Once and for all, which city is better: Baltimore or Washington DC.

[madinmaryland]

Please settle this between turtlensue and PeterU.

Thanks!

[TZ]

1. Nations Capitol, most powerful city in the world....

Smithsonian monuments....ALL FREE. No contest.

[Aristus]

2. I dunno, but they are both subject to annoying mispronunciations:

"Ball-mer" and "Warshington, D.C."

[LynneSin]

3. You know I've lived within 2-3 hours of Baltimore for pretty much all of my life

and all I can say is it's a pretty view from my car when I'm driving on down to Washington DC

[madinmaryland]

10. So Baltimore is a "fly-by" city for you? Except when you are stuck

at a tollbooth waiting to go through the Fort McHenry Tunnel??

:hi:

[LynneSin]

29. Is that the one that takes me to the BWParkway - I prefer the Parkway into DC and not 95

but that's just me.

[madinmaryland]

33. I think either tunnel will get you to the BW Parkway, though one is a bit more convoluted.

A funny story, shortly after we moved down here, my wife had been given instructions to take the BW Parkway to her destination. The problem is they labeled it "295" instead of the BW Parkway. She ended up driving into the NSA off of Rt 32 and the BW parkway and having to ask the guards how to get out of there. She called me up hysterically saying that she was afraid they were going to arrest her.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

34. Harbor Tunnel will get you to the BW Parkway easily. nt

[LynneSin]

35. It's the same thing with the Schuylkill Expressway and the Blue Route

You can't find the name of those highways anywhere. Schuylkill is 76 that pass to the west of Philadelphia along the Schuylkill River and eventually drops off into the PA Turnpike at King of Prussia. The Blue Route got it's name a very interesting way. For years, almost a decade, there was a blue dashed mark on the Pennsylvania Map of where the proposed Highway 495 would be built which was an extension of the North East Extension part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and would start at Norristown and dump you off just south of the Airport thus bypassing all the Philadelphia traffic. When it finally opened (cutting 45 minutes off my trip to Ocean City Maryland), the highway was stuck with the name of Blue Route

[Tommy_Carcetti]

4. Washington was swampland when Baltimore was a bustling port city.

Therefore, Washington is nothing but a suburb of Baltimore. A bad one at that. I mean, other than the Capitol and the Washington monument, there is nothing to the Washington skyline. Nothing. Case closed.

[TZ]

5. BWAHAHA!

Thats pretty weak! I think we ought to consider the LAST 150 years or so shouldn't we?

[Iggo]

6. I thought they were the same city.

:hide:

[Symarip]

7. Baltimore has the Kitty Kat Bar

+1 Murder City

[Mutley]

60. #3 murder city, thank you very much.

It's #1 for heroin addicts and gonorrhea. :rofl:

[KamaAina]

8. Yes.

They actually complement one another quite nicely: DC's affluence next to B-town's authenticity.

There are even people who commute from Charm City to DC, because of another A-word: "affordability".

[TZ]

9. Thats because DC's got the best paying jobs...

Much better than Baltimore...

[mainegreen]

11. That's like asking which armpit is better, the left or the right.

However, having lived in Baltimore, my hatred of Baltimore is more personal. Plus Baltimore killed Poe, mysteriously. Need I say more?

[AlCzervik]

12. San Francisco.

[LeftyMom]

24. I like your answer.

Though of DC or Baltimore, DC wins based on better food alone. It's not quite up there with the city or New York in terms of sheer concentration of really great places to eat, but it's not far off that mark.

[AlCzervik]

26. Sf has become my favorite city in the world, Boston second and London 3rd.

SF actually feels more like home to me than Boston.

[LeftyMom]

27. San Francisco really spoils me for traveling.

"This is what San Francisco would be like if it were bigger and nobody ever washed anything." - Me, to JackBeck, about New York City.

[AlCzervik]

32. my sister and her husband just bought a place in Manhattan, she's all over me to

visit for a long weekend.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

28. Oh hell no.

What food is intrinsically Washingtonian? Nothing.

On the other hand, Baltimore crabcakes--who does them better?

[TZ]

40. You can find just about any time of international cuisine here.

I doubt that Baltimore does Ethiopian, Vietnamese, Thai and others quite as well. Yes you have little Italy and Seafood..but you can get those Crabcakes in DC just as well...

