HOW TO FIX BALTIMORE

THE GREATER METRO REGION IS ONE OF THE WEALTHIEST ANYWHERE HERE ARE SOME BOLD IDEAS TO BREAK DOWN THE CITY'S BARRIERS.

- RON CASSIE

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

AFTER DECADES OF ISOLATION, SEGREGATION, AND STAGNATION, THE HARD BOUNDARIES IN AND AROUND BALTIMORE NEED TO COME DOWN.

The march of floats, fire trucks, and drum and bugle corps drew some 30,000 spectators to stoops and sidewalks from Falls Road to Keswick Road. Lottie Carnell, just 17, was named “queen” of the massive parade, and the teenager and her court led a nearly two hour romp through Hampden’s balloon-filled “jubilant streets,” according to press accounts. Afterward, there was public dancing late into the night on the closed-off streets of Elm and Hickory, just off The Avenue.

The twilight fete, including a bonfire, in the summer of 1948, capped off three days of celebration. Not to commemorate the end of a war, the community’s founding, or even an Orioles championship—the O’s were still a minor league club then—but, wait for it, the 60th anniversary of Hampden and Woodberry’s annexation from Baltimore County into Baltimore City. Hooray, indeed. Who could imagine Charm City today without those neighborhoods’ vital commercial districts, repurposed mills, and quirky “Hey, hon” vibe?