Urban Discoveries Baltimore

I don’t know why everybody says it’s impossible to live without a car in Baltimore. I have been living here carless for three and a half years now, and only once was I stranded at the dollar store in Timonium.

There are both obvious and crafty ways of getting around:
1. Walking is pretty obvious, but has unexpected benefits. You’re already saving on insurance and gas and parking and the car itself, but additionally, you save because you can’t get to the mall as often. And because you have to carry all your groceries home, you end up buying less and therefore meeting your weight loss goals. The company Front Seat ranked Baltimore as the 12th Most Walkable City in their WalkScore report. And, you can enter in your address at walkscore.com to find your home’s walkability, and it provides you a map of conveniently-located amenities. My apartment, for example, has a walk score of 88 out of a 100, which means it’s Very Walkable.
2. Free shuttles abound around college campuses. The Hopkins shuttle, which transports folks from locations around the Homewood campus to the JHMI campus, with stops in Mount Vernon. It’s technically supposed to be for Hopkins staff/students only, but no one ever seems to check or care. Then there’s the Colltown Shuttle, where if you’re a college student, staff, or faculty at one of the participating colleges, you can ride not only to school, but also to Towson Town Center, Belvedere Square, or the Inner Harbor. And keep watch for the Charm City Circulator, the long-promised, soon-to-be-running, free, eco-friendly, downtown bus. Even the bus itself is jazzy – the ECOSAVER IV Hybrid. You will be sure to see my face smiling at you from its window.
3. When you first move to Baltimore, everybody says not to take the public transportation, but they are wrong. There are three buses I can think of that go near Towson Town Center. And that way, you won’t have help your car-owning friend decide which jeans she should buy at The Gap. And just because you’re carless doesn’t mean you have to take all your dates to the same, sad restaurant you found on WalkScore. Take the Light Rail to Mount Washington, buy fancy cheese from the Whole Foods, and snack on it while admiring the pretty houses.
4. And finally, if you despise sitting next to strangers, get a Zipcar account, the vehicular equivalent of the one night stand. Try a different car every every day!

Posted in: City Living, Green Living, TransportationNo Comments