Why Baltimore Makes No Sense as a U S City

Baltimore looks like a familiar East Coast port city on the map — but in reality, it functions very differently from most urban places in the United States. Shaped by its position on the Chesapeake Bay, its historic role as one of America's most important harbor cities, and a metropolitan structure permanently overshadowed by its proximity to Washington D.C., Baltimore is built around patterns that make it feel unlike almost any other city in the country.