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Spot on. The difference in noise pollution, air quality, crime and drug needles laying around is staggering! Having found a wife, neither of us likes going down

Spot on. The difference in noise pollution, air quality, crime and drug needles laying around is staggering! Having found a wife, neither of us likes going downtown anymore. We have our own sauna and an apple tree! The only downside is, electricity is way more expensive.

everdrive 7y ago
I always used to joke: "Sure, there is a very high murder rate, pollution, noise, crowds, high taxes, drug use, mugging, random assault (Baltimore), but look at all the restaurants!"
- soylentcola 7y ago
  Yeah...we definitely have our issues. For me (early 40's now) it's also about proximity to work as well as restaurants, night life, arts, etc. But it truly is frustrating in many ways. Broader tax base needed to fund infrastructure isn't there. Lower-income residents can't pay for it. Developers and big players get breaks in order to lure/keep them. So us moderate-income residents pay the high taxes and it still isn't enough to fund what's needed. Add to it the fact that at the state-level, many residents (and their elected representatives) seem willing to just let the whole thing fall apart rather than deal with it. It's really disheartening. Still bitter that they canceled the planned metro addition that had been in the works for years and had a ton of federal funding secured. At least it's still cheaper than DC ;)
- dx87 7y ago
  I had a co-worker who lived in Baltimore, and he'd act like he was shocked that co-workers from the suburbs thought Baltimore wasn't a good place to live or visit. Then he'd also tell us stuff like "when you visit my house, don't park more than 2 blocks away because your car will probably get broken into once the sun goes down", or that he found a homeless guy sleeping under his porch one morning, or how people on the sidewalk would pretend to mug you because they thought it was funny to scare people. He'd lived in cities his entire life though, so he thought that kind of stuff was normal, and he came from a wealthy family and lived in one of the better parts of Baltimore.

everdrive 7y ago

I always used to joke: "Sure, there is a very high murder rate, pollution, noise, crowds, high taxes, drug use, mugging, random assault (Baltimore), but look at all the restaurants!"

soylentcola 7y ago
Yeah...we definitely have our issues. For me (early 40's now) it's also about proximity to work as well as restaurants, night life, arts, etc. But it truly is frustrating in many ways. Broader tax base needed to fund infrastructure isn't there. Lower-income residents can't pay for it. Developers and big players get breaks in order to lure/keep them. So us moderate-income residents pay the high taxes and it still isn't enough to fund what's needed. Add to it the fact that at the state-level, many residents (and their elected representatives) seem willing to just let the whole thing fall apart rather than deal with it. It's really disheartening. Still bitter that they canceled the planned metro addition that had been in the works for years and had a ton of federal funding secured. At least it's still cheaper than DC ;)
dx87 7y ago
I had a co-worker who lived in Baltimore, and he'd act like he was shocked that co-workers from the suburbs thought Baltimore wasn't a good place to live or visit. Then he'd also tell us stuff like "when you visit my house, don't park more than 2 blocks away because your car will probably get broken into once the sun goes down", or that he found a homeless guy sleeping under his porch one morning, or how people on the sidewalk would pretend to mug you because they thought it was funny to scare people. He'd lived in cities his entire life though, so he thought that kind of stuff was normal, and he came from a wealthy family and lived in one of the better parts of Baltimore.