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A neighborhood abandoned (Long article misses cause of urban decay)
The Baltimore Sun ^ | June 25, 2006 | Eric Siegel

Posted on 06/25/2006 5:05:58 AM PDT by edpc

Wearing work boots and carrying flashlights on a spring day last year, a band of architects and developers picked their way through the dim interior of the American Brewery. They looked like archaeologists combing through an ancient ruin, which, in some ways, is exactly what the brewery is.

Built in the 1800s, the American Brewery has stood empty these past 33 years, a ghostly reminder of a distant past when the city's manufacturing muscle was on display in working-class neighborhoods such as this one in East Baltimore.

Rain drips from a hole in the roof and puddles on the floor. Ankle-deep piles of pigeon droppings and feathers soil the concrete floors. Holes and graffiti deface walls. Rust has corroded most metal surfaces.

The deterioration doesn't end at the doors of the old factory, which stands at an isolated, impoverished corner of the city near the point where East North Avenue dead-ends at the Baltimore Cemetery. The view from the brewery's vacant arched windows is equally desolate.

(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Philosophy; US: Maryland
KEYWORDS: baltimore; blight; decline; handouts; lackofpride; liberalismatwork; responsibility; shameful; urbandecay
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This article runs 6 pages and fails to place the onus on the residents who destroy the area. Naturally, it's the fault of government, corrupt landlords, and wealthy residents of Baltimore. Some excerpts:

"It's depressing," said Leslie Funderburk, one mother who lives in the neighborhood. "How can you expect someone to have a positive outlook on life, when all they see is destruction?"

Pick up a broom and a hammer.

They provide compelling evidence that the revitalization so apparent in some sections of the city has left many other parts untouched -- a reminder of the continuing gulf between prosperous and poor Baltimore.

More like the reminder of continuously failed and wasteful leftist policies. Home ownership equals investment and pride in the property. Residents of public housing have no stake in the property. Few, if any, feel any responsibility for its upkeep.

Many streets and alleys are strewn with refuse, which provide the food for rats, just as the abandoned buildings offer them shelter....litter and discarded furniture remain problems -- the result of the willingness of illegal dumpers, transients and even some residents to sully an already degraded neighborhood.

Apparently, it's only a few people in the area who litter. The majority comes from people risking life and limb going to this neighborhood just to dump trash. I don't buy it.

Crime is "commonplace enough," she said, "that it's not something you get all worked up about."

Maybe that's part of the problem. Your lack of outrage is enabling the advancement of crime and decay. Rebuild this area on the government dime and I guarantee it returns to squalor in a decade.

1 posted on 06/25/2006 5:06:03 AM PDT by edpc
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To: edpc

Agree with you on all your points.


2 posted on 06/25/2006 5:09:25 AM PDT by PeteB570 (Guns, what real men want for Christmas)
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To: edpc

Absolutely spot-on.


3 posted on 06/25/2006 5:20:12 AM PDT by JRios1968 (There's 3 kinds of people in this world...those who know math and those who don't.)
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To: edpc

You made some excellent points.....forward tham on to the author...


4 posted on 06/25/2006 5:21:02 AM PDT by Kimmers
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To: edpc
Many people are simply victims. It's the American Way for too many. These people lack the backbond and courage to look in the mirror for ANY cause to problems that plague the inner cities.

a reminder of the continuing gulf between prosperous and poor Baltimore.... my aunt fanny. What a load. As if the elitism of rich versus poor is such a BRAND, NEW idea.

5 posted on 06/25/2006 5:24:26 AM PDT by starfish923 ( Socrates: It's never right to do wrong.)
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To: edpc
And now Baltimore's Mayor wants to do for (or should I say "to") the rest of Maryland what he, his illustrius political family, and his predecessors have done for (to) Baltimore.

Vote for Bob Ehrlich, Marylanders. He is not our ideal, but the alternative is what you read in this article and in the posted comments.

6 posted on 06/25/2006 5:26:53 AM PDT by blau993
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To: blau993

Exactly. We dont need O'Mally in Annapolis. He cant even run a city , much less a State.


