What is the plan to fix Baltimore’s Central Business District? | READER COMMENTARY

David Tufaro catalogs with brutal clarity many of the serious and long-standing problems that affect the Central Business District (CBD) and many other areas of Baltimore (“DLA Piper move continues neglect of central business district,” Sept. 4). He correctly points to the silence of business and civic leaders who for years have supported policies that promote short-term gain at the expense of long-term growth.

Decay of the CBD did not happen overnight. But it has accelerated recently as businesses and their customers became reluctant to venture downtown. When was the last time a major employer announced a move to the CBD or an expansion of its existing presence?

Governor Hogan’s proposal to relocate several thousand state employees to the CBD was welcome news. But in economic terms, it’s a Bandaid on a gaping wound. The CBD is in desperate need of new, private investment. There are literally millions of square feet of usable office space in the CBD that have been vacated in recent years. What is being done to attract new tenants?

Baltimore continues to suffer from feckless political leadership that refuses to grapple with this complex problem that was created over the course of many years. It will not be solved by “holistic” methods and platitudes.

Mr. Tufaro has brilliantly described the condition of the CBD. What is the plan to fix it?

— Benjamin Rosenberg

The writer is chairman of Rosenberg Martin Greenberg in Baltimore.

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