Rental within 20 minutes of johns hopkins (Baltimore, Ellicott City: home, safe neighborhood, schools)

[LinnyLou23]

Hello All!
My husband and I are likely moving to Baltimore in June, and I am totally overwhelmed with neighborhood searching! He will be working on Johns Hopkins med. school campus, and we would like to be within a twenty minute commute. We prefer more 'small community' feel. We own our own home right now, and would prefer to rent a private home or duplex as opposed to a large complex.
In a neighborhood, I am primarily looking for safety. We need to be under $1500 a month for a two bedroom. Please help!! Any neighborhood advice is greatly appreciated.

Lindsay

[cdmoore125]

In the city, you could get a small community feel and be within 20 minutes in a lot of neighborhoods. Eastern/Southern Federal Hill or Locust Point would give a small community feel, be safe, and be within a short commute. Parking would be a bit easier there too. Do you have kids? That would likely drive where you are looking at. If you want the suburbs, you should stay North or East of the city but probably in Baltimore county to stay within 20 minutes of Hopkins.

[KLynch10]

Give us a little more description... this is a big area. Are you looking to be around great restaurants you can walk to? Are you interested in a somewhat urban environment?

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by LinnyLou23

...working on Johns Hopkins med. school campus
...we would like to be within a twenty minute commute.

How fast do you like to walk?
(eg: Canton, Patterson Park, Fells Pt etc are all well under 2 miles)

[LinnyLou23]

Ok sorry, I wrote this while totally overwhelmed. The areas that are safe and good right downtown are obvious to me, fells point, canton, etc. We don't really want to be within the city though, I'm a country girl, and my husband likes the small town feel. We will have cars so, while we are looking at the walking distance locations, we are wanting to know the areas we should investigate that are slightly further out. I know about Towson and Catonsville and Ellicott City, but aside from those I'm at a total loss. I know nothing about the south side or east side of the city, and the North side seems sketchy. Again we're mostly looking for a safe neighborhood. We don't have kids yet, so schools are not a concern. We like having things conveniently around us, ie stores and restaurants, but we're not against driving a small bit to get to places we like. We are going there this weekend, and I'm trying to figure out what towns I should go investigate/drive around while we're there. So i guess I would ask what you would say are the top five safest places to live in the surrounding baltimore area? Again, preferably within a twenty minute drive of J.H. med school campus

[GunsMass]

Check along the I-83 N and I-95 NE corridors. Twenty minutes from Hopkins on 83N (with no traffic) would get you to Cockeysville. Twenty minutes up 95 would get you to White Marsh. People like these places.

I can't speak for what happens when you go South.