During the upcoming Grand Prix of Baltimore - Aug. 31 to Sept. 2, 2012 - downtown Baltimore won't be as crowded and traffic jammed as you may think it will be.

The racing event promoters say that attendance is expected to be lower than last year, and many residents of nearby neighborhoods are leaving town for the weekend.

The City of Baltimore and the Grand Prix of Baltimore organization learned a lot from last year's inaugural race event. They have made some positive changes for this year's event. And I believe that more people can easily enjoy attending the upcoming race event.

Baltimore police will be doing a good job at keeping the traffic moving and everyone safe.

Retail stores, eateries, pubs and bars in the area will be open and ready to serve you. And when I was there last year, none of those Baltimore businesses were crowded; even though you can see and hear some of the racing action from some of those fine establishments, which are outside of the paid entrance areas.

Several downtown hotels have rooms and suites with outstanding views of the race coarse. The best rooms and suites are probably booked far in advance of the Grand Prix weekend. But people do cancel reservations or check out a day early, so one of those rooms might become available.

I have a large set of photos and video of the 2011 Grand Prix of Baltimore that shows some close-up racing action and how cool an event it is in downtown Baltimore. There are also 5 photos and 5 videos attached to this blog post.

For racing schedules and other info - including what the family-oriented activities are besides watching the races, go to:

Official Grand Prix of Baltimore Website