One matter on which all who live in Baltimore can agree is that the area's local rail transit system leaves much to be desired.
But, hey, there is a system, more or less, and why shouldn't we use it? Growing up in Chicago, I learned that suburban dwellers can have a good time in the city getting around by rail transit. Sturdy shoes help.
Sure, the Baltimore light rail system has had a checkered career. It lost a couple of years to a double-tracking project that should have been part of the original design. And for a while, it was crippled by falling leaves. But when it runs, it's not half bad.
The subway from Owings Mills to Johns Hopkins Hospital runs daily with drama-free efficiency, but many Baltimoreans are hardly aware it exists.
The big flaw of these systems is that they don't interconnect particularly well. They come close at two points - near State Center and at Lexington Market - but there's no such thing as a real hub. That doesn't render it useless, though.
One recent Sunday, my wife and left our car in the spacious, free parking lot at North Linthicum and headed into the city. (Residents of the northern and northwestern suburbs have a choice of Metro and light rail stations. Folks who live to the west, east and northeast of town are out of luck for now.)
At North Linthicum, we were faced with a moral test, which we promptly flunked. Just as we arrived at the platform, in rolled a northbound train. Buying a ticket would have meant missing that train, so we decided to jump aboard and risk exposure as fare-beaters. Fortunately, we reached our destination undetected by fare inspectors and sought retroactive atonement by purchasing two $3.50 day passes.
The light rail corridor in the city offers a lot of choices. We could have got off at University Center and paid our respects at Edgar Allan Poe's grave. Or we could have disembarked at Centre Street and walked three blocks to the Walters Art Museum. On previous excursions, our destination was the Charles Theater - a short walk from the Mount Royal station - and its roster of films you can't see in suburbia.
This time we got off at the Woodberry stop, which also serves Hampden. Be warned. To get anything out of this stop, you have to be willing to walk.
Woodberry is an interesting area to explore. We especially enjoyed looking through the model for Struever Bros.' "green" housing development, Overlook Clipper Mill (even though it was far out of our price range). But really, apart from a few artists studios, there won't be much happening there on weekend days until the fabulous Woodberry Kitchen starts opening for brunch.
