Why isn't Baltimore a city where the young can find their dreams? (high school, university)

[Infinite_heights77]

When discussing young people's dreams and aspirations after college or high school, I hear cities like NYC (Broadway/Wall Street), LA(Hollywood) or San Fransisco when young people talk about finding their dreams. I don' hear Baltimore so much. Why is that?

[dogpark]

One great thing about Baltimore for young folks chasing dreams is that loft/studio space is cheap for artists and creative folks and Bmore is in the NE corridor. Lots of medical folks come here too, for school, for work.

[feck]

San Francisco? Do they have dreams of gentrification?

NYC and Hollywood are where the entertainment industries reside.

Sure a select few may find theatrical work here but most
have to leave or risk withering on the vine.

[hiker16]

Baltimore is/ was a deepater commerical port and heavy industry/ manufacturing location for generations. While the port is still viable, most of the heavy injustry is long gone (Bethleheem Steel, and the shipyards). (Take a walk through Baltimore Museum of Industry,on the Harbor, in south Baltimore, sometime). Yes...I know Under Armor and Domino's are there. They're not large enough to make a city on their own.

What's mainly left, are healthcare/ university (Johns Hopkins being the largest and most obvious), and the generic, standard white collar professional jobs (doctor, lawyer, accountant)- that you'll find anywhere-. And since those jobs can literally be found anywhere ( what population doesn't need an MD, a JD or an accountant?) there's no real "pull" to come to Baltimore-- or to stay in/near Baltimore-- unless young workers have friends, or family in the area.

Also a ton of relatively low-paying service industry jobs.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by dogpark

One great thing about Baltimore for young folks chasing dreams is that loft/studio space is cheap for artists and creative folks and Bmore is in the NE corridor. Lots of medical folks come here too, for school, for work.

Right. Just because Baltimore doesn't have the hype doesn't mean there aren't plenty of people working away on building a dream there.

Popularity isn't inherently a good thing. The surge of dream/hype-seekers tends to drive prices up until eventually more people are squeezed out and the cycle starts again somewhere else.

[Northernest Southernest C]

Probably the most significant person to come out of Baltimore would be Oprah. Oprah found her dream job in Baltimore. Its how she found her calling to be a talk show host. Oprah explains it best to what Baltimore was to a young woman starting a career. Read this article.
When Oprah Was Ours | Baltimore magazine

When discussing young people's dreams and aspirations after college or high school, I hear cities like NYC (Broadway/Wall Street), LA(Hollywood) or San Fransisco when young people talk about finding their dreams. I don' hear Baltimore so much. Why is that?

I also find this interesting because as a young college student in the area I think/ask myself this question a lot.
I think Baltimore is a place where you can pursue every dream you want without going to the big cities. However, its not a common place to put you in the spot light if that's what you want. It is a place where you start to discover yourself, your dreams, and potential to become something bigger if you want. Another reason Baltimore might not be on their lists is because society has greatly underrated the area as a whole. Sometimes we feel that Baltimore can't fulfill our dreams is because we are blinded by the blight, and poverty. Ultimately we might miss a lot of resouces the city offers. Really it depends on individual preference.

[BaltItaly]

I was a young man when I moved here and found my dream. No complaints.

[dogpark]

Originally Posted by hiker16

Baltimore is/ was a deepater commerical port and heavy industry/ manufacturing location for generations. While the port is still viable, most of the heavy injustry is long gone (Bethleheem Steel, and the shipyards). (Take a walk through Baltimore Museum of Industry,on the Harbor, in south Baltimore, sometime). Yes...I know Under Armor and Domino's are there. They're not large enough to make a city on their own.

What's mainly left, are healthcare/ university (Johns Hopkins being the largest and most obvious), and the generic, standard white collar professional jobs (doctor, lawyer, accountant)- that you'll find anywhere-. And since those jobs can literally be found anywhere ( what population doesn't need an MD, a JD or an accountant?) there's no real "pull" to come to Baltimore-- or to stay in/near Baltimore-- unless young workers have friends, or family in the area.

Also a ton of relatively low-paying service industry jobs.

Pittsburgh is the same way - schools, health care and financial services, massive population loss, steel all gone.

[feck]

Originally Posted by Northernest Southernest C

Probably the most significant person to come out of Baltimore would be Oprah. Oprah found her dream job in Baltimore. Its how she found her calling to be a talk show host. Oprah explains it best to what Baltimore was to a young woman starting a career. Read this article.
When Oprah Was Ours | Baltimore magazine

I also find this interesting because as a young college student in the area I think/ask myself this question a lot.
I think Baltimore is a place where you can pursue every dream you want without going to the big cities. However, its not a common place to put you in the spot light if that's what you want. It is a place where you start to discover yourself, your dreams, and potential to become something bigger if you want. Another reason Baltimore might not be on their lists is because society has greatly underrated the area as a whole. Sometimes we feel that Baltimore can't fulfill our dreams is because we are blinded by the blight, and poverty. Ultimately we might miss a lot of resouces the city offers. Really it depends on individual preference.

Oprah was never "ours". She was born in Mississippi
then she lived in Milwaukee and Nashville. She moved
to Baltimore to anchor the 6 O'Clock News on WJZ-13.
She eventually moved on to bigger and much, much
better things. Had she stayed here she would've have
been a victim of the crabs-in-the-barrel-syndrome that
plague black people in this city.

[Northernest Southernest C]

Originally Posted by feck

Oprah was never "ours". She was born in Mississippi
then she lived in Milwaukee and Nashville. She moved
to Baltimore to anchor the 6 O'Clock News on WJZ-13.
She eventually moved on to bigger and much, much
better things. Had she stayed here she would've have
been a victim of the crabs-in-the-barrel-syndrome that
plague black people in this city.

You just missed my point, which was addressing what Baltimore is to young people fulfilling their dream. Everyone knows she's from Mississippi, I never said she wasn't and neither the article if you read it. The article even says her predecessor before Baltimore was at "WTVF-TV in Nashville" and that she was born in "rural Mississippi" if you read it. Yes figuratively speaking she was ours before anyone knew who Oprah was on a national/international scale. The station (wjz) even promoted her with the tagline "Whats an Oprah?" Part of that process of her moving on to bigger better things included her experience in Baltimore as "the city that launched her into the stratosphere." Then to Chicago as she gained more recognition. But I do agree with one thing you imply. Oprah left because she wanted more once she was fulfilled by what Baltimore offered her. Here she found out first/early on as A YOUNG PERSON FULFILLING HER DREAMS that she didn't want to do the news but become a talk show host. She stated she found her calling. So if she stayed here or not she would probably still be doing what she is now, which is helping others and not covering six o'clock news. Maybe she would not give out cars to her sold out audience, but she definitely would've in some way been involved in community service. And we can never conclude what would Oprah's fate be in the future, past or present. Hell I can't even tell you what my fate is in a year or so. I could be dead you never know.
READ this article
When Oprah Was Ours | Baltimore magazine