Do people in Baltimore like living in Baltimore? (Columbia, Towson: apartment, rent)

[emmiesix]

Originally Posted by trickymost

See my point above about property taxes. Property taxes are way, way higher in Baltimore City than in DC proper. Income taxes are about the same in both places.

You're much more likely to earn 100k+ or more in DC proper than in Baltimore, and you can get by in DC proper without a car because of the bike trails, metro, bus system and cab availability.

It's a huge assumption that you would make more in DC. I'm a scientist (post-doc), aka pretty poorly paid, and it would be less than 50k no matter if I was working at Columbia, Johns Hopkins, or say American University. If I wanted to live alone, in a neighborhood that is reasonably safe, and in the actual city (not the burbs), that is basically only possible in Baltimore - believe me, I've checked.

[Miss Crabcakes]

All I know is we live very comfortably here in Bmore and my hubs and I do not bring in high incomes at all.

I've also gotten sushi MANY times all over town and have never spent more than $50 - $60, with 2 people and drinks.

Originally Posted by trickymost

I was in Manhattan in early May and had a nice sushi dinner with a coworker at a place near Bryant Park. No alcohol - our bill was about $85 after tax/tip. I had nearly the same meal in Towson at San Sushi with my wife - my bill was $74. We did order soda. But it was nearly the same cost.

[NYMTman]

Baltimore is affordable by I-95 standards but it is overblown somewhat... Philadelphia is just as cheap if not cheaper. When you throw in the 'burbs then all of a sudden the Baltimore metro area isn't affordable at all. Well it's all relative of course - here in the bay area I pay nearly $2k/mo for a small 1BR, so Baltimore's rents would be fantastic. But I'd rather just suck it up and pay more to live here.... supply and demand.

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by trickymost

I was in Manhattan in early May and had a nice sushi dinner with a coworker at a place near Bryant Park. No alcohol - our bill was about $85 after tax/tip. I had nearly the same meal in Towson at San Sushi with my wife - my bill was $74. We did order soda. But it was nearly the same cost.

The one thing which is less expensive in Baltimore is your typical night at the bars. Going to a nice bar in DC, I can easily spend a few hundred dollars if I'm drinking wine or mixed drinks, or if I buy a few drinks for friends, plus cab costs. The same type bar would be far less expensive in Baltimore.

Well, I have never known sushi to be cheap no matter where it is from. That pricing seems about right.


In my opinion Baltimore is too expensive for what it is. But how else is the city going to get paid? Seeing as how Baltimore is an independent city, it cannot collect/use tax money from Baltimore County (which I am sure makes them happy). And with half the city vacant/neglected, that is even less money being generated.

[bmorephillynyboston]

I use to live in Philly also. Philly is kinda like Baltimore but it's a lot bigger and there is a lot more culture. Baltimore seems so black and white. You can also walk up and down streets in center city Philly and have a nice time. It's set up nice like a grid. Probably a good 50 streets. Baltimore doesn't have this. Baltimore is behind in my opinion. If I were you, not to be ignorant, I would move back to Philly. It's a better place to live in my opinion. Have lived in both.

[nifear]

wow, a lot of philly xplants in here. i too recently relocated from philly to baltimore and am still familiarizing myself down here. agreed with a previous poster, bmore doesn't seem like a city sometimes... it's more like a big town. i haven't found baltimore city to have nearly as much to do as there is to do in center city. lack of retail (mid/moderate-end even), variety of restaurants (can someone point me to a decent korean or ramen place!?), arts/culture, lounges/music venues... i could go on and on. sometimes i actually wish bmore had a mass transit system like SEPTA.

guess it all takes getting used to. philadelphia, it most certainly is not. it's a place of it's own, and i guess i have a lot of poking around to do.

[GunsMass]

Philadelphia is the 5th largest city in the country.

[rfp]

I lived in Baltimore for 27 years before I moved to ChiTown. I went to Philly twice during that time period, to see the National Leaguers Stan Musial and Ernie Banks in old Shibe Park. It's what, 85 miles away? I'd as soon go to Gary, Indiana. Philly never made much impression on me.

[KodeBlue]

Philly never really seems like a really big city to me. The size (not population) isn't that much larger than Baltimore. I've also noticed that people that live in and around Baltimore don't kniow much about it. There are quite a few vibrant neighborhoods in Baltimore that most people don't know exist. I was even surpised at how busy places like Federal Hill, and Mount Vernon on the weekends.

Federal Hill: This neighborhood is downright crowded

[trickymost]

Originally Posted by dogpark

True, the tax rate is higher, but the properties cost less. Here in Baltimore I am in walking distance to all kinds of amenities, my commuting is minimal. Commuting is expensive and time consuming.

Our car insurance is actually very low, hard for others to beat and yes, I've shopped it (we've had Geico for over 10 years, married, home owner, college grad, clean record - basically all the discounts).

Aren't you validating my point? If one property at 250k has 6k in annual taxes, and another property at 325k has 3k in taxes, your mortgage + tax assuming interest rates are the same is going to be the same, so why would I care if my property costs less?

And one can't compare the amenities of DC proper to Baltimore proper. Yes they're different cities with different cultures, but DC is larger and has more of everything.