Baltimore looks like a ghetto, need improvement

[rudy_d]

Originally Posted by driverA

The not so great school districts and the crime limit the number of wealthy families that want to live here.

Also, wealthy city people generally want cultural offerings and fancy stuff like museums and operas. As discussed in another thread, Baltimore doesn't offer a lot of that compared to other cities (not my words).

Baltimore doesn't have a problem attracting wealthy residents. It has a problem attracting and retaining the middle class. The poor and the truly rich are similar in that high property taxes and the cost of private schools aren't a concern.

[Billiam]

Originally Posted by emsgoof

Regarding the "ghetto" comment... just wait. She-lies Dixon is trying her hardest to run the city to the ground before she's sent away to prison.

What bad has she done for the city? All i hear about her is her positives for what shes done for the city?

She's reduced crime!!

[driverA]

Originally Posted by barante

Nonsense. The wealthy families moving to the Inner Harbor are mostly empty-nesters who have no need for schools. Those who have school-aged kids send them to private schools.
In Roland Park (and Guilford, Homeland, Mount Washington, etc.) kids go to private schools. In fact many returned from the county because it is easier to live in North Baltimore near those schools.
Drive on. Because you show no grasp of Baltimore's cultural offerings. My words.

You say that the wealthy people willing to live in the Harbor area are empty-nesters. So basically you are indirectly agreeing with me in that the number of wealthy people willing to live in these parts of Baltimore is limited in this way.

Also, I find it interesting how some of you guys hate on the suburbs but lift up neighborhoods like Roland Park, etc. which are basically suburbs in the outer city limits. Why is that?

[barante]

You seem to be a perceptive guy in some ways. Bolton Hill is a suburb. Every place in a declining old city is a suburb.

[BWALDON]

Originally Posted by jonjj

Glad you enjoyed the Baltimore marathon. After running quite a distance, you may have thought you saw the "whole" city, but you didn't. The marathon took you through quite a few neighborhoods, many of them yes, in sad shape. After you passed Orleans on the east side of town, you went through Baltimore's toughest east side neighborhoods-poverty and abandonment in many of them. When you came back from Druid Hill, they took you down McCollough on the west side which is beautiful in it's own right but also has a lot of abandonment issues.
I guess I would sum up my response in that Baltimore does have some tough areas-a whole lot of them. However, there are many sections of the city that are quite nice away from the Inner Harbor.
I should add that the route was changed this year due to work being done at Fort McHenry. I suggest you visit again and get a truer picture of the city.

I guess if I ran in a DC marathon through Anacostia, I would come back with mixed emotions. Hope you find that home you're looking for in NOVA.

Funny

[emsgoof]

Originally Posted by Billiam

What bad has she done for the city? All i hear about her is her positives for what shes done for the city?

She's reduced crime!!

Hah... sure.
She has forced furloughs to the fire department because they are "greedy". Mind you, these "greedy" firefighters already make about $10,000 a year less than every single jurisdiction around (if not more). This is on top of being a MUCH busier fire department.
She's forced the permanent closure of several fire stations in the city.
She's forced the rotating closure of several fire stations each day.
She's ensured the fire department doesn't have the funding to put more ambulances on the street, forcing stations to close to staff "critical alert" ambulances.
This is the only story that's gotten attention lately, which unfortunately was lost in the hullaballoo about She-lies Dixon stealing from needy children.
Fire Chief Responds To Complaints That Man Waited Over Hour For Ambulance - WBAL Radio - wbal.com
Basically to summarize the story for you, a patient at a dialysis center had to wait over an hour for an ambulance to get there, and the first response fire engine was out of service baby-sitting for that hour while they waited (yet more shortage of fire equipment because of this stuff). It's not uncommon to have 2 hour waits for ambulances at times.
Last month, a person having a heart attack walked to a fire station that had been closed because of Dixon's cuts. He later died because of that heart attack.
There have been instances of fire equipment having to come from the Druid Hill Park area down to Locust Point. At any given time, due to budget cuts, there are 10-15 fire companies out of service - on top of a department staffing that according to many had already been cut to below safe levels.
Mind you, the Fire Department has a source of income - ambulance billing. This COULD be used in a similar manner to the way the Police Department uses money confiscated during their operations. This ambulance billing money could be used in the Fire Department to do things such as fix broken stations (crumbling ceilings and floors, non-functional dispatch computers, broken vehicle exhaust systems, asbestos and mold / mildew removal, etc) but instead the city takes it and puts it in the general fund. But, the public never hears about any of this, because the fire department has too much pride, and does the best job they can, day after day, with the scraps they're given.
So what has She-lies done? She's made the city an extremely unsafe place to live... that's what.

[are you kidinme?]

Agreed, the fire dept is way under funded, But, I think it's a mistake to see ambulance billing as a steady income stream. I'm not in the ems world, but folks I know are, and in the city the people using the amublances in the majority of cases are unable to pay and usually uninsured. Unlike the police department which is seizing an asset, car, boat, house, for example.