Baltimore, you lovable slum November 10, 2006

This week has been amazing. I sometimes question whether I’m as passionate about politics as I think I am, but I knew the answer was yes when I saw Wednesday’s news. It is amazing how the overthrow of the House and Senate, as well as the resignation of Rumsfeld, have boosted my mood. I’m overjoyed, and everyone knows it. Just as the 2004 re-election of Bush completely baffled and bruised me, this outcome has singlehandedly restored my faith that some American voters are waking up (though a small majority).
Although I’m not convinced the Democrats will necessarily do anything more worthwhile, it made my petty little day to see Rick Santorum and George Allen take a licking. And while I don’t have tremendous faith in the Democrats’ ability to affect change within Washington, I have a little. Enough of a little pinch of idealism that I can allow myself to hope that we can get out of Iraq soon, or even accomplish some less glamorous goals such as more stringent EPA restrictions on auto emissions or the scrapping of NCLB.
So as I was waking downtown yesterday, beaming with this newfound sense of electoral satisfaction, I was taking in Baltimore. Baltimore has such potential, and is on the cusp of such growth. . . I just hope the City is able to harness its own potential. Doubtless the problems in Baltimore are systemic, much larger than one mayor or Annapolis representative can wipe out. But walking the streets, beyond the potential for development in places like the Inner Harbor, I see so many beautiful old buildings with potential to become shops, apartments, nightclubs, even family neighborhoods. Ordinarily seeing these beautiful old mansions boarded up and left to rot depresses me, since even those who work in the City are all-too-happy to build a condo in Columbia or a McMansion in Hunt Valley and deal with the commute rather than remodel an old live within walking distance of their office. But today, with the lustre restored to my optimism, I was able to see the potential restoration and revitalization of the City as a possible outcome instead of as a missed opportunity.
The latent possibility in our drug-addled downtown is enormous. I want to see Lexington Market surrounded with an extension of the Harbor’s Gallery, stretching like Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. I want to see this supposed gondola running like a massive ski lift from the Harbor to Canton with a water taxi from Fed Hill to Fells Point that actually taxis instead of shuffling tourists back and forth all day. I want a downtown in Baltimore and I hope, with a few more skyscraper permits and some economic investment, it can happen.