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Baltimore, a bustling city built on tradition and civic pride, is an American success story.

Since the redevelopment of the Inner Harbor in the late 1970s, Baltimore has set the standard for urban renewal and is now a major travel destination welcoming 12 million business and leisure visitors each year.

The crown jewel of Baltimore is the Inner Harbor, a scenic and popular waterfront area with dozens of retail stores, restaurants and attractions. This, combined with Baltimore's easy accessibility, makes the city unique. What most people don't realize is that most sites and neighborhoods are within walking distance of each other, and this makes Baltimore an ideal place for business as well as pleasure.

The fun and festive atmosphere of the Inner Harbor is enhanced by street entertainers, open-air concerts, fireworks, parades, paddleboats, and cruise boats.

But there's more to Baltimore than is seen at first glance. Charming historic neighborhoods surround the Inner Harbor, each offering their own character, history and cuisine. Little Italy is a pasta lover's paradise with outdoor movies on summer weekends, festivals of San Gabriel and St. Anthony, and two bocce ball courts. Fell's Point is the oldest section of Baltimore and still has the feel of an old English neighborhood with cobblestone streets, unique shops and plentiful pubs and restaurants. And, there's Harbor East, a bustling waterfront stop with its own attractions, retail shops and restaurants.

The best view of the city is from the top of Federal Hill on the south side of the Inner Harbor. The surrounding neighborhood has a variety of boutiques and restaurants and one of the city's most popular markets. Mount Vernon, the cultural center of the city, was the address for the rich and famous during the 18th and 19th centuries. Their legacies include the first architectural monument to George Washington; Peabody Conservatory of Music; The Walters Art Museum; and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption, the first Roman Catholic cathedral in the United States. And don't forget about Canton to the east. There you will find one of the city's hottest neighborhoods, where old factories have been converted into a thriving retail and entertainment hub.

Baltimore has restaurants to satisfy nearly every craving. Dining options include elegant gourmet cuisine, ethnic foods from around the world and plenty of fresh seafood from Maryland's Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is known for its fabulous crabs, and dining at one of the city's many seafood restaurants or crab houses is a must for all who visit.

Baltimore is a dynamic city that continues to evolve while holding on to its maritime heritage. Since 1600, Baltimore waterways have been a passage for ships carrying commercial cargo and new citizens. It lies farther west than any other major Atlantic port, a point that endeared its harbors to shippers. More than 30 million tons of cargo pass through the Port of Baltimore every year.

Established in 1729 to serve the economic needs of 18th-century Maryland farmers, the town of Baltimore gradually began to take on a life of its own. Baltimore played a crucial role in the War of 1812, when soldiers, stationed at Fort McHenry, successfully held off a British attack on Baltimore. That victory for Baltimore was commemorated in a poem by Francis Scott Key and is now our national anthem.

When the war ended in early 1815, Baltimoreans resumed their vigorous foreign trade efforts and Baltimore grew into the second largest city in the United States. Baltimore's overseas trade was principally with the Caribbean Islands and South America, regions undergoing economic and social changes. At the same time, the American frontier was pushing even farther west, threatening to leave Baltimore behind in its economic wake. The state of Maryland concentrated its efforts on completing the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, designed to link the Potomac and Ohio River valleys, but the city of Baltimore supported an overland link in the form of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Although the two competed for routes and freight, to the eventual ruin of the canal and the financial embarrassment of the state, Baltimore's railroad reached Cumberland in 1842 and, by 1874, stretched to Chicago.

The canning industry was also an important economic engine for Baltimore's future. Canning became key as the riches of the Chesapeake Bay began (for the first time) to be preserved and shipped to other parts of the country. Older industries, such as shipbuilding and transportation, remained industrially strong, and the city continued as an active port of entry for European immigrants and rural residents from the upper South. In 1904, however, the city's progress suffered a rude setback when a fire consumed most of its business district, including a number of historic structures. The devastated area was rapidly rebuilt, perhaps even stimulating economic life, and Baltimore prospered through the First World War and into the 1920s. The Depression, however, was too great an obstacle for local initiative to overcome, and physical developments in the city were retarded, first by economic distress and then by controls imposed by World War II.

After the war, Baltimore's economy continued to thrive as people spent heavily on consumer goods. As their standard of living increased, city residents were attracted to new housing developments beyond Baltimore's borders, and many people left. The city, which had grown in popularity every year since the mid-century, actually began to shrink as adjacent counties experienced tremendous growth.

Much to everyone's delight, the city began to come back strong in the 1970s. The city encouraged a redoubling of efforts from the municipal, business and volunteer partnerships, and tapped into ambitious federal programs for urban renewal. The municipality managed to revitalize the downtown area, where dilapidated wharves and warehouses were torn down and replaced by restaurants; attractions such as the Maryland Science Center; and retail in the form of Harborplace, which opened in 1980 to tremendous fanfare. The National Aquarium in Baltimore and hotels soon followed.

Baltimore's growth continues today. Development is moving both east and west of the Inner Harbor with more projects on the way. Baltimore is currently enjoying a second renaissance with more than $1 billion in new development planned.