Omar rebuilding!

I hope Stringer Bell is on the planning committe.

Growing up I went to Baltimore a lot with my dad for O's games and to visit family. It was shocking to go through some of those same neighborhoods a few years back. Driving through I was thinking to myself "Who the hell started a war here?"

They want it one way, but it's the other way.

I blame white people.

Import Iraqi and Aghan troops to stabalize the situation and train the reconstituted local militias, then turn the task over to them.

Call it: Oriolization.

Bringing Democracy to Baltimore!

The article said these vets are searching for a way to "build a meaningful life." Haven't we evolved past that crap yet? This was solved years ago: the only meaning in life is "What are those Krazy Kardashians up to now?"

Was the Hero tag busy?

Ge, wouldn't it be great if there was a program to pay these hard working men and woman for their continued public service? But I guess the government never creates jobs

But I was told the military were all soulless baby-killers.

Really nice looking city. And it didn't even need bombing for it to look that way. Go US

Wasn't this the plot of a blaxploitation movie from my youth, you dig?

WhippingBoy: Their leader, John "Hannibal" Smith, declined comment.

SHUT UP FOOL! AIN'T GOT NO TIME FOR YOUR JIBBA-JABBA!

Cyno01: If we gentrify everything, where will the poor people go?

ProTip: Bootstraps can be used to tie your tarp to your shopping cart, forming a handy tent.

We should use the lessons we learned "over there" and just bomb the place.

Start fresh.

Are cities not supposed to look like that?

/Harrisburg PA

Great job, guys.

AngryJailhouseFistfark: That's why they calls it Baltimurder.

I live here and never heard that. Bodymore, Murderland sure, but Baltimurder? That's just dumb.

Who shall sit upon the Iron Throne of Baltimore?

We'll fight them over there (Balitmore). so we don't have to fight them over here (Real America^TM).

Cyno01: If we gentrify everything, where will the poor people go?

This is a serious problem. It happened when Hopkins expanded and began to build their biotech park thingie. They got the city to seize a bunch of homes surrounding the hospital and condem them. And yes, the homes were unfit and the neighborhoods were crime ridden hell-holes. But people lived there and had lived there for a long time. If they owned their homes, maybe they were lucky and had a few grand after paying off thier note. If they were just renting, they have to find somewhere new to live, possibily father away from where they work (and are thus condemmed to Bmore's wonderful bus system).

So on one hand, a whole bunch of urban blight was replaced with usefull structures that contribute to society (and the tax base).

On ther other hand, you forced alot of people who don't have much to fall back on out of their homes.

So which is better? It isn't an easy call and I don't envy the people who make these choices. Although, since this IS baltimore, they were probably just bribed by the developers.

kieran57: Cyno01: If we gentrify everything, where will the poor people go?

This is a serious problem. It happened when Hopkins expanded and began to build their biotech park thingie. They got the city to seize a bunch of homes surrounding the hospital and condem them. And yes, the homes were unfit and the neighborhoods were crime ridden hell-holes. But people lived there and had lived there for a long time. If they owned their homes, maybe they were lucky and had a few grand after paying off thier note. If they were just renting, they have to find somewhere new to live, possibily father away from where they work (and are thus condemmed to Bmore's wonderful bus system).

So on one hand, a whole bunch of urban blight was replaced with usefull structures that contribute to society (and the tax base).

On ther other hand, you forced alot of people who don't have much to fall back on out of their homes.

So which is better? It isn't an easy call and I don't envy the people who make these choices. Although, since this IS baltimore, they were probably just bribed by the developers.

Sure it is. Useless, crime infested, violent wasteland OR world renowned medical research and care facility bringing in millions if not billions into the local economy. Unless you are a complete idiot it takes approximately 3 seconds to make the right decision here. There are plenty of other abandoned buildings in Baltimore for them to buy with Hopkins' money. As for the bus system, it truly is not terrible and they also have the light rail.

You'll notice the natives are all pessimistic about this working. I hate to be a killjoy, but yeah effort isn't what's lacking in Bmore. I have to end this on a positive note so: I hope they succeed. I hope city government doesn't stand in their way (again, and again).

/City that bleeds
//Or l -> r

I'd like to play the "Improve Baltimore" game as Sheeeeit

Could you imagine fishing and the prosthetic came up?

