Q: What's the Real Scoop on Baltimore?

Strangers to Baltimore sometimes wonder, "Will there be enough to do?" Here are a few things they quickly discover.

• Baltimore is one of the most affordable cities on the East Coast, with great apartments available in hip, vibrant neighborhoods at rates unheard of in places like New York and Boston.
• Baltimore is one fun-loving, idiosyncratic place, full of nowhere-but-here features like Chesapeake Bay crab houses, painted screens, marble-stepped rowhouses and funky nightlife.
• Baltimore's a big city-with all the cultural, culinary, entertainment and recreational amenities you'd expect-but it seems more like a small one, thanks to the relative lack of traffic hassles and other complications of urban living.

It's Liveable!

Most students eventually move into one of the student-friendly neighborhoods within a five-mile radius of East Baltimore. One of the closest is cozy Butcher's Hill, which literally abuts the medical campus. Free Hopkins shuttle-bus services and a convenient subway line make commuting to more distant neighborhoods easy.

Another popular nearby area is Fells Point, a historic maritime center with cobblestone streets that's now the heart of Baltimore's nightclub scene. Neighboring Canton, also on the waterfront, is a magnet for young professionals drawn to its quaint coffee shops, trendy restaurants and converted rowhouses. And for those who thrive on a typical graduate-student milieu, there's Charles Village abutting Hopkins' Homewood campus.

Just south of downtown lies Federal Hill, which boasts its share of nightclubs and restaurants, along with easy access to the Inner Harbor. North of downtown are the cultural centers of Mount Vernon and Bolton Hill, where stately old mansions have been transformed into distinctive apartments.

Farther north in the city lie the tree-lined streets of Guilford, Roland Park and Mt. Washington; and funky Hampden, made famous by movie director John Waters. All of these neighborhoods are just 10 or 20 minutes away from the School of Medicine. That's what we mean about Baltimore's extraordinary livability.

Explorers' Delight

The centerpiece of Baltimore's much-celebrated renaissance is the Inner Harbor, a glittering waterfront development filled with shops, restaurants, bookstores, museums and historic vessels.

This is the part of Baltimore all the tourism brochures focus on, but it's not all there is to the city. Cultural attractions take center stage all year round, with the respected Baltimore Symphony Orchestra leading the way. First-class theaters, galleries and museums present touring shows, as well as their own exhibitions and productions. Nonprofit art centers and performance spaces support the city's booming, friendly community of talented young artists.

Beyond the city, Maryland has much to offer. Spend weekends traveling the Eastern Shore and exploring the Chesapeake Bay and ocean beaches, or venture into the mountains of Western Maryland. If you still worry that you'll run out of things to do, don't forget you'll be living less than an hour from Washington, D.C., two hours from Philadelphia and a little more than three hours from New York City.

For more information, be sure to check out the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association's Web site at www.baltimore.org.

What To Do

A starter's kit for anyone worried there won't be enough to do in Baltimore.

• Commune with Matisse at the Baltimore Museum of Art.
• Root for the home teams at an Orioles game at Camden Yards-or at the new, downtown stadium that's home to Baltimore's Ravens.
• Take visiting family to the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
• Spend a spring Saturday people-watching your way through the Inner Harbor.
• Join the Friday happy-hour crowd at Cross Street Market for sushi and microbrews.
• Dine at one of Baltimore's legendary crab houses.
• Get in tune with the classics at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
• Shuttle your way by water-taxi among the 14 different sites that make Baltimore a National Historic Seaport.
• Spend an afternoon reading amid the fountains and sculptures of Mount Vernon Place.
• Travel back to imperial China via the treasures of the Walters Art Gallery.
• Get inspired by the works of untrained artists at the American Visionary Arts Museum.
• Meet the men and women who made African-American history at the Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute or the Great Blacks in Wax Museum.