Baltimore: The Greatest City in America

[Tommy_Carcetti]

If the well-worn, dilapidated park bench says so, then it must be true:



Suck on it, Boise! Go Orioles! Go Ravens!

[sasquatch]

1. LOL!!

That HAS to be a photoshop.
:rofl:
Still funny though.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

2. Nope, and sadly neither are these:

I still love that city to death, though, despite all its flaws. It will always be "my city." And for every crappy place in the city, there's also a lot of great places as well:

[KamaAina]

3. Looks like someone really sucks at Trashball

Back in the early '70s, Trashball was Charm City's version of "Don't mess with Texas". "Gonna play that Trashball ev-ery day!"

[cloudbase]

18. Neat game. Neat city.

There was nothing that didn't have Mayor Schaefer's name on it.

[KamaAina]

19. The mayor in my day was Tom D'Alesandro

his daughter Nancy moved to San Francisco, married a man named Pelosi, and is now Speaker of the House.

[mainegreen]

4. I have a special place full of hate in my heart, for dear old Baltimore.

Excepting the crab cakes of course.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

5. How could anyone hate Balmer? nt

[mainegreen]

6. Just living there did it for me.

Edited to add: I snickered at Balmer

[LynneSin]

7. I have lived my entire life 90minutes away from Baltimore and I can say this

Baltimore is the city I pass thru to get to something more fun like Washington DC

[Tommy_Carcetti]

8. Washington DC is fun....

....if your idea of fun is getting ridiculously lost in some strange neighorhood due to 5 detours, 8 one-way streets and 11 traffic circles.

[TZ]

9. Get on the Metro.

I've never gotten lost using the subway.

[grasswire]

11. I've never gotten lost in the District.

There are some places I'd rather not be at night, granted.

I love Washington. Love, love, love it. I feel very privileged to have lived there for a number of years before Bush* messed it all up.

[TZ]

13. well I admit...

Driving around I've gotten lost quite a bit..(I wasn't the driver though). Usually due to poor signage though..We always knew we were lost coming home from my Uncle's house on Capitol Hill when we drove by the Pentagon (we live in Maryland)..:)

[grasswire]

16. yeah, if you were on the wrong side of the river....

....you made a bad decision somewhere. Or maybe you were just looking for an alternative route to the Beltway?

[TZ]

17. No, my mom ALWAYS missed t he sign for the GW Parkway

sign when we came accross the 14th street bridge

[Captain Hilts]

44. That's VERY easy to do. Take the signs for Washington Blvd. instead. nt

[arcadian]

86. A,B,C, - 1,2,3 - 50 States

A friggin' kindergartener could do it.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

90. The street names are not the problem.

The problem is the 10,000 traffic circles, all with one way streets all leading out of them, with half of them detoured and the other half impassible due to pot holes, which somehow all lead you out to Anacostia at 11:00 pm at night.

DC = Traffic Circle Hell. Enough said.

On edit: What sort of sick satist has people count syllables in street names to try to determine where they are? DC is just fucked up, enough said.

[arcadian]

96. The modern east wing National Gallery of Art building

The one designed by I.M Pei. I just figured this out. The building itself is a representation of D.C.'s streets. Pretty cool.

[grasswire]

10. I've had fun in Balmer

Specifically, at Bertha's in Fells Point. On jazz nights. Real fun. Good times, good times.

[Burma Jones]

15. Having lived nearly my entire life between Bawlmer and DC....

Bawlmer is definitely weirder and more fun than DC any day..

[Captain Hilts]

40. The Museum of Visionary Art takes the cake. nt

[SoxFan]

26. Baltimore has personality. DC has none.

Yeah, the museums are cool, but DC is kind of bland and sterile. Baltimore can be run down and dumpy, but it's a real place.

[TZ]

27. Have you been ANYWHERE outside of the federal area in DC

If you had you wouldn't say that..Adams Morgan, Capitol Hill, GEORGETOWN! Lots of places with flavor..

[SoxFan]

31. Yes. I lived there in the 1980s

Georgetown has beautiful architecture, but the nightlife sucked. A lot of poseurs and rich kids. The Hill is allright but it rolls up the sidewalks early.

I'll take Fells Point over Adams Morgan.

