Possible move to Baltimore

[J_Lurk]

Originally Posted by sc2jax

J_lurk - how do you like it in Baltimore compared to NC? I'm actually from SC and have lived in FL for just two years. We really LOVE it here and I'm a bit anxious about moving. Many of my friends from the NE aren't very positive about moving to the NE after living in the south (thier words, not mine - but with some reasons being the cost of living and weather). I would love your perspective, esp if you have kids and how they have transitioned. Thanks so much!

Honestly, except for the fact that I desperately did not want to make the move and loved where I was, I can't complain. The housing costs were a shock, but other than that a lot of the costs have been pretty similar. The taxes correlate to the housing; they are higher because the house costs more, but the $/$1000 is not too different. The weather is not THAT different, except that we actually got snow here when NC got the threat of snow/ice (though that may be different this weekend). Since it is still pretty close to the water it is not that different from central NC.

I do have kids and they've handled the transition much better than I have. One is in kindergarten, and she moved to a much smaller school (350 here vs. 540 in NC). It is a nice environment with a very involved PTA and she's really thriving. The bus picks her up at the end of our drive, which she loves. We had to walk down the street before. For my younger daughter I found a preschool co-op (common here) which she's also loving. She's done some amazing projects there.

There are bike trails and pools everywhere, so we're looking forward to warmer weather. We are 25 minutes from the Inner Harbor and have already taken two sets of visiting relatives there.

[mass_biker]

We made the move with a 5 year old this past summer from Boston. Housing stock here was at least 1/2 the price of metro Boston, but beware of taxes living in BMore City proper - egregiously high. That said, we are living in a house that would cost 2x as much in Newton, Brookline, Cambridge, MA.

School options were really eye opening - there is a lot of choice among Independent/Private schools if you can make the math work. If you do go that route, think about proximity to some of these schools (which may lead you towards the northern part of the City). In a way, BMore seems "Overschooled" in terms of private options, so in that sense, "consumers" have a lot of choice, unlike New England.

So in summation:

Housing - 1/2 that of Boston
Taxes - 2x that of Boston (Baltimore City)
Schools - we chose private, but we would've done the same in Boston - I'd say the quality of the private options here blows away what was available in metro Boston

As longtime NewEnglanders, we were a little nervous about the move, but we have had a great experience so far.

[SmokeyLisa]

I agree that the prices are less than in Boston area, a lot of the Boston area suburbs are elite suburbs, there seem to be fewer elite (poor need not apply) in this area. There are definely some elite neighborhoods in the DC and Baltimore area but IMO nothing compared to MA. Also, MD neighborhoods seem more integrated, at least to me. I found the price less but not 1/2 the price but of course I never bought in Boston area because I thought it was way too expensive/overpriced but I don't feel that it would have cost us twice as much. We looked in Newton, Needham, Wellesley, Wayland, and Sudbury, Lexington, Lincoln and Waltham.

I was looking at private schools in MA and thought that they had some of the best private schools (most elite / gateway to Ivy League). I think you will find good private schools here but the ones in MA are top schools for getting into IVYs of course most of the IVYs are up that way. That does not necessarily mean that they are better or prepared the students better but that they had higher % of students going to IVYs. I also thought the public schools in MA where better as well but it could be the area that I was looking in.

There are a few schools in the DC & Baltimore area that made the list. We are still debating public or private, I do not need an elite school. I just want them to get a good education, not be a snob, respect others and be well rounded but I guess I may be asking for too much.

[Rushmore]

No chance you're getting a "newer" SFH in Roland Park, so don't bother. Same with Bolton Hill. These are the only two neighborhoods into which I would move my children in Baltimore. If you decide you can settle for a house with some age (we call it "charm" here in Charm City), you could definitely get a small SFH in Roland Park or a beautiful Federal townhouse in Bolton Hill.

If you move to the suburbs, and you are not prepared for the traffic, you quite simply will not believe it. If you buy in Ellicott City and your husband has traditional work hours, you might want to carry a picture of him so you'll remember what he looks like.

I do not envy you. For what it's worth, I went through all of this myself, have been here in Baltimore for six years, and close on my house in Sarasota on March 1.

Good luck.

[mass_biker]

I hear what you are saying about schools in the Boston area. A lot of the high schools in the area have reputations as Ivy feeders, but the reality is quite different I think. My wife and I are both Ivy grads, but went to pretty much sub-standard CA public schools. Most of our classmates were also products of public schools. That said, the private school kids in our incoming class were clearly better prepared for college than we were - not sure if their schools were Ivy feeders but those that got in were ready for the work. Of course, what they did with that prep work varied wildly. You can have all the advantages of a great education laid out for you and you can still throw it all away if you don't have the right work ethic, or the right set of values from your parents and family.

I felt that the Boston area schools we looked at (BBH, Shady Hill etc.) for the lower school were a lot snootier, and a lot more elitist than the private ones we looked at in Baltimore. It seems here that there is just a wider range of non-public alternatives, almost one to fit exactly what you want (progressive, traditional, single-sex, faith-based etc.) so there is a lot less of the feeding frenzy that descends over the Boston area in the Spring due to admissions etc. And not once was I suggested in the interview process for Baltimore schools to set up a meeting with the Development Office (which was recommended to me in Boston - gross).

If you haven't met with/visited some of the Baltimore area private schools that you are considering, you really ought to. As a jaded NewEnglander, I was impressed.

[SmokeyLisa]

I have visited a few in the Howard County area, IMO Hoco does not have a huge, varied or great selection of private schools. Mainly Catholic, Montessori and very small number of non religous private schools. I'm going to look at both public and private, not sure what my chances are since several of the private schools have started a beginners program/preschool but I think I'm going to keep my kids at the preschool that they are currently enrolled in.

Any, I found the metrowest area to be very elitist but I did like the area. I agree with you on the admissions process. My co-workers said that one school in the interview process just came out and asked her how big a check they could write.

Of course you can get into an IVY from any schools in the US but each school will only send a 1 to 2 students, at most, to each IVY league school from an average school. IMO, the difference is at the elite private and elite publics they send up to 1/4 of their students while regular/avg schools send less than 1% of their class. I have seen a few list in the Bmore area with the Park School, Bryn Mawr and Gillman on it. I'm sure their are other worthy schools as well.

You can also decrease your child's chances of getting into a top school by sending them to one of these feeders schools because of how much competiton, legacy students and how many high powered families may attend there vs. standing out in a public school.