Asked what is the single biggest obstacle keeping Baltimore from reaching its potential, respondents to the Warnock Foundation’s online survey has some answers that would surprise few outside Baltimore.

Crime and poverty were high on the list, coming in at 2 and 3.

But the No. 1 “single biggest obstacle” was not one of those familiar urban ills conjuring images of bullet casings or boarded-up houses. It was political leadership – by a wide margin.

That diagnosis was one of several findings reported today by the Baltimore-based foundation after its admittedly non-scientific month-long survey, “Speak up, Baltimore!” (So far, nearly 400 people have participated in the online poll.)

Seeking public input on the state of the city, the foundation has been running ads in local Baltimore-area online publications (including The Brew) and using email and social media, to ask people to answer a series of questions about the city’s strengths, as well as its weaknesses.

While “political leadership” was cited as the biggest obstacle by 23%, the city’s biggest strength was said to be “its people” by 28% of respondents.

David L. Warnock, chairman and founder of the Foundation, said in an email he was struck by “the resourceful, creative people” who expressed gratitude for being simply asked what they thought.

“However, Baltimore is still a city whose residents are more likely to identify with the Wire than the Ravens, at a rate of more than 10 to one,” he said.

One of America’s Greatest Cities?

Warnock, a co-founder of the Camden Partners private equity firm, said the findings in the survey are intended to guide his foundation in future projects.

Among the top problems the city faces: poverty, drugs and education, survey respondents said. Its top three assets, according to respondents: universities, medical community and geography.

Only 16% of respondents said Baltimore is one of America’s greatest cities. But a full 66% think we should aspire to be one. Could we do it within five years? Most were skeptical but almost half said we could.

Demographic differences turned up as well, in the survey answers, the foundation says. African-Americans, for instance, were more likely to name “the gap between rich and poor” as an obstacle. Older respondents ranked tax structure higher and poverty lower than the group of respondents as a whole.

What about those hard-to-quantify characteristics of Charm City? The survey asked people to write an answer to that question and the results became a word cloud.

To see a full description and analysis of the results, go here.