car or no car? (insurance, house, transfer to)

[mj291]

hi there!

i am moving to baltimore in about 2 weeks to attend nursing school at jhu. i will be living in a row house in charles village about 2 blocks south from the homewood jhu campus. i plan on taking the jhu shuttle to commute to the medical campus for classes, etc.

do i really need to have a car in the city? i imagine i could get around by public transportation, taxis, etc. i am most concerned about parking. i don't want to take my car there and have no where to put it!

is this area a "safe" place to live?

any help/advice would be appreciated!

-mj

[jonjj]

Short answer: no.
Unless you want to be a gad-a-bout in suburbia. I live in Patterson Park. Walked to the subway. Caught the metro to Artscape. Took the Light Rail back downtown and the water taxi back to my home. Perfectly fine day-car free.

[kungfulkoder]

agreed. I live in pigstown and having a bike makes getting to the harbor/fed/fells a breeze. I use the lightrail when I need to go north or to the airport.

[computerblue20]

I think that the correct answer is that it depends upon how you feel about the tradeoff between time and money. As previous posters have attested, it can be done. However, I would temper their comments by stating that taking combinations of bus/light rail/metro/water taxi (which is only offered during the spring and summer) will likely get old if you find yourself becoming incredibly busy with work and social stuff, because your commute times will almost always be higher than commuting on your own by car and you also will probably want to go do shopping in the suburbs every once in awhile. Also, this is not a bike-friendly city overall and you will undoubtedly have some potentially dangerous moments here and there.

Of course, you could settle the issue like a JHU nursing friend of mine did by finding a boyfriend who drives a convertible.

[jonjj]

Ed Kane's Water Taxi (http://www.thewatertaxi.com/schedule.html - broken link)

The water taxi runs all year with the exception of the Fort McHenry stop.

[harborview11]

Take the bus! he he he

[ck14]

If you're up in Charles Village you'd have to take a bus south down Charles Street to transfer to the light rail or subway. I don't have a car and it can be a little inconvenient depending on where you want to go. There are a few good restaurants, a couple grocery stores, drug stores, etc. that would be within walking distance.

[carolott]

I don't have a car, and I take the bus or light rain (or walk) everywhere. Yes, it can be a bit of a pain sometimes, but at least I don't have to worry about insurance, break-ins, theft, etc.

[harborview11]

Originally Posted by carolott

I don't have a car, and I take the bus or light rain (or walk) everywhere. Yes, it can be a bit of a pain sometimes, but at least I don't have to worry about insurance, break-ins, theft, etc.

Break-ins, thefts...what?

[rudy_d]

Originally Posted by computerblue20

I think that the correct answer is that it depends upon how you feel about the tradeoff between time and money. As previous posters have attested, it can be done. However, I would temper their comments by stating that taking combinations of bus/light rail/metro/water taxi (which is only offered during the spring and summer) will likely get old if you find yourself becoming incredibly busy with work and social stuff, because your commute times will almost always be higher than commuting on your own by car and you also will probably want to go do shopping in the suburbs every once in awhile. Also, this is not a bike-friendly city overall and you will undoubtedly have some potentially dangerous moments here and there.

That sums it up pretty well. I have a car that I drive very infrequently because I almost always take public transportation during the week or cabs when going out on weekends. However, there are occasions when I'm glad to have a car because of the time savings. At the same time I cringe every time I pay a huge insurance bill for a parked car.