Baltimore sucks!! no, Johns Hopkins sucks!! no they BOTH suck big time!!!

The BBQ Pit
1

I have been planning on posting something like this for a long time. I keep having these unsavory incidents in Baltimore. And this week, it was really bad and so here goes.

I had a couple of college friends visit me over the last weekend. I had asked one of them to take the Greyhound to the Downtown terminal. Just in case you don’t know, you should never do this unless you want to scare the shit out of your guests. The bus goes thru several alleys, and at night they are really creepy. He also had to wait in a crowded dirty terminal manned by VERY rude greyhound employees for 10 minutes before i could pick him up. Needless to say, he kept asking me “Arent there any other Greyhound terminals in the city? Why didnt you ask me to take the AMTRAK?”. After the other guy comes over we decide lets scoot to Rockville (where the other guy lives); and so end of Bmore chapter one.
But the guy has to leave for NY thru Bmore downtown AGAIN. So this time while we drive back to the terminal we see some dude without a t-shirt holding a Barbie doll, looking very unstable, heatedly arguing something with a guy inside a car. Since we were at a light, we were forced to watch this
creepy scene for probably 30 secs. God knows what that was about. Next we park the car and we step out to check the bus timings and decide to enter any restaurant, as long as its close, for food. We find a Chinese place, order and sit down. Some guy walks into the restaurant, sits next to us and asks for money; we turn him down; immediately his look turns to pure hatred and disgust; thats when it hits us, in that very dangerous area, he isnt used to people turning him down. Luckily he just got up and walked away.

Yesterday, I wanted to go to a KFC in Baltimore cuz I liked the one near Pohick Bay. There are three of them in Bmore and I went to the closest one. Would you believe the cashier sits in a counter behind a iron railing with a 6 inch slot at the bottom just like in the banks? It just creeps me out.

There are countless incidents like this that happen on a daily basis. You cant go on the State transport without being approached by pan-handlers.
Did you know that part of my state tax is used to buy and provide clean syringes to drug addicts so that HIV/AIDS doesnt spread.

(And whats this I have against pan-handlers? Laziness. I will not accept that in the United States a physically unhandicapped(sp?) person can be jobless after he honestly tries. If he is handicapped I usually give the guy a dollar though)

And Baltimore is special in its creepiness and squalor. I visited Philly on June 13 for a U2 concert. After the riots last year, I had a very low opinion about the place. But the downtown was beautiful!! For a tourist there were these cute maps at every intersection telling where you were and where you could go for shopping, etc. There was this beautiful park right in the middle of downtown ( I forget its name) where you could take a stroll. And the subway was neat (figuratively) just like Boston, Chicago, etc. Baltimore’s subway on the otherhand is a line 3 stations long.

And now Johns Hopkins: there are several things that bother me but today what really bugs me was the gym and the people using it. During the summer, the gym closes at 8pm on weekdays and is shut(!!!) during the weekends. There are two working treadmills and a cycling machine. Needless to say, there is a mad rush for the machines EVERYDAY. Yesterday, there was this girl cycling away at level 2 (out of a possible 10 which is the hardest) for ONE hour. I dont know about others, but if I see a waiting line for a resource which is public I try to make the quickest use of it and let others use it. And today, there was this moron in JEANS WALKING on the treadmill for an hour. ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND, YOU DICKHEAD?? If you want to want to walk just walk around town!!! Today was the second time I have seen him doing it, but during the first I luckily had the cycling machine to use.
There is ONE squash-court available. But surprise, surprise!! there are no racquets or balls available. And the gym will be closed from July 27 till November for sprucing up the building. Man, JHU sucks!! EVERY other university I know of has better facilities.

