This may not be a secret to many readers, but Baltimore has an impressive degree of holiday spirit when it comes to holiday decorating. In fact, Charm City is one of the most dazzling holiday light destinations in the country, according to a new ranking from real estate website Redfin.
Each year, the company publishes a list of the best such cities and individual neighborhoods on its blog after surveying its real estate agents. One could easily guess that Hampden would make the cut for best neighborhoods, thanks to its timeless “Miracle on 34th Street” attraction, but that didn’t quite happen this year. The new ranking published today gave those honors to Dyker Heights in Brooklyn, N.Y., Penfield in Rochester, N.Y, the aptly named “Christmas Town” in McAdenville, N.C., Deefield in Dallas and Strongsville in Cleveland.
However, Redfin did list Baltimore at the top of its 25 best cities for holiday light displays for 2016. Specifically, the site named Hampden along with nearby Medfield, due to its assorted streets with “yards full of lights,” and the ever-festive Federal Hill, thanks to the neighborhood’s annual Holiday Decorating Contest.
Other cities that made it into the top 25 include Birmingham, Charlotte, Detroit and Kansas City.
For what it’s worth, Hampden rightfully made the cut last year, earning a fourth-place spot among the top- ranked neighborhoods. Redfin also embraced a wider geographic range in honoring the Baltimore area in the 2015 ranking, referencing the festive folks in nearby Dundalk as well as Odenton and Glen Burnie further outside the city.
