The benches proclaim it "The Greatest City in America," yet the murder rate per capita is twice the national average and it has the 3rd highest reported AIDS cases per 100,000 people. So which is it? Baltimore is a complex city, mostly associated with death, drugs and crime in the United States, but beloved to those who live within its bounds.
If nothing else, Baltimore is brutally honestadn in-your-face. There's no ignoring and denying it. Some consider it an urban hell -- we want to see white picket fences and golden retrievers, but that's not what America is all about.
Craig Wilson of USA Today, echoes this: "I know a lot of people don't like the city. It's gritty ... But I've always been fond of Baltimore for exactly that reason. It's real. The people are real, the wood benches at the train station are real, the blue-collar feel is real and oddly welcoming."
In the Limelight
Most TV shows are filmed in L.A., but "Homicide: Life on the Street" (1993-1999) was completely shot in Baltimore, "home of the misdemeanor homicide." Baltimore becomes almost a character in the show, though people don't always look favorably upon it. Risley Tucker, a murder suspect in one episode, summed up his version -of a Baltimor-ean: "Say Baltimore, and I'll tell you within ten blocks where you were born. Yeah, you from here. You got that home grown look. The not-too-southern, not-too-northern, not on the ocean but still on the water look, with maybe a touch of inbreeding."
Many movies have also been filmed in Baltimore or had major scenes filmed here, such as Sleepless in Seattle (1993), There's Something About Mary (1998), Runaway Bride (1999), The Replacements (2000).
Baltimorean Literature
Authors have also been drawn to Baltimore, one example is Pulitzer Prize winner Anne Tyler, who has set many of her novels in Baltimore and focused them on middle-class families. Patricia Jones' novel Passing is set in Baltimore (the term "passing" refers to light-skinned African-Americans who can pass for white). Laura Lippman, a Baltimore Sun reporter turned mystery writer, sets almost all of her thrillers in Baltimore and said: "It's so rich. People expect that of a place like New York. But Baltimore?"
Baltimore has also been a common setting for children's books, as can be seen by author Colby Rodowsky who has set his books The Turnabout Shop (1998) and Not My Dog (1999) in Baltimore. Jane Leslie Conly's books Crazy Lady! (1993) and While No One Was Watching (1998), along with Priscilla Cummings's Journey (1997) and A Face First (2001) add onto the list.
Played with Music
Songs have also featured the city, such as the musical Hairspray's song "Good Morning Baltimore," whose lines read, "Good morning, Baltimore. There's the flasher who lives next door. There's the bum on his bar room stool. They wish me luck on my way to school ... I love you, Baltimore."
There is also Counting Crow's song "Raining in Baltimore," Coldplay's "Streets of Baltimore," Roger Miller's "Tomorrow Night in Baltimore" and more. The most uplifting song about Baltimore, and maybe even a little too optimistic, has to be Tori Amos's "Baltimore" -- "It's so nice to live here. I'm glad this is my home. I've got a homestead on Baltimore Street. It's someplace to call my own ... I've got Oriole Baseball on my mind. On my mind in Baltimore."
Amos' song would surprise most, for it is not what is usually imagined when people think of Baltimore. But maybe instead of portraying the city as it is today, it is more of a dream and wish of what Baltimore can be and the possibilities that this city holds.
-- compiled by Natalie Baer