Cooling down region:
But I must say I was warned before I decided going to Johns Hopkins. A cousin warned me that one of her schoolmates got mugged in Baltimore. I also knew long before that JHU was a very small university (as far as I know only caltech beats it). So small university in a dangerous city -> you cant count on the university for fun; and better dont wander around the city for fun either. I still decided to take up JHU’s offer cuz the lab I am working with is well known and I will be working with the best of people. But its only now that I am feeling the pinch. And I am finding it so difficult to cope up with it.

Thanks for your time. You can get back to your better lives and hometowns now.

2

Imagine living in a city of 700,000 (with 2,500,000 or so in the area) with no public transportation whatsoever beyond creaky 1986 vintage buses, no decent university to speak of, (and the “university” we do have closes its doors at 3PM and becomes an abandoned dumping site) nothing more fascinating to do within a 350 mile radius than watching barnyard animals make love, a panhandler outside every restaurant, convenience store, and hot dog stand…ogling every transaction you make inside. Hell, I’ve even had panhandlers KNOCK ON MY DOOR AT MY OWN HOME!.
A typical 2AM scene along one of our busier streets usually involves an obese man, clad in nothing but underwear, screaming “I’m am the lord thy God, thall shall not have any other gods before me.” Yes…I am talking about El Paso, Texas.
Well now that I think of it, I’d still rather live here than Baltimore.

3

I’ve never been in a Greyhound station that wasn’t terrifying, in Baltimore or anywhere else.

A few years ago, I was dating a college student from New York. She came down to DC for the weekend to visit me, and took Greyhound for budgetary reasons. She arrived in at 1am on a Friday night, and the strangest people were not only on the bus with her, but waiting with me in the terminal for the bus. When she left at the end of the weekend, I told her that I didn’t want her to take the bus again, and I’d pay the difference for her to visit via train or Delta Shuttle.

As for Baltimore itself… well, I love living in Maryland, but I’m glad I live in Rockville. :slight_smile:

:cue Weirddave coming in to defend Charm City:

4

OH MAN DO I NOT MISS EL PASO!!! We left there about 6 months ago. The thing that REALLY pissed me off one night regarding the panhandlers: On Fred Wilson Drive late one night coming home, I stopped at 7-11. I parked beside an incredibly new, shiny vehicle. As I was getting out of my car, I look over, and low and behold the panhandler that I saw earlier that same morning was getting into the driver seat!!!
For some reason, however, this shouldn’t have surprised me. I bet some of the panhandlers there make more money in a year than I would in ten!

5

OP: And today, there was this moron in JEANS WALKING on the treadmill for an hour. ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND, YOU DICKHEAD?? If you want to want to walk just walk around town!!!

Gee, why wouldn’t he do that? Hmmm, maybe he doesn’t feel safe walking around town? Nah, couldn’t be.

6

Baltimore is gross, nasty, weird, dirty, and dangerous. As a life-long Baltimorean, I know that you gotta be six kinds of nuts to even consider living downtown.

I live in the burbs, and I don’t go too many places by myself at night out my way …and not anywhere below Towson State University, by myself, day or night, unless I absolutely have to. Better safe than sorry.

Baltimore is also kind of cool, though. I’m not really sure why. It’s kind of like a huge, smelly, open-air funny farm. Or a medieval village with cars. Disgusting yet compelling.

I just watch my back, Jack.

7

The guy I work for, a former judge here, told me he dressed up as a panhandler…to see first hand what kind of money some “indigents” make. He said he collected 55 dollars in 4 hours…in 1991. Granted this is just an anecdote, but it gives you some idea.
I guess I’m a hijacker now, so I’ll shut up.

