By: Jo Brown

Jo Brown — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 14:01:26 +0000

Scott- I like many of your points, but I have lived in Baltimore since 1986 and it has changed by leaps and bounds.
When I arrived, sex workers were dying in my Charles Village alley. Johns Hopkins had no art program, no undergrad public health program. We had no murals. We had no free shuttle buses. We had high-rise projects that were unfit for human habitation. Our streets were dirty all over town, and homeless people slept on the streets on Broadway. The homicide rate was skyrocketing. City govt. was an old-boys club. Parks were neglected and dangerous, with bodies found in Leakin Park weekly. These terrible things still happen, but in the neghborhoods where they are most concentrated, there are also slow but steady improvements. Leakin Park is viable now, thanks to Parks and People. Healthcare for the Homeless has a great new building near the jail. Our farmer’s markets are reaching these neighborhoods. We have a free circulator bus downtown. We have a vibrant Latino community. We have had two women mayors! Hopkins has opened itself to the community in many ways, has an art program and a public health program. MICA has a new social mission. and on and on. Visit a similar city like New Haven, Harrisburg, or Buffalo, then come back and look at our wonderful changing city again! Keep the faith, baby.

Comments on: We Need Art Because We Need Ideas!

By: Jo Brown