7 posted on 06/25/2006 5:30:42 AM PDT by sgtbono2002 (The fourth estate is a fifth column.)
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To: sgtbono2002; edpc
Pelosi learned her politics in Baltimore and didn't that work out well...NOT.
8 posted on 06/25/2006 5:36:13 AM PDT by ncountylee (Dead terrorists smell like victory)
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To: edpc
Must be nomad genes at work.

Deficate where you live, move on when the smell and diseases overcome you, and repeat.



9 posted on 06/25/2006 5:36:45 AM PDT by G.Mason (And what is intelligence if not the craft of outthinking our adversaries?)
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Comment #10 Removed by Moderator

To: edpc

"Holes and graffiti deface walls. "

Alright, outsiders come in and dump their trash - Are we to assume that people from outside of the area also come in to create the holes and graffiti? This article is so deep into denial as to the cause of the decay that it is hard to believe it actually made it into print!!!


11 posted on 06/25/2006 5:39:29 AM PDT by onevoter
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To: edpc
Complicating the matter is a 1994 law that set conditions and deadlines for landlords to rid rental units of dangerous levels of lead. While the law provides much-needed protection for children, it imposes significant costs on landlords, which some claim encourage abandonment. It can cost up to $10,000 to bring a rowhouse into compliance with state and city lead reduction laws,

Another part of the problem. In Massachusetts it's called the lawyers and "deleading consultants" full employment act (my name). You can't even paint over the lead paint without failing the test done by overpaid stooges with lead detectors. I'm sure there's many other anti-landlord laws that the author isn't aware of or won't talk about.

12 posted on 06/25/2006 5:40:24 AM PDT by palmer (Money problems do not come from a lack of money, but from living an excessive, unrealistic lifestyle)
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To: Kimmers
You made some excellent points.....forward tham on to the author...

Thanks, but if you ask any MD Republican, they will tell you the same thing. Trying to debate The Baltimore Sun (aka The Calvert St. Democrats Club) is a monumental waste of time.

13 posted on 06/25/2006 5:41:47 AM PDT by edpc
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To: PeteB570

You don't see anything here about any sort of community action. Not neighborhood watch. Nothing. People who live in these NE cities don't even know how to have a meeting, and if someone calls one, they don't know how to behave. So, they are at the mercy of whatever anyone else wants to do. Their only idea is that somehow the gobmint should do someting. What gobmint? They don't know.


14 posted on 06/25/2006 5:49:16 AM PDT by ClaireSolt (.)
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To: edpc

Excellant comments!!!!!Your post responds to all the idiotic remarks.


15 posted on 06/25/2006 5:50:23 AM PDT by Recovering Ex-hippie (Moderate Mooslims.....what's that?)
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To: Recovering Ex-hippie
Well...not all of the idiotic comments. I wouldn't want to crash the server by addressing them entirely.

;-)

16 posted on 06/25/2006 5:53:10 AM PDT by edpc
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To: edpc
Trying to inform any liberal is difficult, even if the discussion is evidence based they only want to see their side.....sigh
17 posted on 06/25/2006 5:53:26 AM PDT by Kimmers
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To: edpc

We are always told that poverty causes crime. Perhaps it's the other way around...


18 posted on 06/25/2006 6:02:16 AM PDT by Freedom4US
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To: edpc
Crime is "commonplace enough," she said, "that it's not something you get
all worked up about."


She should call one Rudy Giuliani and ask him to tell her about
the "broken windows" approach to crime and urban decay.
And what it had to do with the revitalization of at least one major city.
And James Q. Wilson, co-author of the paper that got that concept rolling.
19 posted on 06/25/2006 6:06:05 AM PDT by VOA
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To: Baynative
Oakland, Detroit, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., St Louis, Cleveland ... where liberal politics and liberal politicians rule, it's pretty much always the same - isn't it?

Let's test that premise. Is there a city (or cities) in that size range that has been under conservative political control for long enough to warrant a comparison?

I strongly suspect that you are right, but we need to document it with factual comparisons.

20 posted on 06/25/2006 6:06:52 AM PDT by JimRed ("Hey, hey, Teddy K., how many girls did you drown today?" (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help m)
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