LIVE
Proximity to the harbor, a shared affinity among neighbors for preservation, and a major jumpstart in the 1970s from the city’s famous Dollar Homes revitalization program have collectively made Otterbein one of Baltimore’s most desirable and best-preserved rowhome communities. Residents here enjoy a tight-knit urban fabric, easy access to transit, and major ballparks in their own backyard.

SHOP
Walk just a few blocks south to Federal Hill for boutiques (Pandora’s Box, Brightside Boutique), used books and records (Protean), and the weekly Sunday Cross Street Farmers Market. For a grocery run, Whole Foods in Harbor East and the McHenry Row Harris Teeter are both about 10 minutes away.

ARTS/CULTURE
Take in concerts at the walkable Pier Six Pavilion and CFG Bank Arena and seasonal cultural festivities at the Inner Harbor. For a glimpse at the community’s 18th-century roots, visit Old Otterbein United Methodist Church, situated at Sharp and Conway streets for more than 250 years.

PLAY
There’s arguably no better place for an Orioles or Ravens fan, with home games at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium practically within earshot on most blocks. Nearby Key Highway boasts premier public spaces at Rash Field and Federal Hill Park, and closer to home are the Otterbein Swim Club, playgrounds and ballfields at Solo Gibbs Park, and Wheel Park at the neighborhood’s center.

DINE
Relative newcomer Morning Mugs on Hughes Street has supplied the neighborhood’s caffeine fix since 2021. Options abound—too many to count—for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert in Federal Hill. Out on Light Street near the Inner Harbor, Ramen Utsuke offers noodle bowls, sushi, gyoza, and other traditional Japanese favorites.

NEIGHBOR SPOTLIGHT
Steven Stegner, a 44-year resident of Otterbein who purchased and renovated his West Hill Street rowhome as part of the city’s original Dollar Homes program.

“I just think being in the city is fantastic. Before Otterbein’s Dollar House revitalization came along, I was 26 and renting and working downtown. When the program came up, I thought, wow, and put my application in. I wanted to get a house in the city, and I didn’t have a lot of money to buy one outright, and so I didn’t mind.

It was an opportunity to fix it how I wanted. As it turned out, for my whole career, I was able to walk to work as a civil engineer with the Corps of Engineers downtown. I tell people who are going to visit that everything is here—we’ve got restaurants of all imaginable types that you can walk to; the harbor and all the events; the museums aren’t far away; Fort McHenry. It’s [all] right there. I think the history and the location is just ideal.”

NEIGHBORHOOD STATS 
Population: 2,677 Occupancy Rate: 90 percent Owner/Renter Split: 38 percent/62 percent Median Home Purchase Price: $389,000 Estimated Monthly Mortgage: $2,653 Estimated Rent: $1,720 Walk Score: 93 Transit Score: 100 —Sources: Baltimore City Department of Planning, Live Baltimore 

With an eye toward his autumn years, 49-year-old James Baldwin recently moved from his rowhome in the city to a single-level house in Ruxton. But in many ways, he left his heart in Otterbein.

A roughly 12-block historic enclave just steps west of the Inner Harbor, the neighborhood was built out in the mid-1800s as a home to those in the shipping trades, though at least one of the brick rowhouses dates as far back as 1796. The buildings survived the great fire of 1904, but the neighborhood suffered a gradual decline in the 1950s and 1960s, then was renewed in the 1970s.

What sets it apart now, though, is how popular it has become. And Baldwin, a Realtor since 2006, should know: “I lived there for 21 years and became sort of a specialist in the neighborhood on my team at Berkshire Hathaway. I still do a lot of business there,” he says.

And he’s the first to admit that he misses his old stomping grounds a bit.

Like a lot of trends, the real-estate boom in Otterbein is COVID-related. Since the pandemic, Baldwin’s business has at least doubled there, while stats from BrightMLS saw sales increase a whopping 128 percent.

