Baltimore, Maryland

This question depends on which area is discussed, or better yet, what neighborhood.  Certain neighborhoods are still divided to this day by either social class or race.  It may be out of preference or about one's education and salary.  Baltimore is culturally rich with different ethnicities living side by side.

As Baltimorean’s pushed outward toward the newly founded suburbs, neighborhoods over time experienced a phenomenon called block busting.  This process is when a different race, mainly African Americans move into a predominantly white neighborhood.  Shortly thereafter, the white inhabitants flee further and further toward the suburbs as they are followed by other races who buy their vacated homes.  This migration of people, due to corrupt housing agents that preyed on people and their insecurities, has transported entire neighborhoods from being one culture to a completely different culture soon thereafter. 

To make an assumption of what race lives where would be to generalize based on race; something that in the end may be fictitious. All areas are multi-ethnic, but some have higher percentages of one race.  I will, to the best of my knowledge, focus on a few areas that seem to have a significant population of one particular race, ethnicity or social status.  If an area is not discussed here, it is best to look at individual neighborhoods on this site and hope that the writer spoke in depth about who inhabits the neighborhood.  Many Italians still remain in Little Italy often retaining the houses they grew up in from older family members.  In Similar fashion, Greeks and Poles have stayed on the Eastern Avenue corridor between Dundalk and Canton area; however, a huge influx of Mexican and South American immigrants (some legal and some not) have settled along Eastern Avenue changing old customs of food and goods toward a Latin vibe.  The Latin America crowds, for the most part, are very tame and safe bringing a new breathe of life into our city. Off of Eastern Avenue, there is Patterson Park.  On one side of the park, there are mainly white ethnicities all the way stretching to the water in Canton.  On the opposite side of the park, there are more African American families with a sprinkling of other ethnicities. Otterbein, located before Federal Hill, is inhabited by mostly white professionals as is Federal Hill.  Cherry Hill is mainly an African American neighborhood that mixes into Brooklyn that is approximately an equal mix of African Americans and white ethnicities.  Mount Vernon and Mount Washington is mixed with African Americans and white ethnicities.  North Avenue and the West Side of the city are predominately African American.  If one has any questions pertaining to a certain neighborhood, do not hesitate to email me if the blurb on that neighborhood has not fully answered this question.  I understand that people often would rather be among the same ethnicity as one another.

*There are various districts/neighborhoods for entertainment. Since this is an overview of the city, refer to individual write ups of neighborhoods to find more information.

Canton: People call Canton the square because the main bar/restaurant scene is in a shape of a square (go figure). On this stretch are approximately ten bars (mainly Irish themed due to the original inhabitants) that are also restaurants. The most frequented would be Looney's Pub, Claddagh Pub, Martini Bar and Lounge, Liberatore's Cosmopolitan Bar and Grill and Bay Cafe. Others can be found through the Baltimore Metromix.com. They serve anywhere from bar foods: fried things, pizza, wraps or toward more eloquent dining menus offering gourmet creations. Food critics such as Bobby Flay have sampled restaurant food from here and praised them (check out Claddagh Pub review by Bobby Flay through google.com). Off the beaten path of the square is my favorite restaurant in Baltimore: Jack's Bistro. This restaurant is a converted artsy and sophisticated establishment offering innovative dishes that impress many. Every time I eat here, I leave satisfied; however, I also wonder if the owner/chef who creates these dishes is high while doing so. These creations are the weirdest combinations of food that in the end just work. A favorite pre-game dive bar destination that is off the beaten path of Canton square is the Waltz Inn: cheap bomb concoctions, beer, bar snacks and karaoke; if your into that kind of stuff.

Harbor East: This is a newly built, ritzy area that possess many of Baltimore's higher end restaurants and bars. Located in this entertainment district are McCormick and Schmidt's Restaurant, Rah Sushi, James Joyce Irish Pub, Roy's Asian Fusion, a new taco and a new sushi joint. Not all restaurants are listed. Adjacent to Harbor East is an extremely good (and busy) tapas restaurant named Pazo. It is the hang out for the wealthier young to older professionals who take their dates there to impress or to keep their significant other satisfied. Look through metromix.com (Baltimore) to see of weekly specials and happy hours for all restaurants. Harbor East has an upscale movie theatre that plays new releases in an environment controlled theatre with ample space, a bar, gourmet popcorn and snacks and best of all: reclining leather seats with the center cup holder that goes up and down. This is my favorite place in Baltimore that I go to s to see a movie. This area is great for date nights and is extremely safe due to continual security presence. There is a Hilton Hotel and expensive high-rise housing in the area. This is one of the richest areas of the city.

