I am tired of Baltimore trying to build itself up by disparaging other cities. Reporter Chris Kaltenbach's article about Edgar Allen Poe may seem like fun, but it is nothing more than another in a long list of attacks aimed at Boston or New York by the Baltimore media ("In Baltimore and Boston, competing claims to E.A. Poe," Jan. 7).
Baltimore is at best a third-rate city. People here need to accept this and move on.
Facts: In 2012, the population of Baltimore was 625,474. Its murder rate was 34.9 per 100,000. This was the fourth highest in the nation among cities with 250,000 people or more.
By comparison, Boston's murder rate was just 9 per 100,000 — even though its population is almost exactly the same as Baltimore's (630,648).
By any measure, Boston ranks as a world-class city. Baltimore doesn't even come close.
Even if the Ravens defeat the Patriots, the bottom line is that one still has to live and work somewhere. Why any sane person would choose Baltimore over Boston defies logic. Even in sports, Baltimore lags.
Boston has successful franchises in all four major professional sports. Baltimore long ago lost its NBA team and couldn't hold on to its AHL Skipjacks (they ended up in Portland, Me.).
The Baltimore media should confine itself to items about Baltimore where Baltimore is judged on its own merits.
Tony Sarcone, Forest Hill