[Captain Hilts]

45. I HATE Georgetown. nt

[TZ]

76. I think Georgetown is pretty cool actually.

My Uncle used to teach at the University and we would go hang out at some of the cool college hangouts..The Tombs..an AWESOME place to go watch a sporting event.

[Symarip]

78. Georgetown had one saving grace

The District Line clothing shop which catered to Ben Sherman/Fred Perry clothing fans. Since it's closed I can happily say I haven't had a need to go Georgetown for anything. The place sucks. It's like Hollywood (traffic, shitty people, crowded) without a reason to exist.

[Captain Hilts]

99. There are a few nice spots. But FAR too many snobby, rich people and rich students. nt

[Tommy_Carcetti]

52. ...Anacostia....

:hide:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, fans of a city who gave us "Homicide" and "The Wire" shouldn't throw stones. But on the other hand, Baltimore gave us some great television. What can DC say about that?

[TZ]

57. DC is becoming known as "Hollywood East" actually

I was just listening on the radio this morning about yet another movie shoot here. Unless your name is John Waters, thats not the case in Baltimore...

[blueraven95]

73. actually, that's not true

the Baltimore/D.C. area is often thought of as one big entertainment district - and it is (or at least was, a couple of years ago) listed as the third largest area in the country, after New York and LA.

I used to work for a (fairly well-known) casting agency in Baltimore, and I can tell you that we had just as much work in Baltimore as we had in D.C., if not more.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

81. True story. My sister, who works at a Starbucks in Baltimore...

...actually saw Bruce Willis walk into the shop one day and order a coffee. Apparently, he left a $50 tip.

Apparently her Starbucks is celeb central, though, for whatever reason. Jim Palmer is a regular.

[blueraven95]

83. I'd believe that

from when Die Hard was filming in Baltimore. If you watch the film, it's obviously Baltimore, even if they are trying to pass it off as D.C.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

74. Let's see:

Movies, TV shows, and documentaries filmed (or set) in Baltimore:

A Dirty Shame
Absolute Power
The Accidental Tourist
Ace of Cakes
Airline
Along Came a Spider
Hard Times at Douglass High: a no child left behind report card
America's Most Wanted
...And Justice For All
Avalon
Beauty Shop
The Bedroom Window
Boys
Cecil B. DeMented
Clara's Heart
The Corner
Cry-Baby
Dave
Dead Man's Curve
Desperate Living
Detention
Diner
The Distinguished Gentleman
Divine Trash
Enemy of the State
Failure to Launch
Female Trouble
First Invasion: War of 1812
First Sunday
Gods and Generals
Guarding Tess
Hag in a Black Leather Jacket
Hairspray (1988 version)
Hairspray (2007 version)
He Said, She Said
He's Just Not That into You
Head of State
Her Alibi
Home for the Holidays
Homicide
Homicide: Life Everlasting
Homicide: Life on the Street
The Invasion
Ladder 49
Liberty
Liberty Heights
The Life of Bailey
Live Free or Die Hard
Major League II
Maxum Xul
Men
Men Don't Leave
The Meteor Man
The Mosquito Coast
On the Block
Pecker
Polyester
Random Hearts
Red Dragon
The Replacements
Roc
Runaway Bride
The Salon
Satisfaction
Saved!
The Seduction of Joe Tynan
Serial Mom
The Service
Shot in the Heart
Silent Fall
The Silence of the Lambs
Sleepless in Seattle
Something the Lord Made
Species II
Step Up
The Sum of All Fears
That Night
Tin Men
Tuck Everlasting
Twelve Monkeys
Violets Are Blue
Washington Square
The Weekend It Lives
While You Were Out
The Wire
XXX: State of the Union
The Young Americans

[TZ]

75. What have you done for me lately.

Seriously. I can't remember anything done in Baltimore in the last few years. Plenty of stuff in DC. I could go downtown today and see a movie filming.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

82. Wait a minute.....aren't you still outstanding on your bet, TZ?

I do believe the Ravens kicked the Redslurs ass around handily last year, but someone hasn't paid up to date. That probably explains your underlying animosity to the largest city in your state.

[blueraven95]

84. you mean, besides

Die Hard, He's Just Not That Into You, the new Renee Zellwegger film (I can't remember what it's called). A bunch of indies too.