Fells Point: This historic Indy-sheik bar and restaurant scene is a good time. There are multiple restaurants and bars to hop through. It is generally a safe area. Halloween in Fells Point is a huge ordeal. Also, during the year, Fells Point holds a good amount of festivals. The crowd here is mixed socially between preppy to punk to ghetto. You see everything here.

Federal Hill: This area has many restaurants and bars. The main bars are situated around the Cross Street Market, a market of mixed ethnic foods that is open during the day and early night. The bar scene comes alive around 9PM to 10PM regardless of what day it is. Weekends here are insane. The bar scene is jammed packed. It is mostly young professionals and early marriage types who frequent this area. There are good happy hours to be found throughout the week and everything is moderately priced compared to D.C. and New York standards.

Mount Vernon: This area is safe and very busy. There are a lot of good restaurant, bars and nightclubs in this area. Though this is known as the gay district, this area is frequented equally by as many heterosexuals as homosexuals. The Red Maple and Brewers Art are my favorite two bas in this areas as well as the famous Belvedere Hotel's Owl Bar and 13th Floor-both historic restaurant/bars that need to be visited. My school, University of Baltimore, is located within this district.

Power Plant: Though I have been here a thousand times (mostly while under 21 with a fake ID), I am not a fan of this area. If you like dancing in clubs that play too loud and terrible music for men on steroids or women with boob jobs, this is your place. There are restaurants, bars, a comedy club, Rams Head Live and Port Discovery within this vicinity. The comedy club is cool though because famous comics come to Baltimore and play at Power Plant during their national tours. There are also music concerts at Rams Head Live that are worth the ticket price. During the summer, there are free outdoor concerts that my friends and I go to. Other than this, the drinks here are way overpriced, there is poor service, the area is overcrowded and the people, especially Angel's Rock Bar, are fake walking stereotypes of New Jersey. I do not like this area.

Not all entertainment districts are reported due to the nature of a general overview of Baltimore. Make sure to check out local district/neighborhood articles for a more in depth analysis of the area. For entertainment, I use metromix.com. Click Baltimore and choose what you are looking for. It is the easiest way to find entertainment deals and what's goin' on.

At this point in time, one can get a beautiful home for cheap due to the financial situations that the United States is in. Please refer to the other rental write up's I have on this same article to figure out why.

Transportation in Baltimore can be hectic.  Since most people who work in the city commute from surrounding contingent suburbs, traffic can be extremely heavy during rush hour times (7-9:30AM and 3-6PM).  When driving at times different than those specified, it is much easier to traverse through the city.  The only other hindrance in the city for traffic is when Baltimore has a festival (which seems to be all the time), when sporting events are taking place, or when conventions are being held at the convention center.

There are two main entrance/exits to Baltimore City: I-95 and I-83.  One could also use Route 40.  I-95 goes through Baltimore by the stadiums whereas I-83 comes through Baltimore County dumping one in by Little Italy, Harbor East and Power Plant.   

During the night, one can zip through the city on side streets and various secret passages one only learns by living here.  Once one learns the secret roads, they can avoid traffic. 

Public transportation:  Baltimoreans’ can get around the city usually through walking, by one of many available taxi cars, various routed bus services and the light rail.  The Maryland Transportation Authority does a good job moving people throughout the city.  There website is http://www.mta.info/.  This website will tell you destination pick up/drop off sites, times of arrival and departure, cost and other related issues.  The train can take one from Baltimore toward D.C. (which many do daily) or northward toward New York City.  I’m sure you can go westward, but I have not done that before. 

The housing market is down in Baltimore.  A few years ago, investors came in and bought up many old or abandoned homes for renovation projects.  Their original intent was to sell them fast and make a buck; however, the housing market crumbled forcing many investors who originally wanted to sell to have to rent the building.  The investors are in dire need of having someone occupy their homes to keep up with the mortgage.  This gives the buyer huge opportunities to bargain for price and other amenities.  Do not accept an offer without going lower first.  Most are desperate and will take a lower than average rent.

Before one signs a lease, make sure that one drives through the area they intend to rent during multiple times of the day to see if it is safe or void of crime.  Also, talk to the neighbors adjacent to the house one is interested in to see if one could stand them.  One can view crime statistics in the area of Baltimore by visiting this hyperlink (http://141.157.54.34/bpdmaps/).  This is the Baltimore City Police Department and their reporting of calls for crimes in areas that one specifies.  

When deciding on a house, inspect all areas of the house and ask landlord to show the house during a rain storm to make sure that there are no leaks.

Pay a home inspector to inspect the establishment for mold, lead paint, faulty plumbing, leaks, stability of building, bug infestations, rats, etc.  This will save one time, money and aggravation.

