Tell me about moving from DC to Baltimore with kids.

[Anonymous]

In all my years it's a real first to hear Roland Park described as sketchy

Anonymous wrote:
I think you mean "sketchy" or something like that, not gritty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone really should sit down and do a crime stat comparison between Roland Park and Cleveland Park and Chestnut Hill and Brookline and Hancock Park.

I've spent enough time on internet forums to know that when it comes to crime stats and people start posting about anecdotal experience or instincts, it distorts the reality on the ground. Crime happens everywhere. All affluent areas suffer from petty theft and even periodic muggings. And the periodic murder, tragically, even if it is more of a once a generation thing. The truth is that at the end of the day, genuinely well-off people would not be paying high prices to live in a crime-ridden ghetto. Roland Park residents aren't going to be paying high prices and high taxes just to suffer from crime all the time.

If someone is genuinely concerned about crime in Roland Park, probably the best thing is to read the archives of the neighborhood's civil league meetings and see what's being reported and discussed. Like most educated, affluent neighborhoods, Roland Park residents are very proactive.

I know for a fact that not all crimes discussed at Roland Park civic meetings make it onto the materials placed on the web site. There seems to be a vested interest on some of these crimes not
being reported -- in one case, there were several burglaries on one street (all at night, with the families home). The following spring, four houses on that street were put up for sale. I have never seen this particular series of burglaries reported, but we were househunting at the time, and heard about from a friend who did attend a civic meeting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gritty wasn't meant as a physical description.

It means that you can't leave a door unlocked or a car window down, a bike out in the front yard, go safely to the atm at night, and are often subjected to police helicopters overhead due to proximity of "bad" neighborhoods.

There are recent incidents of old ladies being mugged at gunpoint outside petit Louis restaurant, and a year or two ago, multiple muggings of joggers mugged, also at gunpoint


Aesthetically. Not gritty but that wasn't what I meant.

I think you mean "sketchy" or something like that, not gritty.

I used gritty, meaning there is urban crime. I do not think sketchy is the right term.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gritty wasn't meant as a physical description.

It means that you can't leave a door unlocked or a car window down, a bike out in the front yard, go safely to the atm at night, and are often subjected to police helicopters overhead due to proximity of "bad" neighborhoods.

There are recent incidents of old ladies being mugged at gunpoint outside petit Louis restaurant, and a year or two ago, multiple muggings of joggers mugged, also at gunpoint


Aesthetically. Not gritty but that wasn't what I meant.

I think you mean "sketchy" or something like that, not gritty.

I used gritty, meaning there is urban crime. I do not think sketchy is the right term.

Sketchy at least refers to crime. Gritty refers to appearance, and maybe vibe. A non gritty area can be high crime and a gritty area (for example parts of NYC) can be fairly low in crime.

[Anonymous]

I moved to Homeland from Glover Park years ago with my family. I went from a $900k 3/2 rowhouse with one of the two baths in the basement to a gorgeous $650k stone 5/4 mini-mansion. Our kids are in private school, but we would have probably done private in DC anyway, and the Baltimore independents are $25k instead of $45k.

We absolutely love it here. We regularly walk to the lakes, the library, the Senator theatre, and the restaurants in and around Belvedere Square. If I could walk to Eddie's, my life would be perfect! Even in a private school environment, there is no trace of the typical D.C. competitive parenting. Our neighbors and the other parents at our kids' school are wonderful, with few exceptions.

On crime: with the exception of the horrible stabbing of the woman walking her dog (which I believe was not random. Why would anyone stab a person out walking her dogs in a residential neighborhood if they were looking for a random person to rob?), the crime in this part of the city is petty property crime with an occasional house break in. Yes, if you leave a bag in plain view in your car and forget to lock the doors, it will probably be stolen. That was also true in every D.C. neighborhood I ever lived in. We have an alarm on our house, and we use it.

On insularity: it is true that, unlike D.C., most people who live in Baltimore grew up in Baltimore. I think it could be very hard to move here as a young person with no kids. But I think it is pretty easy to get to know other parents once you have kids. We have met really fun, nice people in our neighborhood and through our kids' school. Im not going to be elected president of the Junior League or whatever any time soon, but we have a few other families we socialize with often, and I'm perfectly happy with that.

All that said, the PP who warned about the job situation is right. We moved here because my husband has a great job here, and I have a job that is a relatively easy commute by MARC. I would not have moved here if we were both commuting or if my office in DC was any farther from Union Station than it is. And I would never dream of trying to commute regularly to D.C. or MoCo by car.

As others have said, Baltimore is not perfect. The divide between the haves and have-nots is disturbing, but that's true in DC too. The school budget issues are terrible. But I am so much happier raising a family here than I would have been in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone really should sit down and do a crime stat comparison between Roland Park and Cleveland Park and Chestnut Hill and Brookline and Hancock Park.

I've spent enough time on internet forums to know that when it comes to crime stats and people start posting about anecdotal experience or instincts, it distorts the reality on the ground. Crime happens everywhere. All affluent areas suffer from petty theft and even periodic muggings. And the periodic murder, tragically, even if it is more of a once a generation thing. The truth is that at the end of the day, genuinely well-off people would not be paying high prices to live in a crime-ridden ghetto. Roland Park residents aren't going to be paying high prices and high taxes just to suffer from crime all the time.