8

Awwww, De big bad Greyhound bus staion scared de widdle man. God what a fuckin wuss! Listen Jack, I’ll walk from the Greyhound bus station down Baltimore street to the block, any night, no qualms. You want scary? I got areas in West B-more that would send a mighty stram of warm piss down your leg. Why don’t you move back to Aunt Rocco’s farm and bugger farm animals some more? * whine* I’m scared! It’s a big city! wah, wah, wah. B-more isn’t any worse than any other city, and better than most. AFAIK, we’re the ONLY city that has completely demolished ALL of our low-income high rises to replace it with better places to live. The Inner Harbor is safe, clean and well lighted. You can stroll along Federal Hill most anytime and enjoy the view. Walking thru Little Italy, Fells Point or Mt. Vernon would expose your little mind to all kinds of wonderful music, nightlife and resturants, and it’s all fairly safe. Try DC off the Mall, Philly anyplace off the river or NYC above 125th st. All are worse than B-more. Baltimore is exciting, vibrant and alive. JHU in a bad part of town? What pissant 1 stoplight berg are you from? Charles and University throbs with culture! I suggest you go back to Squaresville. Living in any major metropolotan area exposes you to a huge variety of different people. It’s one of the best things about it, the ocassional panhandler aside. FTR, if you just can’t handle the city, next time a friend comes in there is a bus station out in White Marsh. Suburban, sterile and WHITE. Maybe you’d be more comfortable out there. Just get your degree and get the fuck outta my city, we don’t need whiners like you around.

9

I grew up (so to speak) in Baltimore county, and worked in the Inner Harbor area before it was cleaned up and developed. My grandparents lived within walking distance of Fells Point. Before moving back to Florida last year, Baltimore was my daughter’s favorite sailing destination. While there are neighborhoods I avoid, I enjoy going back to Baltimore… In fact, I’d rather be there than Jacksonville.

Regarding JHU - I was a Goucher girl back when Goucher was still all women. I went to a frat party at JHU. I was not impressed… Then again, I wasn’t too impressed with Goucher either - dropped out after a year.

10

**That’s exactly what I was going to suggest. It used to be by Golden Ring Mall, but it may have moved. Either way, it’s in the 'burbs, so you’ll feel safe.

And bashing a fine institution like JHU because someone is on the treadmill? Yeah, okay, JHU is a shitty school because some rude person wouldn’t let you get on the treadmill. :rolleyes:

**
Uh, why can’t you go walk around town?

Dave, should we go help him pack?

11

Gosh, fairychatmom I hope I didn’t hit on you at that frat party! Remember me? “Hi, what’s your name? What’s your major? Where’re you from? I must go get drunk now.”

Spent 8 years in Baltimore, attending the Hop, first for undergrad, then for med school. Not a party school, but as a midwest boy, I really came to love the city. Only burglarized once, and only scammed for $20 bucks on The Block once.

Goucher scared me, tho.

Qadgop

12

If you are so steamed off about the lack of treadmills, why not go pound your feet against the newly refurbished TRACK? It’s right next to the AC, is well lit an night (until it closes), and usually supports a good number of joggers, runners, walkers. etc. Like I said, it is BRAND NEW with one of those nice squooshy surfaces and everything.

And as for the JHU athletic facilities sucking ass - yes, they do. Maybe that’s why the AC is going to be closed from July 27 to November - so they can FIX IT! So the athletic facilities will be as nice as those at OTHER UNIVERSITIES!
All that aside, go JHU! I am an undergrad here and I love it. The only thing that truly sucks ass here is the administration. And what they are doing to the Beach (Qadgop, I wont tell you, because as an alum who likely enjoyed the Beach in his JHU-going days, it might make you cry, or something. Just know that it involves bulldozers) sucks also.

And yeah, I wouldnt want to wander around certain parts of the city wearing a fur stole and my diamond jewelry, but like weirddave said, there are plenty of cool places to go in B-more.

I come from a one-stoplight (literally) burg, and I love it here.

And Fairy Chat Mom - the frat partise are still nothing to get excited about.
Sneeze

13

… about that frat party - apart from being dragged there by my best friend because she was looking to get lucky or something, my main memory was of someone setting off a stink bomb. It was January and freezing out but being frozen was the preferable alternative to inhaling noxious fumes.

