Little Italy, Baltimore

Little Italy
Neighborhood of Baltimore
Little Italy in February 2007, at the corner of Pratt and Albermarle Streets
Little Italy
Coordinates: 39°17′05″N 76°36′08″W
Country	United States of America
State	Maryland
City	Baltimore
Named for	Italian-American ethnic heritage

Little Italy is a neighborhood located in Baltimore, Maryland.

History

Situated just east of the Inner Harbor, Little Italy is so named because of the large number of Italian immigrant families that moved into the area during the 20th century. The neighborhood is still home to a large and active Italian ethnic community. Located near newly desirable neighborhoods like Fell's Point, Upper Fell's Point and Harbor East, Little Italy's housing market is very hot, not least because turnover is low in the tight-knit community. Little Italy is also notable as one of the safest neighborhoods in the city of Baltimore, as the neighborhood's reputation is such to not allow crimes against the residents caused by outside agitators.

Little Italy is only a few blocks from the Shot Tower/Market Place station on the Baltimore Metro Subway and the southern terminus of the Jones Falls Expressway (I-83).

Each summer, the Little Italy community hosts an outdoor film festival. Free outdoor movies are projected onto a wall at the intersection of High and Stiles Streets. People bring chairs and blankets and watch the movie from a parking lot located at the intersection. Open Air Movie Schedule (dead link).

Little Italy is home to St. Leo the Great Roman Catholic Church, established in 1881 (cornerstone laid 1880), and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Notable natives and residents

• Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi grew up in Baltimore's Little Italy. Her father, Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr., was mayor of the city.
• MLB Hall of Famer Jim Palmer owns a penthouse condominium in Little Italy, which he acquired in 2006, and uses when he's in Baltimore doing broadcasting work.

Literary and dramatic references

• In Homicide: Life on the Street, fictional detective Al Giardello was raised in Little Italy, as it was the neighborhood inhabited by his father's side of the family. Giardello's mother's side of the family was from a neighboring African American housing project called the Perkins Homes.
• Nora Roberts' book Blue Smoke was set in Baltimore's Little Italy, as is the film adaptation.

St. Leo's Church during the Feast of St. Gabriel, September 2013.

See also

• History of the Italians in Baltimore

External links

• Little Italy Community Association (Baltimore)
• Little Italy, MD
• Little Italy on MySpace