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As a Northeast Corridor city, Baltimore is never going to be a Gary or similar rust belt city. Inner Harbor is attractive. Johns Hopkins. Hospitals. I don’t think it can ever overcome the demographics problem. There’s just too much generational poverty.
The Inner Harbor is a shell of its former self. I agree with Johns Hopkins. I don't think that city will overcome the issue with crime, poverty, education either. Those are the biggest issues holding the city back, but no one has an answer for it. There was a report on the news recently that said that students at one High School in Baltimore are reading at a kindergarten level, and only 2% are reading at grade level. The city is doomed with headlines like that.
Philly international service isn’t great, either. Boston has nonstop flights to Asia. Philly has none and had none before the pandemic. Boston has roughly triple the Europe service. From Baltimore, you’ll be able to MARC to Metro for all the IAD flights once that opens next year. It’s like having to go from Philly to Newark to get to Asia.
From my jillion flights into Philly, it’s an awful airport. BWI is much more civilized. For short notice business travel, I generally prefer Southwest because I can toss a few bucks at it and board early enough to get an aisle seat. You can’t usually get an aisle seat on short notice on the majors. Also, Southwest killed their Philly to New England routes because so many passengers were missing connections. Other than Boston, Philly is a fortress American Airlines hub from the regional airports in New England with really high airfares. Plus, Philly has 30 minute train service to Center City which is pathetic. I usually end up having to take a cab to get to a meeting.
All of the airports of the Northeast Corridor are very underwhelming and lackluster, quite frankly. Especially for serving amongst the wealthiest metros on the planet (including Baltimore). US airport infrastructure is just not that cutting-edge generally.
The only one I've ever been moderately impressed with is IAD. But regardless, I find that to be a relatively meaningless strike against Baltimore. And as I've noted before, it's an apples-to-oranges comparison. BWI and PHL don't exist in a vacuum; they are nodes in some of the most crowded airspace on earth.
If someone in Bucks County, PA or Howard County, MD needs to catch a flight to Shanghai for business, and there are preexisting options at EWR and IAD, respectively, then obviously airlines aren't going to be nearly as apt to justify a very similar expensive international route a mere 50-70 miles away.
And Logan is literally the only airport worth mentioning in all of New England--of course it's going to have more international demand by default.
The Inner Harbor is a shell of its former self. I agree with Johns Hopkins. I don't think that city will overcome the issue with crime, poverty, education either. Those are the biggest issues holding the city back, but no one has an answer for it. There was a report on the news recently that said that students at one High School in Baltimore are reading at a kindergarten level, and only 2% are reading at grade level. The city is doomed with headlines like that.
Theres plenty of answers to it.
The issue is Baltimore is more affraid of change than it is of the status quo.
From a West Coast perspective(I'm from so Cal). Philly is a WAY more vibrant city that feels Cosmopolitan and international with it's own local cuisine that's also a selling point for tourism like the historical architecture. Similar to Brooklyn in energy in my experience.
While Baltimore had one of the deader daytime downtowns I've seen in the Mid Atlantic area and has a more coastal shipping type of feel than Philly.
From a West Coast perspective(I'm from so Cal). Philly is a WAY more vibrant city that feels Cosmopolitan and international with it's own local cuisine that's also a selling point for tourism like the historical architecture. Similar to Brooklyn in energy in my experience.
While Baltimore had one of the deader daytime downtowns I've seen in the Mid Atlantic area and has a more coastal shipping type of feel than Philly.
Baltimore is a little odd in that its central business district, which in most cities is the core of what we think of as “downtown,” is not very vibrant at all, lacks high end shopping/restaurants, has lots of run down and outdated storefronts, and looks and feels pretty sketchy. Baltimore’s vibrancy is found around the surrounding areas/neighborhoods of the harbor. This is away from the traditional downtown core where the central business district and cluster of buildings are.
Baltimore also has a relatively small skyline and lacks even a signature 600 foot, which almost every other major city has. Although the new building on light street is a nice and much needed modern addition. It’s about 500ft. The smaller cluster of new buildings around port Covington and towards harbor east are nice and add horizontal length. But for Baltimore’s downtown to reach the next level, it needs one nice signature 600ft tower in its skyline.
Philly on the other hand, has a large and booming skyline. They’ve added a 700ft and 900 ft tower in the last decade, in addition to nice smaller clusters of development. Their skyline is major league, and on a completely different size and scale the Baltimore’’s, which is why it’s always apples to oranges comparing these cities to me. Center City is a traditional downtown where during non-pandemic times the core is buzzing with vibrancy and foot traffic. Lots of shopping, restaurants, nightlife, and all kinds of other big city amenities that you typically see in the downtown core of big cities.