And then there are all the commercials shot here. There are a lot.

[Symarip]

85. I thought Baltimore would have more taste

Than to have He's Just Not That Into You filmed there. Can't win em all.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

87. If that's not bad enough, Jenna Bush apparently has called Federal Hill home for a year now.

And the neighors hate it for all the Secret Service clusterfuck it creates.

[Symarip]

88. Don't they realize Teh Suck is in DC?

[TZ]

93. BTW, I wouldn't be caught dead living anywhere near

That jackass William Donald Schaeffer lives...The Governor of Baltimore. You want to know why I hate Baltimore? He's the reason. A dem who endorsed Bush. Couldn't open up his mouth without embarrassing himself. A sexist harrassing P-I-G oh and the man who decided that any county outside of the Baltimore metro area wasn't worth shit.... Baltimore also has brought us Ehrlich AND Michael Steele. Nuff said.

[blueraven95]

107. okay, Schaefer you can blame on Baltimore

although he was the mayor of Baltimore and the governor of MD, not the governor of Baltimore. And widely considered an ass, at least around these parts.

Both Ehrlich and Steele can be blamed on Maryland, but not on Baltimore. Neither came from here.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

111. Yeah, Steele came up through PG County (DC suburbs) and Ehrlich was BaltCo

And whatever shame Schafer brought to Baltimore and Maryland had thankfully been balanced out by this man, also a former mayor of Baltimore, who perhaps is the coolest governor in all the US:

[Tommy_Carcetti]

115. So let's get this straight.

You hate Baltimore because of some guy who was mayor and governor decades ago.

I hate DC because the traffic grid sucks.

What the hell is wrong with us?

[madinmaryland]

29. DC has Reagan National, Baltimore has Thurgood Marshall BWI.

nuff said!

[OmahaBlueDog]

37. DC has streets laid out in an orderly grid.

I don't think Skinner will let me post what I think of downtown Baltimore's streets.

[Captain Hilts]

42. "Orderly grid?" Huh? No right angles. How often do you drive through Dupont Circle?

You call that "orderly grid?"

It was all laid out by a Frenchman!

The streets are named in an orderly way with the numbers and three alphabets: letters, two-syllable words and then three-syllable words.

[OmahaBlueDog]

101. It's a turning circle. One merges and changes lanes

What is hard to comprehend, here?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

104. When its a 4 way intersection, it's not too bad.

When there are about six or seven streets coming out of the circle, as some of the DC circles are designed, and you have to ensure you are in the correct lane to get off on the correct street, then that's where traffic circle hell begins. And try doing that in dense traffic to boot.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

50. Okay, seriously? This is orderly?

DC is traffic circle hell. That is probably why I hate that city with a passion, and never considered it "my city" even though I grew up 45 minutes away, and why I will never, ever root for any of its sports teams.


Baltimore's streets are a breeze compared to DC.

[TZ]

59. Bullshit.

The letters and the numbers and the state names are laid out in a certain order.
As far as I can tell in Baltimore, the streets are randomly laid out.
In DC you know which direction you are going based on whether you are on a letter or a number.
I walked extensively around downtown during the inaugural and was well able to find my way back from the Mall to Eastern Market just by orienting on street names..

[Captain Hilts]

66. The 3 alphabets are helpful, but NOT enough. 'Dupont' says it all. nt

[Tommy_Carcetti]

68. Until you hit all the one ways and the detours.

Or you hit a godforesaken traffic circle and take the seventh street leading out of it instead of the eighth.

Whenever my family would have to drive into Washington, we would inevitably get lost. It happened each and every time, no matter what map we would bring or trying to follow the letter/number pattern. Yeah, you have the Metro, but that can only take you to certain designated spots and unless you are restricting yourself to the Mall, you still have to figure that crazy ass place out.

Sorry, TZ, but the fact is that Washington is a traffic nightmare with no logic to its street grid. On the other hand, Baltimore recognizes the value of having 90 degree intersections as opposed to 37 degree intersections.

[TZ]

79. I've driven in Downtown Baltimore.

Its got more than its share of one ways..The only good thing about it..Thank GOD 95 is FAIRLY easy to get back to from there.
Edit: I had Jury Duty in downtown Baltimore. Not fun.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

91. It has its one way streets, but they are all parallel to one way streets a block over.

As opposed to Washington which randomly will throw in a one way just for the sake of wanting to fuck with your head.

