<p>The neighborhood that Hopkins is directly in (Charles Village) is perfectly fine and among the better places in all of Baltimore. A huge percentage of the residents are either students or faculty/staff. It’s sort of its own college town within a bigger city. Just north of campus is an area with a lot of HUGE colorful houses where a lot of professors live, it’s clearly a very affluent part of the city. Hampden is just to the west of campus and is also a very nice area with lots of little shops and restaurants.</p>
<p>From about University Parkway (the unofficial north border of campus) down to 27th street is considered very safe. It’s mostly students. Once you go a little further south towards Penn station things get a bit more suspect. There have been a few isolated incidents over the years in that area. That said, it IS a city…and during the day it’s actually fine. To the east of campus are some shady areas, but there’s really no reason for any students to go that way. There’s a Rite Aid and a few other convenient stores in the Greenmount area which is fine to visit during the day, but I wouldn’t go there at night.</p>
<p>In essence, the Hopkins neighborhood and surrounding areas are much better than their reputation implies. But Baltimore is still a city, and it has its bad areas. I’ve been here for over two years and I’ve never felt unsafe. Just be smart and cautious.</p>