Hi, I moved to Baltimore about a year ago myself, after having spent most of my adult life in the uber-liberal university towns of Madison (Wisconsin) and Bloomington (Indiana), with shorter stays in Chicago, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, and Duluth. While I am far from my late 20's (I'm in my early 40's), I cannot see myself ever living in the suburbs, so I explored only the neighborhoods of Baltimore proper.

I narrowed my search down to Hampden and Hamilton/Lauraville. Both areas seem safe and offer cultural distractions (restaurants, coffee shops, bars, shopping). While Hampden offers a lot more of said cultural distractions, after looking at homes for sale in both areas, I picked Hamilton/Lauraville because Hampden's rowhomes don't offer much in the way of closet or yard space (I'm a bit of a packrat, and gardening is my main hobby), and you can get a lot more house for your money in Hamilton/Lauraville. Plus, the number of bumper stickers I saw on cars parked in Hamilton/Lauraville and the unabashed liberal political views expressed on them reminded me a lot of both Madison and Bloomington. In other words, I knew I could feel at home here.

I've been happy with my choice. It's only a 15-minute drive to downtown and all of the attractions there or to White Marsh (for shopping at Ikea, Costco, Old Navy, etc.) or Mt. Washington (Whole Foods) and under ten minutes to Towson (Trader Joe's). And it's under five minutes to Lake Montebello, with its path for walking, running, or biking around the lake. Herring Run Park is also right here, with trails through the woods, soccer fields, and hills for sledding in the winter. Gunpowder Falls State Park is further away but still doesn't seem far away.

With all of that said, someone in her 20's might still be happier in Hampden, where there seem to be a lot more young, single people. The younger folks in my part of the city seem to all have roommates, so if she plans to live alone, she might feel isolated here. Or maybe not. Both areas are worth exploring.

As a final note, I am also a nurse myself, so feel free to have her contact me if she'd like to get some inside scoop on what the various hospitals here are like as employers. I've worked only at one and am very happy there, but most of my coworkers have worked at hospitals all over the city, and nurses are not afraid to talk.

-Liz