[OmahaBlueDog]

105. Now wait a minute

OK, you're in downtown by the Inner Harbor, and you have streets like Calvert, Lombard, Pratt, etc. going in a more-or-less N/S/E/W directional, but they you've got streets like Fayette, Gay, Baltimore, Eutaw, etc. that depart from this pattern for no particular reason I can see. Why the JFX isn't directly connected to 395 is a mystery, and then you have all of those streets that circle downtown.

I personally like driving in DC and can't stand driving in Baltimore. OTOH, every time my mom drives in DC, she gets lost and ends up on Mass Ave.

[OmahaBlueDog]

103. Exactly

Letters, numbers, states, and iconic landmarks to navigate by.....what could be simpler?

OK - taking the Metro could be simpler.....

[Tommy_Carcetti]

106. A quick and easy primer to driving in DC. Really.

Seriously, who needs a standard four way intersection when you are forced to determine wherever you are by the amount of syllables in a street name?


http://www.thedctraveler.com/getting-around-dc-%E2%80%93-part-2-%E2%80%93-driving-in-the-district-street-layout/

Washington DC can initially be a confusing place to get around in on foot or by car. Understanding the basic framework of streets, avenues and circles can make traveling in DC significantly easier.

It’s rumored that the city’s primary planner, Pierre Charles L’Enfant, designed the city to confuse potential invaders. Well, he probably succeeded in confusing at least a good portion of the tourists some 200 years later. Once you understand the city’s grid, numbering and street naming system, getting around is fairly easy. Besides, if you’re planning on invading…you’ll first need a government permit.

General City Layout
Washington DC is a city divided into of four sections consisting of Northwest, Northeast, Southeast and Southwest quadrants. Streets are laid out in a basic grid pattern. And all addresses are designated with their quadrant: NW, NE, SE, and SW.

How the Street and Avenue Numbering System Works
Numbered streets (1st, 2nd, 3rd Street, etc.) run north-south while lettered streets (A, B, C Street, etc.) run east-west. After all the letters were used, street names are generally words or names named in alphabetical order, starting with double syllables, then triple syllables, then four syllables as you progress further from the city’s center. So streets such as Davis and Garfield Streets are closer to the city’s center than are Appleton and Patterson Street. There are of course a few exceptions, but you can find most destinations using this system.

The numbering and lettering system begins at The Capitol Building and works out in all four directions. So, for example, 3rd Street is the third street from The Capitol – in all directions. This is where it can get a bit confusing, as there are many cases, four similarly named intersections, such as 4th and D Streets NW, SW, NE and SE. So to make sure you are where you need to be, pay close attention to the suffix or designation after an address. Fail to pay attention and you could end up blocks from your intended destination.

Avenues
Avenues run at diagonals across the city. They are named after the states - New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin Avenue, etc. They can be fast cross-city short-cuts.

Traffic Circles
Although the urban legend about the car full of tourists that arrived in DC in 1997 and are still stuck circling Dupont Circle trying to find a way out is grossly exaggerated; DC’s traffic circles can be a bit confusing.

There are at least ten major DC intersections with circles, all with several streets and avenues converging, such as Dupont Circle and Logan Circle. When driving through a circle, pay close attention to traffic lights, traffic flow and signs. And remember, the street you are driving on may not continue exactly on the opposite side of the circle. It may continue off at a different angle, or worse not at all.

The most famous circle, Dupont Circle, was even mentioned in the movie, The American President with Michael Douglas and Annette Bening. In the film, the President’s girl friend is late getting to the White House and the President asks her if she got stuck on Dupont Circle yet again. She replies by asking the President “Can’t you declare it a Federal Disaster Area or something?” It’s understandable how someone could get confused as Dupont Circle intersects five roads (10 spokes) and includes an inner and outer ring, multiple traffic signals, plus an underpass. Perhaps that rumor about the trapped tourists is not quite so exaggerated!!!

One-Way Streets
Many of DC’s streets are one-way, so it’s wise to pay attention. A few streets, especially near The Capitol Building, the Mall and in parts of downtown may be one-way in one direction in the morning, the other direction in the evening and two ways at all other times. Again, watch for Do Not Enter signs and check the sign for specific hours. When in doubt, it’s usually safe to just follow the traffic flow.

