Well, if it sucks so much, why don't you just leave?

english language much?

Dan, what would prompt you to give this more than a glance before deleting it from your inbox? And why, praytell, would you make it a subject in your blog? What a waste of 60 seconds that was.

Tell John Rocker that he's free to leave anytime he wants.

First off...hello? English lesson anyone? My 10 year old nephew can right a better response than that.

Secondly, no shopping? How about Fells Point, Harbor Place, the Galleria, Mt. Vernon, TowsonTowne Center, White Marsh...to name a few. Also, no reason to come here? Ummm, Walter's Art Gallery, Fort McHenry (you know, we DID save the United States there, in combination with over 300,000 Baltimorean volunteers at Patterson Park), Fells Point, the Zoo, B&O Railroad Museum, the Sports Legends Museum, the Babe Ruth Museum, Ravens/Orioles, Harbor Place, the Flag House, Edgar Allan Poe's House & Museum, the Aquarium, The Reginald Lewis Museum of MD African American History, the Science Center...shall I go on?

You are also less than 30 min. from D.C. or Annapolis, less than 1 1/2 hours from Philly, and 3 hours away from Ocean City.

Thirdly...our city is going to fail? I believe we have had one of the hottest housing and job (anyone asked this gentleman why he's here?) markets in the country over the past 5 years. Established in 1729, we are the 12th largest city in the United States (Philly's the 5th). Oh, and Baltimore is one of the largest port cities in the U.S....and perhaps one of the most crucial because of it's geographical location and ability to support the Mid-Atlantic region, the East Coast as a whole, and the Mid-West.

"See OK there we know where certain people belong black white Asian puerto rican. See here you can be shot any where any time." I'll chalk this up to poor grammar and not assume this person is a self-proclaimed racist. As far as boundaries go, I take it they have never been to Greektown or Little Italy. What makes Baltimore great and unique, however, is its diversity. There ARE NO BOUNDARIES. We are a melting pot of different cultures.

Finally, on any given night you have hundreds of bars and restaurants to choose from so that you never have to go to the same place twice!

Not to get personal, but I've been to Philly several times. It's dirty, dark & depressing, the people can be extraordinarily rude and crass (the "City of Brotherly Love"...yeah, right), and the job market is sub-par. I'll take Charm City any day...and I believe someone needs to do some more homework...

Dan - I live in Baltimore and work in DC also, and while your last respondent doesn't represent all transplants who head down the I-95 corridor (thank God), one of his comments does call attention to one of Baltimore's biggest problems, that so many young people and professionals who have moved into the city over the past 5 to 10 years have no plans to start - or keep - families in the city. Sure, crime is one reason, but the biggest reason has to be lack of quality schools. This is, of course, a vicious cycle - families with money won't stay in Baltimore b/c of lousy schools and high property taxes, schools won't get better without an expanded tax base (and better management), property taxes won't be lowered without an expanded tax base, and the tax base won't expand if families don't stay in the city. I'm pretty sure it's not about the lack of an NBA team, but I could be wrong.

I do find it amazing that the 'Yuppie Hell' writer, who doesn't want to mingle with the unclean masses in lower tax brackets, would want to live in Baltimore at all. Sounds like he needs to move out to the suburbs, where everyone is economically segreated into their own sub-development enclaves.

Sorry Dan, but I don't understand why you posted this. None of this is factually correct. The syntax and punctuation, or lack thereof is terrible; I can't understand most of what he or she is trying to say.
No money coming in? How about Johns Hopkins Hospital, main and Bayview campuses? How about EBDI? State Center? Did this person see that we are going to have an Urban Outfitters in Harborplace? Only real cities have an Urban Outfitters (at least in the world of retail.)
Looks like somebody only reads the sports section of the paper...hardly a yuppie.

To the author of above email:

Thank you. Thanks for buying your "3bed 3 bath town home" in federal hill and contributing to the recent real-estate boom in Baltimore. Thank you for patronizing wonderful establishments like Mother's, and the other bars in Canton and Fells Point. Thank you for visiting the inner harbor, even if it was just for an hour. Thank you for acknowledging that Ravens fans aren’t like other fans. This is entirely true, assuming your strongest point of reference for other fans are Eagle’s fans, because Raven’s fans stand by their team and its players. We don’t boo our best players even if they have a bad game or two (e.g. McNabb). Finally, I want to personally thank you for deciding to not live here forever. Because we do not want you raising your children here to be as racist and delusional about their own entitlement as you are. In short, thanks for spending your money here for 6 years and thanks for not dwelling long enough to breed your racist ignorance.

