Many Hopkins students seem to detest living in Baltimore. If you listen to the jaded whiners, you'll hear that this city is a boring, unsafe, STD-infested cesspool with muggers, serial killers and gibbering madmen on every street corner. But if you ask them, most Baltimore-hating students will tell you that they never venture far from campus. Frankly, Charles Village isn't that exciting and it's unfair to judge the rest of the city based on one area alone.
Baltimore has a lot to offer and each neighborhood has its own unique character. Hampden features inexpensive food and shopping, while Mount Vernon has cultural attractions and amazing restaurants. For upscale tourist spots and nightclubs, the Inner Harbor is sure to entertain. Near the Harbor is Fell's Point, a lively pedestrian-friendly area with bars and shops. Between these neighborhoods and more, there are plenty of places to have a good time.
Some students like to complain about the lack of commercial franchises in the city -- for example, how there's no McDonald's locations anywhere near campus. Well, boo hoo -- no loss there. The prevalence of independent store owners is what makes Baltimore special; eating at a restaurant like the Paper Moon Diner or Holy Frijoles is preferable to fast food garbage that you can get at every interstate exit in the country. Similarly, in video stores like Video Americain and music stores like Soundgarden and Record and Tape Traders, shoppers will find better service and selection than in retail chains. Meanwhile, independent cinemas like the Senator and the Charles Theatre offer a great atmosphere and a wider variety of offerings than can be found at other more commercial movie theatres.
Of course, there are some negative aspects to the Baltimore experience. For starters, the public transportation system is abysmal. The light rail and metro subway are both virtually nonexistent, have no stops near campus and close too early. The bus system is somewhat usable, but has shady passengers and poor hours. For transportation at night, students must resort to expensive cab rides.
Like most post-industrial American cities, Baltimore isn't the safest of places to be walking around at 3 a.m. Although neighborhoods like Charles Village and the Inner Harbor are significantly safer than low-income areas like Greenmount, it's still possible to get robbed or assaulted anywhere in the city. When walking around at night, travel in groups and stay alert. Getting harassed by panhandlers can be annoying, but they're usually harmless.
Clearly, Baltimore has a few shortcomings, but no city is perfect. With its independent spirit and low cost of living, Baltimore is a nice enough place to live for college students. It's obviously not the greatest city in America (or even a City That Reads, the previous mayor's chosen moniker for Baltimore), but it's still a charming place to call home.
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