Baltimore’s Inner Harbor redevelopment: Too important to fail

For longtime Baltimoreans, witnessing the once-proud and bustling Harborplace pavilions regress over their 43 years, from the focal point of downtown to its afterthought, has been a deeply painful experience. Where people once came from far and wide to shop, eat and stroll in what proved to be a masterstroke of urban redevelopment by developer James Rouse, now sits something akin to a boarded-up suburban mall, albeit with a still-spectacular view of the Inner Harbor.