Assuming you know anything about Baltimore. Which is my problem – I don’t.
I may be moving later this year to a Location To Be Named Later, depending upon where the S.O. gets a job. The first candidate city is . . . Baltimore. What do I think of Baltimore? he asks. I know next to nothing about Baltimore, never having been there or even talked to anyone about it at length; it’s just one of those cities that’s never crossed my radar screen. So if anyone is from Baltimore, or knows Baltimore, please give my your unbiased opinion of it as a place to live, including both pros and cons.
Thanks much, Jodi (who can’t promise not to ask the same questions of other cities later)
I never actually lived in the City of Baltimore or Baltimore County, but I did grow up in Maryland, so I’ve been to Baltimore often. It’s a great city.
Pros: lots of stuff to do, close to D.C. (and Annapolis), not too far from NYC, good weather (if you like four seasons), great restaurants, fun bars, the ORIOLES!!!
When we were kids, my parents took us to the Inner Harbor often. There are a lot of things to do there with kids - outdoor entertainers, National Aquarium (very cool, but expensive), historic ships to tour. I believe there’s a children’s museum there, too.
I know that there are some rough areas, but from what I’ve seen (my husband and I thought about moving there about a year ago), you can get a decent house in a decent area for not too much. The beauty about the Baltimore/D.C. corridor is that you don’t have to live right downtown, but you can be close to everything.
Well, I’ve been there as a tourist with my own car, so I probably can’t answer questions about things such as public transportation or cost of living. But I will say that the Harbor area definitely is a nice place to spend some days off.
Oh, and Baltimore is also home to one of the largest Orthodox Jewish communities in the USA. Doubt that matters much to you, but hey, I write what I know.
“Sherlock Holmes once said that once you have eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be
the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible.
The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it that the merely improbable lacks.”
– Douglas Adams’s Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective
C’mon over,hon. Sit right down and let a native regale you with the glories of the Queen City of the Patapsco River Basin!
First, we need more lawyers here. No, really, what I like so much about Bawlmer is that it is a big city, but it has a small town feel. People are generally friendly, and lots of neighborhoods thrive. There are bad parts, true, but the new Mayor seems bound and determined to attack crime as a priority of his administration, so we’ll see. If you come here, make sure to e-mail me and I’ll be glad to show you around. Ditto if you just plan to visit to check it out, I’ll be glad to play tour guide for a day or weekend.
Actually, it does matter, in the sense that if I’m going to give up (semi)small-town living for city life, I’d like to live someplace with a lot of diversity, since I personally believe that enriches a community.
Dave, I may take you up on this. If Ben gets an in-person interview, and if I can spare the time from my job, I’d like to go with him to check it out. This is all down the road, of course, but if I go, I’ll definitely e-mail you in advance. Thanks!
I have been to Baltimore many times by my employer for two weeks at a time. I really enjoyed it.
I always stay in a hotel that is only a block or two from the Inner Harbor so there was a lot of different things to do. I spent a lot of time at the harbor shopping, eating crab cakes, drinking beer, watching performers. Went through the aquarium a few times and really enjoyed it. Took the ferry to Fells Point (which is pretty interesting) then walked back to the harbor via Little Italy. Took in a ball game at Camden Yards. Went to see Edgar Allen Poe’s house. Took the Amtrack to Washington D.C., and many other things.
I don’t know how rough the surrounding area is but our cab driver had to swerve around a red leather miniskirt wearing transvestite hooker on our way back from the train station one night.
I’ve always liked to visit but I could never live there myself. Too humid and no mountains!
I’ve never lived in the city, but I grew up in Catonsville, which is just outside the city limits.
Baltimore has lots to offer, and it’s much cleaner and safer than it used to be. The harbor area, while extremely touristy, is full of great places to eat and fun things to do, and the National Aquarium is awesome.
Baltimore has a lot of nice smaller neighborhoods, often home to particular ethnic cuisines or architectural styles–very nice.
The symphony is good, and the Opera isn’t half bad.
The seafood is unbeatable.
The regional accent is the ugliest thing I’ve ever heard. Even the flat midwestern accent is less annoying.
Are you thinking of living in the city or in one of the burbs?
Spring is an excellent time to come visit (both Charm City and DC) before the humidity sets in.
