[STONEWALLS]

...Baltimore is NOT a safe city....it is a violent place to be avoided....

[gate2wire]

Baltimore is no better or worse than any big city. Some neighborhoods should be avoided...just like every other city. 800 block west 33rd street...I would not hesitate to go here. Right near Hopkins.

[dmz]

...Baltimore is NOT a safe city....it is a violent place to be avoided....
___________

Chuckling a bit at the melodrama above.

Sorry - Baltimoron born and bred. Been here my whole life. Not to detract from the seriousness of this event (Ed Norris was all over this yesterday on his radio program), Baltimore is an extremely, major league dangerous city for those involved in the drug trade. Any look at the demographics and locations of the God awful number of murders that occur here can see that.

For those NOT involved in the drug trade as buyers or sellers, Baltimore is pretty much like any other big city. There are swaths of the city to be avoided, but there are a number of areas (Canton, Fells Point, Inner Harbor, Federal Hill, among others) that are really OK.

{Travel Brochure Mode OFF)

[rabscuttle385]

In 2005, I attended a corporate orientation in Baltimore for a company that I had just joined. The Inner Harbor and Federal Hill (what the locals refer to as formerly "Federal Hell") are nice, but north of the business district is a massive ghetto.

Unfortunately, at the time I did not have money enough to take a taxi, and I did not have a car, so I had to walk all the way from the business district to Penn Station. As I continued to walk north, the areas became even more rundown, with every other car's window smashed and covered with plastic bags.

Baltimore is a sketchy city. So are Washington, Richmond, and Philadelphia, outside of the business districts. Actually, all cities are sketchy, even Charlottesville, where I go to school. Small towns and rural areas are much nicer.