Moving to Baltimore
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Anonymous
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My husband was recently offered an amazing role at Hopkins, and we will likely be accepting so long as I can go remote at my current job.
Now the scary part - moving to a brand new city! Recommendations on areas to look for a family with two young toddlers? Will likely go private for schools but would like a good public option in case we decide to go that route for elementary. We would love to keep the commute to the Homewood campus under 25 minutes, if not shorter. We currently live in Chevy Chase DC and love it, so would like something similar in vibe. Bonus points for a community pool or similar community amenities. Budget - up to $1.3M, but would love if we could keep it under $1M for a bit of COL arbitrage vs. DC. PS: We will also take any and all recommendations / thoughts more broadly on making the move from DC to Baltimore with young kids! |
Anonymous
| Stay put and he should commute. |
Anonymous
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Answer is clearly Roland Park/Homeland or across the city line in Ruxton. You will have options in your budget, inventory is the issue. Guilford is also worth looking at though Roland Park and Homeland are more family oriented.
North Baltimore to Ruxton (the whole region starting at Hopkins Homewood all the way due north to the Beltway at Towson) is Baltimore's Chevy Chase / Bethesda. The land of charmed living. Plenty of private schools to pick from. Place is crawling with Hopkins doctors and leaders. Do drive around, explore the neighborhoods, find a good realtor who can summarize the different areas well. Not sure if we are allowed to mention recs on here but Noah Mumaw is as good as any who knows the area like the back of his hand and can walk you through all the pros and cons of each neighborhood. Google his agency. But there are also other good agents. |
Anonymous
| Definitely Homeland or Roland Park, look at houses zoned for Roland Park public. Budget will be tight, but you should be able to get something more modest or large but needing renovation. Roland Park has a community pool but Homeland does not. Not uncommon for families in either neighborhood to use one of the country clubs or private swim clubs. |
Anonymous
| We also liked Noah, Amy Zink also great. |
Anonymous
| Don’t do Guilford unless you are willing to risk being carjacked in your driveway. |
Anonymous
| If you want public elementary schools, look for a house in Ruxton, West Towson, Woodbrook, Wiltondale, or Stoneleigh zoned for West Towson, Riderwood, or Stoneleigh ES. |
Anonymous
These are all very auburban, not at all like Chevy Chase, Stoneleigh would be the closest but good luck finding inventory. Roland Park/Homeland more closely resemble NW DC. |
Anonymous
| Would strongly recommend that you stay put until you’re sure this job is a good fit for him. |
Anonymous
A lot more than you're implying. It's not Rockville or cul de sacs. They are genuinely lovely areas with a nice mix of housing stock. Inventory will appear. Especially with spring market. Getting a good realtor will help a lot. OP also needs to be aware of city taxes versus county taxes. If you have a 1.3M budget for DC, I'd actually focus on finding something in the 800-900 estate sale range, meaning great condition but scope for a new kitchen and some cosmetic improvements, and you will get your money back. And, yes, they do appear on market. Get lined up with a realtor and have bidding strategy in place and be ready to move quickly. Option is also to rent for a year while exploring area and settling into job, though if it's a Hopkins med role, these recruits to Baltimore tend to settle in very quickly and happily. It's less of a rat race compared to DC and you live like kings. OP would do well to check out sale history from last year in 21210, 21212 and 21204, and even 21218 (Guilford) to see how sale prices typically work. 1.5M will get you a very nicely updated house anywhere, bigger in some neighborhoods and smaller in others. But does she need/want that when there's solid options in the 800-1M bracket? And they can improve over time to their tastes. |
Anonymous
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There are lots of great neighborhoods around the Homewood campus. you may want to consider homeland, guilford, Roland park, oakenshaw. (you may be able to walk or take the Hopkins shuttle from some places, depending if that is good for your work schedule)
If you are looking for public elementary school in the city, you will likely want to be zoned to Roland Park Public. That is a k-8 school. cathedral has a catholic school in that area if that appeals to you. The other private schools are in this area too. You should know that Baltimore County surrounds Baltimore city - so a few miles north, you will be in the county. As others have said, you may want to explore the Towson neighborhoods- Ruxton, Stoneleigh, Anneslie, maybe Towson Estates. A little more north, and you have Lutherville/Timonium, Hunt Valley/ Cockeysville. green spring Valley will put you near 83 and give you another route into the city. if you are just looking, I would add 21093 and 21030 to your list of zip codes. Baltimore County will likely give you more options for elementary school. The property taxes and car insurance will be less. |
Anonymous
Pre covid, there were a lot of solid options in the 800 to a million range, these days, not so much, especially in Roland Park and Ruxton. Inventory is always an issue in North Baltimore, regardless of the budget. I’ve lived in Ruxton and Roland park, both wonderful in their way, but Ruxton is completely not walkable, car dependent. My kids walk to their “private schools, but they could also walk to Roland Park public and Cathedral. It’s super nice to have that option and you can do that from most of Roland Park and Homeland. Mt. Washington and its public elementary is another city option worth considering. Repeating that op should avoid Guilford, there is a lot of burglaries and carjackings that manage to avoid publicity, knew several people who have been victims. Natives know to avoid, but transplants get sucked in by the beauty of the neighborhood. |
Anonymous
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This just went under contract but I know this neighborhood well and it’s a real hidden gem - quiet, safe, and super convenient to everything. https://www.redfin.com/MD/Baltimore/3411-Woodberry-Ave-21211/home/12547012
10 min to Hopkins, downtown, Roland Park schools, etc. 5 min from a grocery. The public elementary (Medfield Heights) is decent, but for that price you don’t have to sweat one of the many excellent private schools in RP. Although do figure in the eye watering taxes. |
Anonymous
There is not a true grocery store within 5 minutes of this house, just a Mom’s organic. Also no yard and in the middle of a townhome community. Great location for empty nesters looking to downside. |
Anonymous
I know the previous owner of this house, not the one who just sold, but the one before. They moved because having a baby and wanted a family neighborhood. Being close to the reservoir not a plus with respect to safety. |