is Baltimore, MD as bad as they say?

[mafoofan Jr.]

I may have to relocate for business.

Any shared experience would be appreciated.

 

[hopkins_student]

Not at all. In fact, I quite enjoyed living in Baltimore. I must admit I enjoyed the suburbs (Towson) even more.

 

[cheessus]

I have a friend who goes to Hopkins Med school and she told me that during orientation, the school told the students to watch The Wire in order to acclimate themselves with Baltimore. She seemed pretty serious about it, but I can never tell with her.

 

[Ataturk]

Most big cities now have "murder maps" showing where the homicides happen, and who they happen to.

Baltimore, for example:

http://essentials.baltimoresun.com/m...s=Show+Results

 

[mafoofan Jr.]

Originally Posted by Ataturk

Most big cities now have "murder maps" showing where the homicides happen, and who they happen to. Baltimore, for example: http://essentials.baltimoresun.com/m...s=Show+Results
Thanks. I'll avoid those spots.

 

[abc123]

The bad parts are as bad as people say they are, but there are plenty of nice areas far removed from the Wire-type happenings. The Inner Harbor area has really been revitalized in recent years, and is quite nice.

 

[Slopho]

The thing about Baltimore is that you can go from one block that is nice to a block that you can get mugged on in less than 5 minutes. You'll be ok though. A former boss of mine once walked his gf to her car then on his way back to his row house got mugged.

Baltimore is the East Coast version of Oakland.

 

[jpeirpont]

Originally Posted by hopkins_student

Not at all. In fact, I quite enjoyed living in Baltimore. I must admit I enjoyed the suburbs (Towson) even more.

Are there nice place someone making less than $75,000/yr can afford? I am thinking of a move South myself.

 

[rdawson808]

Originally Posted by jpeirpont

Are there nice place someone making less than $75,000/yr can afford? I am thinking of a move South myself.

Baltimore is amazingly cheap, imo. You can buy a rowhouse in a pretty nice neighborhood for half what you'd pay in DC. Especially if you don't mind a bit of renovation. That's just anecdotal, mind you--I haven't been checking real estate prices lately.

Baltimore has plenty of nice places. As others have indicated, some places aren't so nice. A colleague of mine and all her friends were mugged while out for her bachelorette (sp?) party in Fells Point.

b

 

[hopkins_student]

Originally Posted by jpeirpont

Are there nice place someone making less than $75,000/yr can afford? I am thinking of a move South myself.
I was paying a grand for a two bedroom apartment (a little on the old side of things), but there were newer, slightly less convenient places for about the same. I thought Baltimore was expensive when I moved there from Lexington, KY. After living in LA, Baltimore prices seem like a steal.

 

[KObalto]

Baltimore is a city of neighborhoods, some are safe, some are not. It is relatively inexspensive and 75k goes a long way. Some Baltimoreans revel in telling others how dangerous the city is despite the fact that neither they or anyone they know has been the victim of a violent crime. Each year, more middle-class people are moving back into the city. What does that tell you?

 

[FLMountainMan]

Originally Posted by KObalto

Baltimore is a city of neighborhoods, some are safe, some are not. It is relatively inexspensive and 75k goes a long way. Some Baltimoreans revel in telling others how dangerous the city is despite the fact that neither they or anyone they know has been the victim of a violent crime. Each year, more middle-class people are moving back into the city. What does that tell you?

Using anecdotal evidence to refute other anecdotal evidence is not very convincing.

 

[FLMountainMan]

Originally Posted by Ataturk

Most big cities now have "murder maps" showing where the homicides happen, and who they happen to.

Baltimore, for example:

http://essentials.baltimoresun.com/m...s=Show+Results


Good lord, that's a lot of strangulations on there. That gives me the willies.

 

[zalb916]

I make it to Baltimore for an afternoon or evening a few times a year from D.C. I'm constantly amazed at how charming the city can be. Of course, I've never lived there, but I think the city has a lot of character in a good way.

 

[KObalto]

Originally Posted by FLMountainMan

Using anecdotal evidence to refute other anecdotal evidence is not very convincing.

I thought the OP was looking for impressions of the city from those who live here or have visited here, or as you put it, anecdotal evidence, not statistical analyses of crime rates and doctoral dissertations thereupon.

I'm a criminal defense lawyer in the city, have been for 25 years, have a good idea where crime occurs, live in the city and feel quite safe. I know people in the suburbs who are afraid to come down to the Inner Harbor because of the crime rate. As in most cities, the middle class areas are safe and the inner city areas are not. As someone pointed out, one difference in Baltimore is that some neighborhoods change quite rapidly. Baltimore has some beautiful older neighborhoods, several planned by the Olmstead brothers.
The Wire was a great TV show and reveals many an uncomfortable truth about my hometown, but does not reflect my daily existence here other than its portrayal of the court and criminal justice systems.