That’s a mental hangup. You are the only one that can name what is important to you and you can decide your identity. It’s not something that can be, or even needs to be, fixed. It’s all in how you perceive yourself.

If you want to identify as someone “from” Baltimore, what is stoping you?

I had a convo the other day with someone who was actually from the city, and started gatekeeping and saying I wasn't "city" enough to tell others I was from it

(Most people where I am rn don't really know the state beside it so i just say im from there, otherwise if theyre from md i say howard)

So why does this person get to tell you where you’re from? It’s not up to them. YOU can own your identity. Don’t let someone else own who you are.

I live in White Marsh, my address says Rosedale, and I tell people I live in the Baltimore area. When I get asked where I’m from I say Maryland. If they want more specifics I say I’m from the Eastern Shore of Maryland. My family has lived there since the 1660’s. I will always be an Eastern Shoresman. It’s who I am no matter where I live.

If you’re a Baltimorean at heart then let that be good enough. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone. Just be you.

So you’re letting other people dictate your identity?

So you haven’t been immersed in the city, and it wasn’t your call. Maybe move to the city and get more Baltimorean?

Don’t talk about it, be about it.

Dear diary...

If someone says that to you, call them a dummy then hail for a hack. When the hack gets there, slowly walk across the street in the middle of approaching traffic to get to it, then have them just sit there with their flashers on in front of an open space. Yell out to your tormentor “OH say does that star spangled banner yet wave” as you pull off, waving. Get out at the next light, walk back down toward them whistling using the street instead of the sidewalk and when you’re within earshot say in a menacing voice “You come at the king you best not miss…”

Who cares? This seems like a problem that you have made up.

People will gate-keep the Baltimorean status. I was born and raised here in the city, I raised my children here, now my grandchildren live in Howard County and I show them around my city when they visit. 59 years of being a city resident, working with city victims, going to city schools, volunteering for city churches some people tell me I’m not Baltimore enough, or not really from West Baltimore. It’s a weakness people have when they have nothing else against you. People moved into my neighborhood in the last five years, they tell those of us who live here that we’re the ones who aren’t Baltimore enough or don’t understand city living. If you look at the people leading the city most aren’t from here, only Mayor Scott is from Baltimore and he’s not doing a good job right now.

The city needs fresh young minds and fresh ideas. Anyone who says you aren’t Baltimore enough is only gatekeeping because they have nothing better to say. Keep you head up and keep trying to experience the city, maybe one day you will be the person to really help the city.

I've seen that convo numerous times, it always devolves into suffering-porn. You're not from real Baltimore unless [insert increasingly bad things until Baltimore is defined as seen in The Wire].

Baltimore is many things, and different people will have different experiences here based on all sorts of variables.

Also, "belonging" to a City isn't a special thing. You can live somewhere your entire life and never feel like you belong there or culturally identify with that place.

There are things that are unique to cities over their suburbs or exurbs. People living in HoCo probably don’t deal with many of the challenges of city life. It isn’t just old bay. I say this gently as the person from your example: I grew up in Westchester County, NY. When I came to college in Baltimore I told people I was from NY, which I knew they’d interpret as the city because if I said Westchester they wouldn’t know where that even was necessarily. But I’d never have told someone from Manhattan or the Bronx I was from NY. My life was nothing like theirs even if we liked the same teams and food. And that’s fine! It’s fine to be from where you’re from even if it’s a suburb or a county and not a city.

im dealing with the opposite of you lol, i go to a college in ny with a lot of westchester kids

hoco is to bmore what westchester is to ny, its close but not really the city

I hear you, this is a valid feeling. I was once asked where I was from and said "oh, around here," mistakenly thinking that was vague enough to include eastern Howard County where I grew up. This guy reamed me out because to him "around here" had to mean the neighborhood we were currently in (Reservoir Hill) and that I was somehow appropriating an identity by making that comment. It was bizarre and humiliating. I just didn't want to have explain to him what nearby town I'm from in case he wasn't local.

It's frustrating. I grew up coming to the city often and have lived in the city proper for over a decade now. But I know better than to claim I'm a Baltimorean because certain people do really gatekeep the term and you never know if you're talking to one - it can be folks of all ages, genders, cultural backgrounds. I get it, the counties aren't the same as the city, but how long does a person have to live here for their lived experience to be valid as a place-based identity?