“There are three reasons it’s become so popular, and one of them is Washingtonians,” he says. “For many, there’s no longer any need to go to the office every day, and if they had to, the MARC train is right there in Camden Yards, while the airport is 10 minutes away. At that point, affordability becomes a tremendous factor,” he notes, “since a $500,000 house in Baltimore would cost about $1.5 million in the District. They’re also looking for something a little more real, with more charm, than the District. So I keep hearing from Washingtonians that Baltimore is the next big thing.”

Another reason, he says, is young families spurred by the pandemic to relocate, but who don’t want to leave the city. And Otterbein lures them with everything from its several pocket parks, easy permit parking, and walkability to its private-membership swim club, contracted security patrols, and its active association, which focuses on landscaping, parks, and events.

And there’s yet another group of eager buyers: “We’ve seen a number of sales to young professionals who’ve been living in expensive apartments nearby, but who can’t use many of the amenities they’re paying for because of COVID,” says Baldwin. “Maybe they walked their dogs in Otterbein, met the neighbors, and fell in love with the place. Of course, these very low interest rates are a big draw for them, too.”

“But even after the pandemic, it’ll continue to be super-popular.”

On Wednesday, the South Baltimore Gateway Partnership (SBGP)—an economic development authority funded by revenue from Horseshoe Casino—announced it would be awarding more than $2 million to support community projects and local parks in South and Southwest Baltimore.

The first-ever round of grants totaling $650,000 from SBGP was awarded to 30 recipients including Cherry Hill CDC, Citizens of Pigtown, Federal Hill Main Street, and Living Classrooms Foundation. The amounts are divided into three levels—up to $5,000, up to $50,000, and up to $100,000—and will be awarded twice a year.

“Neighborhoods and nonprofits across the district asked us to help them make a difference,” said executive director of SBGP Brad Rogers. “And we’ve got their backs.”

Some of the higher tier recipients include the Youth Resiliency Institute that received $100,000 for its Cherry Hill Arts and Music Festival and Living Classrooms Foundation that was awarded $90,000 to support its School Leadership in Urban Runoff Reduction Project.

Smaller grants were awarded to projects like the Pigtown community garden, a mobile pantry by Fishes and Loaves, and Southwest Baltimore Charter School—the venue for the announcement.

“Our aging school building has needed audio-visual equipment for so long,” said Erika Brockman, executive director of the Southwest Baltimore Charter School. “With this $5,000 grant, we will be able to finally take care of the problem.”

SBGP is tasked with spending its portion of the funding from the city’s casino revenue on projects that improve the life of 16 South and Southwest Baltimore communities—including Cherry Hill, Westport, Federal Hill, Otterbein, and Lakeland—as outlined in the group’s master plan.

“The needs in the community are very real,” Rogers said. “We have set an audacious goal—to have the best parks in Baltimore. Period. Because our neighborhoods deserve them.” 

Rogers explains that the goal of SBGP is to allocate 20 percent of funds for grants, 30 percent for enhanced services in the community, and 50 percent for bigger picture projects. All proposals and applications for funding allocation are vetted and approved by SBGP’s board of directors including neighborhood leaders, local business owners, and city officials.

In the coming 2018 fiscal year, SBGP will disperse about $6 million along with another $6 million from the Local Development Council—a committee also created to manage the city’s casino revenue.

Rogers also announced on Wednesday that SBGP is investing $1.4 million to improve public spaces in collaboration with the Department of Parks and Recreation. The funds will be used for maintenance and programming in local parks, but specific plans has not yet been decided.

Although plans are still being finalized, Rogers believes the overarching goal has already been fulfilled in the South and Southwestern Baltimore communities, and he is optimistic about the future of the projects.

“It’s incredibly exciting,” he said. “What you have, for the first time, is a large number of neighborhoods unified around a common goal with the resources to make it happen. We’re all committed to moving forward together.”