Nation: THE CITY: REQUIEM FOR THE BLOCK

THE best thing about Baltimore," according to Comedian Mark Russell, "is the tunnel that runs under it." Nonetheless, its garish strip clubs and clip joints make it one of America's favorite ports of call for sex-starved sailors and roistering conventioneers. If it is something of an Eldorado for the fun-seeking male, the city's seedy 19th century core is also a nightmare for a reform-minded police commissioner and city planners, who in recent years have managed to replace 22 depressed acres of slums with office buildings, hotels and theaters. The city's present target is one that many Baltimoreans had long considered inviolable:...

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