Parkville's taking a dive

[FIREHAWK]

well if you could get a 20rock with your independent card they wouldn't have to

 

[Tim460]

Baltimore's out of control heroin problem keeps spreading to the county more and more. Many of the prescription drug abusers are unable to afford their habit as it gets worse so they switch to heroin since it's much cheaper. It's only going to get worse.

 

[Crownroyal79]

Its been the plan of balto city for years to push all the trash out and move in the elite class. They are doing a good job of it. I use to live in nottingham and now when I go back to visit my buddy its not the same place I use to live 4 years ago.

 

[thegoose]

Hopefully it will stay inside the beltway.

 

[teratos]

Hopefully it will stay inside the beltway.

Been to Harford County? It's outside the beltway.

 

[rseymorejr]

It's everywhere, just look for the section 8 housing

 

[pjwphoto]

It's everywhere, just look for the section 8 housing

This is true, anywhere the downtrodden in our society live these problems are prevalent. Still class and money are not the only factors, it is a question of upbringing, values, and support from family.

 

[Onwrd Farm]

It's everywhere, just look for the section 8 housing

Or Mass Transit...

 

[River Mud]

This is very similar to what is happening in Delaware. First it was worse in Wilmington. Then moved to New Castle. Now Bear, DE.

I hate to say it, but it might come to a point where it's warfare on the streets.

I live right inside the City line (near Wells Liquors - York Road just south of Towson) and I can tell you that things are just going bananas on the northern end of the City. I had a nice huge plot at the community garden for 3 years, and last year, twice I had juveniles (supposed to be in school) harass me and threaten violence (the gig is this: they see someone who looks like a "white guilt" liberal and then say, "Hey, why don't you give me some money."). You can guess my response, which was polite but short. I stopped taking my son to the garden after that, which was upsetting but necessary. Then this spring, someone (not a gardener and probably not an "innocent bystander" by any stretch) was gunned down outside the community garden, which is in a City park. Yeah, no thanks. I tilled up part of the yard inside our 6' fence and ran irrigation, and that's where I garden now.

I started to type "part of the problem" .... .....we don't have time to get into the problems at their heart. Part of the reason for the uptick in nonsense in north city/north central county in particular is that the Black Guerrilla Family, while controlled from the prison, has a HUGE presence along the York / Harford corridors in the northeast City. They are demanding protection money from business owners, getting into gunfights with either the crips or bloods (forget which) and are generally just being ruthless. Obviously this has a ripple effect on the community in general, and most specifically on random addicts and bored/borderline teens, who observe this stuff and make the conclusion that "this is a normal way to behave." Are those guys murderers, by and large? No, probably not, but they are constantly doing dumb sh*t, and sooner or later, someone is definitely going to get killed. The gang-type assassination in Rodgers Forge (of all places!!!!) last month is a perfect example. Again, not an innocent party, but when they lit that dude up and he flipped his SUV on a tight street full of cars, how many people had to repair/replace their cars? All for fear (from what I understand) that the guy might turn state's evidence in some trial against the black guerrilla family.

Our neighborhood is very quiet and full of paranoid, 911-dialing people, so we never have "big problems." But this summer has been full of hit-and-runs, thefts out of people's locked back yards, vandalism, an uptick in heroin (first syringes I've seen in the alleyway in 7+ years), and sirens and helicopters to our south all night, every night.

So given all that, you can imagine how happy I was to hear Vinny DeMarco's comment in July that SB281 "will start saving lives immediately on October 1!" I am looking forward to it, because I'm sure these illegal, violent corporate enterprises will be very quick to comply. Having lived in the City for 15 years, I've actually talked to a few gang members and former gang members and they have a common message that the Mayor and Governor don't understand and don't care about, "Your laws don't apply to us - we live by a different set of rules."

Hunker down, boys and girls. And most absolutely, secure your weapons in your home.

 

[BRONZ]

Carroll County is going through the same thing.

It has changed so much in just the last few years. I fing hate it.

 

[vinjet700]

My wife and I live near Putty Hill and Oakleigh and it has definitely gotten worse over the past few years and continues to decline. When helicopters become the norm its pretty bad. Between the MTA on Harford and Loch Raven, both major city/county thoroughfares, I don't see it getting any better.

We have been casually looking to move but given recent events, we have discussed and it has become priority. Its a shame too, because our neighborhood has been nice and quiet and family oriented since we moved here and now I watch people walk the streets looking in vehicles.

