Curious about buying North of Patterson Park (Baltimore, Potomac: 2014, apartments)

[alk2011]

Alright so here's my story

I'm looking to buy a place in Baltimore City. This is my first time ever buying a house. I've been looking for a place since early February, and I've bounced around from one washinton village, to fed hill, to fells point, and now I find myself looking at a place in Patterson Park.

My work requires me to be away for several weeks at a time, and I came to the realization that if I leave my car on the street for that period of time it will almost certainly be broken into....regardless of the neighborhood. So a patking pad is sort of a necessity. The other thing I was looking for is a price that won't completely level me. Perhaps it's no coincidence that with these two parameters my search has put in the Patterson park area.

When I visited the house I stopped and talked with a gentleman (who was talking a walk with his young daughter), about the neighborhood. He said it was nice, the PPNA has a lot of activities, and they do cop walks throughout the year. However, the phrase, "it's a lot better than it used to be," seemed to pop up a lot. I looked at the area online using several site's crime maps, and the address of the house seems to be in sort of a crime bubble: there are crime dots around the address, but all of them are a few blocks away. I'm no stranger to bad neighborhoods; so I know how to conduct myself to keep safe. My main concern is what every home buyer's concern is: will I be able to sell or rent the house for a decent price later.

Basically what I'm asking for is anyone who has insight about the North Patterson Park area. The exact address of the house is 131 North Potomac St. It's situated between E Fairmount Ave. and E Fayette st.

Thank you to anyone who can help me.

[designer_genes]

Firstly, welcome and howdy new potential neighbor.

I live on S. Ellwood Ave between Baltimore and Lombard, so only a few blocks away from your potential home. I will try to give you the most honest and objective assessment that I can about why I ultimately decided to live in Patterson Park after much deliberation.

I will be up front with you and say that I have only just moved to the area, so I can't give you the perspective of someone who has lived there a long time. I've lived in Baltimore for about a year and for the first year lived in a high rise apartment building next to the Johns Hopkins medical campus, where I work. But, I knew it wasn't a permanent solution (I'm a PhD student, so I'm going to be here awhile) and I wanted a change of scenery; I also knew that I could get more for my money in other areas of Baltimore.

My roommate and I wanted a safe area with close access to the Hopkins medical campus, so we looked extensively in Fell's Point, Mount Vernon, Canton, and Patterson Park. We found that we much preferred the rowhome living situation to an apartment or to a rowhome broken up into apartments, so we found many more options in Canton and Patterson Park than in Mount Vernon or Fell's Point and we liked the more residential feel of those neighborhoods, while still being walkable to the action. So our search was kind of narrowed down to those areas.

Ultimately, what sealed the deal for us on our current place is how much more space we have for the price. We could have lived south of the park in Canton, but our rent would have been at least $100 more a month for a much smaller house square footage wise. Our place has 2 bedrooms and 2 full baths plus a half bath and a fully finished basement for much less than any place we found in Canton.

But, right around the time we were looking at places and strongly considering signing the lease on our current place, this happened:
Baltimore police search for rapist in Patterson Park area | Baltimore City News - WBAL Home
And this:
2 Teens Charged With Killing Woman Near Patterson Park « CBS Baltimore

This left me with a lot of trepidation. Actually, I created an account on this forum specifically to ask people if Patterson Park was safe because we loved the place, but as single white female students who often work late hours, it really made us nervous to see those stories. After talking to a lot of people about it, I kind of got the same impression that you have, which is that Patterson Park is a neighborhood undergoing rapid gentrification and that it is much nicer than it used to be, but it may not be all the way there yet and often criminals "leak down" from the north.

The sort of arbitrary line that is thrown around is to not go north of Fayette, so you're still technically in the "safe zone," but just barely. But, again, this line is arbitrary. After all is said and done, I love my place and I have no regrets. I have not yet once felt unsafe on my street and I have met many of my neighbors and they're all super nice. Plus obviously the proximity to the park is awesome.

I think Patterson Park is an extremely wise investment for someone like you, who is looking to buy.

[sl0622]

Hey and welcome!

I agree with the above poster about the "arbitrary" line being Fayette.... Just know that some not great stuff might go down just on the next block up so so. I think, in general, the two blocks north of the park are "OK". In general - what's your tolerance for city shenanigans? Are you easily scared? You def would be living on a "border" block but I'm willing to bet your block would have some nice houses with nice neighbors that take care of their houses and look out for their block. I agree about the Patterson Park neighborhood in general - they have a strong neighborhood association. Get hooked up with them. Maybe attend a meeting before you buy and talk to some of the locals?

I wouldn't sweat your car. Just do not leave ANYTHING - and I mean ANYTHING - in it. That goes for ANYWHERE in the city - Fed Hill or Oliver. Ha. No change in the change cup, no CDs, nothing! Crackheads will break into cars for pocket change. If you feel uncomfortable leaving your car on your block for weeks at a time - - see if you can make friends with a neighbor and they can just sort of keep an eye out on your car (i.e., if you park in front of their house they can just eye it up each day on their way out to make sure all windows are in tact, etc.).

The Park is great! If you're cool with being on a border block - I say go for it. If your house will be vacant for several weeks - - definitely invest in a great security system and put those stickers up on every window that is accessible by ground/roof/etc. I think that would be more important than leaving your car alone. Good luck!

[Zea mays]

I grew up in that area (unit block of North Luzerne Avenue, to be specific) in the 1950s. The entire area from Patterson Park Avenue to Linwood Avenue, and from Baltimore Street to Monument Street (as far north as I ventured as a kid) was absolutely safe. I cry inside when I visit Baltimore now. Our family was poor (no car, ever; no TV until I entered high school), but life was good. Perhaps I and my friends were too dumb to know how others lived. How far we have come as a nation when decent inner-city people live in such fear of crime.