[Symarip]

109. Washington DC can initially be a confusing place to get around in on foot or by car.

No city should be confusing by foot. Period. A car is somewhat understandable because one way's and blah blah blah. But seriously, by foot?

BULLSHIT!

[LynneSin]

38. Where the hell is Reagan National???!!! And you know the "W" in BWI stands for Washington

Only Airports I know if in the DC area are BWI, Dulles and National. Never heard of no Reagan airport

[Tommy_Carcetti]

58. Yeah, but the "Washington" in BWI is an afterthought...

...as in, Baltimore is kind enough let Washington use their airport for reasonably priced flights and not having to drive out to Nowheresville, Northern Virginia or try manuver the parking garages in the clusterfuck that is National.

[TZ]

62. I fly out of National every chance I get actually.

Its right on the Metro and easiest access for me. Oh and National airport..BEST and shortest security checkpoints. Longest checkpoint I ever went through BWI..which is convenient to neither Washington or Baltimore.

[Captain Hilts]

65. When I come to power, National will serve only DC-3s, or the runway will be the site of a new

football stadium.

[madinmaryland]

97. DC even renamed their baseball team the Reagan Nationals!

:hide:

[LynneSin]

112. No wonder they suck

they take after their namesake

[Captain Hilts]

41. It's 'National' and 'Friendship' to me. If Friendship is good enough for Pussy Galore...

it's good enough for me.

And it's Reagan NAP!

[Captain Hilts]

113. DC does have a personality, Hon. nt

[Symarip]

12. I rock faces with my mancannon there every once in a while

It's dirty, small, fast and fun. If I didn't have to work in Virginia (the shittiest place on earth) I'd definitely live in closer proximity to Bawlmere.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

21. Wow....something Symarip says that doesn't automatically make me gag in revulsion!

Just kidding. Long live Narwhals!

[Captain Hilts]

46. Northern VA is truly one of the Shittiest Places on Earth.

[Symarip]

48. The whole state is hell in a handbasket

For some reason, no matter how hard I try to not live here, every 5 or 6 years I end up right back in this piece.

[Captain Hilts]

53. I served time in Va. Beach. God. Even Norfolk's better. A lot better. nt

[Tommy_Carcetti]

55. I dunno. Richmond has its charms.

Can't say anything about personal experience never having lived there, but when I've visited I've enjoyed it. And it sure beats the acres upon acres upon acres of strip malls and suburban sprawl that is Northern Virginia.

Fredericksburg is nice, too.

[Symarip]

61. I do have a fondness for Richmond

I like The Bottom quite a bit. I just recently went and saw Bad Manners there. My buddy owns MacCormacks Irish Pub and I've never had a bad time rocking a barstool in the joint. But I've never lived there. It's always a different story when you make it your home.

[Captain Hilts]

67. I LOVE Bad Manners!!! Loved their performance in "Dance Craze." nt

[Symarip]

71. Arguably the best performances on Dance Kraze are from Bad Manners

Even though my ear has drifted towards more traditional Ska acts from the 60s (The Skatalites, Desmond Dekker, Prince Buster, Byron Lee, etc) I still have a fondness for 2 Tone. Plus, Bad Manners never tried to take themselves too seriously like Madness or The Specials or The (English) Beat in the subsequent years after the 2 Tone fall out.

All this reminds me, I'm going to try and talk my band into playing Richmond soon. That'd be fun.

[Captain Hilts]

63. It's an old city, not a 70s-era 'sunbelt' city like Charlotte, etc. Richmond does have charm.

And Dirt Woman.

[arcadian]

89. Richmond is still in the Reconstruction

Driving along I-64 then that section of I-64/I-95 = :thumbsdown:

[Captain Hilts]

98. My drive from Norfolk to DC took me SIX hours on Sunday. SIX. nt

[arcadian]

92. Route 15 corridor through the Peidmont from Loudoun down to Charlotte County

is pretty nice, historical farms no sprawl, except Loudoun, Warrenton, C'ville and those are minimal. Also the Blue ridge in Virginia is exceptional.

