Baltimore is a wonderful town with great people. I've recently moved here from the District of Columbia because of all the ways Baltimore isn't Washington. And regarding Baltimore's alleged inferiority complex, even some relatively small changes might make a big difference ("Promote this house," Nov. 4):
Trash on the streets and improper trash disposal in alleys are a blight when they occur. Couldn't more public trash cans and dumpsters be installed (as they are in D.C.) and be emptied more regularly?
And couldn't more clean-up crews be deployed on the streets and alleys (job creation!)? Trash is depressing: how can you take pride in your city when the city's streets are full of it? Eventually public behavior — littering and dumping — would change if those littering see clean streets and alleys.
Secondly, the people soliciting money along Martin Luther King Boulevard represent a depressing black eye for Baltimore. Out-of-town visitors enter the city this way when they come for sporting and cultural events, and it's their first impression of the city if they arrive along that route.
Homeless or not, can't any alternative assistance be provided to the people on MLK? Isn't their panhandling subject to some sort of public law enforcement?
I know these are small things, but small things lead to big things, and small things can be fixed first.
Frank Pessoa, Baltimore