As ever, there’s something for everyone in the issue this month, from our exploration of driveable island getaways (go ahead, count the palm trees), to the surprising story explaining why Goucher College professors are spending time in prison, and the results of our 2014 Top Dentists peer survey.

But the story that will interest many readers—including myself, who lived in those parts for years—is on Towson, which, after years of debate and delay, is reinventing itself from a slightly sleepy county seat to a major urban hub.

Senior editor Ron Cassie came away from his reporting convinced that this will be more than just a well-marketed pseudo-renaissance: A series of multi-million-dollar investment projects, including Towson Row, Towson City Center, Towson Square, 101 York, and Towson Green promises a transformation of the town.

And more than just reshaping the skyline, the new upscale apartments, townhomes, condos, and commercial and mixed-use developments are attracting singles, couples, and families to live and work in a new, walkable city where they can shop, dine, or go out to the movies or other cultural events without having to drive somewhere else.

The vision from the county government and Towson Chamber of Commerce is of a town that doesn’t roll up the streets at 5 p.m. on weekdays, but is a truly vibrant small city. In fact, Towson, with the state’s second-largest university—as well as Goucher College, and several top hospitals—has always had the potential to become a next-level city/destination. It was just waiting for a confluence of developers’ money, solid planning, and political leadership.

County officials are marketing these new investments—and the bump they should give to population, commerce, and culture—with the slogan, “It’s Towson’s time.”

My guess is that it is.

The staff of this magazine was deeply saddened in late April by the sudden death of Sam Holden, 44, a freelance photographer whose work appeared in and enhanced the pages of Baltimore for almost two decades. Those who knew and worked with Sam respected his professionalism, admired his commitment to excellence, and enjoyed him as a friend.

We’ll miss him.

Every month—in print and online—we try to provide the most interesting and worthwhile information that we can. But as a son of Little Italy who has never forgotten his roots, I think this issue is dedicated to a particularly compelling subject: “Baltimore, Then and Now.”
We don’t pretend to capture all the change that has taken place here over the years. That would take several volumes. But I hope you’ll find our retrospective as thought-provoking as I do.

Senior editor Ron Cassie, whose article provides a backdrop for the photo essay designed by art director Amanda White-Iseli, smartly felt that we should leave the definition of “then” deliberately ambiguous. After all, for someone associated with Legg Mason, “then” may be the year of its founding in 1899. For folks at the Rusty Scupper, which is celebrating its 32nd anniversary, “then” only stretches back three decades. But consider how the restaurant’s famous view has changed during that period of time.

The next time you shop at Towson Town Center, try to imagine what that suburb looked like just 50 years ago. Fifty years ago, Columbia didn’t exist. Twenty years ago, the first shovel of dirt hadn’t been turned at the Harbor East complex.

The changes aren’t just reflected in where and how we live and the kind of work we do. In a graceful essay in the Local Flavor section, food and travel editor Suzanne Loudermilk Haughey talks about how our tastes and venues have also changed. Of course, we miss a lot of the old standbys. But nothing better illustrates how much more cosmopolitan and diverse we are than the range of high-quality dining options we have now.

Despite the change, Baltimore has maintained its unique personality. We’re still a city of neighborhoods, and we’re still sort of quirky. Think about it: Where else would it be such important news, as it was last month, that Tom Smyth had to explain why Smyth Jewelers was taking down its long-standing billboard showing Mr. Boh proposing to little Miss Utz?

And I suspect that even in just five years—let’s imagine Harbor Point is built, the too-long-delayed west side renaissance does occur, the newly announced 43-story skyscraper rises at the Inner Harbor—we’ll find that what we currently regard as “now” will be “then.”

About the time this issue hits the stands, we’ll be raising the curtain on a relaunch of our website, baltimoremagazine.net, an effort to make a good thing even better. The redo is also a response to a rapid growth in the site’s followers, including thousands of mobile users, who are looking for the area’s best dining, events, and shopping, as well as our blogs and other online-only content.

Our mobile visitors are, in fact, nearing 50 percent of our audience and our new site helps people find what they’re looking for faster, no matter what device they’re using: desktop, tablet, or phone. It’ll also be easier to browse, with speedy search tools, simple navigation, and a clutter-free reading experience on every screen.

And there’s something new every day: In addition to frequent blog posts, we also have a comprehensive events calendar, a searchable dining guide, and popular reader surveys and giveaways. Our goal? To make our digital publication as strong as its print counterpart. Trust me, you’ll like it.

Many Baltimoreans with longtime ties to mega-bakery owner and real-estate developer John Paterakis mourned the recent, sudden passing at age 71 of his executive secretary of 39 years, Geraldine Rose Milam Zlotkowski—known affectionately to all as Jeri Z. Ten years ago, to mark Administrative Assistant Day in the April issue, we wrote about some of the powerhouse gatekeepers in Baltimore, and she ranked with the best. But more importantly, Jeri Z. was just a fine person. She’ll be missed.