Eastern Shore guy here.

UNHbeta19: kieran57: Cyno01: If we gentrify everything, where will the poor people go?

This is a serious problem. It happened when Hopkins expanded and began to build their biotech park thingie. They got the city to seize a bunch of homes surrounding the hospital and condem them. And yes, the homes were unfit and the neighborhoods were crime ridden hell-holes. But people lived there and had lived there for a long time. If they owned their homes, maybe they were lucky and had a few grand after paying off thier note. If they were just renting, they have to find somewhere new to live, possibily father away from where they work (and are thus condemmed to Bmore's wonderful bus system).

So on one hand, a whole bunch of urban blight was replaced with usefull structures that contribute to society (and the tax base).

On ther other hand, you forced alot of people who don't have much to fall back on out of their homes.

So which is better? It isn't an easy call and I don't envy the people who make these choices. Although, since this IS baltimore, they were probably just bribed by the developers.

Sure it is. Useless, crime infested, violent wasteland OR world renowned medical research and care facility bringing in millions if not billions into the local economy. Unless you are a complete idiot it takes approximately 3 seconds to make the right decision here. There are plenty of other abandoned buildings in Baltimore for them to buy with Hopkins' money. As for the bus system, it truly is not terrible and they also have the light rail.

I'm going to take a wild guess that you don't use the bus system all that often. And the light rail goes nowhere near Hopkins hospital (it does go near the undergraduate campus).

As for your second point, Banks aren't exactly falling all over themselves to lend money to low income black people in inner-city baltimore. Its very easy to to say "screw 'em" but you just threw someone out of their HOME. Maybe it was a shiatty home but it was probably all they had and the few dollars that they have left over once you pay off the mortgage ain't much recompense. It isn't an easy call. Or at least it shouldn't be.

I'm not saying Hopkins shouldn't have expanded, in fact they probably should have. Those blocks were truly awful.
All I'm saying is that improvement is a double edged sword. Sure the neighboorhood is better, but then rents rise and all the poor people are forced out of the nice neighboorhood into a crappy one again. Which will eventually be improved as people flee the collapsed suburbs. Wash-rinse-repeat. We need to improve the people as well as their houses. Which is, of course, more difficult.

And no, I don't have much of a point. Just emphasizing what Cyn01 said above.

Sgt Otter: Cyno01: If we gentrify everything, where will the poor people go?

You don't have to turn every neighborhood into a trust-fund "art district" with eight Starbucks, an "ironic" gourmet Mac & Cheese restaurant, and an upscale dildo boutique. For now, they're just cleaning up the trash, fixing the broken windows, and chasing the drug dealers and crackwhores out.

Yeah, "for now." But one of the first things they mentioned in TFA was a for profit developer working with the guys. What starts as removing the trash, fixing the broken windows, and chasing out the drug dealers will finish with the people living there getting chased out and put out into the street.

The sad reality is the poor residents were society's discarded people. They were only allowed to live there because it was so horrible nobody else wanted it. There ought to be some way for volunteers to get contracts from cities, written in stone and blood, before they clean up blight to help the poor---that the poor then get to stay there.

Unfortunately, it's very hard to write a contract that's really binding and has real consequences for breaking it. Lots of money paid out to the victims if the city ever breaks the agreement is probably the best you could do, which still wouldn't do jack about the housing problem and the viewing people as disposable problem.

Ultimately, the big problem is we look at other people and say to ourselves, "What are you good for?" Until we get over the attitude that everybody has to be a useful tool to be any good, we're going to have these problems.

We can take that attitude, and it helps make us productive, but it also makes us a society of tools.

I'm not sure what the solution is, but that's a big part of the problem.

tuffsnake: Pocket Ninja: They should just build a wall around the Inner Harbor and call it the White Zone.

But what would they do about Locust Point, Federal Hill, Fells Point, Canton, City Center, Harbor East, Mt Vernon, Roland Park, Hamden, Remington and Mt Washington?

Napalm. Lots and lots of napalm.

I favor this very much.

Bring the military home and deploy our battle hardened troops against gangs all across America, root them out, hang them from lamp posts, burn their houses, salt the ground they walked.

Civilized society and gangs are anathema.

Indianapolis is going about urban clean-up from an interesting angle.

