B'more Pat - How Accurate is this portrait?

[xxlt]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/05/opinion/sunday/my-own-private-baltimore.html?_r=0

I realize ten people could write essays about their home town and all ten could sound like totally different cities. However, it has always seemed to me Pat is a thoughtful person and gives relatively measured feedback. So I wonder, in the "love letter" to Baltimore (link above) if he recognizes a city he is familiar with or if it sounds like the ramblings of a lunatic.

Others may enjoy the article as well. It may cause you to soften your tone toward Baltimore in the smack forum or give you fodder to use there, depending on if the portrait charms or disgusts you.

If you've visited Baltimore let me know if you found the city described in that article. Pat - do you think it is accurate? (I am assuming you aren't going to tell me you live two hours away and are a fan but never go into the city. )

[BmorePat87]

Accurate. I grew up in the dead middle of Baltimore and DC, a bit of a no-man's land of fandom where the lines between Burgundy and Purple are not so clear. I went to school just outside of the city (address was Baltimore, but we were really Baltimore County). Like any suburban youth, I spent my weekends in the cities drinking in the middle class oasis of the Inner Harbor.

Baltimore is the City that Reads and the City that Bleeds. You have White Baltimore and Black Baltimore. Within White Baltimore, you have Working Class Baltimore and Middle to Upper Middle Class Baltimore. I have to drive around crack heads to get to the bars I go to.

Working Class Baltimore is what was glorified in the great John Waters' movies.

Quote:John Waters put it better than I can hope to: “New York is full of normal people who think they’re crazy; Baltimore is full of crazy people who think they’re normal.”

It has kinda become the culture that Baltimore is affectionately known for. It really is nearly nonexistent, though, and the whole "honfest" ("hon" was a term of endearment for working class Baltimoreans and "honfest" is a festival "celebrating" that culture) has become a middle class mockery of a real working class culture.

Prior to the 50's, nearly half the state lived in Baltimore. Roughly 900k of the 2m people in Maryland. Now you have 600k of the 6m (so 10%). People fled to the new suburbs in the 50s. Baltimore lost a ton of tax revenue. All that remained were poor blacks and poor/working class whites. Neighborhoods were divided racially. There has been a rebirth with the Inner Harbor, but the money doesn't really help those who are in need the most.

[BmorePat87]

[*michaelsean*]

I want to go to the place with the weird drunks. Looks like you have a nice view, and some yachts nearby to crash on.

The trust fund art students look like they are taking a risk.