Thinking about moving TO Baltimore...am I nuts? (Towson, California: renting, home)

[jonjj]

You do have some public high school options. Poly, Western (all female), and City College are all good high schools. Do an internet search to find more information about them. In terms of middle schools, I believe Patterson Park Charter School is expanding to Grade 8. Many folks in the neighborhood seem to like that school. Also, there are some other K-8 schools in the city (Roland Park comes to mind) that are decent schools. I would contact the BCPS to find out more information. Many of these schools have an open-enrollment period and I am not sure if that is over by now for next year.

There are plenty of middle-class and upper-class folks living in the city with children. Try an internet search for opinions, etc.

In terms of "The Wire" again, the writer of the show often mentions that it could have been filmed in any large city in the country.

Nashville, Little Rock? You got to be joking! There are other cities that I enjoy as much or more than Baltimore. Those two don't show up on the radar.

[Rushmore]

The property tax rate alone should make you re-think this. It is inane that one is expected to pay so high a price to live in Baltimore. God forbid you land in a special benefits neighborhood.

For what it's worth, I would not dream of moving children into Baltimore.

As for the the poster who wrote about how she blames the Baltimore City school system for her children running amok and whatnot, bear in mind this person wrote:

there has to be some good schools but I dont know how good.

So let's all agree that raising children is a parent's job.

Anyway, seriously, there are a lot better options for your children than Baltimore.

[jonjj]

You are 100% correct. Raising a child is a parent's job. My son was raised in the city and turned out just fine. However, he was privileged to live in a decent neighborhood without that thug mentality. Today, he thanks me for that experience. There are plenty of children being raised in the city doing fine. Just choose your schools and neighborhoods wisely.

[brooklynborndad]

there are quite a bunch of very reputable private schools in baltimore, but most are up on the north side, roland park and around there. I think there is an elementary school associated with one of the Episcopal churches in Mt Vernon, but I dont think they go through middle school.

I am sure south baltimore has catholic schools, if thats an option for you.

It might make sense to wait till your younger one is old enough for HS, or else to look farther north, charles village, Roland park, etc rather than south baltimore, I dont know about the RE prices.

[mrboltonman]

The Baltimore Magazine has a section this month on child care.

Baltimore Magazine

Listed are Padonia Park Child Centers, College of Notre Dame of Maryland: A Child's Place, Bryn Mawr Little School, Play and Learn, Temple Oheb Shalom's Learning Ladder, The Learning Tree Preschool & Child Development Center, La Petite Academy, Step-by-Step Children's Learning Center, St. Paul's Plus.

The magazine has a description of each so you should be able to find a nice school for your kids.

PS

Oh yeah, Friends School of Baltimore looks pretty nice.
http://www.friendsbalt.org/

[mass_biker]

I don't think you're nuts. We moved down from Boston last year and are loving it. There are some decisions you have to make though:

- School; City Schools are hit and miss. However, the Independent (Private/Secular, Parochial) options are really quite remarkable, and any one off them hold their own as any of the top notch independent schools in Boston/Cambridge/Brookline - in other words, I'd hold the non-public choices in Baltimore as top notch in an absolute measure and among the top of the heap of ANY region - I'm not trying to place them in the context of the local public option, just in the context of my own experience. However, as one earlier poster mentioned, a lot of those are north of downtown proper (Friends, Park, RPCS, Gilman, Bryn Mawr, Cathedral, Calvert, Pius X etc.) but then again, a lot of them have transport from the downtown area where you are targeting to live. Your kids are older than mine however, and from what I hear, the high school choices (i.e. Poly) are much more robust than the public choices (RPES, MWES seem to be the exceptions) - but I would try to check out the independent options available throughout the City and see what makes sense.

- Taxes and tuition; City taxes are horrendous. No two words about it. However, if you view City taxes as the price you pay for convenience/neighborhood/ambience etc. (assuming you go the independent school route), perhaps that will help define where you want to live. For example, folks in the Northern part of the City might feel okay about forking over tax dollars because they live a) close to downtown b) in well established/well maintained neighborhoods c) near required amenities. But doing so (with kids), is making peace with the trade-offs required. You can't go in assuming the City will provide just because you pay the taxes - sure they do provide for key services (unbelievably quick response for a streetlight that was out, prompt and terrific trash pickup, a police station that seems hyper-attuned to concerns in the neighborhood) but realize that what makes sense for your kids' education is a truly personal choice - not one that I would ever defer to the whims of any City. In that sense, taxes are the price you pay for convenience/ambience/amenities - not a normal rationalization of the benefits of taxes, to be sure.

- Housing stock; do you want a yard? Is a townhouse desirable? That will drive you in the direction of one neighborhood vs. the other. Downtown - townhouses, lofts etc.

I was skeptical moving to Baltimore after many years in New England; I was doubly skeptical moving to the City...it's been a terrific experience so far.

m_b

[JimmyInMD]

Thanks for the info!

@mass_biker - were you in the city in Boston? Where do you live in Baltimore?

Sounds like private/secular school is the way I would go. Need to figure out if there is a reasonably priced school for me. 20K per kid is NOT doable for me. That is all I've seen so far.

Yard is not important to me. Would prefer a rowhouse or townhouse though. I love the rooftop decks in Locust that have a view of the harbor, but not a necessity. I also work near Jessup, so the commute there is also very important.

Thanks everyone!

[rudy_d]

Originally Posted by mass_biker

- School; City Schools are hit and miss. However, the Independent (Private/Secular, Parochial) options are really quite remarkable, and any one off them hold their own as any of the top notch independent schools in Boston/Cambridge/Brookline - in other words, I'd hold the non-public choices in Baltimore as top notch in an absolute measure and among the top of the heap of ANY region - I'm not trying to place them in the context of the local public option, just in the context of my own experience.

I think you hit on a really good point that doesn't get much discussion. Part of the reason why so many people in Baltimore who can afford it send their children to private schools is because the private schools here are really top notch, not just because the local public schools are really terrible.

I don't have had kids but attended a private university in another state where a lot of the students, unlike me, went to private schools. Baltimore private schools were very well represented, along with the elite NYC/CT/NJ and Boston-area schools.

[mass_biker]

Jimmy -

- I lived in Cambridge; before that in Kenmore Square and Porter and Davis Squares. So yes, pretty much in the City. I now live in Homeland. We were considering living in a rowhouse (we lived in a townhouse in Cambridge), but felt that it was time for a change. We very much like the Northern part of Baltimore City.

- I think some of the parochial schools clock in well under 20k/kid, and the choices are a lot more numerous than in Boston. For example, Calvert Hall (boys 9-12) is around $11k I think. Cathedral - one of the top k-8 schools in the City - is around $8-9k depending if you are in the parish or not. Pius X (also k-8) is around $6k.

- I would also consider commute to/from work as well distance from prospective school, and whether said school offers a bus service. Last, I recall someone telling me about some homes that were being developed/sold in Balto. City that came with tax credits for a few years - not sure if this is the case or not, but all the same....

Good luck with your move.

[ltong1009]

Ignore all the people that say there are no good schools in Balt City. We live in Canton and will be sending our 1 y.o. to Hampstead Hill Academy. Go to http://www.mdreportcard.org/
and check out the test scores. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of low scoring schools, but there are plenty of good ones too. Thomas Johnson Elementary in Fed Hill South has good scores and a good principal. The magnet high schools in Baltimore are excellent, some of the best in the state.