots. A lot has changed, the neighborhood was a ethnic working class and there were more children in the park, playing sandlot ball everywhere. It is a beautiful spot in the city. Now a lot of hispanics take to the park to share a good game of soccer and the pool serves youths who escape summer heat. On the down side more public restrooms needed. Also forgot about when I ice skated at the the Patterson rink there was no cover roof. But it was fun.

[Zea mays]

Originally Posted by mikey jam

A lot has changed, ... But it was fun.

True, a lot has changed, and it was fun.

I must be much older than you —

I remember when there was a large conservatory in the area of Montford and Bank, containing all sorts of exotic plants, and none of the thousand or so glass panes were ever broken. I remember when there were large carp and goldfish in the fish pond at Patterson and Lombard throughout the summer, and none were ever killed or stolen. I remember when old men played croquet on Sundays and kept their mallets, balls, and wire loops in a metal box with a cheap lock, chained to a tree near Montford and Lombard, and the box was never broken into. I remember when the orchestra at the concert pavilion near Baltimore and Luzerne played a piece by Mozart or Mendelssohn from time to time on warm summers' nights. (Arsonists long ago burned the concert pavilion to the ground.) I remember when a large Christmas crèche was set up year after year near Eastern and Kenwood, with near life-size statues, and it was never vandalized. And I remember walking home many times, about 10 PM or so, from Eastern and Patterson Park Avenues, past the bust of the unknown Polish musician, through the park to my home near Luzerne and Baltimore, with nary a concern.

As for public schools, I remember when Poly, City, and Western had a national reputation like Stuyvesant, Bronx H.S. of Science, and Brooklyn Tech have today. Members of my family were accepted into J.H.U. and the Naval Academy simply on the basis of having graduated with good grades from the Poly "A" course. (They never took an exam of any sort to be accepted.) They had a better secondary education than they could have had from Gilman or Boys Latin, if my family had had the money to send them there. You simply can't say that about Baltimore's public schools today.

I really should not be posting here, as I have not lived in Baltimore for over 45 years. But I have fond memories and I never hide my heritage. I will always have fond memories of the old girl. I guess Thomas Wolfe was right about going home again.