“When it comes down to it, this difference in basic public transportation is the framework for all reasons why the capital surpasses Baltimore. Interested in Baltimore nightlife? Your options are mostly limited to those near the Inner Harbor accessible by the Shot Tower/Market Place Station. Try Washington instead, where you can find a much larger variety because a more extensive metro allows for it.” —Joe Antoshak
Newton’s first law of motion states that an object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. Water, automobiles, planets — everything in our universe is governed by this fundamental idea. And humans are no exception to the rule.
This is why an extensive transit system is vital to any self-respecting city in the 21st century. If a person has no cheap, quick way of traveling from one end of town to the other, there’s a good chance that person won’t get to the destination. He or she will instead stay rooted in the close vicinity, effectively unable to make any contributions to the city’s society. Newton says so.
In a beltway standoff, this is one of the many reasons Washington blows Baltimore out of the water. As a die-hard Orioles and Ravens fan, not to mention a resident of a suburb barely half an hour from the city, this statement doesn’t sit well with me. But it’s the truth. The Baltimore Metro Subway is made up of one puny line that runs from northwest of the city into the heart and ends at Johns Hopkins Hospital. It has 14 stops. The Washington Metro has five lines that connect 86 stations.
Washington is more populous but only by about 10,000 people, and 2012 was the first time in decades that Baltimore didn’t hold the higher number. Large chunks of Charm City continue to be isolated because of a minuscule metro that runs about 15 miles, or roughly 90 miles less than Washington’s.
When it comes down to it, this difference in basic public transportation is the framework for all reasons why the capital surpasses Baltimore. Interested in Baltimore nightlife? Your options are mostly limited to those near the Inner Harbor accessible by the Shot Tower/Market Place Station. Try Washington instead, where you can find a much larger variety because a more extensive metro allows for it.
On a micro scale, the Washington Metro is older, yet cars and stations are maintained better. While it would be a blatant lie to say the Washington drivers are perfectly audible over the intercom, the audio is much better than in Baltimore train cars, where passengers are lucky if they can understand one noun in a 20-word runoff.
Stations, too, are held to a higher standard. The concrete noise-canceling architecture seen at many of the Washington stations is bland but unfailingly iconic, not to mention essential for frequent riders who want to maintain their hearing. These stops aren’t like some of the immaculate stations in other parts of the world, such as Moscow, but they’re a step above those in Baltimore, and they beat out regional rivals like Philadelphia and New York, too.
When it comes to infrastructure, Baltimore and Washington are almost incomparable. They’re not even in the same league. It’s like pitting a junior high school baseball player against a major league pitcher. There’s a slight chance he draws a walk, sure, but the overwhelming likelihood is that he’s going to strike out. And that’s exactly what happens here.
Baltimore, go grab a seat on the bench.