[hellbound-liberal]

14. I think the panhandlers are more civilized in DC.

I've never had a panhandler in DC ask me for money at a traffic light and then slam the side of my car when I said no. They do that in Baltimore. The only problem I have with the panhandlers in DC is that they don't remember that they asked you for money five minutes ago when you walked by the first time.

[trof]

20. I thought it was 'Bahluhmuhr', or some such.

;-)

[OmahaBlueDog]

22. I never get why folks think Bawlemer is a better city than Chicago, LA, San Francisco

Denver, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Boston, or DC

..or for that matter

how it's any better than Cleveland, Milwaukee, Detroit, Philly, or Miami

Sure...the Orioles were an OK team....back when I was.... oh, let me think about this ...back when Earl Weaver was a much younger man - let's put it that way. Lately, I think you'd be better off with Boise's team.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

23. Because the park bench says so, dammit!

Never argue with a park bench, because you will lose. Especially one that proclaims Baltimore America's greatest city!

[OmahaBlueDog]

24. Do you know why we think Omaha is the best city in the US of A?

It's not a park bench......it's Warren Buffet. If Omaha is good enough for the richest man in the world, it's good enough for me.

That, and we have the college world series. Soon, we will have two brand new stadiums, and two minor league teams, which should at least be the equal of 1 major league team.

(note: I lived in Columbia as a kid. I spent many happy afternoons watching the Birds in the old Memorial Stadium)

[Tommy_Carcetti]

25. And steaks. Don't forget the steaks!

Mail order meat. That is sheer genius!

[SoxFan]

30. Say what?

"two minor league teams, which should at least be the equal of 1 major league team."

Dude, Manchester has three minor league teams (AHL Monarchs, Eastern League Fisher Cats, AFL2 Wolves). Let's get a grip!

[KamaAina]

32. The Fisher Cats are the Indian-no-place Dolts or Carolina Who-ricanes of AA ball

New Haven fixed up Yale Field all nice and pretty for the Ravens. Then you guys swooped in and snatched them away. :argh:

[SoxFan]

33. And not only did we get a ball club...

We got a championship in year one, a new ballpark on the riverfront, and a beautifully renovated old Gill Stadium (which looks a lot like Yale Field, actually).

Thanks, Connecticut!

[OmahaBlueDog]

34. I'm not counting our Hockey and Arena Ball Teams - I mean two Baseball teams

I'm talking baseball.

Rosenblatt Stadium, the venerable home of the CWS, has been declared too elderly to possibly continue as a working baseball stadium.

So the City signed a new contract with the NCAA, and we get the CWS for 20 more years. In exchange, we're building a brand new, 25,000 seat stadium by the Qwest Center Omaha in the soon-to-be-developed NoDo (North of Downtown) area of Omaha. Great, right?

Not so fast. The Omaha Royals (PCL AAA affiliate) wants a new stadium, but they want a 6,000 seat stadium, with family-friendly ammenities, like picnic areas. They just signed a deal with a suburb of Omaha, called La Vista, to build yet another new stadium.

So the City is left with a stadium that is empty for all but two weeks of the year? What to do? I know -- get another minor league team.

http://www.americanassociationbaseball.com/

Omaha will bring indy league ball (about the equivalernt of "A" ball) to the downtown stadium. The thing is that, absurd as it sounds on it's face, The American Association has a very strong regional presence (Lincoln, Sioux Falls, Sioux City, St. Paul. Wichita); they have a reasonable chance to be as successful, if not more than the AAA team.

[SoxFan]

28. It's an underrated place

It's one of the best "second tier" big cities. I wouldn't compare it to Boston, NYC, Los Angeles, Chicago, SF, etc, but I far prefer it to Atlanta (blah), Charlotte (an Atlanta wannabe), Raleigh (a Charlotte wannabe), Jacksonville, and mix-and match midwestern cities like Columbus, Indy, and OKC.

Good night life, ethnic neighborhoods, a beautiful downtown ballpark, and decent public transportation put it way ahead of most American cities.

[OmahaBlueDog]

35. SoxFan,, SoxFan, SoxFan........

You, sir, have seen too many Barry Levinson films.

