Reply to Tell me about moving from DC to Baltimore with kids.

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=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 [b]walk to the lakes, the library, the Senator theatre[/b], 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. [/quote]

Huh?  No, just no.  I've lived in Baltimore (very close to the section you mention, in fact).  I'm not a squeamish, pearl-clutching type, but I would not walk to Belvedere Square or the Senator after dark.  Period.  [b]If you are talking about walking there in the afternoon, broad daylight, you need to make that clear.  Otherwise, you are greatly misleading people.  [/b]

I love Baltimore.  It will always have a place in my heart, but I don't think it's fair to mislead people.

I agree with the Roland Park poster who says that a lot of people seem to have a vested interest in keeping the crime quiet.  I had a similar experience in another neighborhood.  People said up and down how great it is, that there is only petty crime that you'd find anywhere, etc., but that was not the reality.  And it was not at all walkable.  I consider walkable to mean I can walk around the neighborhood in the early morning or in the evening (when it's not quite dark) and feel safe.  But that is not the case, unless you have a large, intimidating dog.  Even then, it's questionable.

[/quote]

so she is misleading people if she walks to the square at the times people actually go there vs. in the middle of the night? okay.[/quote]

[b]The sun goes down at 5pm in the winter.  So she's not seeing any movies that let out later than that at the Senator or walking there to have dinner and a drink and then walking home.[/b]

I lived in Baltimore.  And it was frustrating not feeling safe to go on a walk when I got home from work.  As I said, I'm not a pearl clutcher.  I actually live in PG County now.  And my suburban neighborhood is far more walkable in any real sense of the word than my Baltimore neighborhood was.

I'm not a Baltimore hater.  But I think it's misleading to say that area of Baltimore is truly walkable.  Maybe at noon.  But outside of that, not really.[/quote]

on the days the sun sets at five it's too cold to walk anyways. my kids' school is less than 10 minute walk from my home. it's very safe. yet during the winter i drive them. it's too cold and often windy and/or rainy. i am not sure there are many people anywhere (regardless of safety) who enjoy long walks during winter days.[/quote]

Lots of people like to be able to take a walk at 5pm in January or at 7pm in March.  Or when they say they want something "walkable," they mean they actually want to be able to walk to a restaurant and not have to leave by 4:30 to get home while it's still safe to walk.

That's what I mean by saying that that section of Baltimore really isn't walkable in the way people mean that word when they say they are looking for a "walkable" urban area.

But whatever.[/quote]

you are totally exaggerating and holding baltimore to some crazy standard that doesn't apply anywhere. it's not like the city becomes much more dangerous the moment the sun sets. the danger is not in darkness itself, it is in the kind of people who are out when it's dark outside. 1 am is much more dangerous than 6 pm irrespective of darkness. i lived in many cities here and abroad there is no city, town or village where i would feel 100% safe in the middle of the night.[/quote]

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