Anyone Live Baltimore? Visited Baltimore?

[hot.soup]

FI just accepted a job offer which means we're moving from a small town in Canada down to Baltimore in a few months!

I haven't been down there yet, but FI flew down a few weeks ago to meet his colleagues and boss. He said the city was lovely, but he was sort of worried after a few of his colleagues mentioned the high crime rate, having their cars broken into and the culture shock we're sure to experience. One colleague (a young woman), moved to Baltimore from Boston a few years ago and said that out of all the cities she's ever lived in, she feels the least safe in Baltimore.

Anyone have any advice or anecdotes of their time in Baltimore? Have his colleagues just been watching way too many episodes of The Wire?

 

[kelpie]

Yeah, they are watching too much of the wire. Baltimore is a city with a lot of character, there are beautiful mansions next to the poorest projects. There are plenty of bucolic suburbs if you are city shy all together. There are a lot of impoverished neighborhoods but I don't feel unsafe walking in them. Housing is very affordable for a major city.

 

[stephbolt]

I love Baltimore! My sister and her husband live in Canton. There are bad neighborhoods but as Kelpie said there are plenty of suburbs that are in close proximity to the city if you don't want to deal with city life. But city life is also fun, lots of great restaurants, bars, and shopping. Canton is fun and I also think Hampden is a great neighborhood.

 

[hot.soup]

Thanks for the replies!

Steph, we've been looking at housing for the past little bit, and it's funny you should mention Canton, because FI likes the area too.

We're really excited to be moving south, no more -35 degrees Celsius winters for us!

 

[radiantquest]

I work in Baltimore. Well, Baltimore is one of those cities that a lot of places are considered Baltimore, but they are also considered other places too. For instance, I work in Baltimore, Parkville or Towson depending on who you are talking too. There are nice areas and there are not so nice areas. Most people that I work with dont actually live in Baltimore. Some of the surrounding areas that people live in are Towson, Timonium and Laurel. All those areas are rather nice places to live. Also Hunt Valley is lovely. Depending on where in Baltimore he is going to be working there is a suburb that you can live in that most likely is nice. Do you know what road in Baltimore he will be working on? I am not sure whether you will be near north or south or east or west. I would suggest though not living right in the heart of Baltimore. Have a 30 minute commute and live in a nice neighborhood.

 

[yssie]

I lived in the Baltimore suburbs for five years, went to college in downtown Baltimore. As PPs have said there are nice suburbs in the Baltimore county, but I wouldn't advise living downtown. Hopkins has bought a lot of the properties in the surrounding area so it's probably safer than when I was there a few years ago, but.. there are really lovely residential areas further north that aren't a bad drive at all

 

[hot.soup]

I would love to hear any suggestions from you guys about good neighborhoods.

FI will be working in the main campus of JH. At this point, I'm not even sure where that's located!

A few of you have suggested that the main downtown area seems to be less than desirable. Is this just a matter of preference?

 

[yssie]

The main campus is homewood, it's on Charles street about four miles from the inner harbour (touristy centre of downtown, and some fantastic places to eat ). The areas immediately surrounding Hopkins are fine, as the university has pretty much bought everything out at this point, but walking just a few blocks south will take you to into some unsavoury neighbourhoods - walking through, especially at night, is a safety risk. Walking a couple of blocks north, on the other hand, takes you to the very nice "old money" neighbourhood of Roland Park - Baltimore is strange that way.

I'd recommend finding an apartment in Towson, or Hunt Valley. Both are within easy driving range (10mi or so depending on exact location, I drove to classes from my Hunt Valley apt for two years), relatively inexpensive, and *much* nicer. I also strongly recommend planning to get a car, if you are on the fence - public transport is pretty much nonexistent.

Out of curiosity, what dept will he be with?

 

[hot.soup]

I will definitely start looking up some properties in those areas.

Thanks for the head's up on the public transportation; FI and I were contemplating not having a car at first, but it seems like it makes things a bit easier.

I would love to hear about your favorite restaurants in the city! I subsist mainly on take out.

FI has a post-doc position with the chemistry department at JHU. He's super nerdy like that.

 

[yssie]

Ah okay, don't know anyone in that dept - I was in engineering on the other side of campus

Food!

There's a bunch of places at the inner harbour, but I prefer less touristy spots..
-Vacarros (in little italy downtown) does an all you can eat dessert night (I think mondays), and their cannoli is amazing
-ze mean bean is a cute little restaurant/cafe, great for date nights - fireplace, live music, peirogis..
-Carma's cafe - for breakfast, it's a tiny hole-in-the-wall down the street from campus with the best oatmeal I have ever had. Ever. Lots of students there, usually.
-If you like Indian food I'd suggest India Palace on Cranbrook road in Cockeysville (just outside of Towson). Not a terribly fancy dining experience, but the food is excellent - easily the best Indian in the area, IMO.
-Illusions Magic Bar downtown - the owner is a friend of a friend. 50s-themed bar, there's a magic show a couple of times a week (I believe Tuesdays/Thursdays?).. you won't get 'bar food' here - or any food, really, but the drinks are good and the prices reasonable, and it's a 'nice' bar, of which I don't think there are many in downtown Balti!
-Gertrudes, in the Baltimore art museum down Charles street, is another nice place to go with groups. Bit pricey, but decent food (a mix of stuff -pastas and breads and salads, that sort of thing), and a great "always acceptable" place no matter whom you're with
-Brasserie Tatin is a more formal place behind the campus - french. If they have a trout dish, order it - even if you don't like fish, it might just change your mind!

 

[reader]

I live 2.5 hours west of Baltimore, and actually head down there a good bit to do fun things. This museum has a decent collection of jewelry, or did awhile back http://thewalters.org/

If you ever need out of the city, and back to a really small town for a day or so, give a shout, I'm always happy to have guests or house trade.