Qadgop - I’m certain you didn’t talk to me because no one did… I was what you’d call painfully shy - as lacking in self-assurance as one can be and still have a pulse. Once I escaped Goucher and joined the Navy, I evolved into the vivacious, dynamic, confident, unassuming, modest, low-key non-entity I am today… :wink:

I eventually graduated from a Big 10 University…

14

Well, my dad went to Hopkins, and I went to Goucher. I don’t know whether I was impressed or not by Goucher, but I finished anyhow. It was like ten minutes from my house but I did live on campus, so I guess it was the best of both worlds.

I still maintain that you got to watch yourself in Baltimore. I have always felt that the area around JHU is dicey, as well as pretty much anything around Fell’s Point with the exception of Little Italy. Even Roland Park, Homeland, Guilford and Bolton Hill, while they may be okay places to live within the city limits, are bordered by questionable areas. Same goes for Federal Hill and the Harborplace condos and apartments.

See, the exact downtown location where you live may be fine, but you still may have to come and go and buy your gas and groceries and stuff in some less-than-cool areas. I know that many people do like city life, but I just don’t want the hassle. I’ve settled pretty happily into life in the burbs. I consider Towson downtown now.

And it doesn’t really bother me when somebody studying at a local university slams Baltimore for being unsafe. To argue that it isn’t is just silly, at least in my opinion. But the trick about living in Baltimore is to look for the beauty in the ugliness, which in my opinion outweighs the more conventional “pretty” stuff. It’s there, and often hilarious. No shame in that. It’s just, well, Baltimore. I simply prefer to look at the party from a reasonable distance these days.

15

Yer right, my mistake. Golden Ring it is.

16

But, alas, Golden Ring Mall is no more. I went to many a birthday party there, at Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor. The whole mall is just a pile of rubble now. Why did they tear it down? Are they building something new?
(yeah, I know I’m hijacking the thread, but he insulted Baltimore, so I don’t care :wink: )

17

I dunno either. I, too spent many a b-day at Farrell’s. Remember when Golden Ring was unique because it had…gasp SEVEN theatres in one place??? My bet is that White Marsh killed it, but something’s gotta go there, rt. 40 and the Beltway is primo real estate.

18

Well, I hated both Baltimore and the Hop when I was there as an undergrad. I came to B-more from the south side of Chicago, so it seemed like a pretty normal place, although much dirtier than Chicago. I think my hatred had more to do with being broke, stressed, and without transportation than it did with any inherent suckiness of the JHU/Baltimore environment.

I’ve been back a few times, and really enjoyed Baltimore. And a few years of perspective plus going to grad school have raised my estimation of the education I got at the Hop.

Not much of a pit post, I admit, but the best I can do with a headache.

Quadgop, when were you there? And Sneeze, I hate to ask but what ARE they doing to the beach? I loved the beach!

19

Edgar Allan Poe, H.L. Mencken, and John Waters.

How can Baltimore not kick ass? A three-cheeked ass, maybe, but definitely kickin’.

20

This is my home you’re knockin here, punk.

Then go to the Travel Plaza. And the Downtown one isn’t so sketchy anyway.

Right. People arguing. In public. Heaven forfend :rolleyes:

Actually, that area isn’t so bad. Not great, but not too bad either. And I’m sure he’s used to it. Either that, or living a life of constant disappointment.

Oh no! Panhandlers. Gasp! No other city has ever had panhandlers before. Whatever shall you do?

And it’s a damn good thing, too.

That’s nice. Where I am, it is only open 11-4, or something like that. Note that these are all hours during which essentially every single student here for the summer is working. Boo hoo.

This is my hometown you’re talking about, and if you bothered to be anything other than a whining little tourist-student, you’d realize that it is a damn fine place to live.

Now, to be fair, there is very little to do if you’re underage and without transportation (though it’s improving; City Paper had a very interesting article on this about a year back). I don’t think you have this problem, so get off your ass and go to Fells Point.

They even have tugboats you can watch. I love the tugboats.