Denizens of the Trek BBS, particularly those on the East Coast, lend me your ears! Through a series of unfortunate events (lost my job due to "organizational restructuring," job market for digital marketing in Wisconsin sucks out loud), I have accepted a job offer in ... Baltimore. It's a huge change for me. I've only ever lived in Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin, and I'm moving out there completely on my own (that's a whole other story). The job is going to be great, as it's with a company that I greatly respect and admire (and I have friends in the office), and the firm has been aggressively recruiting me for a while, so I'm not concerned about that part. What I am concerned about, however, is everything else. What's the city like? The office is in the Canton neighborhood, so I'd like to find a place to live somewhere nearby. Is that a decent neighborhood? Is it expensive? Is there any public transit worth a shit? What is there to do in the city? What should I do for fun, what should I avoid? Basically ... help! Your assistance is greatly appreciated.
Speaking as someone who only visited there once in the last 20 years, it's not a bad city overall. Try the crab cakes.
Did that when I was out there (briefly; I got to my hotel at 8 p.m. and was at the airport at 4 p.m. the next day) for a conference. Yum.
I visited there last month, and this isn't much help... but if you walk around downtown at night, you might get run over. Nobody's paying much attention.
I'm a Baltimorean. You should visit the harbor as it is the major tourist attraction and has the national aquarium. Also go see Fort McHenry and be proud you now live in the city that gave us our national anthem. I live around Overlea so I don't know too much about Canton.
Lexington Market. Downtown. Best. Crabcakes. In. Universe. nevermore is a Baltimorian. Hit her up for some info.
I'd recommend contacting Nevermore, since she certainly knows the area far better than me. I'd assume it's expensive as hell, but Fells Point can be pretty cool and I don't think it's far from Canton.
I visited Baltimore once. The whole city smells like fish. EDIT: Nope, I'm thinking about Portland, Maine. Portland smells like fish. Baltimore...I know I was there, but I honestly don't remember what I did.
At a guess, Alcohol. You did alcohol. Timby - no advice, never been there, but good luck with the job/move. One thing I have heard: try not to get shot.