 

[River Mud]

Its been the plan of balto city for years to push all the trash out and move in the elite class. They are doing a good job of it. I use to live in nottingham and now when I go back to visit my buddy its not the same place I use to live 4 years ago.

If you're the City and you're trying to manage their disaster of a budget, how could your policy be anything else, as ruthless and as sad as it sounds?

The City needs tax revenue. Churches don't pay. Hopkins doesn't pay a penny, and never will. Most of the big corporate developments (inner harbor) don't pay. The poor most certainly do not pay. The middle class can only be seen by the number of kids in affordable catholic schools.

If you're the City, you need to create at least the illusion of a lack of poverty in some areas to attract very rich individual landowners (both commercial and residential). Otherwise, who in the world will fill the City coffers? This, itself, is going to be very interesting after the next governors election, as the "money pipeline" from Annapolis to Baltimore will almost surely shrink by 25-75% when a non-Baltimore City governor takes office.

 

[Ungermc]

It doesn't help that Baltimore City has been using the surrounding communities as its dumping ground for section 8, and every form of undesirable...now with the influx of O'Malley's 'New Americans', the problem will only get worse. This has caused businesses and anyone else who can manage to move out of the area, leaving a vacuum that is filled by more crime and more entitlement society.

 

[River Mud]

My wife and I live near Putty Hill and Oakleigh and it has definitely gotten worse over the past few years and continues to decline. When helicopters become the norm its pretty bad. Between the MTA on Harford and Loch Raven, both major city/county thoroughfares, I don't see it getting any better.

We have been casually looking to move but given recent events, we have discussed and it has become priority. Its a shame too, because our neighborhood has been nice and quiet and family oriented since we moved here and now I watch people walk the streets looking in vehicles.

Yeah, what is up with Loch Raven? I've only been traveling that area for about 10 years and far past (outside) the City line, it seems to be in decline. Businesses failing, people wandering about aimlessly.....I usually avoid driving LRB now - take Charles Street or Perring Pkwy to the Beltway.

 

[hvymax]

Whenever I hear about potential terrorist attacks wiping out cities I think to myself that it would be a good thing.

 

[vinjet700]

Whenever I hear about potential terrorist attacks wiping out cities I think to myself that it would be a good thing.

Funny but not.....

 

[bkuether]

Baltimore is a very classic textbook example (not perfect but close) of what geographers call a "Concentric Zone Model". It talks about "successive zones" of expansion and is essentially formed as a classic bulls eye pattern which is really quite appropriate for this forum... And as some in the forum have indicated, yes it creates a donut hole of "who's left".

What is interesting is that you can apply the term "expansion" to population, wealth, or in this case CRIME.

A companion concept known as "filtering of housing" fits this model extremely well. It essentially says that as people find their way out lower/working class jobs, they tend to filter out to better and better housing. Kind of the same way waves move out from the central point when you throw a rock in the water.

Again, this concept can be extrapolated to fit population, economic expansion and of course, crime.

When you look at Baltimore you also see a classic "ring road and radial" pattern. Harford Road would be a "radial" out of the city. Where you have intersections, the concept shows you have higher land values at the intersections. Baltimore is actually somewhat inverse, as land values are much less towards the center of the city. But you could take that pattern and apply criminal activity and likely come up with a very convincing picture of "where not to live".

 

[Bikebreath]

Whenever I hear about potential terrorist attacks wiping out cities I think to myself that it would be a good thing.

If you have any influence, keep it out of 21211, k?

 

[aquaman]

Yeah, what is up with Loch Raven? I've only been traveling that area for about 10 years and far past (outside) the City line, it seems to be in decline. Businesses failing, people wandering about aimlessly.....I usually avoid driving LRB now - take Charles Street or Perring Pkwy to the Beltway.

The Oaks and Perring Parkway below Taylor ave have been going downhill since the early 90's

Drive through dutch village behind home depot and you will see what I mean.

 

[ma_deuce]

I had some clients visiting from out-of-town last week. One of them lives in Manhattan, the other in Orlando. They both travel a lot. Their business took them into the City, and both were shocked. They wanted to know whether there were any parts of it that didn't look like locations from "The Wire". The Manhattanite said "I expected something like East Harlem - I had no idea it would be this bad". She revised her opinion to place East Baltimore on a par with the South Bronx, except the Bronx is getting better.