REBUILDING BALTIMORE
By Joel Swerdlow
1 min read
In 1975, when then Mayor William Schaefer was concerned about Baltimore’s reputation, he gathered four local ad agencies who put their heads together and decided to solve the problem by giving the town the nickname, Charm City.
40 years later, in April of last year, Governor Larry Hogan and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake found their town being criticized by the media following the killing of Freddie Gray and the massive unrest that kindled urban fire. The epic disparity in living conditions between the beautiful glass high rises along the Inner Harbor and the decaying row houses along the side streets in Sandtown would no longer be tolerated. For now, the charm was gone. This Governor and Mayor also responded—but not with a catchphrase.