Look up sex offender registry for the area one intends to move.  Make sure that no neighbors are sexual predators, especially if one has children.  One can view this by going to clicking on this hyperlink (http://www.familywatchdog.us/).

If you like sports, drinking and meeting new people, the Baltimore sports and social club is for you (www.baltssc.com).  When I moved from one neighborhood to another, this league was good in finding new friends to hang out with.  They offer a wide array of sports to play and different leagues: all male, co-ed, competitive or non-competitive play.  Different districts have their own league that is run by the same creator of the club.  I played kickball at Patterson Park in a Canton league when I used to live there.  When I moved to Federal Hill, I joined their league that plays in a park by my house.  This league involves drinking and playing sports.  It is good to meet the opposite sex.  Each year my friends and I hope we have a team with attractive females.  

Festivals:  There are so many festivals in the city that they are hard to keep track of.  Baltimore magazine, a food and entertainment connoisseur publication (http://www.baltimoremagazine.net/) has an annual best of Baltimore food and wine festival.  The best restaurants and wine are featured in this event which is open to all who wish to come.  In Patterson Park, there are ethnic festivals that spot-light different ethnicity each week and their cultural food/alcohol within the park.  This is mainly in the summer.  Some districts have seasonal festivals that celebrate the new season.  Fells Point does this as well as Federal Hill.  Little Italy holds Saint Holiday festivals yearly that features local restaurants and artists in a walk around casual setting.  Mount Vernon and the Washington Monument area hold multiple different occasioned festivals annually too.

Movies:  The three theaters that I would go to are the historic Senator Theater, the historic Charles Theater and the newly built Harbor East movie theater.  The older two offer less options but play neat nostalgic movies as well as newer releases. The architecture of the older two establishments is interesting to witness at least once in one’s lifetime.  

Parks and Recreation: (http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/Agencies/recreation/index.html)

There are various parks for one to play sports in.  There are even designated four-legged parks for dogs to meander and socialize.  Listed above is the department of parks and recreation for Baltimore City.  This can tell one where parks are, what happens at these parks and what days different activities are offered.  I personally like Patterson Park and Druid Hill Park for their ample space, baseball/soccer fields and stadium night lights.  Be active and search these sites to see if the fields are reserved first before showing up.  Many church and social leagues have the fields reserved at different times and days.

Shopping:  Baltimore has the national monopolized stores as does any other area, but what makes Baltimore unique is the small business shops that sell personal designed apparel and art.  On weekends, many couples peruse the shops making a day out of it.  Look through different neighborhood blogs on this site to find out what areas are good shopping.  There are numerous districts for shopping.  

One’s living situation in Baltimore would change due to one’s financial situation, race, comfort levels, tolerance, one’s status (single or married), sexual preference, etc.  I am young, single and still in college.  I prefer to live in safe, clean areas with people who are mixed singles with a good entertainment district.  I live in Federal Hill, a yuppie working class, young professional area that is a bit more pricy than other areas.  I will suggest areas that could be occupied by people who share some core common values: safety, entertainment and price.

Safety

Very Safe: Canton, Fells Point, Harbor East and Federal Hill.

Mostly Safe: Mount Vernon/Washington, Eastern Avenue, Patterson Park, Johns Hopkins U (JHU) and surrounding area

Entertainment

Best Entertainment: Harbor East, Canton, Fells Point, Federal Hill, Mount Vernon/Washington, both Raven and Oriole Stadiums, Convention Center, Inner Harbor (though mainly a tourist trap), Power Plant, Little Italy

Price

Most Expensive: Harbor East, Canton and Fells Point/Otterbein.

Average: Mount Vernon/Washington, Patterson Park area, and JHU and surrounding area

These areas have some housing that are super expensive and some affordable.  Make sure to search and compare when appraising a house.  Newly renovated townhomes are more expensive; however, it may be possible that the house adjacent is half as expensive because it is not renovated.

Parking pads and roof-top decks add price to a home. 

Go to www.craigslist.com. Click on Baltimore and then click on housing; this will let one compare, view and inspect a house online without having to physically be there. 

PLACES I WOULD NOT LIVE

Cherry Hill, Brooklyn, Harlem Park, North Avenue, West Side, some portions of the East side and such are not good areas.  If I did not mention a neighborhood that rightfully belongs to the safe area, it is not because you are not safe, it is because you are small and due to the nature of this article, I cannot write about every little neighborhood in a general overview of Baltimore.  Do as much research before you move to an area.  Read blogs on individual neighborhoods on this site.

 For a more in depth analysis of neighborhood demographics, go to the Baltimore Neighborhoodd Indicator Alliance www.bnia.org.  This will shed more light on different neighborhoods.

