And lately there has been a baby boom.
Peter Metsopoulos and his wife, Christine Grillo - the parents of 3 1/2 -year-old Enzo and 9-month-old Rita - are part of this wave. They moved to Baltimore three years ago from
"It has a younger, more urban feel without the problems of downtown neighborhoods," says Metsopoulos, who teaches at Bryn Mawr School.
This convenience doesn't appeal just to families. Singles and young couples also are moving to the neighborhood, says Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage real estate agent Anna Funkhouser.
"It's just very convenient," Funkhouser says. "And there's the park. They love the park."
The narrow, 88-acre stretch of grass and woods is where many residents walk their
"We have dog parties," Chicherio says.
During the late 18th century and the 19th century, the neighborhood was made up of a few large country estates. Baltimore annexed the area in 1888. Fourteen years later, wealthy landowner William Wyman donated 60 acres to Hopkins on the condition that some of the land be given to the city for parks. The area bears his name.
Older residents say
Most of the houses date from 1905 to 1950, though some were built during the late 1880s. They vary from classic porch-fronts to Tudors and Colonials. The majority have three bedrooms, one bathroom, a living room, a dining room and a kitchen. The neighborhood also has several apartment buildings, including the Tudor Arms and the
Residents say
"To be able to walk to a coffee shop and to let my son walk up the street barefoot to his friend's house, it's really close to idyllic," Metsopoulos says.
Houses for sale tend to go in less than a week and often sell for more than the asking price. Not long ago, Funkhouser put a Beech Avenue house on the market and had multiple offers in 24 hours.
Competition is heavy, Funkhouser says, and people often bid on multiple homes before succeeding in buying one. The average sales price has been about $190,000, though houses have more recently sold for $240,000, more than double the price of a decade ago.
One concern is that the new residents won't put down roots. When children reach school age, some families move to surrounding counties because they don't want to use city public schools and can't afford private school.
Some
That's because most residents say they like the neighborhood's tight-knit feel.
"People are mindful of each other. They keep an eye on each other," says Kathleen Talty, president of the
Talty, a lawyer, has owned her house on Beech Avenue since 1992. One year she had a party and realized at the last minute that her refrigerator was too small to hold all the food. Talty's neighbors offered to store the rest, passing the food over the back deck.
The neighborhood association takes an active role in community life, organizing park cleanups, neighborhood watches and parties. The group sends out regular e-mails with neighborhood news and works with Hopkins, which has had a sometimes rocky relationship with the neighborhood.
During the 1960s and again in the 1980s, the university wanted to take a large portion of the park and turn it into a building and a parking lot.
The neighborhood association fought back and won.
These days, Talty says, the relationship is much better. With the association's blessing, the city allows the school to use the park's lower field for intramural sports. And the university consults the association when it has projects that could affect the neighborhood, such as the new buildings on San Martin Drive.
"We don't want to build walls," says Salem Reiner, the university's director of community affairs.
"We want to be part of the fabric of the community."
Even with all the newcomers, longtime residents say
"Everyone was so nice and so welcoming. If anyone needed help, they helped," says 83-year-old Angie
The neighborhood is still like that, old-timers say.
Some things have changed, though.
Prices have gone up. When the Madonnas bought their house in 1947, they paid $3,700. And those marble steps aren't quite as spotless as they used to be.
"We scrubbed the front steps every day," Madonna says. "They don't do that anymore."