I definitely understand the appeal to wanting to "rep" a city that you feel you have a strong connection with. As someone who has lived in the city for almost a decade now, I would feel awkward telling people who may be interested to know what life in the city is like that I was from here if I had never actually lived here. I think it's perfectly reasonable to tell people that you're from "The Baltimore area" or "Baltimore County" if you were brought up in Catonsville. but there's a lot more to be discussed about the city itself than our sports teams and Inner Harbor. If you feel like representing Baltimore City is really important to you, I would recommend making the leap and moving somewhere in the city that suits you.

Too funny! I have no problem owning Westchester and I’m proud to be from there. I only said NY because people in Baltimore didn’t know that area. I never felt like a city kid, even if I hung out in the city all the time, and I wouldn’t have wanted people to think I was someone I am not. Suburbs and cities really are different.

I stopped at dad got mugged at gun point… You’re as Baltimore as the rest of us homie

People know Westchester, NY… isn’t not some random nowheresville place.

So all jokes aside… I lived in the city my whole life. We always called y’all county boys. The reality is we just come from way different worlds. But anyone that loves the city enough to come to it and spend some money is a real one. We can all still get along. Maybe just show some love. Tell people about the good sides of the city… Places to eat and what not. My point is. If you want to be a part of Baltimore, you’re welcome to it, no matter what anyone thinks. As a third generation never leaving this place local… I salute you and anyone else that would like to see the better sides of this place

So where did you go to high school?

So get more familiar and say you’re from the Baltimore metro area. Nothing to dwell on honestly. Get more involved with the city. Start reading local news.

I was born at Hopkins, my parents owned a home in Mount Winans when I was born that we lived at until I was one. Then we moved to Columbia, for 1.5 and waited for our house in Bel Air to be built, where I grew up. I grew up going to the city all the time as my family lived all over and my parents took us to various activities and events. Came for field trips and such. Even when I was little I was always fascinated by the city and I loved visiting my cousins and sleeping over, even in places that I now know is the hood lol. But it wasn’t until I got in college that I really experienced Baltimore on my own and really learned my love for it. Discovering all the cool places and meeting all the wonderful people (and not so wonderful too). Ever days like a mystery to quote Tracy Turnblad

Your dad was robbed at gunpoint. Sounds like you're from Baltimore to me. Put on Tom Waits' "Down in a hole", eat a crab cake, and tell people to piss off if they give you grief.

I'm sorry your dad got mugged in Catonsville. I actually moved from the city to C'ville in 2021 and absolutely love it and feel relatively safe here (though a mugging can honestly happen anywhere). Still way safer than many parts of the city.

But I don't need to justify my Baltimore credentials to anyone and neither do you. I lived in the city for over 6 years (plus a native Marylander) so if someone doesn't think I'm "Batimorean enough" then that's their problem.

Hell, my cousin moved to Leesburg despite being an area native, hardcore O's and Ravens fan and still is way more culturally "Baltimore" than I am. It's all relative, my man.

I went to college 30 years ago. Perhaps it was less well-known then. I can only tell you, if I said that, I'd get blank looks. I learned quickly to say "metro NY" or NY.

Who gives a shit? I’m willing to bet 90%+ of people in this sub were transplants from the county

I can see people confusing it with West Chester PA. But theres at lot of transplants and college students in MD from Westchester NY now that people are familiar.

The question and the response are what make you truly Baltimore enough, imo.

I am joking. A little.

Good to hear it's changed!

NY kid from Long Island here, that has moved all over and now lives in Baltimore, I can relate. The great thing about this city is the way it adopts people. If you ever choose to move back here you will instantly be a Baltimorean again!!

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You need me to come mug you?

I mean you're not from the city but that's alright. You can tell people you're from Baltimore I guess. But you can definitely identify with and feel connected with the city.

BTW I live in Catonsville and yeah it's not Baltimore City. Also grew up near Westchester and nobody there says they live in NYC. I'm not sure why saying you're from the city is such an important thing to someone who isn't from the city...?

Who cares if you’re from Baltimore or not?