Moving to Baltimore- need a good neighborhood... (house, safe neighborhood)

[jonjj]

Originally Posted by UnschoolerinCT

Like I stated in my posting, these were our experiences living in the Butcher's Hill/Patterson Park neighborhood several years ago. They may be different than your experience but it doesn't make our experience any less relevant to the original poster's requests for opinions on areas in Baltimore to live.

The fire station was one block north of where we lived and it screamed past our house every night. That is not a good quality of life, IMO, but different strokes for different folks. Also, the cockroaches came for the adjacent houses; it didn't matter how much we cleaned as they were in the walls.

I hope the area has improved in recent years. There is a lot of potential in the area. It wasn't for us, though.

I understand your point and agreed with you that I also would probably not have chosen to live in Patterson Park/Butchers Hill several years ago. However, times do change and the neighborhood has progressed rather nicely so I wanted to let the OP know that this area is a viable choice at the present time and not as how you described it to be several years ago. I did read through your other posts and am happy that you thought Baltimore to be charming. It sounds like you are not really city-folks so that may have also dampened your experience. Anyway, good luck to you. Oh, about the sirens: I lived about a block from a firehouse in Boston's South End and found it irritating at first. But, I enjoy living in the city so somehow I adjusted. I guess it boils down to what a person prefers.

[UnschoolerinCT]

Originally Posted by jonjj

I understand your point and agreed with you that I also would probably not have chosen to live in Patterson Park/Butchers Hill several years ago. However, times do change and the neighborhood has progressed rather nicely so I wanted to let the OP know that this area is a viable choice at the present time and not as how you described it to be several years ago. I did read through your other posts and am happy that you thought Baltimore to be charming. It sounds like you are not really city-folks so that may have also dampened your experience. Anyway, good luck to you. Oh, about the sirens: I lived about a block from a firehouse in Boston's South End and found it irritating at first. But, I enjoy living in the city so somehow I adjusted. I guess it boils down to what a person prefers.

We definitely liked Baltimore. We visited last month and loved our mini-vacation. Baltimore has a charm and friendliness that other cities its size tend to lack. We loved the Federal Hill, lower Fells Point, and Mount Vernon areas of Baltimore.

[mrboltonman]

Patterson Park is a nice area and you have easy access to a huge park (great for your dogs) & a ton of other stuff. Just check out the area with a friend when the weather is nice. You can walk to Canton (go to the dog park & square), Fells Point, and Harbor East & Place. If you want to take a nice long walk then from Harbor Place had over to Federal Hill or up to Mt. Vernon (stop by Bolton Hill). You could continue all the way to Charles Village, Wyman Park, & Hampden from Mount Vernon because it's definitely ok to walk there on St. Paul or Charles Street. I think this is the best way to see the city.

As jonjj pointed out, Patterson Park/Butchers Hill has made significant progress as with many areas of the city. Areas do change so someone's experience(s) a few years ago just shows how much the city has changed but shouldn't be used to judge the current state. If anything it should be used to determine/predict how the city will continue to advance in the future.

Mount Vernon has apartments and Canton, Federal Hill, & Fells Point usually you rent a house so maybe that's why you find it to be cheaper. It's a really unique area and has a great urban feel.

[taber17]

Thank you thank you thank you, everyone! All of these posts are great advice. My boyfriend and I are planning a trip down in a few weeks to check out neighborhoods, and we will definitely do a day AND night visit to places. Thank you everyone- this helps SO much. Feel free to keep the opinions coming!!

[beeebop]

I agree with NJ2MDdude's post, do a drive thru an area during night & day & weekend before you settle in a baltimore neighborhood. I lived in fells point and loved it, but it can be dirty and there are rats & mice. get a cat!

[JJKitty87]

Now that it has been a few years, is Bolton Hill now a nice neighboorhood or is it still in transition?

[anonapotamus]

You should check out Mt Washington as well. Its not down town, but its nice and safe. You almost feel like you are not even in the city limits but you are just 2minute drive north of hampden, 5 minute north of Charles village....You would also be close to Roland park where you walk your dogs.

On a scale of 100-0% with 100% being the safest Baltimore Neighborhood:
West of Patterson park is 85% safe.
East is 75% safe
South 90%
North 25% safe.

Pick the right neighborhood and you should have Professionals (Dr/lawyer) or artists as neighbors. If it looks ghetto then it probably is.

[nanlev]

Check out the neighborhoods that interest you but also pay attention to/research the neighborhoods that border those you are considering. We made the mistake of NOT doing that and we get a lot of thru foot traffic because of a crappy shopping plaza on the other side of our neighborhood.

I also agree with touring in the day and in the night. I'm not sure where you're moving from (from another city or not) but Baltimore takes some adjustment (crime, trash, etc) and because there's not much of a buffer between a nice neighborhood and a bad one, sometimes it feels as if the people that live in the bad neighborhoods ARE your immediate neighbors. Baltimore is a friendly city and not as transient as say DC.

[nanlev]

Just curious where you got your statistics? From an actual source or are these just your observations?

Originally Posted by anonapotamus

You should check out Mt Washington as well. Its not down town, but its nice and safe. You almost feel like you are not even in the city limits but you are just 2minute drive north of hampden, 5 minute north of Charles village....You would also be close to Roland park where you walk your dogs.

On a scale of 100-0% with 100% being the safest Baltimore Neighborhood:
West of Patterson park is 85% safe.
East is 75% safe
South 90%
North 25% safe.

Pick the right neighborhood and you should have Professionals (Dr/lawyer) or artists as neighbors. If it looks ghetto then it probably is.

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by nanlev

Check out the neighborhoods that interest you but also pay attention to/research the neighborhoods that border those you are considering. We made the mistake of NOT doing that and we get a lot of thru foot traffic because of a crappy shopping plaza on the other side of our neighborhood.

I also agree with touring in the day and in the night. I'm not sure where you're moving from (from another city or not) but Baltimore takes some adjustment (crime, trash, etc) and because there's not much of a buffer between a nice neighborhood and a bad one, sometimes it feels as if the people that live in the bad neighborhoods ARE your immediate neighbors. Baltimore is a friendly city and not as transient as say DC.

Amen...crappy shopping plazas. I hope that the City can pressure the owners of these plazas to police their problem tenants and force the landlords to improve their properties.. many of them do have their own private security.. but in a poor economy compounded by their drive to lease up space.. I doubt there is much they are willing to do. Many plazas provide a convenient shopping.. many are a draw for crime..particuliarly if anchored by a substandard liquor store... An interesting drive is up York Rd north of 33rd Street. On one side of the street you have a neighborhood that could be considered in transition.. though the conditions may vary block to block.. on the other side you have.. I believe Homewood and Okenshawe which are very well established communities... This section of York Rd is very busy and commercial.. lots of pedestrian traffic.. but take one step of into Okenshawe or Homewood there are beautiful quiet treelined streets... It would be interesting to see what if any crime in these neighborhoods can be attributed to the heavy pedestrian and commercial nature of York Rd. If your neighborhood is bookended by two problemed neighborhoods with either one having a commercial district.. then the cut through pedestrian traffic could certainly pose a problem in some instances.