Chicago Transplants Tell Me What to Expect in Baltimore

[Infinite_heights77]

"Racial tensions seem higher here.."

Racial tensions have always been HIGH in this town. I think a lot worse than Chicago. Baltimore was classified by a white politician years ago..."Baltimore is a white man's town and always will be!"

Originally Posted by Chocokitty

I lived in Chicago for 25 years before moving to Baltimore 6 years ago. I have to disagree with Zea mays - I loved Chicago's climate (I grew up in the lake effect snow zone in NW Indiana before moving to Chicago for college, where I stayed for 25 years) and I am still not used to the humidity in this city. I miss the snow. I miss Chicago pizza and Italian beef and the lakefront (we lived on Sheridan up in Edgewater right on the water).

Baltimore seems very claustrophobic to me - the streets seem tinier and more crowded, and people seem jammed together on the streets. Racial tensions seem higher here.

When we moved here I really did want to love our new adopted city, but it just hasn't taken - maybe I'm too much of a midwesterner at heart and I have midwestern sensibilities. I don't want to blame it on Baltimore - it just wasn't a good fit. We're retiring to the UP of Michigan in 2 years and I can't wait.

[boreatwork]

Originally Posted by Zea mays

Chicago today reminds me of the Baltimore from the 1960s. Unfortunately, it is much more violent than today's Baltimore; we seem to have better shooters (or else they are better equipped) than your shooters in your city-by-the-bay (i.e., the Patapsco); our killed-to-wounded ratio is much higher than Baltimore's.

Our political chicanery makes yours pale by comparison. What other city has leased its entire set of parking meters (36,000) for 75 years to a European company for $1.2 billion, when the lease was later found to be worth more than $2 billion. (Meter parking downtown was greater than $6.50/hr the last time I looked; don't ask what private parking garages are demanding.)

To buy a pass on the city's ELs/subways/buses requires a debit MasterCard from a bank in Iowa (I kid you not). Terms are OK if you only use the card for transport. But poor folks in this town (and we have many) will use the transit debit card in lieu of a credit card (which they can't obtain because of poor credit) to make non-transit purchases. In that case, the charges are egregious.

Chicago may be the next Detroit. Or it could be the future of other older US cities. I hope not.

I live in Lisle, IL, about 20 miles west of the Chicago city boundary. I can't remember the last time I was in Chicago. It was probably several years ago. It's not the crime. If you stay north of Roosevelt Rd, and east of Ashland Ave, you will be OK. I certainly wouldn't go there to watch the baseball teams. But I am content with the restaurants, movies, theaters, concerts and shopping here in the western suburbs, where the parking is almost always free.

I sometimes become nostalgic about Baltimore, at least the Baltimore of the 60s. I have not been there in several years. All my older siblings (and all my siblings were older), had the nasty habit of passing away. I'll have to get back soon, if just to walk along the stone walkway by the water's edge at Ft. McHenry on a cloudy, blustery day.

Statistically Baltimore crime and murder rate is much worse than Chicago.