Is Dundalk deserving of its reputation? (Towson, Annapolis: foreclosures, lease, house)

[Buell86]

Maybe folks there aren't all graduated from 4 year schools like Timonium or Columbia but doesn't mean they're dumb. I lived in Highlandtown (used to be nice now ghetto) and Canton (haughty-taughty yuppified), I'll take Dundalk or Essex anytime!

[KennyP]

I'd love to hear your definition of a 'haughy-taughy yuppified' neighborhood.

I live in 'nice' part of Canton, and my neighbors are 2 drug dealers, an unwed mother of 2/heroin addict, a family of 11 people living in a 2 story row home (these are my favorite, their 5 year old is still in diapers, the older kids don't go to school and both teenage daughters are pregnant), a retired animal trainer for a circus (this guy is awesome), 3 houses stuffed with college kids (one of them is pretty cool, one is a bunch of guidos, and one is just super quiet), 2 different old, unemployed ladies that stoop all day while drinking beer (they are actually pretty cool and watch out for my wife), and 4 households that are professionally employed.

Of the professionally employed, there's my family, one guy that works on TV (I'll keep his name private), and 2 defense contractors.

I once got home from a vacation as they were pulling one OD victim out of her house. She'd been in there dead for a week.

My closest friend/neighbors packed up and moved once they got pregnant.
"We like it here, but it's not a place to raise a family". Their houses are still sitting empty b/c they can't find a renter w/ decent credit, and they can't sell b/c of the economy in general.

Haughty-taughty yuppies? Pft. You don't know what you're talking about.

[jim prow]

a comment on canton. i live in dundalk. my daughter has a degree in marketing and law. her husband is a professor and teaches at a private school. they live on the water in canton. the home cost $1.3 million. they also own another house in canton that they rent out. they are well educated yuppies, both from dundalk.

my other daughter didn't do as well. she also lives in the canton area. her home cost $400k.

[barante]

Deborah Rudacille's new book, Roots of Steel, is all about Dundalk and growing up there. Roots of Steel: Boom and Bust in an ... - Google Books
I know people who love Dundalk. In many ways it's a throwback to bygone days. The prettiest sight: The Sparrows Point Golf Club, where Bethlehem Steel executives used to play before the company went bust and was sold to Russians.

[jim prow]

barante, have you been to this country club? if not, or if you have, i'd like to invite you to lunch. i am a member and my wife and i just got back from the pool.

my wedding reception took place there 44 yrs. ago. my father-in-law was one of three doctors that were not "white hats", (foreman) and allowed to be members. two doctors praticed in dundalk and one in sparrows point.

my father-in-law was dr. donald h. towson. his family was one of maryland's ten founding families. "towson maryland." general nathanial towson left his name, but no money.

from reading your other various post, i would enjoy meeting you.

[barante]

Look for a PM in your mailbox.

[ReefAreCoolToo]

It's funny how other portrayed Dundalk residents as a bunch of uneducated backwood rednecks....I know a few of the people that actually live and grew(some of them) in Dundalk and have higher degree and making decent money for their family.
It's a pocket of them (20% of them Dundalk residents that are giving everyone else a bad name)...I truly believed Dundalk, Sparrow Points, Middle River, and Essex have serious potential. Undeveloped water front, cheap properties and plenty of open space for development. I-695, I-95 and I895 cut thru those area....
All those areas needs are some positives news and give everyone a hope. Hell from what I heard, Fed Hill used to be a dump too

[mikey jam]

Essex and Dundalk renansiance committees are still trying to bring the areas back, but with the economy today its very slow. When they tore down Victory Villa many older homeowners were displaced and unfornately the new homes attracted many investors who rented them out to renters who brought crime and blime to the area. Now a tale of 2 cities would be in store for the waterfront properties. Now getting back to Canton, because I grew up there and can voice my opinion. Is gentrification good? Look at all the senior citizens who had to leave because of all the high costs of taxes and just a complete radical change the underwent. Now look at all the solid family based institutions that are all gone. The Knights of Columbus, Sgt Henry Gunther post, all the corner grocery stores. all the parochial schools, the Red Shield boys club, the churches who see only a had full of worshippers, and the good old neighborhood bar that you could get a draft beer for a nominal cost. Also of note no where to park.

[barante]

mikey jam -- Let me stir the hornest's nest. Your post really needs to be read in tandem with your post about east-west expressway planning because so many issues intertwine. //www.city-data.com/forum/balti...-planning.html.
Let me alter and restate the question: Was Baltimore's disastrous interstate experience in fact a blessing in disguise?
I will wait for other comments before offering my answer.

[mikey jam]

Originally Posted by gr8doglove

I live about 15 miles from Dundalk and, for the most part, it does live up to it's reputation. The smell from the waste desposal plant will gag you on a hot day. The fumes that come from the 'Cadbury Eggs' is disgusting. Between those fumes and emissions from the factories in Dundalk, I think many who live there suffer from brain damage. Drugs, trashy people abound there. Not to say there aren't some decent, hardworking people who live there, it's just that they are in the minority. Dundalk does put on a decent 4th of July Parade. Hubby and I go every year (unless I have to work). The Heritage Festival used to be nice, but the rowdy's have taken over. Nearby neighborhoods like Sparrows Point and Millers Island are pretty nice.

Back in the 70's and 80's I remember a mysterious white ash would fall over Dundalk ..... get on everything. That was really weird and never fully explained. Reminded me of the stuff that fell on Dorothy in the field in the Wizard of Oz.

They claim the snow seen in the Wizard of Oz was asbestsis fibers and that the makeup on the originally tin man "Buddy Epsen" was mecury and he got sick from it. But back to Dundalk there is another mysterious odor many say comes from the yeast plant.