[madinmaryland]

43. If you want real internation cuisine, go to New York City!

[TZ]

44. Oh I know thats great cuisine

I've eaten there..although I still think the Deli's in Cleveland are just ever so slightly better than NY's..Did you ever eat at Lenny and Corky's?

[Ikonoklast]

62. 'Corky and Lenny's, please.

Finest deli on Earth. Best corned beef sandwich ever made.

And I never fail to stop there when I get to the East Side.

[TZ]

65. YUM!WANT!

Now I'm having a big time craving for a corned beef sandwich and chocolate phosphate!

[Ikonoklast]

68. They need a sign on the door to warn people that the food served

at Corky and Lenny's is physically addictive after only eating there one time.

The roast beef with chopped liver and coleslaw will make you believe in a Higher Power.





*Threadjack Over*

:hi:



Now I'm hungry, dammit.

[KamaAina]

78. Actually I once had some nice Thai in B'town's Charles Village

The place was run by a mixed-race couple, as reflected in the name: "Thairish"!

[madinmaryland]

30. ALERTING FOR THREAD-JACKING!! We are only discussing the two listed

cities!

:hi:

[Unvanguard]

13. Washington DC > Baltimore any day.

Protests, sightseeing, Metro....

[Tommy_Carcetti]

17. Also keep in mind that Washington's NFL team thinks so lowly of the city...

...they play in Maryland, just to be closer to Baltimore. Posers.

[TZ]

23. Actually that was one person--Jack Kent Cooke.

Who wanted to stay in the City but got so tired of the politics he found a place outside of the city.
There is actually talk of building a stadium near RFK and bringing them back...

[Unvanguard]

25. Good riddance to them. Everything else > (American) football. n/t

[Tommy_Carcetti]

14. Baltimore=Actual living, breathing city with skyscrapers and such.

Washington= 2-3 square miles of fascinating culture surrounded by miles and miles of ungodly urban blight and suburban sprawl.

[madinmaryland]

16. Uhhmmm....

Baltimore = 1-2 square miles of fascinating culture surrounded by miles and miles of ungodly urban blight and suburban sprawl.

[TZ]

18. You've never been outside of the federal area have you?

There's a lot of charming truly beautiful neighborhoods. And lots of trees and green spaces....I have had relatives living on Capitol Hill for many years and its a really nice area-then there is trendy Georgetown, also a beautiful part of the city.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

20. I've been through Anacostia. That's about as Washington as Washington gets.

And that' ain't pretty.

[TZ]

21. Thats the worst of the worst.

You can't judge the city by that. Really, in the last 10 years alot of other parts of DC have gotten much nicer..anacostia...well..every city has its bad parts.

[Arugula Latte]

15. I lived in DC -- great town, lots of free stuff to do.

I like Baltimore, though; it's got a quirky retro feel to it.

[blueraven95]

19. Baltimore, definitely

have you ever tried to get around D.C.? Baltimore's maze of one-way streets and dead-ends are nothing on D.C.'s confusion.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

22. Baltimore police dramas=Homicide, The Wire

Washington police dramas.....um....um....um....wait, I think there was something with Craig T. Nelson a couple of years ago. No, not Coach. Something else. And...um....I dont' know.

I mean, come on, both Baltimore and Washington have their crime issues, but at least Baltimore makes good TV out of it.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

31. Look at the street grid: Washington isn't a city. It's a rat maze for humans.

Fact: At Dupont Circle, there is a large wedge of cheese for anyone who finds it.

[Shakespeare]

69. DC is one of the most intelligently laid-out cities I've ever been in.

If you know how the grid layout works--and it's shockingly simple and straightforward--it's impossible to get lost in DC.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

36. Washington, D.C.

Baltimore people SUCK (just kidding, although I did meet a jerk from Baltimore at a soccer convention once).

I'M ONLY KIDDING! But I do love, love, LOVE DC.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

37. BALTIMORE-Washington Parkway. BALTIMORE-Washington International Airport.

Clearly, there's proof positive which city is the better of the two.

[madinmaryland]

38. Thurgood Marshall BWI Airport vs. Washington Reagan National Airport.

Nuff said.

[av8rdave]

39. Well, if you're trying to choose based on NFL teams....

There is no good choice.

FWIW, I lived in Baltimore for a year in the mid 70s....there are a lot of great people there. I enjoyed it.

[KamaAina]

45. Or baseball teams, for that matter

:hide:

[bikebloke]

41. I live in metro DC, so I'll say...

Sydney, Australia!!!

