Comments on: There are two Baltimores

There are two Baltimores

josher71 — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 22:40:07 -0800

My black friends call it Murderland. My white friends call it Charm City, a town of trendy cafés. I just call it home.

By: Ironmouth

Ironmouth — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 22:47:04 -0800

pretty real place. a lot of folks just in from west virginia. and the toughest areas. Don't know if it is still open, but Maryland's Death Row was in the middle of the city. A friend lived there and prisoners would accost persons walking by from the windows. Pretty nuts. the downtown is east coast, old buildings with the names of ship insurance companies and law firms. Late '70s the last actual building boom. Since then, downtown is a tourist destination, and not a lot of business gets done there.

By: the man of twists and turns

the man of twists and turns — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 22:50:30 -0800

Previously: Too poor for pop culture

By: Bwithh

Bwithh — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 22:53:02 -0800

So how has it changed since the last of The Wire was first broadcast (2008)? (I'm just finishing up a rewatch of The Wire... I don't want to derail this thread into a discussion of The Wire itself - just curious about how the city has changed or stayed the same since that period (bearing in mind The Wire is not a documentary in the first place). I remember watching some middle season of The Wire when it first came out on cable VOD... it was packaged with a short film of interviews of real world Baltimore officials and civic leaders all saying "Baltimore is getting much better in real life!!!")

By: Tell Me No Lies

Tell Me No Lies — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 23:53:31 -0800

That's a well written article. Thanks for posting it.

By: entropicamericana

entropicamericana — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 23:57:56 -0800

Streets of Baltimore.

By: LobsterMitten

LobsterMitten — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 00:02:30 -0800

Thanks for posting this; I am extra-ashamed to hear about his philosophy professor.

By: squasha

squasha — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 00:24:48 -0800

Excellent. I look forward to hearing more of Watkins' voice.

By: anotherpanacea

anotherpanacea — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 03:27:44 -0800

Woah. I know the Loyola philosophy department: they're mostly pretty great. What a shitty thing to say to a student. I agree that this is a great article, but that's got me bummed.

By: postel's law

postel's law — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 05:19:10 -0800

Ironmouth, you're behind the times. Maryland abolished the death penalty a few years ago, the prison is still there but I don't think the windows open, and the development of Harbor East has been a huge building boom. Other parts of the city have seen significant development too. As for Baltimore post The Wire, it's safer, the schools are in better condition, but it's losing political power in Annapolis and there are more vacant homes. I largely agree with the premise of this article, but I do think that he's missing some subtleties of white Baltimore. Few white people belong in his business partner Tyler's world either. Even so, the author's point about the metaphorical, psychological distance between black and white Baltimore is largely true. Those of us who live here have to keep working to change that.

By: kozad

kozad — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 06:36:24 -0800

I believe in humanity. This guy has a big heart and a open mind. Nice article.

By: tommasz

tommasz — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 06:41:31 -0800

I'm curious as to why he uses UK English spellings like "neighbourhood" and "learnt". Is this a Baltimore thing or just a personal affectation?

By: Dip Flash

Dip Flash — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 06:54:46 -0800

A few years ago I tagged along on an architectural tour of Baltimore with a bunch of historical preservationists. They did their best to be inclusive and sensitive to the racial history, but it was totally surreal standing there listening to a bunch of white grad students argue intensely about those concrete veneers that are molded to look like stone, while you could see crack sales down one end of the block and someone gentrifying a row house at the other end of the block. The close physical proximity and huge social disparities that the author talks about were very apparent, it was easy to walk from one to the other but people clearly didn't do so.

By: hoyland

hoyland — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 07:08:10 -0800

I'm curious as to why he uses UK English spellings like "neighbourhood" and "learnt". Is this a Baltimore thing or just a personal affectation? Copyediting. It's a British site (publication?).

By: empath

empath — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 08:13:47 -0800

If you ever want to see both Baltimores together, check out a Baltimore Club party at the Paradox. (Check the crowd-- gang bangers right next to rave kids from Dundalk.)

By: Tell Me No Lies

Tell Me No Lies — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 08:53:58 -0800

Few white people belong in his business partner Tyler's world either. I got the impression it wasn't Tyler's personal cohort that was interesting as much as his ability to move smoothly through a wide variety of white subcultures. A salesman has to have a pretty good bead on his demographic no matter what he's selling.

By: Potomac Avenue

Potomac Avenue — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 12:41:16 -0800

After living in a bunch of other cities I think Baltimore (where I lived while the Wire was being filmed) actually ranks pretty high in the integration department. There are areas where rich/white people don't go, but they are mostly directly adjacent to well-off areas instead of hidden far far away, plus there is a large black middle class. On the other hand, it also ranks #1 on the list of "Places where I've heard working class white people say the N-Word." Great article, thanks for posting.

By: Potomac Avenue

Potomac Avenue — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 12:43:35 -0800

Also, coke was huge while I lived there, among yuppies and punks and grad student alike.

By: Bwithh

Bwithh — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 22:00:34 -0800

So here's a MP3 of the Stoop storytelling talk the author did that he describes in the article

By: stbalbach

stbalbach — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 08:08:58 -0800

How about we just rename the city "Wired".

By: vignettist

vignettist — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 12:43:27 -0800

Great article, thanks for posting.