The 10 Most Dangerous U.S. Cities (Baltimore: buses, public transportation, design)

[Clyde Pharmer]

Originally Posted by steppinthrax

Holly ****....

You are right. Baltimore moved from #7 to #5. I'm sorry, i'll be sure to take this thread off...

Give me a break...

Unless the stats were wrong (which wouldn't surprise me). There is no way in hell you could turn this around in 10 years...

D.C. used to be murder capital of the U.S. Its murder rate has decreased dramatically over the past 15 years. It's now considered a "shi shi" city.

Baltimore is now number 9 while it used to be in the top 5 for a while. Also the FBI itself says that cities like St. louis and Baltimore suffer in these ratings due to their having well defined city borders and independent governments to not include safer suburban areas to lower their overall crime rate figures.

[dogpark]

Originally Posted by Clyde Pharmer

D.C. used to be murder capital of the U.S. Its murder rate has decreased dramatically over the past 15 years. It's now considered a "shi shi" city.

Baltimore is now number 9 while it used to be in the top 5 for a while. Also the FBI itself says that cities like St. louis and Baltimore suffer in these ratings due to their having well defined city borders and independent governments to not include safer suburban areas to lower their overall crime rate figures.

This is so on the money!

I grew up in DC during the 70s and 80s and it was awful. I remember 14th St, the intersection of Florida and NY Ave; now it is all high end rehabs and nice cars where before it was stripped cars on blocks and crack whores.

And yes, Baltimore has a lot of issues because it is a defined city/county and not part of a larger region politically. This article from 2007 explains the closed/sealed city border very well:
100 Years: Baltimore Seals Its Borders | Baltimore magazine
To quote from the above article:
Today, it earns this from Robert Embry, the president of the Abell Foundation: “It’s hard to think, looking back, of any single public decision that’s proved to be more important to Baltimore City than that question in the 1948 election. It was a very shortsighted decision.”
...
In the mid-1990’s, Embry’s Abell Foundation asked urban affairs expert David Rusk to take a look at the city, its problems, and its prospects. One thing that Rusk does in his 1998 book Baltimore Unbound: A Strategy for Regional Renewal is draw a straight line from that referendum vote in 1948 to the problems that continue to challenge Baltimore six decades later.
To put it simply: Question 5 turned Baltimore City from a shining jewel into a charity case.

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by dogpark

This is so on the money!

I grew up in DC during the 70s and 80s and it was awful. I remember 14th St, the intersection of Florida and NY Ave; now it is all high end rehabs and nice cars where before it was stripped cars on blocks and crack whores.

And yes, Baltimore has a lot of issues because it is a defined city/county and not part of a larger region politically. This article from 2007 explains the closed/sealed city border very well:
100 Years: Baltimore Seals Its Borders | Baltimore magazine
To quote from the above article:
Today, it earns this from Robert Embry, the president of the Abell Foundation: “It’s hard to think, looking back, of any single public decision that’s proved to be more important to Baltimore City than that question in the 1948 election. It was a very shortsighted decision.”
...
In the mid-1990’s, Embry’s Abell Foundation asked urban affairs expert David Rusk to take a look at the city, its problems, and its prospects. One thing that Rusk does in his 1998 book Baltimore Unbound: A Strategy for Regional Renewal is draw a straight line from that referendum vote in 1948 to the problems that continue to challenge Baltimore six decades later.
To put it simply: Question 5 turned Baltimore City from a shining jewel into a charity case.

Very interesting article.. thanks for sharing.. One counter argument to what the author writes about what 'could be been' I am not so sure Baltimore would be that much bigger than it is today.. if people were rioting in Highlandtown and Canton in the 1800s about annexation. I am sure that in the 1950s and certainly in the 1960 you would have had a cross burned on your lawn or your car fire bombed if you lived in any neighborhood adjacent to Baltimore City and uttered the words ANNEXATION especially if it required a 100% affirmation from property owners. In 1948 on forward to today.. what benefit would it be for someone in the County to be in the City? Certainly not taxes and not schools. In some cases.. not for low car insurance rates especially for those County residents that share a City Zip Code. In some Cities selected areas can be taken in by force if they use City Services or there is an 80/20 rule where if 80% of the landowners vote to come in.. then the other 20% are forced to come in. Obviously, when the City targets an area.. they make sure that they have the 80% before the first petition goes out and the often carve areas up based on where they feel they will be successful to limit opposition.

Once the writing was on the wall that Baltimore City was in decline.. that was the end of annexation since the County offers all the same services as the City..cheaper and some may argue... BETTER. I am not trying to slam the City. I live in the City but if you went to Roland Park Mt. Washington, Overlea and Lake Eversham and asked if they wanted to cede into the County.. what do you think their response might be? They may vote to remain.. but i bet the vote would be close....

[choccity]

Originally Posted by dogpark

This is so on the money!

I grew up in DC during the 70s and 80s and it was awful. I remember 14th St, the intersection of Florida and NY Ave; now it is all high end rehabs and nice cars where before it was stripped cars on blocks and crack whores.

