When Kim Lane was 20 years old, a friend living in Baltimore sent her a copy of the City Paper. Lane knew that Baltimore was where she needed to be. So she packed up her ’82 Honda Civic, and with $700 in her pocket, drove to this fair city from New York and never looked back.

Lane, who had already been working for nonprofits, started at Maryland Citizen Action. By the time she was 28, she was the executive director of the Washington Village-Pigtown Neighborhood Planning Council, a community development organization.

Although she would go on to work at other nonprofits, Pigtown was always in her heart. Five years ago, she returned when Pigtown Main Street was looking for an interim director. She went on to become permanent executive director.

“It felt like coming home,” she says. Pigtown Main Street, Lane explains, is an economic and community development nonprofit organization. “We do everything from working with businesses, supporting them in every way possible, to attracting businesses,” she says. “Pigtown is a diverse place.”

The group is intentional, though, to make sure that all the new businesses meet the community’s needs. For example, a local barbershop offers sliding scale or free haircuts to single parents for their kids. That helps the community. But so does having breweries like Wico Street Beer Co., that draw people from outside the area, ultimately helping Pigtown with its goal to increase homeownership.

“I think of myself as a facilitator and a fundraiser. When I say ‘we,’ it doesn’t only mean Pigtown Main Street; it means everybody we work with—hundreds of volunteers, community associations, business owners, homeowners, and property owners,” says Lane. “I love being able to do a lot of small things that have a big impact. My work here is not a job. I truly love it. It’s a life for me.”

LIVE

This area is located on former Susquehannock Native American land and is named for Col. Charles Ridgely II, a plantation owner whose estate occupied part of the neighborhood during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The neighborhood’s first rowhouses were built in the early 1800s.

SHOP

Walk up to University Square Park for the weekly farmers’ market (May-November, Tuesdays 10 a.m.- 2:30 p.m.), or head across MLK to Pigtown Main Street to shop for books, clothes, gourmet groceries, and more.

ARTS/CULTURE

Soak in some Baltimore baseball lore at the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum. Several blocks north and east bring you to Edgar Allan Poe’s Grave, the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower, and theater and entertainment options, including Everyman and The Hippodrome.

PLAY

Catch a ballgame at Camden Yards or M&T Bank Stadium, or head down to the Inner Harbor for the views and buzz. For open space, stroll through Conway Street Park or take the kids to the playground at Penn & Melvin Street Park.

DINE

The Corner Bistro & Wine Bar is a local favorite for good burgers and wine. Also try beloved pub grub options at Pickles Pub and Sliders Bar & Grille, and reliable American and Greek carryout from Penn & Pratt Restaurant, there since 1975.

“I moved here in 2000 because I owned a hair salon in downtown Baltimore, and I wanted to be able to walk to work. I was looking at other neighborhoods that were within walking distance, and the prices were just too expensive at the time. Ridgely’s was just very affordable and it’s very friendly.

As soon as I moved in, my neighbor across the alley came and introduced herself, the next-door neighbors introduced themselves. In my old neighborhood, where I lived for nine years, I don’t think I could tell you what my neighbors’ names were. I started going to baseball games with my Ridgley’s neighbors and I’ve had season tickets since I moved in. Even when the Orioles are playing terribly, it’s an event for our neighborhood. Instead of going to a neighborhood bar or going out someplace, we’re going to a baseball game.”

—Susan Clayton, a Ridgely’s Delight resident of 22 years and the owner of running apparel company WhitePaws RunMitts.

Neighborhood Stats

Estimated rent: $1,600
Estimated monthly mortgage: $1,947
Median home purchase price: $270,000
Median household income: $69,485
Owner/renter split: 22 percent/78 percent

Sources: Live Baltimore and the Baltimore Department of Planning

CHEAP DREAMS: I have lived here for about four years, starting out as a tenant. I loved it so much I managed to buy the whole building. This is the closest thing to me living my New York loft fantasy with less zeros in the price tag.

IT TAKES A VILLAGE: We hold the SoWeBo Arts and Music Festival here each year and we have a very active community association. We certainly have our issues, but I’ve found that this neighborhood has the strongest sense of community over any other place I have ever lived.

HEAVY LIFTING: I bought the motorcycle from a place in Staten Island. The original intent was to work on it during the winter and then be able to ride it in the summer. I had five friends help me carry it up the stairs, which was incredibly foolish. Now everyone refuses to ever touch it again so it’s been stuck in my apartment ever since.

LEFT HANGING: My family spends a lot of time in Mexico and my sister brought me back the hammock. All I really need is a palm tree and I’m set.

INTO THE BLUE: The blue sofa is one of the first pieces of furniture I ever bought when I got my first real job. I’ve been carrying it with me ever since. It’s nice to finally now have a space where it fits properly.

ACQUIRED TASTE: It took me quite a while to collect all of my artwork. I lived in Argentina for a while so some of it comes from there. Some of it comes from New York City, but much of it is from Baltimore, which has a lot of very talented artists and a fantastic art scene.

PICTURE PERFECT: My favorite piece is over in the dining area by a New York artist named John Copeland. Space wise, it was made for this apartment.

SHOP LOCAL: There are two local pieces I really love, one by Pablo Machioli, who is originally from South America, and some others by Bat Favitsou Boulandi.

HIDDEN GEM: I have many pieces from Umri Siki, the African art store on the ground floor of this building. It’s run by Robert Williams, who has amazing stuff from places like Congo and Benin.

SHELF LIFE: I knew I needed a bookcase and after thinking about it for over a year and having my books scattered all over the place, I had the metal framework manufactured down in Pigtown. I bought old planks of wood from Second Chance for the shelves and now I have a bookcase. I stained the wood to match the existing wood. What I like about it most is that it looks like it was always there.

Festivals around the country feature the same things: arts and crafts, fried food, and cover bands. But four pigs running while residents cheer them on? Only in Baltimore. 

The annual Pigtown Festival (October 11) celebrates its namesake neighborhood and benefits Pigtown Main Street, a nonprofit revitalizing Washington Boulevard. 

“No matter what else has been going on in the neighborhood, this festival has endured,” says Pigtown Main Street executive director Ben Hyman. 

In its 13th year, the event will have a carnival theme and, of course, the pig race—known as “Squeakness”—a tribute to Pigtown’s past. (In the 1800s, livestock arriving on the B&O Railroad were herded through the streets en route to butchering.) 

“People buy raffle tickets to pick a favorite pig,” Hyman says. “They demand this race. We had a festival in the spring and the most common question was ‘Where are the pigs?’”