Part 2 is here, and I’ve codenamed more Charlotte streets with Baltimore names. Check them out:

Glenwood Drive--Park Heights Avenue

Remount Road--Pleasant Street

Clanton Road--Redwood Street

Nations Ford Road--Hollins Ferry Road

Park Road--Russell Street

Providence Road--Dundalk Avenue

Pineville-Matthews Road--Harbor Tunnel Thruway

Albemarle Road--Philadelphia Road

The Plaza--Walther Boulevard

Kings Drive--The Alameda

Central Avenue--Echodale Avenue

Tremont Avenue--Belvedere Avenue

Queens Road--Hillen Road

Hawthorne Lane--McClean Boulevard

Kenilworth Avenue--Broadway

Clarkson Street--Fremont Avenue

Cedar Street--Roland Avenue

Mint Street--Keswick Avenue

College Street--University Parkway

Brevard Street--Kirk Avenue

Caldwell Street--Howard Street

Davidson Street--Mt. Royal Avenue

Alexander Street--Washington Street

Myers Street--Wolfe Street

McDowell Street--St. Paul Street

Fairview Road--Boston Street

Sardis Road--O’Donnell Street

Stonewall Street--Fairmount Avenue

1^st Street--Fayette Street

Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard (Formerly 2^nd Street)--Lexington Street

3^rd Street--Saratoga Street

4^th Street--Mulberry Street

5^th Street--Franklin Street

6^th Street--Centre Street

7^th Street--Monument Street

8^th Street--Madison Street

9^th Street--Read Street

10^th Street--Eager Street

11^th Street--Chase Street

12^th Street--Biddle Street

13^th Street--Preston Street

14^th Street--Hoffman Street

15^th Street--Oliver Street

16^th Street--Federal Street

So far, I’ve used every codename imaginable here, but I’m still dreaming up new ones at this point. And what’s Uptown here is Downtown there. Bank of America Stadium could easily pass as M&T Bank Stadium, and Charlotte Bobcats Arena is an ultramodern version of 1^st Mariner Arena. When the Knights’ new stadium is built, it can become a minor-league Camden Yards (never mind the fact that Cal Ripken had to play in Charlotte first before he could establish a 2,632-game playing streak in Baltimore, which is sure to remain a major-league record for many years).

The TV stations present more striking similarities: WCNC and WMAR both air Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, and WMAR was an NBC affiliate until 1995, when it switched affiliations to ABC (it had also been a CBS affiliate from 1947 to 1981); WBTV uses the same voiceover that WBAL-TV once did (and WBAL was a CBS affiliate from 1981 to 1995, but other than that, it has been the NBC affiliate in Baltimore). But the most obvious similarity here is the one between WSOC-TV and WJZ, which use the Eyewitness News format, and shared the same ABC affiliation until 1995, when WJZ switched over to CBS. In fact, every Baltimore TV station is proud to flaunt their network affiliations in front of the viewers. WMAR is now known as ABC2, WBAL-TV is back to its NBC roots, and WJZ is even owned by CBS!

Another main difference is the location. Baltimore is a port city within a stone’s throw of the Chesapeake Bay, while Charlotte is some 400 miles inland. But Charlotte more thank makes up for it with two nearby lakes (Lake Norman and Lake Wylie, the latter of which is on the South Carolina border). Also, there’s never been a major-league baseball team in Charlotte (although they have tried for years to get one), and Baltimore hasn’t had an NBA franchise since the Bullets left for Washington (where they eventually became the Wizards). Baltimore hasn’t had a Top-40 station since B102.7 went off the air in 2001, and Charlotte hasn’t had a full-time smooth jazz station since WCCJ left the airwaves in 1999. But thanks to the miracle of live streaming, I can continue to listen to WSMJ in Charlotte, and Kiss 95.1 whenever I’m in Baltimore! How about that!

Anyway, I’ve compiled all the similarities and differences between Baltimore and Charlotte that I could think of. Having lived in these two cities, I can now say that I’ve been fortunate enough to call them home, but while I’ve lived most of my life in Baltimore, I prefer Charlotte better, since it’s much friendlier, and I’m making lots of those at a record pace. Try telling that to Ricky, who still has friends in Baltimore, even though he’s returned to his hometown of Chicago, where he’s trying to break into the music industry as a jazz pianist. I’ve always loved Charlotte, and I always will.