Job is relocating - which city to choose; Baltimore or Norfolk?

[Anonymous]

Beach or city? Weather better down here in Va Beach. Slower pace too. Plenty of outdoor activities. Free live music daily in summer on boardwalk.

[Anonymous]

Neither! I would find a new job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Neither! I would find a new job.

No one would hire you.

[Anonymous]

Norfolk is a hick town. I would love the beach, but not anything else about it. I am from a major capital European city. I would go to Baltimore, but you should look at schools first. Perhaps Howard country house, Ellicott city and commute to Baltimore.
That is what I would do.

[Anonymous]

Baltimore. I’m a native. DH lived in Norfolk for three years and said never again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For a family who enjoys a great city with lots of charm, history, fun things to do- but also needs good schools, Towson is where you need to be. While not directly in the city, it is about 20 min away. Towson is a nice college town with walkability and good public schools.

Came here to say exactly this. Towson is your sweet spot, OP.

[Anonymous]

Tons of young families in Canton and Fells Point neighborhoods in Baltimore, your husband could probably walk to work or would have a very short commute. Note, the housing inventory is all row homes and most of those families leave the city for the burbs when school-age comes. But there are lots of great school districts in the county just outside of Balt. city - in any direction, Severna Park, Columbia, Towson, etc.

I would think the decision between the two cities would come down to your political preferences. Norfolk and the surround are more conservative, Baltimore and most of Marlyand tends to be more liberal-leaning.

[Anonymous]

Roland Park is really nice. Baltimore offers a range of option from urban to suburban to exurban so take anyone who tells you it’s just one thing with a big grain of salt.

[Anonymous]

I'd choose Baltimore but live in a suburb with good schools and commute. Then you'd have access to the DC metro area. Norfolk would be pretty provincial and far from everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you say you are from the Midwest. What’s your feeling on Chicago? Is that your idea of a big city and do you like it? If you really like the gritty parts of Chicago, choose Baltimore. If it’s no, choose Norfolk. I’m from NYC and I really like Baltimore - it feels like a city to me- but if you really aren’t used to that it’s an acquired taste. You would have to pay attention to where you lived. Virginia would seem more “normal” to someone from the Midwest.

Baltimore and Chicago have little in common unless the south side expands to the entire city minus only a few pockets. Baltimore is like 80% abandoned buildings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Norfolk is a hick town. I would love the beach, but not anything else about it. I am from a major capital European city. I would go to Baltimore, but you should look at schools first. Perhaps Howard country house, Ellicott city and commute to Baltimore.
That is what I would do.

I can’t even believe I’m defending Norfolk—it has plenty of issues—but a hick town? We have an excellent art museum, the Chrysler, and the Virginia Opera. ODU is not the best of the Virginia universities, but the faculty who live and work here are a well-educated bunch. The Navy element, which can’t be avoided, brings in people who have lived all over the world, and many of them decide to stay here forever. The restaurant scene is wanting in some ways, but has improved dramatically in the past ten years. We have some beautiful old neighborhoods with tree-lined streets and lovely old homes.

Norfolk people generally don’t like Virginia Beach, and vice versa. As a Norfolk resident, I rarely go to the beach here. I prefer to drive a few hours for a nicer beach.

[Anonymous]

I have no connections to either Baltimore or Norfolk, but have spent some time in both. As someone accustomed to living in metropolitan cities, Baltimore seems like the obvious choice.

Norfolk is a 3 hour drive from anything approaching a "real" city. That's pretty isolated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Roland Park is really nice. Baltimore offers a range of option from urban to suburban to exurban so take anyone who tells you it’s just one thing with a big grain of salt.

I agree. And I'm also puzzled at this insistence by some people that Howard County is what OP wants (hello? Walkability? Howard County? Uh?). Howard is a lovely county but it is definitely not a walkable place and is also rather isolated from Baltimore. If you move to Howard, you will rarely go into Baltimore. Baltimore County is much more connected to Baltimore City and if you live in Towson you're going to find yourself going into the city much more often than someone who lives in Columbia or Ellicott City. I know - because I lived/worked in both places and know people who live in both.

OP, it's worth coming to Baltimore for a visit and to speak with a realtor and to get a lay of the land. I don't know if we're allowed to recommend realtors but mine was great and let me just say if you google kate realtor Baltimore she's the first name to come up. She covers pretty much the entire metro area and is great for understanding what people want. Whoever you choose, have the realtor show you around the following areas:

1. Canton/Federal Hill: very walkable, very urban areas right by the water. Plenty of families with young children (but they disappear the older the children get to be replaced by the next generation).

2. Roland Park/North Baltimore - any area zoned for Roland Park EMS. Predominately SFH in lovely neighborhoods with character.

Then after you've had a heart attack at the taxes, have the realtor take you to:

3. Towson (zips 21212, 21204, 21286) feeding into the Towson High pyramid. Neighborhoods include Ruxton (high end), West Towson, Rodgers Forge, Stoneleigh, Annesleigh, etc. I've a feeling you will really like this area, it's insanely family friendly and close to amenities, close to the city but without the high taxes and very safe and top schools, including some great Catholic options if you want to go that route someday.

4. Ellicott City (charming historic old village that is NOT walkable to anything residential outside its immediate vicinity) and explore the endless cul-de-sacs of the hinterlands. Great schools, great county government but resolutely suburban.

5. Severna Park, ideally with water privilege access. It's very suburban and nothing is walkable but if you have water privileges it can be a great lifestyle and you're not far from Annapolis, which is gorgeous and historic.

Note: if you're going to look at Ellicott City or Columbia, you might as well look at the northern Baltimore county areas like Hunt Valley, Phoenix, Cockeysville.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Baltimore. Norfolk is far from everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Norfolk is a hick town. I would love the beach, but not anything else about it. I am from a major capital European city. I would go to Baltimore, but you should look at schools first. Perhaps Howard country house, Ellicott city and commute to Baltimore.
That is what I would do.

I can’t even believe I’m defending Norfolk—it has plenty of issues—but a hick town? We have an excellent art museum, the Chrysler, and the Virginia Opera. ODU is not the best of the Virginia universities, but the faculty who live and work here are a well-educated bunch. The Navy element, which can’t be avoided, brings in people who have lived all over the world, and many of them decide to stay here forever. The restaurant scene is wanting in some ways, but has improved dramatically in the past ten years. We have some beautiful old neighborhoods with tree-lined streets and lovely old homes.

Norfolk people generally don’t like Virginia Beach, and vice versa. As a Norfolk resident, I rarely go to the beach here. I prefer to drive a few hours for a nicer beach.

The Chrysler? Are you actually proving me right?