On a personal note, I offer a deep Japanese bow to my son, Stevie, a sixth grader at St. Paul’s School, who, for several years, has been in the school’s Japanese language and culture classes, taught by William Matsuzaki, who also exposes the kids to Japanese art. Recently, Stevie entered a “Year of the Horse”-themed drawing in the national Nengajo Contest sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Japanese. Competing against 500 other young artists in the middle-school division, he won second place in the comical category—and was the only Marylander to place. Check it out at aatj.org/nengajo-contest/2014-middle. おめでとうございます! Stevie! (That’s omedetougozaimasu for you phonics lovers—or congrats in English.)

Okay, maybe you bought the magazine on the strength of our cover story on Baltimore’s top restaurants, which always generates a lot of buzz from readers and restaurateurs, alike. Or maybe you were just hungry when you spotted our restaurant photo by the supermarket checkout counter. But there’s lots more to like inside the book, from our visit with renowned author Alice McDermott to an engaging Home section and our attempt to answer the question, “Has Baltimore gotten over the Colts?” One of my personal favorites, though, is our piece on lacrosse.

It’s been a while since we focused on the lax community, but we do it this month in spades with “Just the Lax,” a look at the rising stars of 2014 in high-school-level competition. And we have some fun learning their jargon, uncovering their hangouts, and chronicling the biggest team rivalries.

What’s remarkable about this sport is how rapidly it’s growing—it is the fastest-growing sport in the nation, period. While it was once more or less unique to New England and the Mid-Atlantic states, it’s spreading like wildfire nationally.

In 2012, more than 720,000 people played team lacrosse, an increase of nearly 40,000 from the year before, according to Baltimore-based US Lacrosse, the sport’s organizing body. The number of high-school players jumped 2.5 percent, college participation grew 3.1 percent, and post-collegiate participation went up 8.2 percent.

New York (especially tony Long Island), New England, and Maryland have traditionally sent the most players to Division 1 (NCAA). (Inside Lacrosse magazine—also founded here—estimates that 6.3 percent of Division 1 players are now from Greater Baltimore, with an equal percentage from the Washington, D.C.-metro area.) But the proof of its migration westward is the 7 percent of players now coming from places like California, Colorado, and Ohio, as well as an uptick in Division 1 freshmen from Florida and Texas.

Coaches here credit much of the growth to the overdue exposure college and pro-lacrosse is getting on TV and the Internet. And that’s good news for the fans here in Maryland: It means that when the likes of Hereford High School’s Jason Ashwood or McDonogh School’s Brinton Valis make it to the big time, America, finally, will be watching.

About a month or so ago, the editorial and art staffs had a massive
brainstorming session about all the unique virtues of Charm City, and
you’ll enjoy the fruits of that session this month in “101 Reasons to
Love Baltimore Right Now.”

There are some relatively serious
things we’re grateful for on there, like the vitality Kwame Kwei-Armah
has brought to Center Stage, the unparalleled excellence Baltimore has
in its hospitals, and the metro area’s bargain housing values. But
there’s no shortage of whacky ones, too, like our toilet races or pickle
pops. All of which makes for a great parlor game: Maybe our readers can
think of some that didn’t make the cut.

My personal list? It
would have to include some bigger-picture things, like Baltimore’s
strength as a sports town, not just because of the rabid fanbase that
the Orioles and Ravens enjoy, but also because of the other thriving
sports attractions, from the Blast to the Preakness Stakes.

And
then there’s the food: Baltimore punches above its weight when it comes
to both the range of cuisines and the high regard in which many of its
restaurants are held.

Of course, much of the success of those
dozens of great restaurants is due to the city’s status—and the
Chesapeake Bay’s, generally—as a prime tourist destination. And that’s a
draw that can only be magnified by the arrival of the casinos,
particularly Maryland Live! in Anne Arundel County and the Caesar’s
casino coming soon near M&T Bank Stadium, which we can expect to
pump hundreds of millions of dollars into city and state coffers. It’s
worth noting, however, that the fresh talk about revitalizing the Inner
Harbor isn’t just about tourists and conventioneers—it’s also about
making a very liveable and walkable city even more so for its own
residents.

But most important, perhaps, is the fact that we’re a
place without much of the pretentiousness and frenetic pace of other
major cities. And finally, I’d add to my list our collective
personality: We’re pretty self-effacing, laid-back, and tolerant in our
dealings with each other. (A simple gauge: Count the angry honking you
hear in traffic in New York, Washington, or Boston; you rarely hear
horns here.) And that patience is an important trait that certain other
nearby metropolises (they know who they are) have lost—or never had in
the first place.