Baltimore is a city in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States of America, South-West of Philadelphia and New York and North-East of Washington, DC. Rather a good distance from Los Angeles and Miami, depending on how you measure distance.
An old ship building center, Baltimore, like many places in the US, lost their prime manufacturing sector after World War II, as ship building became an industry of Far East Asia or migrated to the larger harbor cities down the coast, especially Norfolk. What remains is a combination of small industry, high tech firms, government contractors, and banks, as well as a port and a rather large steel mill with a recently resettled ownership.
If visiting, the inner harbor is the primary area of interest, it being a hub of restaurants, tourist attractions, hotels, and bars set up in the late 70's and 80's to revitalize the city. It is also quite close to the sports stadiums catering to the town's primary teams, the Ravens and the Orioles (football and baseball, respectively), as well as the 1st Mariner Arena, site of most concerts, secondary sports, and, interestingly enough, a lingerie football team (you learn new things every day...)
The city, while nice, is truly nothing fancy. It does not boast the shopping of New York, the overt history of Philadelphia or the swanky (and to Baldimorians at times arrogant) faux-fancy of Washington, DC. It is, quite simply, an old manufacturing town. People are stubborn, a little rude at times, and there are parts that would classify as dangerous, but overall a visitor will be greeted friendly enough and the place is mostly harmless.
For transport, if visiting, taxis are your best option. Driving can be painful during the main times or, as they are wont to do, random construction closure periods (a tourist attraction of its own), and public transport is a little one the unreliable side.
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