A Lingering Reminder

As the cliché goes, the devil is in the details.

And even the smallest details can send the wrong message.

On Thursday Maryland Housing Secretary Raymond A. Skinner and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake held a news conference to promote low interest mortgages and the neighborhoods of Old Goucher and Barclay, which served as her backdrop.

The mayor said she had a personal investment in Barclay—her mother had grown up only a "stone’s throw" from the neighborhood, and that her “church home” had been at nearby St. Mathews United Methodist Church.

The properties for sale were immaculate, the street was gorgeous with plenty of trees for shade and the hubbub drew plenty of neighborhood spectators out to see what was going on.

But just before the press conference started, a contractor got out his truck near the intersection of Guilford Avenue and 23rd Street and stepped on a little reminder (see picture) of an issue that haunts our city.

Would seeing something like this, in an otherwise well-kept neighborhood, scare you away from living there? Tell us in comments.