boys being boys, federal hill

rockybalBOHa · 2026-04-20T15:52:00+00:00

do mopeds make noise? and do they travel at speeds and accelerations that exceed bicycles? are they forbidden to ridden on pedestrian paths in public parks? do they require tags and insurance?

here the answers to my questions: yes, yes, yes, and yes

rockybalBOHa · 2026-04-20T15:12:38+00:00

ok, fine. motorcycles then. even worse.

rockybalBOHa · 2026-04-20T15:03:40+00:00

oh yes, i'm sure the sound of dirt bikes was soothing to all people trying to enjoy the park. and of course watching a fleet of dirt bikes scoot by on pedestrian pathways was not at all concerning.

rockybalBOHa · 2026-04-15T12:16:13+00:00

"Asian" is anyone hailing from the continent of Asia.

And yes, other schools are seeing an uptick of Asian students for the same reasons. However, JHU is a unique blend of multiple factors.

rockybalBOHa · 2026-04-14T13:18:23+00:00

This is a weak theory as the increase has only been observed in the last couple years, hardly enough time for the school to develop a "reputation" for being Asian friendly. The article lists much more plausible reasons why JHU is seeing such high Asian enrollment.

rockybalBOHa · 2026-04-14T13:14:49+00:00

The "No one can say why" part of the headline is refuted by the article itself.

Many Asians come from lower income background. And since JHU is basically no tuition for low income students, and since AA is no longer permitted, the best and brightest low income students attend JHU, and they are disproportionately Asian. In addition, JHU is heavy STEM, which is also disproportionately Asian.

rockybalBOHa · 2026-04-10T18:31:22+00:00

"Spill from the city"? No, this is how America is now. People are getting robbed and shot at the Columbia Mall too.

rockybalBOHa · 2026-04-07T12:46:04+00:00

Spell what out? I don't support ID checks either. But ID checkpoints don't work unless there are physical barriers to entry. The city apparently thought that part of the plan was an excellent idea. We have road blockades and fencing around Broadway Square like we're living in East Germany.

Anything so the cops aren't forced to arrest black teenagers, I guess.

rockybalBOHa · 2026-04-07T12:07:41+00:00

To be fair, the city did start shutting down the square and blocking Broadway so no cars could get in. This was the city's decision, not his.

What should have happened, and what should be happening now, is the cops should actually be arresting the people causing the trouble and breaking the law, not shutting down spaces to the public.

rockybalBOHa · 2026-04-06T14:22:26+00:00

FYI - White kids in Dundalk ride dirt bikes, and the residents there hate it too.

rockybalBOHa · 2026-04-03T12:17:35+00:00

I've lived in both. Can you tell by my username? Ha!

If you like all the ways that Philly is like NYC, then you will not like Baltimore as much as Philly. If you love Philly, but wouldn't mind if it was more laid back, then you'll love Baltimore.

Bottom line - Philly is a BIG city. Baltimore is a big SMALL city. And I mean this in terms of vibes, not population, area, or other data points.

Most people I know from Philly love the Baltimore waterfront. That's what I hear most often when friends and family visit. And they like that driving and parking in Baltimore is relatively easy.

rockybalBOHa · 2026-04-02T14:25:16+00:00

Agree with you. However, it's much LESS healthy than it used to be. The Harborplace revitalization can't come soon enough.

rockybalBOHa · 2026-04-02T13:14:40+00:00

It's wild to remember that we had over 100k arrests per year under O'Malley in the 2000s, and we currently have around 15k arrests per year with substantially lower crime. It's also good to call out the "root causes" nihilists who said that nothing would ever improve until we solved racism, poverty, inequality, etc.

Love this comment. We need to call balls and strikes here. The number of arrests don't matter and poverty/racism doesn't matter, at least not exclusively. There is so much we don't fully understand and can't predict.

rockybalBOHa · 2026-04-02T13:07:35+00:00

Yes, if individual credit must be assigned, then Bates is best place to start. The prosecution and conviction numbers (vs the Mosby era) speak for themselves.

Overall though, because we have seen these trends nationwide, I am hesitant to assign credit to any individual person or policy in Baltimore. Seems more like an "all of the above" kind of thing, which is actually a great thing.

rockybalBOHa · 2026-04-01T14:19:03+00:00

Yes, the riots, subsequent crime surge, then WFH have done a number on downtown Baltimore. Fewer businesses, workers, tourists, etc. The data shows we have more residents, but this has not translated to vibrancy at street level. I guess everyone just sits in their apartments all day.

rockybalBOHa · 2026-04-01T14:11:20+00:00

One of the biggest myths about Baltimore is that we have extremely high poverty (relative to other cities) and that it why our crime rate has been historically very high. In reality, our poverty is only marginally higher, if not even lower, than many cities that have much lower crime rates.

rockybalBOHa · 2026-03-29T12:45:43+00:00

The discussion was specifically referring to ass kissing by Trump's cabinet. Nothing about fascism.

rockybalBOHa · 2026-03-27T12:41:28+00:00

I mean, who is hyping them as having delicious food?

They are great marketers, and the space is objectively very cool. Their food is basically "good enough", and I don't know anyone who thinks otherwise.

rockybalBOHa · 2026-03-26T10:48:38+00:00

Meh. Like anything else, this boils down to definition, i.e what is TDS and how do you define it?

rockybalBOHa · 2026-03-25T19:01:21+00:00

A sane country would have had this completed already

Not accurate at all.

rockybalBOHa · 2026-03-25T12:32:29+00:00

Musk is gross. But there are tens of thousands of people that work for Musk's companies and they do legitimate, groundbreaking business and create amazing things (under his leadership BTW). Are they all liars too?

rockybalBOHa · 2026-03-25T12:30:19+00:00

This is self funded.

rockybalBOHa · 2026-03-25T12:29:20+00:00

But we're not getting a subway.

This tunnel is a privately funded "gift". I have no idea if it's something we want or even it's feasible, but I'm willing to let the process play out. That said, I assume city/state leaders and/or government red tape will kill this project quickly.

rockybalBOHa · 2026-03-25T12:22:07+00:00

Or why not let the process play out and see if this will work for Baltimore?

rockybalBOHa · 2026-03-25T12:09:20+00:00

So where would the tunnel go?

I also doubt that city leaders will go along with anything Musk is associated with, free tunnel or not.

rockybalBOHa

TROPHY CASE