Anonymous wrote:You can tell who the Baltimorons are by how much they have to type to justify their decisions for living in Baltimore.

Don't drink the koolaid. Property barely appreciates above inflation (negative returns after factoring in huge taxes and insurance bills). Crime has exploded over the last 5 years.

The city is getting worse.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with PP. I'm a DC native, went to a private DC HS and then college in DC, went off to law school and then came back to DC to work on the Hill. 2 years ago I decided that I was tired of DC life and gave Baltimore City a look. It was the best decision I ever made. I bought a place in the middle of the city near Penn Station in a safe and walkable community.

I think there's a lot of truth to Baltimore being a "tale of two cities." While there is certainly abject poverty in a lot of areas and then great amounts of wealth in others, for some odd reason, those two distinct realities rarely meet. Living in Station North, I'm a few blocks closer to the higher crime areas but it's never impacted me at all. I can assure you that the folks that live in RP, Guilford and Homeland NEVER feel unsafe in their neighborhoods.

Here's an interesting fact that I think ties this all into a nice bow. City Hall and BDC publish quarterly economic indicator reports. The most recent report gleans that while Baltimore City's population is declining, average home sales prices in the city are increasing. More people are leaving the city than coming in, but the people that are coming are like OP who are well-to-do and can afford a much better life up here than they would in DC proper.

NP. We've been thinking about Baltimore after getting discouraged with prices and the housing stock in DC. DW works from home and my job (when it returns to the office) is near Union Station, so something near Penn Station seems ideal, commute-wise. But we have no idea what's safe and walkable near there. What areas near Penn Station would you recommend? Any clear "hard boundaries" (i.e., stay on this side of such-and-so street)?

Sure. I bought in Station North two blocks away from Penn Station. I actually rented for a year at Nelson Kohl, the apartment literally across from Penn Station, to make sure I actually liked the area and could stomach the commute to Union Station to get to the Hill every day. The commute was a breeze if you don't mind being on the train for an hour in the morning (which most DMV commuters do by the way but they also pay 2 times the rent/mortgage, but I digress).

My hard boundary was not anywhere above North Avenue (incase I had to stay for late votes in and in turn had to walk home from Penn late at night) or anywhere too far in to Mt. Vernon because I wanted to buy a home and not a condo. So it was pretty much concentrated primarily in the Station North neighborhood. Homes sell for anywhere from $180-400k there, which made it really attractive, particularly on a Hill salary.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with PP. I'm a DC native, went to a private DC HS and then college in DC, went off to law school and then came back to DC to work on the Hill. 2 years ago I decided that I was tired of DC life and gave Baltimore City a look. It was the best decision I ever made. I bought a place in the middle of the city near Penn Station in a safe and walkable community.

I think there's a lot of truth to Baltimore being a "tale of two cities." While there is certainly abject poverty in a lot of areas and then great amounts of wealth in others, for some odd reason, those two distinct realities rarely meet. Living in Station North, I'm a few blocks closer to the higher crime areas but it's never impacted me at all. I can assure you that the folks that live in RP, Guilford and Homeland NEVER feel unsafe in their neighborhoods.

Here's an interesting fact that I think ties this all into a nice bow. City Hall and BDC publish quarterly economic indicator reports. The most recent report gleans that while Baltimore City's population is declining, average home sales prices in the city are increasing. More people are leaving the city than coming in, but the people that are coming are like OP who are well-to-do and can afford a much better life up here than they would in DC proper.

NP. We've been thinking about Baltimore after getting discouraged with prices and the housing stock in DC. DW works from home and my job (when it returns to the office) is near Union Station, so something near Penn Station seems ideal, commute-wise. But we have no idea what's safe and walkable near there. What areas near Penn Station would you recommend? Any clear "hard boundaries" (i.e., stay on this side of such-and-so street)?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with PP. I'm a DC native, went to a private DC HS and then college in DC, went off to law school and then came back to DC to work on the Hill. 2 years ago I decided that I was tired of DC life and gave Baltimore City a look. It was the best decision I ever made. I bought a place in the middle of the city near Penn Station in a safe and walkable community.

I think there's a lot of truth to Baltimore being a "tale of two cities." While there is certainly abject poverty in a lot of areas and then great amounts of wealth in others, for some odd reason, those two distinct realities rarely meet. Living in Station North, I'm a few blocks closer to the higher crime areas but it's never impacted me at all. I can assure you that the folks that live in RP, Guilford and Homeland NEVER feel unsafe in their neighborhoods.

Here's an interesting fact that I think ties this all into a nice bow. City Hall and BDC publish quarterly economic indicator reports. The most recent report gleans that while Baltimore City's population is declining, average home sales prices in the city are increasing. More people are leaving the city than coming in, but the people that are coming are like OP who are well-to-do and can afford a much better life up here than they would in DC proper.

