General Information

• Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association
• www.baltimore.org
• Operated by BACVA, this is a very comprehensive and user-friendly site, offering listings and information on the city, attractions, and events. A great single-site resource to answer many basic (and even some obscure) questions about Baltimore. Visitors can also find special deals and bargain packages for tourists here.

• Baltimore Collegetown Network
• www.baltimorecollegetown.org
• This collaboration between 16 Baltimore-area colleges and universities provides tips on how to navigate the city; places to eat, drink, and hang out; and cultural suggestions. Useful for college kids, and people traveling with teens looking for something to do that won’t bore them to death.

• Bawlmerese
• www.baltimorehon.com
• This good-natured listing of examples of the local dialect (“Baltimorese,” which in that dialect is said as “Bawlmerese”) is a pretty thorough listing of the ways some white working-class Baltimoreans speak; the dialect itself is beginning to vanish due to urban gentrification.

• City of Baltimore
• www.ci.baltimore.md.us
• The city’s official website provides links to the mayor’s office, city council, and the numerous city agencies that keep Baltimore moving and working. There’s a surprising amount of info here, as well as great ways to contact city officials or answer civic questions.

• Enoch Pratt Free Library
• www.prattlibrary.org
• In addition to providing the library catalog online, this site has plenty of historic and cultural information and suggestions. There are also links to the numerous ways to contact a librarian to ask a question, from getting an important date in Baltimore history to more scholarly queries.

• Live Baltimore
• www.livebaltimore.com
• Created as part of Baltimore’s efforts to lure residents and show off the city’s charms, this website is also a great place to learn about the town’s varied neighborhoods, and there are dozens of useful links and informative pages to be found here.

Event Listings

• Baltimore Fun Guide
• www.baltimorefunguide.com
• A colorful, easy-to-use collection of events, exhibits, and more, searchable by lots of different criteria, and there are special offers and package deals to be found here, too.

• City Paper
• www.citypaper.com
• The city’s independent, alternative weekly’s website has the best guide to the less-traditional events, activities, and happenings that are going on in Baltimore.

• Metromix Baltimore
• www.baltimore.metromix.com
• Operated by the Baltimore Sun’s parent company, this website offers information on an enormous amount of events, restaurants, clubs, and more of Baltimore’s social goings-on, though the details can be a little scant.

Baltimore’s Best Blogs

• Baltimore Grows
• www.baltimoregrows.com
• The city of Baltimore has undergone a tremendous amount of construction, renewal, and change in the past decade, and though this blog hasn’t been around the whole time, it does a very good job covering the latest projects and upgrades to the city, as well as offering a little commentary about Baltimore’s transformation.

• Bmore Art
• www.bmoreart.blogspot.com
• Dedicated to the city’s growing and vibrant independent arts scene, Bmore Art is a broad and comprehensive guide to what’s happening at galleries, worthwhile upcoming shows, crafts, and general news about Baltimore arts and artists.

• The Mobtown Shank
• www.sugarfreak.typepad.com
• A mix of politics, music, art, and Baltimore events, all presented with a vociferously liberal bent and (generally) a knowing wink. Run by the co-owner of Hampden’s Atomic Books.

© Geoff Brown from Moon Baltimore, 1st Edition