Baltimore Musings

So I'm back on the bike, and my route from home to work (and back) takes me through parts of Wild Wild East Baltimore..it's a sobering ride (not that I start off wasted!), and one that makes me re-wake and realize how difficult the living conditions are for many of the city's residents. Many people are familiar with the stats - Baltimore always seems to rank in the top 10 of dangerous cities with over 100,000 residents, the television coming out of Baltimore consists mainly of crime/murder/drug drama (although Homicide, The Corner, and The Wire are all fantastic programs), and the city has a reputation as the heroin capital of the US.
However, it really is striking to ride through block after block of boarded up houses, decaying subsiized housing, tons of trash and broken glass.

The city is experiencing sort of a rebirth - home values are skyrocketing, people are m0ving back into the downtown area, DC residents are starting to buy houses around the train station, there is a whole organization dedicated to the pursuit of city living, and the city has a serious budget surplus this fiscal year. I love living in the city, so the above paragraph is not intended to be a scathing dis on Charm City. However, biking through the 'hoods, seeing the living conditions up close and in slower motion than as viewed from a car, is an eyeopening experience - and I've been a Baltimore City resident on and off for 20+ years!

Roni and I are constantly wrestling with schools issue now that we have two young'uns - if we were to stay in the Baltimore area would we remain in the city? And if so, where would we live, and where would send the boys to school? We'd love to live in a diverse, architecturally compelling area with some green space, but are no brave that we want to relocate to a frontier neighborhood, either.