Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Heart Breaking

I loved Baltimore and vacationed several times there.  If you're so inclined, do a blog search, several photos will come up, posted here when I was doing "classic photography" weekends.

There was a lot to do-- the Inner Harbor, Camden Yards, the Shot Tower, the BromoSeltzer Art Tower, the National Aquarium, the Science Museum, the Poe grave, shopping, entertainment, boats...

It was far, without being too far.  A nice and easy drive.  Affordable.

It breaks my heart to see the city ripped apart by violence and on fire.

I'm watching riots on streets I've been on.  I'm reading Tweets about destruction at places I know.

I know people want, and deserve, answers on the death of a man in police custody.  But, what does setting the city on fire prove?  What does it solve?

Before this, Baltimore had its problems, problems a lot of other American cities have-- crime, poverty, aging infrastructure, congestion, transportation issues...

Yes, most of the current problems are away from the tourist areas.  Still, I'm sure organizations considering convention locations, and families planning vacations are thinking twice about Baltimore today.  The economy will take hit, and the downward spiral goes in to high gear.

This isn't helping.  Days of violence can send Baltimore down a long slope, and it will be difficult, maybe impossible, to climb back up.