Philip Smith

Philip Smith grew up on the Eastern Shore, but with family in the Essex area he moved to Baltimore following his graduation from high school. "I just like living in the city. I'm not really cut out to be a country boy," he says.

Following a brief stint in Savannah, Georgia where he completed his college degree, Philip returned to Baltimore and moved into Belvedere Square.

"My boyfriend lived here and even though its close to the city line, its centrally located. I can go visit my friends on Hunt Valley or downtown. Everything is easy to get to with Northern Parkway right there and 83 not far away," he explains.

Its three years and counting for Philip in Belvedere Square and he likes the neighborhood so much that he works there now as well.

"When I first moved here, I had a job in Fells Point. I went to school for interior design and there's a really well-respected furniture store in Belvedere Square and of course the location is perfect because it takes me like four minutes to walk to work," he says. "I just really like the convenience of living here.

Good eats and treats

"Its easy to wake up on a Sunday morning and walk over to Greg's Bagels. There lots of restaurants here. Grand Cru is here. Zen West is here and I go there a lot," Philip says.

The Senator is also a big part of the reason that Philip stays in the neighborhood. Though its fate is in limbo since the city purchased the property, he hopes that it will resume showing first run films in the near future.

"We want to see it stay as a theater. I don't want to see it be anything else. Just all the history there. I've never met anyone who doesn't want it to continue to operate as a theater."