Lutherville-Timonium: Might be a strange/dumb question... (Baltimore, Towson: for sale, low crime)

[KanadianKicker]

Strange question, but that is the beauty of anonymous internet forums.

My family (wife and 3 young kids) may be moving to the Blatimore area from Minnesota. We know nothing at all about the Baltimore area and have never been there before.

We have been doing a lot of online research over the past couple of weeks. The Lutherville-Timonium area really has our attention. We really like what we see with Timonium Elementary School in combination with decent home prices and commute to Baltimore city.

We have a pretty good idea of what the homes are like. With the birds eye view satellite imagery we have a good idea what the "lay of the land" is in terms of parks, trees, streets, retail etc. The thing that we can't determine is what the "community" is like. This is where the dumb question comes... if you are out for a walk and people you don't know walk past you do they say hi..maybe stop and talk. Do cars wave at you as they drive by even when you do not know them, but know that they live nearby? I know it is impossible to answer say yes or no, but in general how friendly are people (if that makes any sense)? I have lived in an area where nobody says Hi to one another and you barely know your neighbors let alone the people down the street. I currently live in an area that is the opposite - everybody is friendly and complete strangers stop and talk to each other. How would you rate Luth-Tim?

Any other things that might be useful for us to know about the area?

[ccavanau]

I felt very compelled to respond to your post considering I think I am very much like you in terms of loving to live in areas where random people will wave to you and say hi. I grew up on the eastern shore of Maryland (although it sounds like you won't know where that is) which is a very different area of Maryland. It is less populated and still has a lot of farm/open areas. Basically, it is an area with very friendly people who will wave to you as you drive by even if they have no clue who you are. I loved growing up this way but I recently graduated college and moved to Timonium for a job opportunity.

The "main" part of Maryland (not the eastern shore which I just spoke of) is basically one large city. DC and Baltimore are both large cities that are very close to each other which makes most of Maryland one large jumble of madness. Given Maryland's overpopulated city structure, I would not say Timonium does not have what you are looking for in terms of the 'community' feel. Personally, I don't think any large city or suburb has this feel. With that said, Timonium is still a pretty decent place to live. As far as Baltimore suburbs go, it is probably one of the better areas to live. I would say Timonium has very low crime and there is plenty of stuff to do near by. With that said, I think you may still want to do more research about the Baltimore area as a whole. You are from a friendly area and Baltimore is one of the highest crime cities in the country. Baltimore is pushing close to 300 murders for the year and easily one of the biggest drug areas in the country. I personally would never live in Baltimore although I go into the city often for football/baseball games. I find Timonium to be a pretty good area to live, its far enough outside the city to escape most of its crime although I think you won't find the 'community' feel you are looking for.

[sobo16]

I agree with the previous poster in that Lutherville/Timonium is a great place to live. There are some very nice houses there, and it has a light rail stop, which is a convenient way to get to downtown Baltimore.

However, I must respectfully disagree with the comment that no large city has a "community" feel. I lived in Federal Hill in Baltimore for years, and felt like I was part of a community. I often said hi to people as I passed them on the sidewalk, and vice versa. In the suburbs, while many of them are nice areas, most people are dependent on cars to get around, so in my opinion, there is much less of a community feel, because there are fewer people out and about in the neighborhood itself. I now live in Mount Washington in Northwest Baltimore City, and while there is a sense of community here, it is more residential and I don't often bump into people as I walk through the neighborhood.

But I'll step down from my soapbox for now, as I know that for most people with children, the suburbs are a better option. Good luck in your housing search, Kanadian Kicker!

[ebo202]

I think Timonium is GREAT. It has great access to the City of Baltimore (which really does have some nice parts) and access to the country to the north. In addition, housing prices are reasonable and school are good.

Good luck!

[KanadianKicker]

I just stumbled across this posting I made way back when. I didn't realize anyone had replied to it - I guess they came a few months later.

My family did make the move to Baltimore, and after some pretty intense house hunting and research we did end up in Timonium. It has been close to a year now. The area that we moved to in Timonium was Mays Chapel. I can honestly say that we were more happy with it than we ever imagined. It is exactly the type of community that we had hoped for. Lots of people out at night walking dogs, kids playing, lemonade stands, friendly neighbors, little to no crime, lots of activities and most importantly a great public elementary school (Pinewood). Also, people wave at you even if they do not know you, but know you live in the area (which is my litmus test for a neighborhood) All in all we really are happy in Baltimore and it is starting to feel like home.

We also recently dicovered the Eastern Shore and realized how great a place it is. Beautiful beaches, dolphins swimming 30 or 40 yards from you, safe and life guarded, and very little traffic (joke - that is the one bad part). I can see how a previous poster could love growing up on the Eastern shore.

[parasol]

Originally Posted by KanadianKicker

I just stumbled across this posting I made way back when. I didn't realize anyone had replied to it - I guess they came a few months later.

My family did make the move to Baltimore, and after some pretty intense house hunting and research we did end up in Timonium. It has been close to a year now. The area that we moved to in Timonium was Mays Chapel. I can honestly say that we were more happy with it than we ever imagined. It is exactly the type of community that we had hoped for. Lots of people out at night walking dogs, kids playing, lemonade stands, friendly neighbors, little to no crime, lots of activities and most importantly a great public elementary school (Pinewood). Also, people wave at you even if they do not know you, but know you live in the area (which is my litmus test for a neighborhood) All in all we really are happy in Baltimore and it is starting to feel like home.

We also recently dicovered the Eastern Shore and realized how great a place it is. Beautiful beaches, dolphins swimming 30 or 40 yards from you, safe and life guarded, and very little traffic (joke - that is the one bad part). I can see how a previous poster could love growing up on the Eastern shore.

That's nice to hear! My sister and bro-in-law are looking for a house in the area (Timonium, Towson, etc.) and what you describe sounds really nice. If you know of any homes nearby for sale please send me a message.

[cmacf1]

I'm happy to hear that your move to the Baltimore area has been successful! I lived during my teen years on the Eastern Shore and loved it there, but also love the community feel of my neighborhood here in Catonsville. I'm glad you've had a chance to explore the area. There's a lot to do around here and on the Eastern Shore, if you can endure the traffic getting there. We were stuck in the Bay Bridge traffic during the traffic jams last weekend (7 hours to go 7 miles - no lie .)

As much as I love Maryland, my home state, guess where I want to move?? Minnesota. I LOVE it there (my best friend lives there and hubby went to grad school there.) We visit there often.