NP. We've been thinking about Baltimore after getting discouraged with prices and the housing stock in DC. DW works from home and my job (when it returns to the office) is near Union Station, so something near Penn Station seems ideal, commute-wise. But we have no idea what's safe and walkable near there. What areas near Penn Station would you recommend? Any clear "hard boundaries" (i.e., stay on this side of such-and-so street)?

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you move to Baltimore you're going to have to listen to people screeching about how Baltimore is a crime-ridden hellscape. Half of those people are devoted suburbanites and the other half apparently prefer the safety and affordability of downtown DC. None of it makes particular sense. Some people are really invested in dumping on Baltimore. I guess it makes them feel better about the choices and compromises they've made.

Visit neighborhoods yourself and see if you feel comfortable and think you would enjoy living there. Talk to people who are currently in the neighborhood, not who lived there 15 years ago or whose brother's sister's hairdresser was mugged there. Talk to people who have kids in the schools you're interested in.

When you narrow it down, post and I'm sure a bunch of us would be happy to weigh in with details!

Anonymous wrote:You can tell who the Baltimorons are by how much they have to type to justify their decisions for living in Baltimore.

Don't drink the koolaid. Property barely appreciates above inflation (negative returns after factoring in huge taxes and insurance bills). Crime has exploded over the last 5 years.

The city is getting worse.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rent out the condo and buy in Baltimore

This. Buy in suburbs - Elliot city, hunt valley, sparks, fallston. Far enough away from the city to avoid high property taxes and crime, close enough for a commute. Don’t live anywhere else in Baltimore.

Anonymous wrote:Rent out the condo and buy in Baltimore

Anonymous wrote:I agree with PP. I'm a DC native, went to a private DC HS and then college in DC, went off to law school and then came back to DC to work on the Hill. 2 years ago I decided that I was tired of DC life and gave Baltimore City a look. It was the best decision I ever made. I bought a place in the middle of the city near Penn Station in a safe and walkable community.

I think there's a lot of truth to Baltimore being a "tale of two cities." While there is certainly abject poverty in a lot of areas and then great amounts of wealth in others, for some odd reason, those two distinct realities rarely meet. Living in Station North, I'm a few blocks closer to the higher crime areas but it's never impacted me at all. I can assure you that the folks that live in RP, Guilford and Homeland NEVER feel unsafe in their neighborhoods.

Here's an interesting fact that I think ties this all into a nice bow. City Hall and BDC publish quarterly economic indicator reports. The most recent report gleans that while Baltimore City's population is declining, average home sales prices in the city are increasing. More people are leaving the city than coming in, but the people that are coming are like OP who are well-to-do and can afford a much better life up here than they would in DC proper.

Anonymous wrote:Also look into Hereford. Beautiful area, good public schools and an easy commute into Baltimore. I would go in a minute.

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:
Baltimore residents have a skewed perspective. When your baseline for crime is Baltimore, you'll think neighborhoods like Canton, CV, Hamden, Roland Park are fine, yet they still have very high levels of crime. There is a reason. Baltimore is cheap, so many homes are for sale in Baltimore, and nothing appreciates. Everyone leaves the city when they get older and have kids. It is rare in Baltimore to see many people pushing around strollers and having school aged kids because everyone leaves when they start families when taxes, schools, and safety start to matter.

Spoken as someone who has absolutely no idea what they're talking about.

It is far from rare to see families in Baltimore. From the older families in Roland Park to the young ones in Canton and Hampden, it's absolutely false. My kid is in a RP private school and a solid third of his classmates are from the city. There are a LOT of high-end strollers being pushed around within city limits (and even more not-high-end-strollers, but I suspect you think those families don't count).

Also patently false to say that crime is high in Hampden and Roland Park etc. There was a murder in Roland Park in 2016, every freaked out, and people still talk about it. Your car might get broken into, sure. But I lived in a neighborhood approximately 100000x seedier than any of the neighborhoods you've mentioned, and nobody I knew there experienced violent crime. Crime tends to be concentrated and that's not where it's concentrated.

But don't take my word for it. Crime statistics are readily available. All the maps show the same thing: the "white L" is pretty darn safe, and the "black butterfly" is not. We absolutely need to fight for a safer city for ALL Baltimore residents -- but don't pretend that the pain is equally spread throughout the city. It plainly is not.

This is pretty true. You can get an idea on this by how many families are leaving Baltimore. City's population is less than 600K which is below it was in 1950s. City is in horrible state with high crime, bad schools and public services and high taxes. Take out a couple of neighborhoods and you don't have a good place in Baltimore to raise kids. People should be paid to live there instead of high taxes.

I see the anti-Baltimore trolls are back.

The vast majority of white flight in Baltimore occurred prior to 2000.