How does Maryland maintain its wealth and prestige given the way Baltimore is? (Ocean City: movies, high income)

[Serious Conversation]

I'm not from Maryland and when I think of Maryland, I think of Baltimore. Even before the recent troubles, Baltimore has been thought of as a not so nice place. Even though Baltimore is a basket case, Maryland is one of the wealthiest and most prestigious states in the country.

How does it maintain its wealth and prestige when its largest and most important city is a mess?

[North Beach Person]

Proximity to DC and the wealth/jobs which emanate from that.

Remember, the "wealthy" areas of the state are really the I95 corridor and a bit more. Far western MD and the Eastern Shore, as well as parts of Southern Maryland are not really sharing in the boom in many ways.

And yes, for those who will comment, I live in Calvert which is in the Top 3 Counties for wealth. That number is skewed by a relatively small number of very high income households.

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by Emigrations

I'm not from Maryland and when I think of Maryland, I think of Baltimore. Even before the recent troubles, Baltimore has been thought of as a not so nice place. Even though Baltimore is a basket case, Maryland is one of the wealthiest and most prestigious states in the country.

How does it maintain its wealth and prestige when its largest and most important city is a mess?

I'm not sure what to make of this comment. But assuming you are genuinely asking, all states have areas of poverty. That's like saying how does the US maintain its wealth and prestige when there is Mississippi or Alabama.

Baltimore is not Maryland's most important city. It isn't even the capital of the state. If anything, Ocean City would be more important than Baltimore City.

Maryland's most important cities are called the Beltway cities which surround DC. They create the most wealth in the state in a small area.

On the other hand, due to UMBC and Johns Hopkins, Baltimore does have a growing cyber security industry coming out of their incubators.

[AeroGuyDC]

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

I'm not sure what to make of this comment. But assuming you are genuinely asking, all states have areas of poverty. That's like saying how does the US maintain its wealth and prestige when there is Mississippi or Alabama.

Baltimore is not Maryland's most important city. It isn't even the capital of the state. If anything, Ocean City would be more important than Baltimore City.

Maryland's most important cities are called the Beltway cities which surround DC. They create the most wealth in the state in a small area.

On the other hand, due to UMBC and Johns Hopkins, Baltimore does have a growing cyber security industry coming out of their incubators.

Aw, come on. This is a ridiculous statement. Montgomery County - as a county - is the economic engine of the state of MD. Baltimore - the CITY - ranks as the second largest economic engine of the state. Not sure how you dreamed up Ocean City as outpacing Baltimore in economic output.

[CBMD]

Originally Posted by AeroGuyDC

Aw, come on. This is a ridiculous statement. Montgomery County - as a county - is the economic engine of the state of MD. Baltimore - the CITY - ranks as the second largest economic engine of the state. Not sure how you dreamed up Ocean City as outpacing Baltimore in economic output.

Agree.

[DaveinMtAiry]

Yeah I agree too.

Back to the opening post how is Baltimore "a mess" again? Sure it has problems, so does every city in the world. I'm not from Baltimore so I'm no apologist. But it seems to me that Baltimore has nothing to apologize for.

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by AeroGuyDC

Aw, come on. This is a ridiculous statement. Montgomery County - as a county - is the economic engine of the state of MD. Baltimore - the CITY - ranks as the second largest economic engine of the state. Not sure how you dreamed up Ocean City as outpacing Baltimore in economic output.

I wrote that? I should have said that Ocean City was just as important as Baltimore. Can't imagine Maryland without Ocean City's economy.

BUT, I agree. Baltimore's economy is among the largest in the state and much larger than Ocean City.

MY BAD. Geeze.

[bus man]

The most important city in Maryland is Washington, DC. Don't let the picky little detail that DC is not, technically, IN Maryland fool you; the federal capital is far and away the economic engine that drives this state.

Following that, I would agree that Montgomery County is the state's main economic engine. And a lot of that is due to the spillover of federal agencies from Washington; so one could say that MoCo is a corollary to DC. After that, I would say that Baltimore is still a major economic force -- warts and all.

[bus man]

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

I wrote that? I should have said that Ocean City was just as important as Baltimore. Can't imagine Maryland without Ocean City's economy.

Well no, you didn't write that; not exactly. THIS is what you wrote:

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

Baltimore is not Maryland's most important city. It isn't even the capital of the state. If anything, Ocean City would be more important than Baltimore City.

"Importance" can be measured in various ways, of which economic power is but one. As a tourism center, one could make the case that Ocean City might be more important than Baltimore. (Maybe. I don't have the stats, so I don't know for sure.) But in overall economic might, it's not even close.

Incidentally, have you ever been in Ocean City in the dead of winter? It's downright creepy. Try driving up Coastal Highway on a weekday in February; it's like one of those science-fiction movies where some weird disease kills off all the humans but leaves the buildings intact.

[Northernest Southernest C]

Originally Posted by bus man

Well no, you didn't write that; not exactly. THIS is what you wrote:



"Importance" can be measured in various ways, of which economic power is but one. As a tourism center, one could make the case that Ocean City might be more important than Baltimore. (Maybe. I don't have the stats, so I don't know for sure.) But in overall economic might, it's not even close.

Incidentally, have you ever been in Ocean City in the dead of winter? It's downright creepy. Try driving up Coastal Highway on a weekday in February; it's like one of those science-fiction movies where some weird disease kills off all the humans but leaves the buildings intact.

Baltimore is still a major economic engine for the state in particular central Maryland. As far as tourism statistics Baltimore get the majority of tourist in the state and more tourist come to Baltimore than ocean city and DC believe it or not.