First, we dumped millions upon millions into rebuilding the metro portion of Indianapolis. Then the city focused on long-term stability of popular and expensive neighborhoods downtown. It may sound like the city is treating the rich well, but it's more of a strategic move. Essentially, what happened last time was that the rich and middle class folks moved out from the metro portion of the city and the whole place went to hell in a hand basket.

So that's the phase we are currently in. What we want to do is eliminate the subsidized housing in the trendy areas, while not entirely displacing someone to another part of the city. Basically on one corner of the street you have these nice and pricy places to live in one of our most popular areas. Then you cross the street and there is nothing but sketchy looking buildings with tons of homeless. So what the city did (and is doing) is building brand new Section 7 housing about 3-4 blocks North. The people in the S7 get free relocation, new housing, payment to move, and a more central location for public transportation and essentials. The new buildings look great, and will allow for a removal of the old eye sores, and put poorer Americans in and area that will help them access things better.

FTA - "In those days, Oliver was a working-class African-American community with a thriving business district. Then, in April 1968, riots consumed the city after the death of Martin Luther King Jr. The arson and looting got so bad that National Guard troops marched up Oliver Street to restore calm. The neighborhood never recovered."

Okay sorry for the threadjack here, and I know this is going to sound terribly racist, but what the heck is it with black people and rioting? It seems like black communities will riot at the drop of a hat. Well, maybe not that easily, but damn, you didn't see white people taking to the streets with bats and 2x4's, burning and looting their own neighborhoods when John Kennedy was killed, or when his brother was gunned down.

A white CHP cop tries to arrest a black guy for drunk driving and BAM, Watts Riots! A significant portion of the greater Los Angeles metro area turns into a burning war zone. I saw a black cop arresting a white guy for DUI in my neighborhood just this past weekend, but I guess white people just look at that and say "meh, dumbass shouldn't have been drinking and driving. Oh the cop had to get physical with the kid? Well the little dumbass shouldn't have tried to resist arrest."

I just don't understand it. Maybe it is a cultural thing.

It is interesting to see the churches and local leaders didn't really support this effort.

Same thing happened in my town. We have a feeding center in the downtown area run by the Catholic church.

Some city council members wanted them to open one in a predominantly black section of town because people (children) are hungry there. Mom and dad (actually dad is usually long gone, so it's mom and the baby daddy of the month) blow through the food stamps and don't feed the kids. This is a very big problem in the summer when the kids don't have the free school lunches to eat.

So Catholic charities tried to open a feeding center (it actually looks like a relatively nice restaurant) after consulting with the neighborhoods and holding several community meetings. The local churches and so-called "community activists" ran them out. They didn't want a bunch of white do-gooders interfering in their community. In fact, one pastor of a black church said he would support it as long as Catholic charities gave HIM all of the food and he would distribute it has HE saw fit. It is a power and control issue. It is also a corruption issue. Many of the churches in these areas are completely corrupt little fiefdoms that really don't do much damn good. They just keep the pastor driving a Lincoln.

The way they run their downtown feeding center is anyone who wants can come and eat dinner. They don't have to show proof of need or anything. They just show up and eat. The Catholic church does plenty of shiatty things, but this is actually a pretty good effort in my town.

lisarenee3505: FTA - "In those days, Oliver was a working-class African-American community with a thriving business district. Then, in April 1968, riots consumed the city after the death of Martin Luther King Jr. The arson and looting got so bad that National Guard troops marched up Oliver Street to restore calm. The neighborhood never recovered."

Okay sorry for the threadjack here, and I know this is going to sound terribly racist, but what the heck is it with black people and rioting? It seems like black communities will riot at the drop of a hat. Well, maybe not that easily, but damn, you didn't see white people taking to the streets with bats and 2x4's, burning and looting their own neighborhoods when John Kennedy was killed, or when his brother was gunned down.

A white CHP cop tries to arrest a black guy for drunk driving and BAM, Watts Riots! A significant portion of the greater Los Angeles metro area turns into a burning war zone. I saw a black cop arresting a white guy for DUI in my neighborhood just this past weekend, but I guess white people just look at that and say "meh, dumbass shouldn't have been drinking and driving. Oh the cop had to get physical with the kid? Well the little dumbass shouldn't have tried to resist arrest."

I just don't understand it. Maybe it is a cultural thing.

