Baltimore woke up feeling pretty good about itself, brushing off naysayers and poised to tackle what lies ahead.
A city and region that can be the butt of insults and an example of failed systems is showing that its residents generally support a way forward as championed by a crop of new leaders.
Voters in this week’s primary embraced a positive view in re-electing Mayor Brandon Scott, a 40-year-old who received criticism for much of his term for being a good-hearted guy who was overmatched by the job. But in the past year, Scott found his footing – developing a strategy for squeegee workers on corners and being a forceful voice after the collapse of the Key Bridge.
Scott’s near 10-point victory in what was long seen as a tight primary race against former mayor Sheila Dixon was foreshadowed in polling that improbably captured a surging optimism about Baltimore.
In a recent survey for the Baltimore Banner, 64 percent of voters said they were either “optimistic” or “very optimistic” about the future of Baltimore, compared with 31 percent who said they felt pessimistic. The percentage of voters who said the city was on the “right track” grew by 75 percent in six months.
The Baltimore Sun captured similar sentiments, calling the growth in the number of people who now say Baltimore is on the “right track” a “marked shift” from four years ago. Pollsters say those figures meant that incumbents in charge largely had an electoral edge.
“At their hearts, people want the city to do better,” said Mileah Kromer, director of the Sarah T. Hughes Center for Politics at Goucher College which runs the Banner’s poll. “The desire for things to get better is what drives their accountability. Nobody is giving up, even in the darkest days.”
Scott is a Democrat, and it’s a near certainty that Democrats prevail in Baltimore’s general elections.
Terrell Boston Smith, a Baltimore entrepreneur and business owner who has long been involved in politics, said that at a recent event he hosted for Scott, friends told him the mayor seemed more confident and poised than ever.
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that there is a direction for the city, and a plan,” Boston Smith said. It now appears, he said, that in Baltimore “we can do more than one thing at once,” balancing priorities in taking on crime, youth recreation, and growth and development.
For those looking at Baltimore from the outside – as a place for investment, “the reward is outweighing the risk,” Boston Smith said. “And you can sense that.”
What is driving this buoyancy? Four years ago, two out of three voters told The Sun’s pollsters that crime and safety was their number one concern. That proportion has dropped, nearly by half.
Few statistics grab the public consciousness like homicides, which dropped below 300 in 2023 for the first time in 15 years. Crime is “less of a pulsating concern,” said Steve Raabe, head of OpinionWorks, who has been involved in polling for the Sun for years.
“Other issues are starting to emerge,” Raabe said, like infrastructure and education. Raabe called it “signs of a healthier city.”
The story of Baltimore won’t be re-written in one election. To be sure, the issues that Raabe mentions are challenging: the public schools graduation rate is abysmal; roads are crumbling throughout a city where property taxes are high and population losses continue. But it’s possible that more good news is seeping into the public consciousness.
The Greater Baltimore Committee, the organization of private-sector groups “dedicated to fostering the prosperity of the Greater Baltimore region,” is in the process of hiring a nationally known marketing firm to create “a new narrative around the region’s civic progress.”
In its solicitation, it noted that Baltimore “was designated by the Economic Development Administration as one of 31 regional tech hubs, positioning the region for a share of $10 billion in federal investment. Last year, more than 106 startups received more than $1.3 billion in venture capital funding. The Baltimore Region’s Downtown core is also slated for an unprecedented level of commercial development, with more than $6.5 billion in planned projects aimed at reimagining the waterfront, revitalizing development assets, and strengthening manufacturing and industrial activity.”
Not far from the pending Inner Harbor waterfront project, Baltimore is embracing the new majority owner of the Baltimore Orioles, private equity billionaire David Rubenstein, who is winning over fans with his low-key and mirthful appearances at Camden Yards as the team keeps winning on the field.
Washington music fans are lamenting that the best acts are now bypassing the nation’s capital, and choosing to play at the newly renovated CFG Bank Arena, in a downtown area filled with bright new display signs. Axios wrote last week about how Billie Eilish, Pearl Jam and The Black Keys are “all skipping D.C. for Charm City.”
Near the arena, Elle Odoi is a business owner who recently told the Baltimore Beat of her confidence in becoming the first commercial tenant on a long-abandoned block of North Howard Street, with support from a program that boosts Black-owned businesses. “We grew up in Baltimore, and so I remember how amazing that space used to be and how many businesses were there,” Odoi told the Beat. “It would be just a blessing if we are one of the impacts that allows it to come back.”
Baltimore’s supporters have been searching for this type of storyline – something to push aside “The Wire” and the Gun Trace Task Force and Freddie Gray and mayors marred by scandal.
At City Hall, voters have decided that Scott has played enough of a role in these developments to warrant another four years. [They felt differently about incumbent City Council President Nick Mosby, who suffered a major defeat and was bested by two candidates, including election winner Zeke Cohen.]
On the day after the election, Scott and others will keep working to keep the story – and the city – on the right track.
I don’t know who Nitkin talked to, but most people I know in Baltimore, are not feeling optimistic. Car thefts and car jackings are out of control. Crime is still far too high. In addition to high taxes, there is going to be another rate hike in our already high water bills. Only around 20% of eligible voters turned out to vote Tuesday. That is hardly a mandate. As a lifelong Baltimorean, I fear for our cities future under Brandon Scott.
I don’t know who Nitkin talked to, but most people I know in Baltimore, are not feeling optimistic. Car thefts and car jackings are out of control. Crime is still far too high. In addition to high taxes, there is going to be another rate hike in our already high water bills. Only around 20% of eligible voters turned out to vote Tuesday. That is hardly a mandate. As a lifelong Baltimorean, I fear for our cities future under Brandon Scott.