Should you be able to get off a bus or a train at Penn Station and walk to Mount Vernon, Bolton Hill or Charles Village without being attacked or even killed?
That's a question posed by a story in today's newspaper by Julie Scharper and Michael Dresser in the aftermath of Sunday's fatal stabbing of Stephen Pitcairn. The Johns Hopkins researcher was walking home from a bus when police said he was robbed and stabbed in the 2600 block of St. Paul St.
(Early this morning, a man was found slumped over a green lawn chair with a bullet in his head. The latest shooting occurred on East Layafette Ave., just off North Calvert Street, and just three blocks from Penn Station).
One of the great benefits to living in the city, and in places near downtown or in a vibrant neighborhood, is the ability to walk to the store or to get a haircut or grab a beer. Or even walk to work and walk home again. Take that away and a great part of city living is lost.
Today's story notes attempts to revive neighborhoods around the train station, such as the Station North arts district around North Avenue. But more needs to be done. The Johns Hopkins University campus should be connected to the arts institute to Charles Village, Mount Vernon and Bolton Hill.
The barrier right now is neighborhoods full of boarded houses and crime.
Above, Reggie Higgins, a resident on the 2600 block of St. Paul St., places flowers on the make-shift memorial to Pitcairn. Higgins was with Pitcairn when he died on the sidewalk in front of Higgins' home. The Sun's Kenneth K. Lam took the picture at a vigil Wednesday night attended by residents and city officials, including the mayor and police commissioner (details are in a previous blog on this site).