Baltimore neighborhoods - where to live/buy?

[helenejen]

Actually, the book that Bawlmer cites is the kind of thing that Glassner and Furedi would point to as part of the problem with our culture; so, the De Becker book would be on the same topic--fear--but from a completely opposite perspective.

Originally Posted by bawlmer

Another good read: Gavin DeBecker's The Gift of Fear.

Amazon.com: The Gift of Fear: Books: Gavin De Becker

[honkingantalope]

i live in morrell park, we bought our house 2 years ago, we had lived in this area for 8 years but my husband decided that essex would be better, i will say this just because an address is in the county does not make it good. we ended up renting a house that my husband had done work on, we paid 1,000 a month for a small brick townhouse, these houses were built in 1945, our house was the only one that had never been upgraded, the lady who lived there was the original owner, in the 50 years that she lived there the only improvments she made were when her husband passed away these improvments were wall paneling, shag carpet, and new windows. the kitchen appliances were circa 1950, there was no counter space, no yard and a postage stamp lawn. there was central a/c that didnt work, the lady had 7 dogs under the carpet were once beautiful wood floors but from years of 7 dogs urinating those floors were ruined, when the heat came on it smelled like burning hair, i broke a carpet cleaner and ruined 3 vacuum cleaners including a dyson in the course of 3 years. the neighborhood was called mars estates i will say in my life i have never seen more unfriendly people, they acted like they lived in million dollar homes i once told a lady i grew up in montgomery county our shed made these houses look like the dumps that they are now back to morrell park this is a nice neighborhood its close to downtown, 695 and 95 there are rowhomes as well as older single family homes, most people take pride in their homes and keep them up the prices for homes are about average our house was 135 thousand, but there are cheaper homes as well. the school is a k-8th grade school it could use some improvments but all in all is an ok school. i love it here i dont plan on ever leaving again essex is nothing to me but a glorified ghetto there were more crimes, break in's are common my neighbors house was broken into while she was taking a shower she walked in her kitchen to find a man eating a can of soup he tied her up and robbed her one neighbor came home to find his house had been broken into by the robbers stacking his lawn chairs up and climbing onto his porch roof and into his sons bedroom, the robbers walked out the front door carrying boxes of his possessions of course nobody saw anything but let the kids throw a football in the street and the police come in with sirens blasting

[barante]

The posters vidid description is true. But it only describes conditions in one of the few remaining World War II housing complexes near the Glenn L. Martin plant in Essex-Middle River, built at a time when the company employed 53,000 men and women. (Incidentally, the regional Mars supermarket chain is named after Mars Estates!)
If you go and drive around, you will see that the whole area is improving dramatically. New, nice-looking townhouse communities, pricey waterfront homes. For decades, that area had a reputation as a hillbilly haven. Those days are over.
If you want to see a somewhat comparable, but earlier, war housing complex, it is in the city and is called Armistead Gardens. It is at Erdman Avenue, near Route 40.

[sarcastic_but_lovable]

Originally Posted by sobo16

baltimore City Is Nowhere Near Perfect, But There Is A Lot To Do Here. Some People Will Have You Believe You Have To Literally Dodge Bullets When You Step Outside Your Home. Just Be Safe, Be Aware, And Be Smart.

I Grew Up In The Suburbs, And It Was A Snoozefest.

So If Given The Opportunity And Money To Live In A Much Better Environment You'd Choose To Live A Stones Throw From Dodging Bullets. Don't Give These People A False Sense Of What They're Getting Into. The Wire And The Corner Were Not Just Tv Prgrames...... I'd Much Rather Pick To Live In A Snoozefest(your Words) Than Live Somewhere In Which I Feel Uncomfortable Coming Home After The Street Light Come On. I Can Say One Thing About Being Born And Raised Here, I Think I Can Pretty Muh Live Anywhere, I'll Always Be On Alert, But At The Same Time, I'll Visit Damn Near Anywhere Because I Love To Travel But When It Comes To Where I Lay My Head, I Will Never Live Somewhere I'm Scared To Come Home To.

[KRB97]

I don't think that Sobo16 would rather live a stones throw away from dodging bullets, but a lot of people love and feel safe in Baltimore. Everone has their own opinion about Baltimore and everyone's opinion matters. There are many nice places in Baltimore. You just have to be safe, careful and realistic. Crime happens in they suburbs too.

Originally Posted by sarcastic_but_lovable

So If Given The Opportunity And Money To Live In A Much Better Environment You'd Choose To Live A Stones Throw From Dodging Bullets. Don't Give These People A False Sense Of What They're Getting Into. The Wire And The Corner Were Not Just Tv Prgrames...... I'd Much Rather Pick To Live In A Snoozefest(your Words) Than Live Somewhere In Which I Feel Uncomfortable Coming Home After The Street Light Come On. I Can Say One Thing About Being Born And Raised Here, I Think I Can Pretty Muh Live Anywhere, I'll Always Be On Alert, But At The Same Time, I'll Visit Damn Near Anywhere Because I Love To Travel But When It Comes To Where I Lay My Head, I Will Never Live Somewhere I'm Scared To Come Home To.

[kungfulkoder]

I'm not going to get *too* much into the whole debate about crime, but here is my 2 cents.

There is crime everywhere. Someone was concerned because 21230 (my area code, WV + FH + Canton I think) had 1 murder in each of the major three areas for that zip code for a total of 3. The average murder rate for the nation in 2006 was 5.7 (too lazy to find newer data) per 100,000. The current population of 21230 is about 33,000. So using some rounding, that means the national average for the population of 21230 is roughly 1.9, or rounding up to 2 to make things easier. So, is having 3 murders in one year statistically significant over 2? yep. Should you freak over it? No.

My limited personal experience here is that you have to have some common sense and be aware of your surroundings, just like any other fairly dense populated area. If your not sure about an area you might want to buy in, definitely rent first. I've only been here for a little under a month and I already am starting to get a feel for potential areas I might want to rent in next year (or buy in the long term future). Good luck, and don't hate, learn.

[KimandPete]

Baltimore is a great city (aside from the violence). My girlfriend has been living there for the past 8 months in the mt vernon section. She hans't had a problem at all. I would be caught walking around certain places at night but thats any city. Just be smart!

[carolott]

Canton is not in the 21230. Most of Pigtown and Federal Hill are, however.