First letter from a reader this morning, commenting on Sunday's column, is good for a smile:

 "Hi Dan: I'm a white guy who grew up right on the city line.  About 20 years ago, I was attacked on an MTA bus (thankfully no serious damage; he was drunk, and I wasn't), but if I'd given up on the city because of it, I'd have missed a lot of great things and so would the kids I have now.  My wife and I had our first date at the old Cultured Pearl and the pre-renovation Charles theater  and we've been married 14 years next month.
 "I saw what the harbor looked like before it was fixed up, and I used to pick up deliveries at one of the nasty warehouses that stood somehere in what is now Camden Yards.
There will always be people who think small and believe that all efforts to improve things will fail.  They have made AM talk radio unlistenable.  Don't let them get you down, and please keep on reminding us that it's better to try.  One day I want to hear Springsteen sing, 'I've got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack,' here instead of down in DC.'"  

-- William Lynch