The city may feel they can do this because young professionals do not vote in the same numbers as older generations. It would be a mistake though to think our opinion does not matter. Young professionals vote more powerfully than any other voting bloc in the city, just not on election day. They vote by moving away. The things that make this demographic so valuable — their lack of retirement or child education costs, ability to start new jobs or begin their own businesses — also allow them to easily relocate. They're not tied down to an area; they don't have a family rooting them in place or need to worry about moving their children or losing their pension plan. The best talent has their choice of where to live. Many city leaders understand this; they work to make their cities appealing to young people. Few are working as hard as Baltimore to push them away. Over 700 teams play on Rash Field; removing those courts is the most powerful message the city can send to its young educated workforce that it simply doesn't care about keeping them. Young professionals are not going to wake up the day the courts are gone, pack-up and leave. But given the choice of whether to leave or stay, it's one of the few discriminating connections this city has to keep them.