Medford-Broening - Baltimore, MD

The area of Baltimore is one of the oldest areas in the eastern United States. While Europeans settled in around 1661, the city of Baltimore wasn't incorporated until 1729. Townspeople quickly took advantage of the city's access to water and built up a trade system with England for tobacco and other materials. Because of its waterways, the city also became a dominant flour trade city in the South. Not long after its established success, Baltimore grew from about 14,000 people to over 430,000 by 1890. Just 14 years later, in 1904, a fire broke out in one of the buildings and spread throughout the area. The Great Baltimore Fire burned over 1,500 buildings and 2,500 businesses, and residents spent two years building everything back up. Today, Baltimore and its surrounding neighborhoods are prosperous and known for their fresh seafood, nostalgic rowhomes, historic monuments and plenty of young professional residents.

The nightlife in the Medford-Broening area is pretty quiet; most locals travel to downtown Baltimore to experience the many different bars, restaurants, and opportunities for live music in the big city. There are a handful of restaurants spread throughout the area, many of them pizzerias with their own flair for Italian food. The most popular stop is Vinny's Cafe on Holabird Avenue in the Broening neighborhood. Vinny's is owned by the Scotto family, who have been cooking authentic Italian food in Maryland since the 1970s. The titular Vincenzo Scotto serves up lunch and dinner classics like chicken cacciatore and eggplant rollatini, but also serves dishes with a Baltimore twist. One favorite is chicken Chesapeake, a grilled chicken breast with a jumbo lump crab cake served atop angel hair pasta and covered in frangelico sauce. Right down the street from Vinny's is another popular Italian restaurant, Squire's. This authentic eatery has been serving up generations-old recipes for locals for over 60 years. Their menu consists of lunch and dinner items that will satisfy foodies of all kinds, from pizza lovers to seafood enthusiasts to pasta connoisseurs. You'll even find a long list of feel-good subs and sandwiches, including their chicken Parmigiana sub, fried haddock sandwich and homemade Italian sausage sub.

Because Medford-Broening is outside of Baltimore's city center, you'll find it easy to get around by car; there is plenty of parking in both lots and along streets throughout the neighborhood. The abundance of sidewalks, however, makes this neighborhood a favorite among walkers and bikers. While you probably won't be able to step outside and hail a cab, you can always call Baltimore City Taxi or Yellow Cab of Baltimore for a ride. Uber also serves the area. If travel by car, foot or bike isn't your thing, it's very easy to use Maryland's MTA bus routes to get in and out of Baltimore. No matter where in the neighborhood you are, you can access either bus route 020 (which runs east and west along Boston Street and north and south along Broening Highway) or bus route 010 (which runs east and west along Dundalk Avenue). Both bus trips are about 45 minutes to downtown Baltimore. If you plan to travel further outside the city, you can hop on Maryland's train system, MARC, which travels as far as Perryville, Prince George's County, Frederick and Martinsburg in West Virginia. Interstate 95 and Interstate 895 are about a half-mile away by car, making travel very easy.

In the Medford-Broening neighborhood, there are many beautiful cemeteries including St. Stanislaus Cemetery, St. Paul Cemetery and Swartz Cemetery. However, if you're looking for parks to relax, play with your children or engage in some sports, you'll have to head about two miles northeast to Harbor View Park, a park with plenty of open space and a basketball court for recreation. You can also head a mile north to the Joseph E. Lee Park, which sits in between the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and Patterson High School. Here, you'll find baseball fields, shaded benches and plenty of open fields. In the opposite direction, about a mile south, sits Fort Holabird Park, a park abundant in trees and baseball fields and home to the north end of Colgate Creek. If you're traveling to Baltimore, stop by local favorite Patterson Park. During the winter, you can go ice skating at the park's ice rink; during the summer, swim in the pool or catch a basketball league game.

Living in Medford or Broening is a little cheaper than living in Baltimore. When it comes to rent, the average price is around $708 per month, which is slightly lower than the average in Baltimore, $722. In this small neighborhood, a drink at a local bar will run you about $4 and gas prices tend to be slightly above the national average. If you're taking Maryland's public transportation, however, fares are very reasonable. The MTA offers individual fares, day passes, weekly passes, monthly passes and discounts for students, seniors and disabled individuals. A one-way fare to downtown Baltimore via the bus, subway or light rail will cost you $1.60.

While there aren't many shopping opportunities in Medford or Broening, travel west about two miles and you'll find the Shops at Canton Crossing. Spend the day bouncing from name-brand stores like Old Navy, DSW and ULTA Beauty to chain eateries like Red Robin and Jimmy John's. Stop into Canton Crossing Wine & Spirits for a free wine, beer or spirit tasting and discover a new, hand-picked wine from their selection of over 800. Take a trip to the heart of Baltimore and you'll discover the artsy neighborhood of Hampden Village. This area is full of culture, which is well-reflected in its many shops. Take a stroll down 36th Street (and the streets surrounding it) and you'll find antique stores, art galleries, clothing shops, food markets, jewelry stores and more. Other notable shopping areas in Baltimore include Inner Harbor, Roland Park and Mount Vernon, all less than 10 miles from the Medford-Broening area. When it comes to basic groceries, Broening has a Royal Farms on Holabird Avenue and a Foodways on Broening Highway. For a larger supermarket, you can find a Safeway less than three miles to the west. There are a number of farmers markets available in the city, including the Pratt Street Farmers Market in downtown Baltimore (open on Thursday, June through September) and the Waverly Farmers Market in Charles Village (open on Saturday year-round).