If someone is genuinely concerned about crime in Roland Park, probably the best thing is to read the archives of the neighborhood's civil league meetings and see what's being reported and discussed. Like most educated, affluent neighborhoods, Roland Park residents are very proactive.

I know for a fact that not all crimes discussed at Roland Park civic meetings make it onto the materials placed on the web site. There seems to be a vested interest on some of these crimes not
being reported -- in one case, there were several burglaries on one street (all at night, with the families home). The following spring, four houses on that street were put up for sale. I have never seen this particular series of burglaries reported, but we were househunting at the time, and heard about from a friend who did attend a civic meeting.

You are insufferable. I love Roland Park. I live in DC. You must also believe that DC is crime ridden as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone really should sit down and do a crime stat comparison between Roland Park and Cleveland Park and Chestnut Hill and Brookline and Hancock Park.

I've spent enough time on internet forums to know that when it comes to crime stats and people start posting about anecdotal experience or instincts, it distorts the reality on the ground. Crime happens everywhere. All affluent areas suffer from petty theft and even periodic muggings. And the periodic murder, tragically, even if it is more of a once a generation thing. The truth is that at the end of the day, genuinely well-off people would not be paying high prices to live in a crime-ridden ghetto. Roland Park residents aren't going to be paying high prices and high taxes just to suffer from crime all the time.

If someone is genuinely concerned about crime in Roland Park, probably the best thing is to read the archives of the neighborhood's civil league meetings and see what's being reported and discussed. Like most educated, affluent neighborhoods, Roland Park residents are very proactive.

I know for a fact that not all crimes discussed at Roland Park civic meetings make it onto the materials placed on the web site. There seems to be a vested interest on some of these crimes not
being reported -- in one case, there were several burglaries on one street (all at night, with the families home). The following spring, four houses on that street were put up for sale. I have never seen this particular series of burglaries reported, but we were househunting at the time, and heard about from a friend who did attend a civic meeting.

You are insufferable. I love Roland Park. I live in DC. You must also believe that DC is crime ridden as well.[/quot

Nope, lived in D.C. with no issues. Are you not aware of the difference in crime rates between D.C. and Baltimore?

But I actually live in Baltimore and you don't.

[Anonymous]

My best friend's kids are in magnet programs at RPMS. There are several test in middle school and high school programs in Baltimore City. She is extremely happy. She loves her kids' friends/cohort.

[Anonymous]

We live in the suburbs but my children attend Roland Park Privates. There are many families who live in Roland Park who send their children to public elementary school, and often the middle school, and transfer them to private school for high school.

The Roland Park area is safe enough that even those of us who are suburban have no problem with our middle school and older children walking the neighborhoods and going to the Starbucks, Shananigans, or friends houses. If my (suburban) 11 year old can walk a mile to a friend's house with a couple other friends, I'm not sure how gritty or sketchy I'd consider it.

If I were interested in city living, Roland Park is where I would live.

[Anonymous]

20:28 again. I thought of one other thing to note: based on the Nextdoor activity for the north Baltimore neighborhoods, there is definitely a small, but vocal, contingent who talk as if their neighborhoods are under siege because unlocked cars regularly get rifled through and unsecured bicycles get stolen. Having lived all over D.C. and now in north Baltimore for years, I don't think there is any appreciable difference between NW DC and north Baltimore in terms of crime. As PPs have pointed out, any difference in crime stats for the two cities is attributable to the truly depressed areas of Baltimore.

Baltimore is not Mayberry, but, as in any city, common sense is your best defense against crime. We always lock our cars. We don't leave valuables in cars or out in the yard. We have an alarm system and deadbolts on the doors, and we use them.

[Anonymous]

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2012/10/24/police-report-2-abduction-robberies-in-roland-park/

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-08-21/news/bs-md-roland-park-arrest-20130821_1_street-robberies-north-baltimore-second-suspect

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20:28 again. I thought of one other thing to note: based on the Nextdoor activity for the north Baltimore neighborhoods, there is definitely a small, but vocal, contingent who talk as if their neighborhoods are under siege because unlocked cars regularly get rifled through and unsecured bicycles get stolen. Having lived all over D.C. and now in north Baltimore for years, I don't think there is any appreciable difference between NW DC and north Baltimore in terms of crime. As PPs have pointed out, any difference in crime stats for the two cities is attributable to the truly depressed areas of Baltimore.

Baltimore is not Mayberry, but, as in any city, common sense is your best defense against crime. We always lock our cars. We don't leave valuables in cars or out in the yard. We have an alarm system and deadbolts on the doors, and we use them.

The difference is that nw D.C. is geographically segregated from the most crime ridden areas in D.C. In Baltimore, the best neighborhoods are immediately adjacent to the worse. Are there car jackings, abductions and shootings in Cleveland Park?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2012/10/24/police-report-2-abduction-robberies-in-roland-park/

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-08-21/news/bs-md-roland-park-arrest-20130821_1_street-robberies-north-baltimore-second-suspect

You found two incidents, one from 2012 and one from 2013, that each took place when people were out walking or biking at 2:00 in the morning. From that, we are supposed to believe that RP is some crime-ridden hellhole?

[Anonymous]

https://www.google.com/amp/dcw50.com/2017/03/04/man-breaks-into-kalorama-home-blindfolds-and-sexually-assaults-woman/amp/

[Anonymous]

And an armed carjacking in Chevy Chase, DC:

http://www.fox5dc.com/news/local-news/223331790-story