Thanks to Capital Punishment for this heads up:
The Baltimore Sun ran an article today about the problem with bar-goers in Canton (a neighborhood in Baltimore).
Here's some of what they had to say:
Verbal sparring between the bars and neighborhood has been going on since at least 2001, according to city documents.
Residents' complaints are plenty: beer bottles through car windows, blocked streets, fights, screaming and drunken driving.
Sound familiar? Yes, these are the same things we are debating here, regarding the 2 am licences. And the solution they came up with.........
Residents and bar-goers on Boston Street will see new faces - and more police uniforms - in Canton this week. Two off-duty police officers will begin patrolling the nearby Northshore at Canton townhouse community Wednesday.
I think it is fair to say that the residents of Canton care just as much about quality of life as we do. Yet, they did not try to further legislate bars--THEY WORKED WITH THE BARS TO DEVELOP A SOLUTION THAT WOULD BENEFIT THE WHOLE COMMUNITY. THEY WORKED TOGETHER TO ADDRESS THE ACTUAL PROBLEM.
The residents and businesses in Canton should be applauded, and imitated.
