Fells Point Decline

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

They are in some ways. A bit more...

A bit of this and a bit of that is just so much balloon squeezing. Ya know?

Originally Posted by BlueDogDemHandbook

The issue is about the tax base of owner occupied homes and locally owned business.
The ratio of owner to renter is completely out whack ... absent a low skill industrial base.
NONE of the answers are executable by ANY elected official.

You lived in Baltimore, or at least Maryland, yes?

Sure did. The city proper until the mid 70's then the County; mostly Catonsville until 2011.

Why did you move?

To make riding motorcycles on the Blue Ridge Parkway (among other nice mountain roads) simpler.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by MrRational

A bit of this and a bit of that is just so much balloon squeezing. Ya know?

Sure did. The city proper until the mid 70's then the County; mostly Catonsville until 2011.
To make riding motorcycles on the Blue Ridge Parkway (among other nice mountain roads) simpler.

That "balloon squeezing", as you put it, can have a long term impact. Yes, it's anathema now but it's nothing more than the broken window policing.

Make landlords clean up their crap or make it so uncomfortable they'll do it. Enforce the quality of life crimes. Then tackle the endemic poverty.

There's no sustained effort from either the City or the State.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

Then tackle the endemic poverty.

Nope. If anything that's last; the result of the other effort will have that come along for the ride with that success.
And landlords? What world do you live in?

Want a solution? The sort of jobs would allow a 40-50hr a week low skill worker to own their home.
Multiply that by 200,000 in B'more alone. What about all the other old industrial towns?
Show us a politician who can achieve that and you'll really have something.
But anyrhing short of the mark is just spittin' in the wind.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by MrRational

Nope. If anything that's last; the result of the other effort will have that come along for the ride with that success.
And landlords? What world do you live in?

Want a solution? The sort of jobs would allow a 40-50hr a week low skill worker to own their home.
Multiply that by 200,000 in B'more alone. What about all the other old industrial towns?
Show us a politician who can achieve that and you'll really have something.
But anyrhing short of the mark is just spittin' in the wind.

In my experience, when you (the government) start costing landlords money and tying them up in Court while their lawyer's clocks are ticking, they'll eventually come around. As it is, in many cities there's an air of lethargy that infects the bureaucracy from top to bottom.

I can't stand Martin O'Malley, but I will give him credit for starting to get Baltimore on a positive road when he was Mayor. He did not tolerate incompetence in his Cabinet or his staff.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

In my experience,...

In my experience... there is a level of the market where the LL will just abandon the whole proposition (15K atm).
And another level, half a notch above, who will be tolerated rather than causing more displaced.

Which is another important point: the distinction betw chronic homeless and the put out last week.
Both tend to be approached the same (by rules) which diminishes the 'program' effectiveness for both.

And then we have the level of LL who actually has some skin in the game to risk.
But these people (used to be one btw) don't need to be whipped into compliance.
We're doing it 'right' on our own because it works out best for us. (That self motivated thing again)
Consequently ... they don't choose to own rundown properties or HUD and S8 tenants.

I can't stand Martin O'Malley, but I will give him credit for starting to get Baltimore on a positive road
when he was Mayor. He did not tolerate incompetence in his Cabinet or his staff.

Schaefer was like that too. And Hyman Pressman. Of course these guys operated at a time
when Glenn Beall and Mac Mathias were the 'opposition'. It was a different world.

[KodeBlue]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

What was Fells like in the 2000s and the 1990s?

It was fun. It had something for everybody. Bands playing at multiple bars, Moby's if you were in the hip-hop, Shuckers was a fun spot, late night eats; long lines at BOP after the bars close. People out just having a good time. Drunk fools jumping in the Harbor, walking through the neighborhood looking at the architecture I've taken a lot of women to Fells Point...before I retired my Jersey.

Federal Hill would have been the better spot to take you Brother. My wife and I use to post up in front of the Japanese Restaurant and people watch before we moved. We may actually do that next time we go to Baltimore just for the hell of it.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by KodeBlue

It was fun. ... I've taken a lot of women to Fells Point...

I think you may have missed the point of The Point.
In the early 70's (still in High School) ...

[Bungalove]

Originally Posted by MrRational

I think you may have missed the point of The Point.
In the early 70's (still in High School) ...

I lived and worked in downtown Baltimore in the 70's. Fells Point, on the main street, still had a Greek side and an American side. I dated (briefly) the son of the owner of one of the Greek bar/restaurants, whose enviable job was to hire the bellydancers. I also spent a LOT of time hanging out at The Horse You Rode In On bar, which was a real hippie place at the time. I still remember the unisex bathroom. There was one memorable Halloween party where a regular bar patron whose nickname was "Uncle Tommy ****-Up" showed up wearing nothing but a Speedo and a Dracula cape. The place was a hoot. However, Fells Point on the whole was really safe. You could walk around at 2 AM with no worries as long as (a) there were no Lumbee Indians out and about (there was a large number who lived close to Johns Hopkins, or (b) the Greek fleet was in on shore leave. Those guys were young and relentless when drunk.

I went shopping down at the Point for many years even after I moved out to the Golden Ghetto (Park Heights). There were many old-fashioned stores there that carried the kind of goods and furnishings that I liked. It began to get gentrified and artsy in the 90's.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by Bungalove

I lived and worked in downtown Baltimore in the 70's. Fells Point...
The Horse You Rode In On bar... Fells Point on the whole was really safe.
You could walk around at 2 AM with no worries ...

As early as 14 I could walk into almost any place in Baltimore and be served.
Remember The Good Master Mustard Seed bar? Later became the Wolf.


I also frequented No Fish and Marble Bar among others
...all depending on where the guy with the car was going. Only 14 after all.

It began to get gentrified and artsy in the 90's.

I started coming down again in the late 80's into the 90's. John Stevens, Wee Pete's and F<something> around the corner.
Pool and Darts more than anything else. Still a blast but the divorced dad with full time job can party only so much.