And yes, Baltimore has a lot of issues because it is a defined city/county and not part of a larger region politically. This article from 2007 explains the closed/sealed city border very well:
100 Years: Baltimore Seals Its Borders | Baltimore magazine
To quote from the above article:
Today, it earns this from Robert Embry, the president of the Abell Foundation: “It’s hard to think, looking back, of any single public decision that’s proved to be more important to Baltimore City than that question in the 1948 election. It was a very shortsighted decision.”
...
In the mid-1990’s, Embry’s Abell Foundation asked urban affairs expert David Rusk to take a look at the city, its problems, and its prospects. One thing that Rusk does in his 1998 book Baltimore Unbound: A Strategy for Regional Renewal is draw a straight line from that referendum vote in 1948 to the problems that continue to challenge Baltimore six decades later.
To put it simply: Question 5 turned Baltimore City from a shining jewel into a charity case.

I grew up in DC too and I do remember 14th and Chapin Sts well, lol. I didn't know this about Baltimore though. Now I understand why the distinction between Baltimore City and Baltimore County is so stark.

[Huckleberry3911948]

And what is the common element
Gangster culture masquerading as black culture

[Infinite_heights77]

*You can thank Rayful Edmonds for that....

*Ahhhhhh....so Marion Barry created many Black millionaires in the district during this time. I remember how wild DC was during the mid-to-late 80's when crack cocaine plagued the city, and the National Guard had to post up on neighborhood blocks due to the drug violence. But, DC still had a plethora of activity, Black owned businesses, excitement and international stuff that Baltimore lacks. Baltimore is like the Bronx and North Carolina rolled into one.

Originally Posted by dogpark

This is so on the money!

I grew up in DC during the 70s and 80s and it was awful. I remember 14th St, the intersection of Florida and NY Ave; now it is all high end rehabs and nice cars where before it was stripped cars on blocks and crack whores.

And yes, Baltimore has a lot of issues because it is a defined city/county and not part of a larger region politically. This article from 2007 explains the closed/sealed city border very well:
100 Years: Baltimore Seals Its Borders | Baltimore magazine
To quote from the above article:
Today, it earns this from Robert Embry, the president of the Abell Foundation: “It’s hard to think, looking back, of any single public decision that’s proved to be more important to Baltimore City than that question in the 1948 election. It was a very shortsighted decision.”
...
In the mid-1990’s, Embry’s Abell Foundation asked urban affairs expert David Rusk to take a look at the city, its problems, and its prospects. One thing that Rusk does in his 1998 book Baltimore Unbound: A Strategy for Regional Renewal is draw a straight line from that referendum vote in 1948 to the problems that continue to challenge Baltimore six decades later.
To put it simply: Question 5 turned Baltimore City from a shining jewel into a charity case.

[Infinite_heights77]

All you DC Bamas living in Baltimore! Smh!

[choccity]

Originally Posted by Infinite_heights77

All you DC Bamas living in Baltimore! Smh!

Not at all!

[dogpark]

Originally Posted by Woodlands

Once the writing was on the wall that Baltimore City was in decline.. that was the end of annexation since the County offers all the same services as the City..cheaper and some may argue... BETTER. I am not trying to slam the City. I live in the City but if you went to Roland Park Mt. Washington, Overlea and Lake Eversham and asked if they wanted to cede into the County.. what do you think their response might be? They may vote to remain.. but i bet the vote would be close....

Therein lies the rub - there would not be a Baltimore County as we know it today if not for Baltimore City; just look at water supplies and wastewater treatment - all started in the city and benefits the county. The there was redlining, and then WW2 with suburban roads then housing tracts open and then the wealthier of the working class began to leave Baltimore, thus stranding the region's poor in the city.

[B.K.]

Originally Posted by dogpark

This is so on the money!

I grew up in DC during the 70s and 80s and it was awful. I remember 14th St, the intersection of Florida and NY Ave; now it is all high end rehabs and nice cars where before it was stripped cars on blocks and crack whores.

And yes, Baltimore has a lot of issues because it is a defined city/county and not part of a larger region politically. This article from 2007 explains the closed/sealed city border very well:
100 Years: Baltimore Seals Its Borders | Baltimore magazine
To quote from the above article:
Today, it earns this from Robert Embry, the president of the Abell Foundation: “It’s hard to think, looking back, of any single public decision that’s proved to be more important to Baltimore City than that question in the 1948 election. It was a very shortsighted decision.”
...
In the mid-1990’s, Embry’s Abell Foundation asked urban affairs expert David Rusk to take a look at the city, its problems, and its prospects. One thing that Rusk does in his 1998 book Baltimore Unbound: A Strategy for Regional Renewal is draw a straight line from that referendum vote in 1948 to the problems that continue to challenge Baltimore six decades later.
To put it simply: Question 5 turned Baltimore City from a shining jewel into a charity case.

Very interesting article, thanks for posting it. I had always wondered why Baltimore stopped growing geographically, after so many annexations in the past. Now I understand.