safe neighborhoods (Baltimore, Catonsville: sex offender, home, living in)

[summerlozon]

westminster maryland is the best to raise your kids. ive lived in catonsville and it is nice. my husband was raised in catonsville maryland. when we moved there from california (where i am from) i see it is still nice but going down hill. it is not like when my husband was young. in a couple of years it will be a crappy place. ive seen it happen in california. so i know the signs. westminster is far from baltimore but not too far. my husband drives to baltimore everyday for work. once you get used to it it is worth the drive. the schools are great..they are small and wonderful. my daughter is safe and getting a great education. it is not bad in prices. but u get a yard that is safe for your kids to play in. the only thing is you have to get used to spiders and bugs. since it is like living in the country. plus its not that far from dc. my husband takes the metro in to dc sometimes for work. westminster is not far from the metro.

Originally Posted by Brillig

After being completely disapponted with life here in DC, my wife and I are seriously looking at living in Baltimore. House pricing is absolutely amazing, but I'm still looking for an insider's view of a good neighborhood to raise kids (we have two, seven and nine y.o.s). If prices are indicative of an area, it seems that about 250k is a median middle-class home. Anybody have any input?

Thanks in advance!

B

[snap203]

I'm a student moving to Baltimore just for the summer. Can someone tell me about the safety of Hampden and Hamilton? Also, if you can add a little about the vibe of the neighborhoods and how fun it would be for a 20-something, i'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

[Streetchie]

Hampden is very safe and very fun for people your age. You'll like it.

[tmorrisn]

Just an fyi though - you want to live WEST of Falls Rd and NORTH of 31st St.
This way, you'll be the safest part - and within walking distance to bars and restaurants.

[Streetchie]

Good point tmorrisn!

[tmorrisn]

Oh shoot - I meant EAST of Falls Rd!!!

[emsgoof]

Originally Posted by Joshua2

Any concerns about moving near the Ft. Detrick/USAMRIID research facility. They do some cutting bio-related research for the government. Pretty secretive stuff. I am considering personal and community health concerns and the like.

None at all. The staff at Detrick are held to some of the most strict health and safety standards in the world (mainly because of what they deal with). It's a very nice area, especially if you stay north of the "downtown area" of Frederick. Still pretty rural.

[westsideboy]

Everything is fine at Ft. Detrick for now, just pray that nothing goes wrong because as the previous poster said they house the nastiest bugs in the world. I assume the security is better now than it was, but remember the anthrax that was in those mailings in 2001 was traced back to Detrick. If President Bush wanted to find WMDs he didn't need to go to Iraq, he could have just looked down the mountain from Camp David....

One other thing to consider, if you live too close to Detrick you can get trapped in the event of a lock down. I work close to there and when something bad happens, a fire, suspect on the loose, 9/11, etc. all of the roads in the neighborhood are sealed off. I would hate to get stuck there if something bad did happen.

[soulie77]

Lake Evesham Community Association

There are several homes in my neighborhood for sale.
Love it here. Families with children.

[agrimmwife]

Lots of great info in this thread. My question: how about an area in or around Baltimore that's "hip" but still safe for small children? Is that possible? We currently live in the Chicagoland area, IL. Originally from Atlanta, GA, so I'm no stranger to crime, for sure. We're a young couple w/ a young kid... but my husband's a tattoo artist and I'm a musician. We want to be close to "what's happening."