Drama in the hood
Wow, a lot of drama has gone down in my otherwise quiet neighborhood of Wyman Park/Hampden, generally a known safe outpost in the reputed "scary" city of Baltimore..
but the past three nights have been ripe with scary drama.
On Thursday evening, apparently an "execution" style murder took place at the intersection of 37th and Tudor Arms about 4 blocks from my pad. Apparently a car drove up, paused, and out jumped a gunman and a victim - two shots later the car rolled and a dead man was left on the lawn of one of the houses on that block.
Friday night, there was serious Foxtrot action in the 'hood - a lot of light shined in my back yard, a little nerve racking given the events of the previous evening.
Tonight, I was in our front room and saw a parade of blue and red lights flying by - wnet outside to find smoke coming from in front of a neighbor's house. I went out to join the crowd gawking - a serous accident had occurred where a car apparently coming around the bend as Remington meets 33rd lost control and smashed into a SUV - both were on the sidewalk about 3 feet from the houses there..
the stroy I got was that te driver had bolted, and thats who police were after when cruising up Beech Ave, my street. Cops shut down 33rd, two ambulances came and a fire truck. Apparently the passenger in the vehicle that crased was not so lucky as the driver, and I saw them take him out unconscious on a stretcher.
This all has been a little unsettling. I like to think I'm of the urban mindset and can handle some of the roughness that comes with the territory - I have lived in areas that were less safe, albeit not straight up 'hoods, but now with 2 kids, I'm a little more paranoid. I hope this is a confluence of random events, but am nervous deep inside.
Roni and I really want to stay urban and even went to an open house on the Bolton Hill/Reservoir Hill border last Sunday - we have this fantasy of moving closer to downtown and raising our boys in a city environment. But I'm not so sure I can actually stoamach it...although the thought of suburbia makes me ill as well.
I will update if there is any update to give...
posted by John @ 6:00 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
i got news for you: there is no city living in baltimore. city living is taking the bus/subway to work, not driving and parking in a garage! no subway, no usable buses (expect for the hopkins shuttle), and try getting a taxi outside of charles street. imho only in hampden can you get close. its the only neighborhood you can walk to a supermarket, pharmacy, hardware store, and movie theator. we lived in bolton hill and mount vernon: we couldn't do any of these. all federal hill seems to have are expensive restaurants. if you want real city living become a lawyer/banker and buy yourself a 3 million $ brownstowne in new york. in baltimore, all you got is hampden .
My folks were around this weekend and ogled the spotlight-shining chopper with the dinner-plate eyes of folks who are used to seeing only stars in the country sky. Living in Baltimore is a big adjustment after having lived in cities that make it real easy to get around on your own pedal-power or public transit, that's for sure. Hampden strikes a fine balance for now, but it does put a knot in your stomach to have the home territory feel a little unsettled and dangerous.
Feeling the tug of the country-life...
Rafa
point well taken, Hampen IS city living..
but so far as other interests in living go, we are thinking of space, architectural style, etc..
and price. As Hampden is hot, values are through the roof - at this point the only economical motive for staying in Hampden is if we keep this house - maybe not a bad idea.
the problem is that in the city: space and architecture come with a bigger price unless you move to a sketchier neighborhood at which point you have to get used to some sketchiness. and of course, no city amenities like stores, public transport, green space. of course, even with the prices going up, balto seems to be a bargain in comparison with other cities (taxes i'm not so sure about). still, in those places you get 'city living' but most folks couldn't afford it so it might as well not exist as far as the majority is concerned. when you check out other neighborhoods, ask yourself where can we walk to? is it safe to hang out at night? is parking relatively easy? those were the things that killed mt. vernon for us, though we were willing to put up with the hassle in bolton hill since the houses were so sweet.
ps if you stay in the city and can swing the price and taxes i say consider mt. wash. it's got a school the kids can walk to, a whole foods, post office and ice cream shop you can also walk to (hell that's more city living that mt. vernon right there) and great architecture. oh and you can bum rides to work off your neighbors. and let us not forget john's fave: starbuck's mochalatta! oh did i just out you john?! ouch no more street cred for you my friend. the big drawback is, as you all know, once the puerto ricans moved in the house prices when through the roof. of course, your car does get broken into every so often --completely unrelated to the pricans moving in thank you very much ---but we deal. anyway, i'm just trying to get me some cool neighbors!
Okay so I don't have kids but I'm a woman living in the city. I guess some of you wouldn't consider Charles Village the city especially now that they are trying to sell condos there for Cantonian prices! However, I get a good glimpse of foxtrot on a nightly basis and have woofers the size of yo mamas butt driving past my house regularly. City living is the ONLY way to go in my mind. We especially need people with kids to stick around. Our society continues to try to sequester itself in the burbs making faux city-like living in the comfort and safety of once idyllic farmland!!! There is no life driving from the burbs to work everyday. You can ride your bike here in the city -- my husband rides to work every day. You can also walk lots of places -- we walk to the harbor almost every weekend. The bus system needs some work I concede but this is city living the balmer way -- hon. Charles Village is a great place to live if you want to walk to necessities as well as entertainment. It's also quite urban!! Just my buck two cents :-)
-committed
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