Baltimore MD v Wilmington NC (neighborhoods, dangerous, move)

[silvermyst]

I lived in Baltimore from the time I was born until I was 23. I am the biggest Baltimore hater there is
There is Baltimore City and Baltimore County and the county is not as awful as the city. I grew up in the Dundalk area and I think it is a beautiful place. I myself would never move back to the county or the city but here are good points to both



ESPN Zone downtown
Hard Rock Cafe
Inner Harbor
Fells Point
History
Museums
The National Aquarium
Close to outlets and lots of shopping
3 hour drive to beaches
Close to Atlantic City and Delaware Park
Crab cakes!!!
Many great restaraunts
Just a few good points, I almost convinced myself to move back

Bad stuff

Crime, Crime, Crime
Drugs
Murder
Too many people
Houses overpriced
My opinion is I think people are very discourteous while driving (I drive from PA to Md everyday)
I know that crime and drugs are everywhere but it is far worse in Baltimore than a lot of places.

[silvermyst]

I hit post before I was done, anyhow it all depends on what kind of things you are interested in and what kind of lifestyle you lead as to which city would best suit you but I personally would never live in Baltimore again even if someone bought me a house.

[Tom Lennox 70]

I'm from Maryland and I definitely suggest you go to WIlmington, North Carolina and NOT Baltimore.

Baltimore is one of the worst, most dangerous, most dreary and depressing cities in the U.S. North Carolina is much more laid back and much friendlier. Also if you are foreigner wanting an authentic American experience, definitely go to North Carolina or somewhere else in the SOuth or the Midwest.

I'm ready to leave Maryland after I finish my education. The weather here is too cold October-April, people are very rude and unfriendly (perhaps due to the large number of newcomers from New Jersey and New York), there is also a lot of crime and illegal immigration, gangs, and drugs. Baltimore is a city beset with high levels of poverty and most people live in run-down brick rowhouses or crumbling public housing projects with graffiti everywhere. You will hear gunshots every night in Baltimore and sometimes during the day too.

North Carolina, you have beautiful countryside, friendly folks, Southern hospitality, where people are genuinely have a sense of community rather than the mechanical fakeness you see up North. Like if you get good service in a store, hotel or restauratn in Baltimore (or anywhere north of it) its just good training while in the South its genuine. In the South and the Midwest you can experience what our country is really about, the land of ordinary, everyday, unpretentious, hardworking Americans.

Also the South is a better place to raise a family. People care more about family, faith, and country and have better moral values. At least it will be like this if Yankees and illegal aliens don't take it over completely. Places like Baltimore and elsewhere in the East COast give our country a bad name...I hope you have a chance to see the real America away from New York City, Boston or California. Honestly would you want people to judge the UK by London alone?

[Tom Lennox 70]

Yeah so basically nobody likes Baltimore. Even by East Coast standards it is a very miserable, very ghetto city. The architecture outside the National Aquarium and the Inner Harbor is als overy somber and depresses you completely, as well as the gray bitterly cold weather through all of the winter.

Wilmington may get a hurricane once in a while but its not very common.

[dyt937]

forget wilmington and baltimore
just move to florida if you are looking for the beach,tropical atmosphere
florida as the state is booming with lots of coastal safe cities

[rando]

north carolina is the most hurricane prone state after florida. wilmington does get hit. the area and neighborhoods near downtown are nice, so is downtown.... but the area from downtown to the beach is not attractive at all.... lots of clutter, sprawl, and all unplanned growth. wilmington does have crime and racial problems. not nearly as bad as baltimore though. baltimore does have bigger city amenities though... and by that i don't mean a hard rock cafe

[greengladezoo]

I've lived in Baltimore for 39 years. A lot of people who live here agree that this isn't a place you move TO, unless you have to. If I were not born and raised here, I would never choose it.

And I hate to agree with other posters, but I also find it very unsafe and even "ghetto". To get to a safe area, you have to live far from the activity and it is very, very expensive (a 1000 sq ft rancher that needs updating would still cost $350K). If you can pay that, the schools are very good.

I have worked and gone to college in the city. It is fine to visit. It is a huge luxury to NOT have to live in the city. I feel badly for those who do. And yes, there are expensive, beautiful areas to live in the city. But a condo or town home there would easily cost 500K to 1million dollars. And that is to live surrounded by dangerous streets and areas and HAVING to drive/walk through those areas to exist. Also, the crime doesn't STAY in those areas.

An example of Baltimore's problems is that even in the BETTER suburban areas, things are constantly getting worse. In one GOOD area, the bad neighborhoods and crime creeped towards me by ONE block per year. It became visibly different quickly- in many ways (people loitering all over the place instead of purposeful activity, police activity, drugs, disrepair, fights... and again, this was a good suburb.)

I moved to a better suburb. That one declined due to the Light Rail/Metro. Police will tell you that instead of improving commutes for working people, as was intended, this allows crime from the city to come in to these expensive areas and commit crimes and jump back on the rail. Within a year, shopping and social areas near the Metro's were accompanied by police kiosks and security guards.

Drugs are everywhere. Another police friend pointed out how to tell if CRACK cocaine was in a neighborhood: check the dollar stores and look for some specific items used by addicts.. and the items are often kept TOGETHER for convenience. I didn't believe it at first,but it was correct. And one dollar store nearby is across the street from $1400 a month apartments.

That's another thing. In Baltimore our welfare systems offers subsidized housing. There is a thing called "section 8" which is a sort of voucher system. What seems to have happened with that is that as city apts filled with welfare subsidized tenants, the section 8 system extended into the county. That means non-working tenants completely dependent on govt assistance are now in the white collar hard working areas. And this isn't to discredit those on welfare, because they just live in the wrong place (the govt pays housing , insurance, and food vouchers... a basic wage would allow none of that and most full time working families have a hard time affording rent and housing here.)

In our social areas here (malls and town-centers,etc.) people are not even subtle about drinking or using drugs in public. People have been mugged and murdered in the parking garages of our malls,

I would never suggest anyone move here. And if I said anything positive it would be to ONLY adults without children. In those cases, the city has some beauty and culture.

Lastly, I wish I could say if you lived in X area this would be a good move. But the bottom line is that crime creeps right up to our doors. People have been shot, children have been shot getting caught in the middle of adults fighting... all of this in what we call our best areas.

Our headline in the news today is what to do about Baltimore's soaring Homicide rate.

That isn't an issue in some other areas.

But I did note that Wilmington's crime rates for Rape and Burglary/theft were higher than Baltimore's.

[jagermaster]

having lived in b-more all my life, dont move here it SUCKS ASS, and it is THE most dangerous city in America, I live in a nice area, and I am still scared sh*tless im gonna get robbed every night, my are of town is about the nicest in North Baltimore(guilford), and three people have been shot one block from my house, its dirty as crap, the public schools are AWFUL, and if you can shell out $20k for private school then you can get a top notch education, my car has been stolen twice, my house robbed 5 times. People from b-more are generally rude, and if all you know is the inner harbor then you have no idea, it is considered by many to be the biggest ghetto in america, its the crack, meth, murder, std, aids and teen pregnancy capital of the US, DONT MOVE HERE!!!

[jagermaster]

honestly I have to say I love it though, because its an aquired taste, PS the weather is 90 + with 90% humidity in the summer and consistently below 40 in the winter

[anonymous]

Originally Posted by jagermaster

the weather is 90 + with 90% humidity in the summer

Huh? That would give you a heat index of 120+ degrees. I don't think the jungle gets that hot.