Baltimore also has a relatively small skyline and lacks even a signature 600 foot, which almost every other major city has. Although the new building on light street is a nice and much needed modern addition. It’s about 500ft. The smaller cluster of new buildings around port Covington and towards harbor east are nice and add horizontal length. But for Baltimore’s downtown to reach the next level, it needs one nice signature 600ft tower in its skyline
Baltimore's Inner Harbor sits on clay, not bedrock. It's the main reason why the city built low wide buildings in the 70-80's instead of tall and narrow ones like it's counterparts.
It's offensively expensive to build tall on clay becuase construction cost rises wayyy quicker than the height ratio. The city isn't seeing any +600' towers until all the land on the immediate Harbor has been developed and developers are willing to pay arm and leg to build excessively tall to maintain whatever water views are left.
Until then, expect a steady stream of 3-500' infill in and around the Inner Harbor. Not great for skyline "bragging" but perfectly fine for big city feel and scope.
Baltimore is a little odd in that its central business district, which in most cities is the core of what we think of as “downtown,” is not very vibrant at all, lacks high end shopping/restaurants, has lots of run down and outdated storefronts, and looks and feels pretty sketchy. Baltimore’s vibrancy is found around the surrounding areas/neighborhoods of the harbor. This is away from the traditional downtown core where the central business district and cluster of buildings are.
Yep. Between the ballpark/NFL stadium/convention center and Johns Hopkins, it doesn’t feel affluent and vibrant. Going north, it’s already not great by the hospital. I’m not sure how you’d turn it around.
Baltimore is a little odd in that its central business district, which in most cities is the core of what we think of as “downtown,” is not very vibrant at all, lacks high end shopping/restaurants, has lots of run down and outdated storefronts, and looks and feels pretty sketchy. Baltimore’s vibrancy is found around the surrounding areas/neighborhoods of the harbor. This is away from the traditional downtown core where the central business district and cluster of buildings are.
Baltimore also has a relatively small skyline and lacks even a signature 600 foot, which almost every other major city has. Although the new building on light street is a nice and much needed modern addition. It’s about 500ft. The smaller cluster of new buildings around port Covington and towards harbor east are nice and add horizontal length. But for Baltimore’s downtown to reach the next level, it needs one nice signature 600ft tower in its skyline.
Philly on the other hand, has a large and booming skyline. They’ve added a 700ft and 900 ft tower in the last decade, in addition to nice smaller clusters of development. Their skyline is major league, and on a completely different size and scale the Baltimore’’s, which is why it’s always apples to oranges comparing these cities to me. Center City is a traditional downtown where during non-pandemic times the core is buzzing with vibrancy and foot traffic. Lots of shopping, restaurants, nightlife, and all kinds of other big city amenities that you typically see in the downtown core of big cities.
I did this as of Dec 11 last year to illustrate the different sides of Baltimore. The downtown central area is one of the most dangerous for the whole city. The only good part is the northern part where the colleges are and even still is has a rate at 29 per 100k.
Western district 53
Northwest district 45
southwest district 49
West Baltimore pop approx 284,000 rate 51
Eastern district 46
Northeast district 21
Southeast disctrict 26
East Baltimore pop approx 161,000 rate 57
Central district 24 39,443k rate 61
Northern district 12 41,172k rate 29
southern district 41 60,010k rate 68
I did this as of Dec 11 last year to illustrate the different sides of Baltimore. The downtown central area is one of the most dangerous for the whole city. The only good part is the northern part where the colleges are and even still is has a rate at 29 per 100k.
Western district 53
Northwest district 45
southwest district 49
West Baltimore pop approx 284,000 rate 51
Eastern district 46
Northeast district 21
Southeast disctrict 26
East Baltimore pop approx 161,000 rate 57
Central district 24 39,443k rate 61
Northern district 12 41,172k rate 29
southern district 41 60,010k rate 68
Except homicides in cities (Baltimore included) aren't race neutral, so using raw numbers by quadrant as the status quo has to be taken with plates of salt, let alone a grain.
In 2021 Baltimore had a population of ~586k and a total of 337 homocides
Population/homicides/rate by demographics.
AA population: 362k / 321 rate 88.6/100k
White popultion: 175k / 8 rate 4.6/100k
Hispanic population: 32k / 7 rate 21.8/100k
Asian population: 15k / 1 rate 6.7/100k
We both know if we broke Philly's numbers down it would be just as dispraportionately skewed and why.
Last edited by Joakim3; 02-16-2022 at 08:18 PM..
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