[TZ]

42. lol.

As someone who has always wanted to visit (and possibly reside there) I will have to agree that city is possibly superior to both.

[Burma Jones]

46. Way too easy, Bawlmer by a Mile.....Hon

I'm basing that on the inhabitants. The rest of it is just window dressing......

Bawlmer is H.L Mencken, Billie Holiday, Tori Amos, Nancy Pelosi, Edgar Allen Poe, David Hasselhoff, Divine and John Waters

DC is.....well....uh......OK, Minor Threat and the whole 80's punk scene, which I did enjoy immensely

Nevertheless, for true odd debauchery, and the world's finest health care facility, you gotta go with the home of Natty Bo

[TZ]

47. nice post, benedict arnold!

:P

[BOSSHOG]

48. They're both suburbs of Philadelphia aren't they??

[madinmaryland]

49. Interestingly, my ancestors came to America, through Philly in 1737.

Though they didn't stay there, it was the first point they landed on in America.

[Parche]

50. columbia md

:hi:

[madinmaryland]

51. Howard County has the best public school system in MD!!

[Burma Jones]

53. Yes it does

Or rather, I would say it has the best students in Maryland.......

[Burma Jones]

52. I tried to find a Bar in Columbia once.....

It was hiding behind a bunch of trees on the corner of Gandalf's Big Stick Way and Sweet Precious Panda Drive.......over by the High's.....

[madinmaryland]

54. Is that the one on Satan Wood Drive??

:rofl:

[Burma Jones]

56. Yep, it had 31 flavors of Natty Bo

[PunkinPi]

55. Woo Hoo for Columbia...my hometown!!!

Plus it's conveniently located between DC and Baltimore!

[Tommy_Carcetti]

57. DC's waterfront is a joke.

Baltimore's? World class.

[madinmaryland]

59. DC has a waterfront???

[TZ]

66. Not anymore

With the stadium that area is becoming a very nice area..BTW, I've had a river cruise in both DC and Baltimore..The scenery is MUCH nicer in DC.....In Baltimore once you get out of the harbor..YEECH...

[Richard Steele]

58. Apologies to whoever I offend by this: Baltimore has DC beat, hands down.

Baltimore is one of the greatest cities on Earth.
DC is a craphole which happens to have a bunch of
large & impressive monuments scattered around it.

The Smithsonian totally ROCKS...but you can't live
at the Smithsonian, so even that is not enough to
put DC on the same plane as Baltimore.

If you distill Baltimore down to its essence, you
get John Waters. Game over, DC.

[Mutley]

61. Baltimore made Martin O'Malley famous.

:D

[TZ]

67. Baltimore also brought us William Donald Schaefer

(who was a Bush, sr supporter) AND Robert Ehrlich...

[Mutley]

74. But it gave us John Waters.

Gotta take the bad with the good.

:P

[Tommy_Carcetti]

72. Not to mention his alter ego, Thomas Carcetti

[Mutley]

75. Even looks like O'Malley.

:D

[Kingofalldems]

81. Yeah but where is he from?

DC area of course. I believe he went to Gonzaga HS.

[old mark]

63. Wilmington is better than either one. nt

[madinmaryland]

64. Wilmington, Ohio or New Wilmington, PA????

[old mark]

71. Your choice......nt

[mwooldri]

77. Wilmington, NC??? nt

[old mark]

82. Greater Wilmington, DE!!!!.

Crown jewel of DELMARVA!


mark

[Shakespeare]

70. Live in DC for several years (Capitol HIll neighborhood), visited Baltimore several times.

DC's better, hands down. Much, much, MUCH better.

[madinmaryland]

73. OK. Baltimore names it's airport after a Thurgood Marshall, while DC

names their AIRPORTS after Rethuglicans (Reagan and Dulles)

[Taverner]

76. What? Those are my only choices?

I can't choose San Diego, Portland (OR) or San Francisco?

[AlCzervik]

79. of course you can dear.

SF for me of course.

[SoxFan]

80. Baltimore has way more personality

Sure, large swaths of it are a dump, but it has real neighborhoods, a goofy local accent, and some decent night spots. DC nightlife sucks for everyone other than AU/GWU/Georgetown/UofM/CUA kiddies, it's filled with annoying Boys In Blue Blazers, and is a bit bland. the museums in DC kick ass, however. best museum city in North America, with all due respect to NYC and Mexico City.