Sorry for necro. I just really needed to vent about how shitty Baltimore is. I've been here for over ten years (not by choice). I grew up pretty much from about two years old to early teens in rural Kentucky, so it's no wonder Baltimore is a shock to my system that I've never gotten used to. BTW, has jack-all to do with black people for me; I think the diversity is awesome and I despised the racist fucks in Kentucky.
It's more to do with the fact that I'm a young adult and I live in a part of Baltimore where old people go to die. Or the fact that the infrastructure (even sometimes in places like Towson, where there's a lot of wealth) is just shit. I mean, not just practically, like driving on the roads, but aesthetically. If ever there was a good place to drive the point home that America needs help with its "crumbling infrastructure," Baltimore is a prime place to make that point.
Plus, unless you're a college student, specifically at Towson, there's pretty much no culture I've seen for young people, unless you want to go to the inner harbor every time you want to do something, which is a pain for parking, and probably not going to be a cheap trip. If you don't have much disposable income, you're pretty much fucked. If you don't already have local friends in the area, good luck finding a way to make them. Depending on what part of Baltimore you live in, finding other people your age (again, unless you're a college student) may be like seeking out bigfoot. In part because the few who do exist seem to keep to themselves in their little tucked away corners of various counties and don't go out much... cause I mean, what would they go out for? There's nothing to actually do.
In the summer, the weather is obnoxiously humid. In the winter, the cold seeps through your jacket because of the dampness. The dairy products here are unbelievably shit for some reason I've never found the cause of (guessing it's imported from out of state or the farming here, if there is any, sucks something fierce). In fact, most "grown" products here seem to have quality problems.
Crime is the least of this shitty city's problems and I can't understand why anyone here likes the place. They must be living in some pocket of the city that is magically better than the others. Which by the way, is actually completely plausible. There's an area in the downtown area called Canton that's like Brigadoon. Or at least, what I remember Brigadoon being like (it's been a long time since I saw that movie). Basically, everyone seems innocent, friendly, and trusting to a degree that is actually laughable, considering they live in the midst of a city with such a nasty reputation. It's as if they aren't even aware of the world outside of Canton. It's just bizarre.
Oh, also, even though Baltimore isn't as big as some cities, you better have a car because public transportation can be a convoluted nightmare, depending on where you live and where you're trying to get. In some situations, you could have a place that is a 15 minute drive away by car, but due to the convoluted, shitty, lackluster public transportation, it'll take you a hop-skip travel headache of something like an hour and a half to get to where you want to be.
Which brings me to the traffic. The traffic is getting steadily worse over the years. More concentrated. Why anyone wants to be here is beyond me, but that's what is happening. Probably made worse by how shitty public transportation is, pushing everyone to use a car.
Also also, depending on what part you're in (even in a wealthy area!) people may look at you like they expect you to stab them at any moment. There's a lot of reservedness for no apparent reason. In one area, pretty smiley and open. In another, they're guarded and can turn the smile on and off within microseconds. With both being more or less well-off areas.
But being well-off in Baltimore isn't enough. In Baltimore, you pretty much need to be wealthy to have a good time... so that you can move to a wealthy area, hang out with other people who are both wealthy and friendly/open, and you won't have to worry about things like $20 crab cakes if you want to take part in the city's pride food. Unless you're one of those people who brings the party with them, in which case, you can probably enjoy yourself anywhere, without money, including Bmore. I'm obviously not one of those people.
Baltimore is not a good place to be a withdrawn, guarded person with little to no income who would rather be a less guarded person with some local connections... you'll never leave the house.
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