The following post is re-published with permission from our friends at The City That Breeds. -The Eds.

I’m a little down concerning our charming city.  Last week, the Washington Post was dissing our rats.  Then, we had a rough weekend (19 shootings, 13 people wounded, 8 people dead, 1 of those 8 was a pregnant woman).  Then, the icing on the cake for me was discovering that the Wall Street Journal has labeled us the 9th most dangerous city in America.

It makes me sad.  I don’t like it.

As I drove to work I decided to meditate on the things I love about Baltimore, the things I think make our city wonderful.  And no, I’m not talking about the typical “We Gots Blue Collar Charm” or “The Inner Harbor Rocks!” or the “Yeah – People Film Movies Here” dribble.  I talking about the great stuff jammed deep in our collective gut that defines Baltimore.  Processing through this stuff made me happy, so I thought I would share.

Here are three things I love about Baltimore:

1) The Fire of Hope

When I moved to Baltimore eight years ago I was shocked by the massive amount of “BELIEVE” banners.  They were everywhere.  People had them in their windows.  They were hanging in shops.  They were on the sides of buildings and the bumpers of cars.  It was crazy.  I’ve lived in a lot of different cities and I’ve seen slogan campaigns before, but nothing like “BELIEVE.”

Over the years, much to my amusement, I’ve watched our city collectively reject other slogans.  ”The City that Reads” and ”The Greatest City in America” simply became fodder for local satire.  Then there was “GET IN ON IT!” which felt like some weird, insider, sexual innuendo.

But “Believe” has stuck in my mind.

I think it stuck because it is true to who we are. We are a city of hope.

I’ve worked closely with people from every socio-economic level in Baltimore.  Whether we’re making it happen in Federal Hill or struggling to survive on North Avenue, we’ve got hope that tomorrow will be better than today. We believe.  It’s part of who we are. Sometimes our hope is not accompanied by discipline or common sense, but we still believe.  And I love that about us.

Read more at The City That Breeds