Ps. We will be using your money to develop all that shopping you wanted up on the west side by the Hippodrome. Come back any time to visit and spend your money, just don’t stay for too long.

Sincerely,
A life time Baltimore local

Wow. I don't know even what to say.

I live in Montgomery County, Md. and work in Baltimore 2-3 days week, since I am technical director for major corporation and this ranks as the most ignorant email I have read in a long time.

Every city has it's problems, but this person has taken his ranting to a disgusting level.

I love Baltimore, it's history and it's sports. If he feels that strongly about the city, he needs to find another line of employment somewhere else.

Dear Dan,

That reads about like I'd expect from a Philly transplant, although his fellow Brotherly Lovers might request that he stop perpetuating the stereotype.

Sincerely,
A 4th Generation Baltimorean

Umm...if he hates Baltimore so much, why has he been here for 6 years?? There are plenty of other cities to live in closer to DC then Baltimore.
If Baltimore didn't spend money on sports, thenhow come I have to drive all over the place to find a specific sports item I am looking for because all the other places are sold out???
I have lived in Baltimore my entire life and have never once thought about leaving.

The city certainly may not survive inarticulate yucks like him...

I think this person has some really good points, I mean they could have expressed them differently but good points none the less. The shopping in the so called downtown area is obselete, no public transportation at all. And for myself being a police captain who worked in Baltimore now back in NYC Baltimore is more corrupt in govt than the regular people know. For all the people who wont say it but think it everyday, let's face facts it's not him being a racist at all Baltimore has a major problem with youn black males from 15-30. It all stems from the worst schools in the entire country.

I could not have said it any better. Thank you A Life Time Baltimore Local (Kyle Bates).

That's got to be fake. Who would brag about being friends with Norris? And the blatant reference to the SUV and townhome stereotype begs to be ridiculed.

James Carville once said that Pennsylvania is Pittsburgh and Philadelphia with Alabama in-between. I suppose that Carville never visited South Philly- otherwise, he would have found bigots like the grammatically challenged author and the person who owns Geno's Steaks (who refuses to serve patrons who are unable to speak English).

Wow. I live in Glen Burnie and I spend quite a bit of time of Baltimore. I just never saw Baltimore quite the way this guy did. I guess this person hasnt taken the time to see Baltimore. Im sure the only place that hes been is to the Inner Harbor, which ok...can be looked at in an hour. But, there are other places in Baltimore that you can see. He obviously hasnt taken the time out to find these places. Its amazing how someone who hasnt taken a look at an entire city or researched the city, can make a judgement on how the city is going to "fail" as he said. And 6 years? Wow...I guess its time for you to leave the city or the state for that point and move to Jersey, or Philly or NYC for that matter. Of course, since there are no black kids selling drugs. It makes you wonder dont it?

Dan, I am really sorry I didn't buy that Balmerese book tonight so that I could fit this idiot's stereotype. Me being a product of the public school system and all. The only correct point he makes is about the schools. That's why many decent, hardworking people make sacrifices for their children and put them in the private and parochial schools in the area. This person obviously doesn't understand what sacrifice means. Baltimore is a blue collar town and we are proud of that "classification", especially if it means a higher tax bracket would put us "up there" with this very grammar challenged Philly person. We have put one son through and another son is attending Catholic school. After reading the comments one has to wonder which city, Baltimore or Philly, has the problem with their schools. I work with the public and have met many of Baltimore's "transplants". I can honestly say that 99.9% of them love Baltimore. Oh yeah, does he really live in Federal Hill, or was he stupid enough to listen to the realtor and buy in South Baltimore? There is a difference! We do have boundries. They also weren't smart enough to buy here before the boom. You could have bought your "3bedroom 3bath townhome" (here in Baltimore they are called ROW HOUSES) for probably three times less, maybe more, than what you paid, depending on how much of a sucker, uh I mean, pretencious jerk, oh did I say that, you are. So here we are again, which city has the bigger school problem? Seems to me that six years ago you made a low class Baltimorean rich.
Dan, how much do you miss Mamie's?!
I am a sixth generation Baltimorean.