The two of us, city dwellers with a few hours to kill on a lazy afternoon, decided to search out a previously undiscovered little corner of the good life in Baltimore. We did this in the same week Frederick Bealefeld took the oath of office for his first full term as city police commissioner. Bealefeld deals with the life in Baltimore that’s not so good. One day, maybe the two Baltimores will get within talking distance of each other.
So, as Bealefeld signed on to continue patrolling the city’s shadows, we strolled south past the throngs at sunny Harborplace, past the Maryland Science Center and the Rusty Scupper Restaurant, and kept walking along the water’s edge until we reached Harborview Pier Homes. As any Baltimore lifer can tell you, this stretch formerly had all the charm of a gravel pit.
Now, a real estate brochure informed us, the new Pier Homes had “sun-splashed elegance.”
As it happens, my wife and I love sun-splashed elegance.
The brochure said the homes were an “urban paradise.”
My wife and I love urban paradises.
The place was, by any townhouse measure, quite nice. It had five floors but, just so you shouldn’t strain a hamstring climbing stairs, it had an indoor elevator. There was a gourmet kitchen the size of Wasilla, Alaska. It was big enough to field-dress a moose.
There were fireplaces on two floors, a rooftop deck with a hot tub and a 360-degree view of the harbor so you can watch sailboats floating lazily past, and new homes and offices and restaurants going up all around the adjacent shorelines, and marinas where pleasure boats come to rest.
Also, not to be overlooked, the development has a gate that can be locked at night to keep out various riffraff from the city’s shadowy areas patrolled by Frederick Bealefeld and his police.
By many measures, Bealefeld is a considerable success. He got the job a year ago, in the midst of a bloody summer when it seemed the city’s homicides would top 300. It never came close. Bealefeld and Mayor Sheila Dixon pushed aside old notions of “zero tolerance” of small crimes that might — might — lead to bigger ones. (In fact, what “zero tolerance” led to was considerable antagonism between police and various communities wishing the cops would lighten up a little.)
Under Bealefeld, the police focused on guns and the city’s repeat violent offenders. Why such a plan? Who knows, maybe because Dixon and Bealefeld, not exactly newcomers, understand the town in ways that go beyond any textbooks.
And now, as Bealefeld signs on for the next six years, the city seems headed for its fewest number of killings in more than 20 years. Even in a rough late summer surge of shootings, homicides are down 29 percent from a year ago, and nonfatal shootings have dropped 16 percent.
“Thanks to Commissioner Bealefeld’s experience and outstanding leadership,” said Dixon, “we are making Baltimore a much safer city for everyone.”
Yes, and especially those living behind gates in places such as Pier Homes. These homes are quite lovely. They have hardwood floors and two-car garages. They have walk-in closets and wet bars and pre-wired sound systems with speakers throughout the house.
Also, they are a short walk from such funky city neighborhoods as Federal Hill and Locust Point, enjoying their own boom periods.
“I could live here,” my wife said.
She is not alone. All along the south side of the harbor, formerly piers and factories and abandoned gravel pits, there are hundreds of new luxury homes and people with money falling in love with these places. Many are empty-nesters who fled the city for suburbia years ago, not wishing to subject their children to the city’s public schools, and have since discovered the city’s energy and its renaissance charms.
“I love these renaissance charms,” I told the Realtor, sweeping a hand across a living room leading to a spacious veranda. “How much is this home?”
“A million, five hundred thousand,” she said, smiling evenly.
It was lovely strolling through the development. And, in my next life, I intend to find a profession where I can afford such a place. This is the good life in the new Baltimore. On the other side of the iron fence is the good life, too — and sometimes the not-so-good life.
One day, we will find a way to make the two Baltimores touch each other without fear or resentment. Until then, we have Frederick Bealefeld. And that helps.