Economic depression and desperation in poor minority neighborhoods causing anger that festers against the system for one's entire life might have something to do with it. Just a bit.

And the cops have been racially profiling for a very long time. DWB, Driving While Black. It's no joke. The incident that set off the Watt Riots was hardly the first, or the last time, the cops had used their power unjustly over minority population, and it did take place in the middle of the Civil Rights era, so tensions were already high.

About time those soldiers do something useful for this country.

:-D

Posh Naranek: You'll notice the natives are all pessimistic about this working. I hate to be a killjoy, but yeah effort isn't what's lacking in Bmore. I have to end this on a positive note so: I hope they succeed. I hope city government doesn't stand in their way (again, and again).


One of the reasons I was so glad to get out of the area is the general "it's just the way it is and won't never get no better" defeatist attitude. There used to be some really nice places and great stuff to do, even 10 years ago, but it just kept dropping off.

Some of the areas are just too beautiful to rot. I used to love driving around the lake and seeing those grand old houses. But the change has to come from more than just a few buildings.

People need to get some farking standards and not put up with any more of that shiat. There's more that can be done. Stop electing criminals and loving the crap out of corrupt cops. And also take a little responsibility for themselves.

Sorry, that sounded bootstrappy. But damn. You can take the boy out the ghetto. AND you can take the ghetto out the boy. You just have to have the guts to not take the easy way out.

/Remington, Arbutus, then Harford County
//Wouldn't go back if you paid me.

Who breaks an article into 6 pages and doesn't provide a "view as a single page" option? I don't feel like clicking every few paragraphs.

AngryJailhouseFistfark: That's why they calls it Baltimurder.

Or Bodymore

Meanwhile, another attempt at urban renewal in a crime-ridden and violent area full of poor dark-skinned people has succeeded beyond all expectations, while remaining inclusive enough that many of the original residents still live there.

For more, go to http://www.ahc.org.au/

lisarenee3505: FTA - "In those days, Oliver was a working-class African-American community with a thriving business district. Then, in April 1968, riots consumed the city after the death of Martin Luther King Jr. The arson and looting got so bad that National Guard troops marched up Oliver Street to restore calm. The neighborhood never recovered."

Okay sorry for the threadjack here, and I know this is going to sound terribly racist, but what the heck is it with black people and rioting? It seems like black communities will riot at the drop of a hat. Well, maybe not that easily, but damn, you didn't see white people taking to the streets with bats and 2x4's, burning and looting their own neighborhoods when John Kennedy was killed, or when his brother was gunned down.

A white CHP cop tries to arrest a black guy for drunk driving and BAM, Watts Riots! A significant portion of the greater Los Angeles metro area turns into a burning war zone. I saw a black cop arresting a white guy for DUI in my neighborhood just this past weekend, but I guess white people just look at that and say "meh, dumbass shouldn't have been drinking and driving. Oh the cop had to get physical with the kid? Well the little dumbass shouldn't have tried to resist arrest."

I just don't understand it. Maybe it is a cultural thing.



It's not their skin color that makes people riot. White people riot just as much as others. Look at Europe right now for examples.

People riot when they have no other avenue to address their grievances. When police, politicians and the general community turn their back or actively hurt or discriminate, humans tend to lash out. Especially those with poor financial and educational backgrounds.

When a particular portion of a population is lashing out, lacking proper education and is barely getting by on social services .... you don't punish them. They're just acting human. You help them and get them the services they need to bring them up to equal status.

But it's easier for people to blame skin color, so that's what a lot of ignorant Americans do.

I wish something like this would happen in St. Louis, up on the north side. Instead, they got the "great white hope" of Paul McKee, who's going to buy up a couple hundred acres up there to put in another planned community/golf course/white people money farm while raping as much history out of there as possible.

/not old enough for the gaslight district
//heard stories about it from oldtimers
///st. louis blues isn't just a hockey team

phyrkrakr: I wish something like this would happen in St. Louis, up on the north side. Instead, they got the "great white hope" of Paul McKee, who's going to buy up a couple hundred acres up there to put in another planned community/golf course/white people money farm while raping as much history out of there as possible.

/not old enough for the gaslight district
//heard stories about it from oldtimers
///st. louis blues isn't just a hockey team

I hear you got half a McDonalds arch there too