Improved public transportation infrastructure and improved public school performance would have immense effects for the city. Every young couple I've known that has moved out of the city wanted to stay for the lifestyle but felt they had to because of schools, and the larger an area people are able to travel in a given amount of time means a larger area people are able to look for jobs, and a better chance of increasing their income.

Baltimore is statistically much worse as far as violent crime when compared to the majority of American cities. There’s a few that beat us I think only St. Louis and Chicago as far as homocide rates . But I also think the violence there is a lot more contained to certain areas since they are much larger than Baltimore.

Here are a few observations from a native.

Like every city, there are bad areas and Bmore is not that walkable. Meaning if you don't need to be there, you can drive through. (having to rely on the poor public transport is reason enough to get a car)

Non drug related violence is not as big of an issue. It happens, but if you are not part of drug culture, bmore is pretty safe.

Ppl that openly decry Baltimore, mostly red county folks or ppl that wished the lived in red county. More than likely trash ppl anyways and best to avoid their toxic personality.

Local politicians are not as helpful as they claim to be, local city bureaucrats, are better than perception.

Our food scene is finally starting to pop, and I am here for it.

The cops are the biggest gang in Baltimore and best be avoided.

Thanks for sharing! Honestly, a lot of the negative press about Baltimore centers on the idea that most in the city are black, poor and therefore violent. Of course, that is not true and it doesn’t represent how many people live and love the city. The media does a lot of fearmongering about Baltimore and while the city does have a lot of crime, that’s the case with every major city.

You could share how baltimore is working on providing mentoring and job training to the squeegee boys so they can build skills and earn a dependable income. This is a much better program than simply outlawing squeegeeing (there are a few no-squeegee zones however), leaving squeegee boys to find other, often more dangerous, sources of income. Poverty is a major issue in baltimore city and this is a good step in bridging that gap

Baltimore definitely has a PR problem to your point. We don't do a great job marketing ourselves and the great things to do here. Yes, Baltimore has its issues. But, there are also so many good things about this city.

I honestly think your best bet might be shorter form vertical videos (IG reels, Youtube shorts, Tiktok) in hopes of getting younger people to consider coming to visit (or live in) Baltimore. These could be quick snap shots of things to do/places to visit/things to eat around the city.

I am by no means a social media expert, but I think this is the way to go. We aren't going to get older people to change their perceptions (IMO) but could start to change the mindset of younger people.

I agree it needs to change- but I think the OPs point stands. New Orleans has one of the highest homicide rates in the US and has for a while, but still has a lot of positive image- you don't hear the same level of rhetoric about New Orleans as Baltimore, and more of a focus still on a fun place to go.

Within the first year of moving here I had tools stolen out of my truck, my car's hood stomped flat, and someone murdered in the back alley behind my house.

Reeeeally depends on where in the city you live. I'm sorry, I'm not seeing this "awesome" Baltimore from where I'm at.

I'm only here because I'm also a poor man, and housing is cheap.

Maybe this is facile but if the city starts addressing simpler quality-of-life stuff and the population starts to grow, even if the number of homicides stays the same, the "homicide rate" will decrease because there's more people here.

I don't think it would be that difficult for the city to start prioritizing things like more dense infill development, more charm city circulator lines, fixing potholes and street lights, hiring some people to clean up more often, etc., and I think that would trigger some growth. Obviously we also want the number of homicides to decrease, but I think that fixing these other issues could go part of the way to addressing violence.

Wow that's great!! Thanks!

Which

It's not always statistics though. Chicago is perceived as a high crime city (mostly pushed by Fox News) yet many other cities are worse.

yep, same as every other large city. Be smart, keep your head on a swivel. Best part is you don't even have to drive, you can take trains to all those places!

>and to your point, when the media only shares the one side of violence and crime, it seems people think of the city as a hopeless cause.

I think you summed up the problem I'm trying to describe. Media only shows one side of Baltimore. Other cities like New York, DC, Chicago, etc. have reports on both violence and fun/exciting things. Baltimore seems to get mostly negative or nothng from the national press.

wow seriously ive been saying this, im planning to move there next year, Its cheap for housing, close to DC virginia and even new york. From what I understand you just need to be careful and youll be fine.

Have her meet you up at that bus stop in front of the abandoned church on liberty heights, next to the gas station where everyone gets shot. Take a stroll down Garrison Blvd and catch the sunset at the playground right before you hit Belvieu where the hookers hang out and shoot heroin between their toes, then head down to Hoffmans Liquors on Park Heights and brown bag some plastic bottle vodka on the sidewalk until you’re ready to get food poisoned at one of the Caribbean restaurants next to the race track. After dinner invite her back to your grandmothers place to watch a movie, tell her you just need to pick your computer up from the shop on the way home and get stabbed trying to buy a $90 stolen MacBook from the guys in ski masks on W Belvedere and Cordelia.

two things can be true at once, and i think that gets lost around the conversation of baltimore.

is the crime and violence absolutely heartbreaking and terrible? yes.

are there good people here trying to bring the community together? wonderful businesses and culture? also yes.

and to your point, when the media only shares the one side of violence and crime, it seems people think of the city as a hopeless cause.

Yeah the problem is multifaceted and complicated. I don't know where to begin to solve the whole thing. I'm hoping to just focus on one contradiction I've observed: the rest of the US sees us as a war-zone, and after living in the city for over a year, I think it is anything but. About 5 years ago, my cousin who worked in HR visited Baltimore on a business trip. She stayed in Inner Harbor, and the company told her not to leave the hotel. I know multiple people who say they're afraid to visit here. I just think it's sad. It's true the murder rate is bad, and something really needs to be done about that because it's a black eye on the city.

Thanks for the YouTube channel link, sounds fun to check out

Also check out the Five Minute Histories videos on the Baltimore Heritage YouTube channel.

I mean, Baltimore is top 2 in terms of murder rate. There's definitely cool stuff in the city but the perception isn't going to change until we change the statistics. How we do that beats the shit out of me.

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poverty is definitely a problem and that causes violent crime. But that isn't just a Baltimore problem. Is it worse here ? i dont know (tbf i live in the county)

Keeping assholes out = good

perception as warzone = bad

Right? Or is it worth the negative perception because the city stays affordable, lively and interesting? I think there must be some middle ground to be had

Nailah’s is still called Nailah’s. Fresh out the kitchen is just their tagline. And yeah, that place is bangin’