Yes, I like Baltimore

Last weekend, I attended a family friend’s baby shower — the kind of event that comes around every two years or so, full of people you know because of people you know. One of those semi-distant acquaintances approached me and started up some small talk with the inevitable question: “So where are y’all again, now?” I answered, “Baltimore.”

And there it was. The expression I typically get with this answer. Eyebrows raised, eyes widened, mouth corners turned slightly downward, a quietly gasped, “…oh…?”

Yes, I live in Baltimore. Land of The Wire, Freddie Gray, thousands of boarded-up homes, and schools without adequate heat for the Mid-Atlantic winter. I get it. That’s what most people know about this city. Hell, I grew up in Northern Virginia, where the baby shower was held, and it’s a place where a healthy distaste for Maryland and its largest city seems to be infused in the water you drink.

Then, I moved here, and I fell in love. It’s a fierce, protective love that fills me with an urge to educate anyone who will listen that Baltimore is, in fact, pretty OK. Here are just a few reasons why:

1. It has distinct neighborhoods. I lived in the D.C. area for three years before moving here. Georgetown, Columbia Heights, Eastern Market, Shaw, Logan Circle — maybe these areas had starker differentiation at some point, but gentrification has coated them with a similar metal-and-glass veneer. Baltimore’s neighborhoods differ on myriad levels. In architecture, you have Canton’s Formstone-clad rowhomes with rooftop decks juxtaposed with Roland Park’s graceful Georgian and Victorian estates. In vibe, you have Federal Hill’s just-out-of-college party atmosphere versus Hampden’s hipster-meets-hippie feel. In entertainment, you have the Harbor area’s sports and performance venues — Camden Yards, M&T Bank Stadium, Royal Farms Arena, Power Plant Live — versus Mount Vernon’s world-class art, literature, and music offerings like the Walters Art Museum, George Peabody Library, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. It’s almost like visiting a different city each time you traverse a few blocks.
2. It has great food. There’s more than Old Bay-soaked crab cakes here (although those are a must-have). Want authentic Greek? Go to Samos in Greektown. Venezuelan food? Try Alma Cocina Latina in Canton. French? Petit Louis Bistro in Roland Park. Spanish? Tio Pepe in Mount Vernon. Mexican? Tortilleria Sinaloa in Upper Fells Point. Persian? Venture just outside the city limits to Villagio Café, south of Towson. A menu from a perennial James Beard Award finalist? Check out Charleston (it’s worth the splurge). I could keep going, but you get the idea.
3. It has good people. There’s a chip on the shoulder of most Baltimoreans, especially natives, but that’s tempered with humility. There’s a friendliness, as if a cloud of Southern hospitality flew north over the DC metro area but sprinkled a few drops on Charm City before dissipating completely over the Mason-Dixon line. Example: About a month after I moved here, I was meeting a friend for happy hour, but she was running a half-hour late. I expected to pass the time staring at my iPhone, but I noticed the bartender was wearing a University of North Carolina hat. I asked him about it, then a couple two seats down from me jumped in — they were alums, too — and boom: our conversation continued even after my friend arrived. That’s something that, in my experience, doesn’t happen everywhere.
4. It has an outstanding beer scene. Baltimore is synonymous with National Bohemian and its one-eyed, mustachioed mascot. But Boh hasn’t been produced in Maryland for decades, and in its wake a bevy of breweries sprouted up. There’s Union, Oliver, Monument City, Waverly, and Diamondback, all within Baltimore’s boundaries. Just east of Charles Village lies Peabody Heights Brewing (whose Old Oriole Park Bohemian puts Natty Boh to shame), which serves as an incubator of sorts for those seeking to scale up from home brewing. Heavy Seas Brewing sits just south of the city in Halethorpe, and Guinness recently opened its first U.S.-based brewery in more than 50 years a few miles away. In short: If you like beer, you’ll like it here.
5. You can afford to live here. OK, maybe you can’t buy one of those Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons penthouses right on the Inner Harbor. But whether it’s a rowhouse a few blocks from the water, a condo further uptown, or a single-family home in one of the close-in suburbs of Baltimore County, it’s possible to own a home without enduring a harrowing commute. If you’re looking for a five-dollar Happy Hour beer that is a rung or two above Bud Light, you have options. If you’re looking for a big park to let your kids/pets play in, there are a bunch. If you’re looking for an eclectic array of festivals, performances, exhibitions that are free or have meager costs, you’ll have trouble deciding which ones to attend.

Yes: Baltimore has problems. I’m just as irked by people who say this place is wonderful and don’t acknowledge its deep-rooted social and economic challenges (another post for another time) as I am by those who bash Baltimore for sport. But this place is much more than the headline you see scrolling across the bottom of CNN or your memories of Stringer Bell and Avon Barksdale. So give Baltimore a chance. You might find yourself charmed.