First of all, Georgetown is just as unsafe, with purse snatchings and muggings right around the corner. Secondly, I highly doubt this is a real 15 year old from Italy judging by their grammar and word choices.

This is either a BS story or one incredibly stupid family. To get to Berea while avoiding the Inner Harbor entirely, they would have had to drive through the Harbor Tunnel, exit at eastbound Pulaski Highway, make a U-Turn, turn right on Monument St and then make another right on Edison Highway.

I don't excuse the fact that they were visiting from another country. You can see downtown from Pulaski Highway. All they had to do was drive straight down Pulaski and Orleans to get to downtown. And if they were so frightened, how did they remember that they were in the Berea neighborhood? Were they jotting down notes while observing the purse snatchings and hookers?

What's most surprising is that the family got a Volvo at Hertz! It sounds like there are many exaggerations in her email. I lived in the city (in an iffy neighborhood) for 5 1/2 years and never saw purse snatchings or any other violent crime. Drug dealing is everywhere in the city, sadly. I came home from work one day at 5 pm and there were dealers in my front yard. The writer is accurate that many houses are boarded up and the streets are usually filled with litter. Baltimore can be very ugly, which is a real shame. Not only does Baltimore have a huge crime problem, it also has a major PR problem.

I had friends visiting from Michigan and while they didn't miss the Inner Harbor when driving in from I-395, they did miss their hotel and ended up deep in East Baltimore as well. Luckily, my friend is an avid photographer who appreciated the boarded up buildings and urban decay. Nevertheless it was a nerve-wracking experience for my friends and their three kids. Let's not mince words -- many areas of east and west Baltimore are visual disaster zones that we as residents may be blind to.

By the way, Hertz rents Volvos. They also rent Jaguars, Toyotas, and other imports depending on the market. This is in part a legacy of Hertz having been owned by Ford, which also owned Volvo and Jag.

3 purse snatchings!!!! Wow, I've been all over Baltimore and have yet to witness even one purse snatching. Are there 3 people in East Baltimore that even carry a purse?

I saw a purse snatching a few months ago. The culprit was run down by a vampire. I lie to you not.

I have often thought over the years that much of this city (my life long home) is like a third world country, so it does not shock me that someone from Italy (albeit perhaps a more affluent background) would think this... But let's see if anyone else gets overly defensive and misses the point in publishing the letter. It's the view of a 15 year old girl. It may be a little exagerated, but are you guys really missing the point? Oh, and yes, a 15 year old bilingual girl can have good grammer - especially if she is not attending schools in this city.

L.N.,

I'm not being defensive. As I stated earlier, it doesn't make sense for somebody driving from DC to end up in Berea instead of Downtown Baltimore. If they were driving on Pulaski Highway (which I assume they were given their convoluted route), they would have seen the downtown area DIRECTLY in front of them. I don't sugarcoat the bad things that happen in Baltimore (e.g. Zach Sowers, Stephen Pitcairn), but I still stand by my claim that this story is either BS or the Mapellis are not very bright people.

I am not discounting her view of the City, but for her family to end up on East Lafayette is BS. You have to go throgh downtown to get on the east side. I lived in Baltimore City and I have never seen three purse snatching in one day.

The fact that her family was lost added to the stressful situation. There ARE a lot of boarded up houses on East Lafayette. It's true, there are 'big, big Black men' in East Baltimore. Last time I visited, there were 'big, big Black men' in Georgetown, too!

Fear can lead to sensationalization. To wit: I've lived in Baltimore for decades and I may have witnessed three purse snatchings during my lifetime. How was Chiara able to see three in an afternoon?

The fact that her family was lost added to the stressful situation. There ARE a lot of boarded up houses on East Lafayette. It's true, there are 'big, big Black men' in East Baltimore. Last time I visited, there were 'big, big Black men' in Georgetown, too!

Fear can lead to sensationalization. To wit: I've lived in Baltimore for decades and I may have witnessed three purse snatchings during my lifetime. How was Chiara able to see three in an afternoon?

Peter,

Did you attempt to verify Chiara's story before posting this on the blog? Did she leave a phone number? If so, the least you could have done was to call her and ask her a couple of follow up questions that could help you to determine whether or not her account was accurate.

Again, I'm not discounting the crime problem in our city, but I think that you should have done some research before telling her story.

The point is that exaggerations, voids itself of credibility. Just from being misdirected in one part of the city, she was able to see and hear that 85% of the whole city was a Ghetto, that a staggering 90% is boarded. And she was also, able to determine from her brief misdirected stay here, that just five, yes five blocks East, West, or North of the Inner Harbor are war zones. Lets see- If one were to travel five blocks North of the Inner Harbor, one would have barley entered into Mount Vernon- not Ghetto, not Boarded, not a high crime area. If one were to travel blocks east from the Inner Harbor, one would pass through Little Italy, Harbor East and farther on to fells point- not Ghetto, not Boarded, not a high crime area. And to the West is the same- five blocks in that direction, one would arrive, at Camden Yards and one block farther West is Ridgely's Delight. Maybe she witnessed a drug deal. But Prostitution "everywhere" and three purse snatches in one night. First of all I don't think that theirs, a Purse Snatcher in this city that has snatched three purses in a night or a resident of this city that's lived here their whole life, that has witnessed three purse snatches in a night. But this girl managed to be witness to three of them. LOL!

Black people of Baltimore, please stop being such big, big men, you're scaring away the racist 15 year old Italians.

This is a real shame. All she saw were big black people. May this be a lesson to the city of Baltimore, that perhaps one day we can strategically plant white people in order to maintain a safe appearance.

TIF: I saw that purse snatching with the vampire. I'll never forget it. Sort of like Twilight Baltimore Edition.

OK. I'll hit this from both sides. I'm white and from NJ. I've had occassion to stop in Baltimore 2 or 3 times. Once I went to the innver harbor and had a great walk round and a nice outdoor dinner. The other 2 times were basic gas and grub stops. I will say that the 2 gas and grub stops were vastly different to the inner harbor and I did not feel 100% safe. It had nothing to do with black vs. white. I've lived and gone to school in Africa and know what it is like to be the one white kid among 50 black kids. It had to do with the ghetto feel and me being in a decent car looking like an obvious traveler from out of town. Baltimore is NOT on my list of cities to take my kids to. I've also been to Georgetown a few times. Yes, there is crime there (hell, there's crime everywhere) but I think the point of differentiation is that when you drive down the street you don't feel overwhelmed by a feeling of fear and dread.

People who live in an area are often blinded to it. When I visit the neighborhood where I grew up I am often shocked by how normal and nice I viewed it then and how much worse I feel about it when I see it now even though it hasn't changed at all.

I lived in Baltimore for many years and did experience some crime. My car was stolen and a stray bullet found its' way into the window of my boyfriend's car. But inspite of those unfortunate occurances I felt safe in the city. I used to walk to class from Charles Village to UB in the evenings and never felt concerned for my safety. Perhaps part of that was naivety and perhaps part was luck, or maybe people really aren't all out to get each other.

85% is ghetto...90% is boarded up...LOL...all this observation just from riding a few block....give me a break.....sounds like somebody watch too much of "The Wire"....