Baltimore has a great many charming aspects but it shares many of the problems of other northeast and midwest cities. The city lost its industrial base in the 60s and 70s and the neighborhoods adjacent to the industrial areas fell into a rapid decline. The city has a high crime rate - exacerbated by police misreporting of crime stats; large numbers of people on drugs - you can find crack vials on the street; and the highest rate of venereal disease in the country. Despite the bad press given to DC, Balmer City has a much higher crime rate and many more poor people.
The city is also an example of how public money can re-vitalize blighted areas. The inner harbor is a complete redevelopment of the old harbor, an eyesore in the late 1960’s. The city (and state) placed both Camden Yards and the Raven’s stadium in south Baltimore to stem the blight in those light-manufacturing areas.
But like Philly, just blocks away from these rebuilt areas, neighborhoods remain gutted and abandoned.
Start your visit at Federal Hill, overlooking the Inner Harbor. Take a walking tour of the Federal Hill neighborhood and move north to the Harbor. At the Harbor, take a boat tour of the City and get off at Fells Point for another walking tour. Check out the museums, BOMA and the Walters. Take a short tour of the old downtown area south of the Washington Monument. Catch the O’s at Camden Yards and the symphony at the Meyerhoff (the JFK Center in DC is a dump in comparison).
Make plans to drive through nearby areas - Annapolis, the capital, is quite close; so is DC (many people commute from Balmer to work in DC); make day trips to both the eastern shore of the Chesapeake bay (Oxford, St Michaels) and the Atlantic beach communities in Delaware & Maryland (Rehoboth, Bethany, Ocean City).
Finally, check the SD archives for Baltimore for more dope and check out some Homicide videos - all the exteriors were shot in Charm City.
Possibly this isn’t exactly what you meant, though? :eek:
Seriously, I went to college in Baltimore, and I really liked the place. I would have stayed, but I couldn’t get a decent job there. The mass transit was mediocre, but probably no worse than other cities that size, and I believe that it has improved since I left. It has some really good museums, and I agree with aschrott about the music, the food and the accent (although I got used to that after a while).
“Homicide?” Feh! If you really wanna see Bawlmer, hon, rent the early John Waters flicks—“Pink Flamingos,” “Female Trouble.”
I might add that Baltimore has some of the loveliest residential architecture I’ve ever seen; it burned down and was rebuilt c1903, so the early 19th-century buildings near the Harbor are complemented by the early 20th-century ones farther in.
If you don’t want to live IN the city, there are indeed some nice suburbs—I lived in Towson for awhile, which was quite nice (and which contains the gravesite of the late, great Divine!).
I don’t know, because I don’t know anything about the city. Plus, it would depend on where I got a job. If I ended up working in D.C., I assume we’d live out and each commute. I’d rather live right in Baltimore, but that’s dependent on getting a job in Baltimore – and on the city not being horrendous. Again, this is all really premature, since Ben hasn’t even interviewed there. But I do have veto power, and I’m interested in hearing whether it’s a livable place or not.
If we end up there (big “if” at this point), I may appeal to you Knoweldgeable Ones again for advice on where to live, since we’ll be apartment-shopping long distance, most likely, and of course have no idea where the “bad” parts of town are. Thanks for all the info, guys.
I did my post-doc at Hopkins, and lived in Rossville, midway between Golden Ring Mall and White Marsh Mall. I normally hate cities, but thought Baltimire was OK. There are plenty of things to do and some really nice nearby state parks (about 5 different versions of Gunpowder Falls S.P. – one of the things I miss most is running with my dog by the river in Bel Air). Fells Point is a cool place – lots of good restraunts, including some good sushi. Another nice thing about the city is its proximity to other cool places – DC, Annapolis, Philly.
I don’t know a lot about Balmer, but if you end up having to apartment-shop and need to know about outlying areas, I can help with that, hon. I grew up in Annapolis, and currently live near DC, so I’m semi-familiar with the area.
And HEY! Homicide was a great show, Eve! (Not to slam John Waters…his movies were good as well.)
Homepage: www.tiercel.com
Occupation: Culling slow moving vermin
Location: The wild blue yonder.
Interests: Thermals, updrafts, downdrafts, air currents in general.
(Profile by UncleBeer.)
Environment? Nah. Mood lighting and ambience is what counts. - a genuine WallyM7 sig