You, sir, have never tried to get from Russell Street to Moravia Road, only to wonder how the Hell you ended up on the Jones Falls Expressway

You, sir, never had to try to have a rational conversation with Colts fans to explain that their team left when because were drawinng about 36,000 fans a game

If you are going to go to a hard drinking, crime ridden, blue collar port city, at least have the good sense to go to Oakland...the Raiders, the Warriors, the A's, and a stunning view of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

49. Okay, let's get one thing straight here.....

The Colts did not move because they were drawing 36,000 a game. They drew 36,000 because of a drunk ass imbecilic punk named Robert Irsay intentionally destroyed everything that was good about one of the NFL's most storied franchises so he eventually could skip town in the middle of the night and move to Indianapolis with the team name and logo intact, so that decades later people would idiotically say that Peyton Manning is a great Colts quarterback in the franchise tradition of Johnny Unitas, and a trip to Canton would find Art Donovan and Lenny Moore in the Indianapolis section of the Football Hall of Fame.

:rant:

[OmahaBlueDog]

100. Tommy, I don't disagree with a lot of what you say, but

I had a neighbor with season tickets who gave them to us for many of those games in the final season before they moved, and the attendance was truly horrid.

I do wish that the NFL had passed the rule then that they have now - you can leave the town, but you have to leave the trademarks with the city. Thus, one would not have Unitas and Manning mentioned as being part of the same franchise.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

102. Oh yeah, there is no doubt the attendance was bad the last two seasons or so.

But that was the symptom of bad ownership under Irsay, not an indictment of the Baltimore fanbase.

[Captain Hilts]

43. I completely agree. What a drag those sunbelt cities are. nt

[SoxFan]

47. Houston and Jacksonville are giant suburbs

New Orleans and San Antonio are the two Sun Belt cities that don't really fit the mold. Both have funky, compact downtowns and lots of personality. Memphis is ok, but a bit run-down.

And don't get me going on the Southern state capitals like Baton Rock and Tallagomery.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

51. I actually like Jacksonville a lot.

Other than being a bit too conservative, it actually has a lot of hidden charms to it. The areas by the St. John's River are beautiful, as are the beaches. Plus I like the minor league baseball stadium there.

I'm a big fan of the underdog city. Give me a Baltimore or a Jacksonville over a New York or DC any day. Instead of snobbish pretense, you actually get people with civic pride.

[Captain Hilts]

56. Now that the pulp mills are gone, I see what you're saying. Jacksonville is different...

from most Sunbelt cities and Miami doesn't count because it's an outer borough of NY and Havana. It's not a 'sunbelt' city.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

60. Jax got a bad rep for the pulp mills, but they are long gone.

Plus I love the airport there. Bright, open, cheerful and very easy to fly in and out. The least stressful larger city airport I've ever used.

[Captain Hilts]

54. Virginia Beach, where I served hard time, is the same. nt

[TZ]

64. DC's public transport>>>>>>>>>>Baltimores.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

69. Yeah, when you have the shittiest street grid and ever changing traffic conditions in the US....

....you better have a good Metro. DC's Metro is better than Baltimore's Metro only on the account of necessity.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

36. Compared to what?

I mean, it has it's charms, but....

[Captain Hilts]

39. I'm a volunteer in the Inner Harbor.

[LynneSin]

70. if you fire-bomb the rest of them

:hide:

[Tommy_Carcetti]

72. Careful there, Lynne.

Baltimore is Delaware's greatest ally. What other city's NFL team would take a chance on an virtually unknown QB from the University of Delaware, knowing he would take them to the AFC Championship in his rookie season, and the Super Bowl in the following year?

[LynneSin]

80. ........

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Gannon

:eyes:

[blueraven95]

77. I personally prefer

the "Baltimore: The City that Reads" park benches.

:rofl:



I can't tell you how many times I've sat on one of those benches to read a book, just to rationalize those benches in my own head.

[MajPayne2]

94. Two Words....

Sheila Dixon.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

95. I've got a pack of gift cards that might make you think differently.

:)

[edbermac]

108. Any town that produced John Waters can't be all bad.

[KamaAina]

110. Not to mention Divine

I believe Mom went to high school with Divine, in neighboring Towson. R.I.P. :(

[Captain Hilts]

114. Divine was cool!

[peekaloo]

116. It seemed to cheer up Edgar Allan Poe.

}(

even Randy Newman wrote a song about it.