downtown frederick. good area and bad? (for sale, crime, squatters)

[sju88]

We are considering moving to downtown frederick. We've tried to find houses around Baker Park, but they are either way too big, too expensive, need a ton of work or dont come up as often but we know thats a safe bet as far as being a good area.

We found a house on South St. right off Market thats for sale, but I'm not sure if its a good area. Its literally two blocks from the "river walk" so I assume it can't be that bad but some of the houses on nearby streets seem still run down and extremely cheap, while some are nice and fixed up. We also noticed there is city housing not too far away from here and a homeless shelter a block up. I feel like possibly the further south you get from the river walk, maybe the less desirable the neighborhood is? If we moved on south st would I be able to let my kids play outside and ride their bikes without worry? Do families typically live in these row homes?

In general, what are the safe nice neighborhoods and what should we steer clear of in our search, specifically just the downtown area?

[MidValleyDad]

You might go to the Police department and ask them for the crime statistics for the neighborhood but I don't know of any particular problems with that area. As far as letting kids ride their bikes or play outside that would be a tough call for me just based on the volume of traffic, narrow sidewalks, etc. South and Market are both heavy traffic areas so I wouldn't be comfortable with kids playing along them let alone ride bikes without close direct supervision.

[westsideboy]

Honestly, if you were to ask me what the "sketchiest" part of downtown Frederick is, I would say South St. Market St. in general is very gentrified....except for one or two blocks right where South St. intersects. You see stoop squatters, people milling about with no general purpose, and some shady characters.

Keep in mind, it is Frederick, so even a "bad" part of town isn't that bad, but for whatever it is worth, I wouldn't live there.

[LittleBlackDogs]

I agree with the others. South Street doesn't seem like a great place for kids. Some of the homes do look renovated and well-kept, but I'd bet the people who live there are adult professionals or active retirees who don't have young kids at home. If you want to stay downtown, I'd look a bit farther north.... say Church Street, 2nd, and 3rd to start. It may be a generalization, but I bet most people who live downtown don't have kids.

[harryj77]

what do you think of 3-5th st, near market?