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[quote=Anonymous]I grew up in Roland Park and my parents still live there (residents of the last 40 years), along with many friends.

Crime in Roland Park is comparable to NW DC. The occasional house break-in, the occasional car break-in, the occasional bicycle theft. FYI my parents' house has never been broken into nor cars tampered with, although we did have bicycles stolen once - 25 years ago. The murder was tragic and remains unsolved and the thinking is it was someone who knew the victim well. It's also the only murder I remember happening in Roland Park in my lifetime. NW DC and Georgetown have had murders in the not too distant past too.

You are right that RPEMS is becoming overcrowded due to its popularity. Just about everyone wants to get into the school, a big change from my childhood when everyone was avoiding it. But as a reference, my mother attended RPEMS for elementary school (she grew up in Homeland) and in the 1950s RPEMS also had 30-35 students to a class and was regarded as one of the best schools in the entire Baltimore metro area. My father's affluent Pennsylvania suburb's elementary school also had around 35 students per class and this was an idyllic suburb. While I personally wouldn't be wild about 30 kids to a class for my kid, people seem to cope with the popularity of RPEMS.

The housing market in North Baltimore is tight with little inventory. 650k can get you a house in good shape in Homeland / Orchards zoned for RPEMS, when one does come onto the market. Within RP it's more complicated to come up with the typical prices due to the wide range of housing, but there are few shabby properties to begin with. And, of course, people's tastes and expectations vary greatly. DC area people tend to consider a house to need work if it doesn't have the latest fancy kitchen, even if the house is structurally sound and needs minimal cosmetic improvements. Baltimore people are more pragmatic and less demanding. Only the OP knows what she expects from her budget.

As for being walkable, RP is similar to NW DC without the metro. Best to think of it as partially walkable with a limited range of amenities that you can walk to, but it is possible to organize your life around them. That's what my parents do. They walk to Eddies, the library, post office, a handful of eateries, and that's what they're happy with. I even had childhood friends whose parents took the bus to work downtown. The most walkable areas are going to be the waterfront neighborhoods, particularly Canton/Federal Hill/Fells Point.

OP, families with kids in Baltimore love living in Baltimore. It'll probably shock many DC people but all my friends and siblings in Baltimore say the same thing: it's a great place to raise a family, whether they're in the city or the suburbs. Have you also looked at Mount Washington (zoned for Mount Washington Elementary?). I've heard good things about several charter programs catering to families in the Canton and Federal Hill area.

[quote=Anonymous]Here is the reality:

$650,000 in RP  will be partially but not fully renovated, taxes will be approximately $13,000.

Your car will be broken into on a fairly regular basis if you leave unlocked, bikes stolen, etc . . . Only one murder in RP last year, but a number of muggings

RP elementary is overcrowded, 30 kids minimum in a class. You will never get lucky with a small class, kids are bussed in if there is any room, and the city has a $130 million shortfall in the school budget that the governor apparently cares nothing about.

Few people uses the public middle or high school, even in RP.  Private school or at least parochial school is probably a given if you care about school quality.

There is no other walkable neighborhood, though Homeland is nice, it has little retail and same issues with schools.[/quote][/quote]

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