Groceries:  Unlike the surrounding suburbs, there are not too many traditional shopping centers.  Certain neighborhoods in Baltimore offer real grocery stores; for example, in Locust Point there is a Shoppers as well as one off Eastern Avenue by Dundalk. Canton has a Safeway on its periphery. Harbor East has a Whole Foods Grocery Store as well as another Whole Foods off I-83 toward Northern Parkway located underneath the I-83 bypass.  People usually go out of the city into the surrounding suburbs (Towson) to shop because there is enough space out there to build strip malls.  One only has to drive a short bit to find a convenient shopping district.  Between Cherry Hill and Federal Hill is a Wal-Mart also.  There is a grocery store past Northern Avenue off of Charles Street heading north toward Johns Hopkins University. 

For people who are self-sufficient within the city, they tend to go to smaller, family owned markets.  These markets are in every neighborhood scattered throughout.  They are commonly referred to as “bodegas” or small shops. I use my local bodega to do most of my shopping.   

Cross Street Market in Federal Hill offers an array of multi-cultural purchasable foods.  Lexington Market is even bigger than Cross Street Market offering a wider selection.  Lexington Market is located between the Cultural Center and University Station by University of Maryland at Baltimore (easily accessible through the light rail).  Other markets such as these exist in different areas of the city. 

Gyms:  There are so many competing gyms in not only Baltimore City, but also in the surrounding suburbs of Baltimore.  So many gym facilities exist that it is hard for one to choose.  There are multiple university gyms: University of Baltimore (where I am a facility manager), Johns Hopkins, UMAB, etc that allow outside members to join at significant discounts compared to national chains such as Gold’s Gym. 

Other than university gyms, there are numerous, good places to work out.  I will name a few—Federal Hill and Mount Vernon Fitness, Merritt Athletic Club (MAC), Brick Bodies, Gold’s Gym, Bally’s Total Fitness, etc.  If one is interested in finding out more, visit the hyperlink for more information.  This will tell one all the opportunities in Baltimore and surrounding areas to work out in.  Baltimoreans love to work out, thus, there are so many places to join.  http://www.healthclubdirectory.com/health_clubs/clubResults/MD/Maryland/Baltimore/

Banks: I will be short and sweet—there are more banks in Baltimore than there are Starbucks in America.  One can walk two feet and run into a bank.  Our biggest bank is M&T Bank.  M&T sponsors the Ravens, thus, the stadium is named M&T Bank Stadium.  They have their headquarters in inner-Baltimore; however, I would say that every national bank has more than three branches throughout the city.

The employment in Baltimore seems to be easy to come by.  There are a good amount of national headquarters within Baltimore that need employees.  When searching for a job, most use either craigslist.com or careerbuilder.com.  Occasionally people still use the Baltimore Sun job section to find out who is hiring.  If one uses the Sun paper, go to Sunspot.net to search the online Sun paper job postings. 

As discussed in the general overview, many come from surrounding states such as West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware, New York, and New Jersey in search of employment in Baltimore because of lack thereof in their respective states.  We seem to retain economic stability through tertiary means (service sector). 

Jobs are various: There are multiple hospitals, legal offices, banks, financial investment firms, government jobs, restaurant/bar/service industries, hotel management, construction, factory work and so forth.  Whatever one is qualified to do, there will be a job most likely needing to be filled. 

Baltimore Public Schools are severely underfunded.  They lack the critical taxes needed to raise the standards of learning.  If you are moving with children—do as all the others do that can afford to—put your children in one of the many private schools in and surrounding the city.  The private schools are extremely better than public. 

The Baltimore Public Schools are full of gangs, violence, drugs, and a general feeling of dismay.  Students do not want to be there, parents eventually give up, and the child drops out.  Do not put your children in with other Baltimore City students.  Check online for other schooling opportunities. 

Maryland has placed the question of placing slots in Maryland up to voters in the Presidential elections.  If Maryland passes the slots referendum, then Maryland will insert slots; especially in the Inner Harbor: the tourist district.  Approximately 48% of this accumulated wealth from slots will be designated to Baltimore City schools—a much anticipated and much needed economic catalyst for better education. 

I would never place my child in Public Schooling in Baltimore City.

Real estate is stagnant in Baltimore currently as well as the rest of the United States.  It is a renter or buyer’s market at this point in time.  Investors who tried to make a buck are stuck with houses that they cannot sell at the asking price, thus, they must rent or sell at a significant discount.  Make sure to haggle the price before signing a lease or buying a home.  Also, do not jump on the first house you like because there are many more that are even nicer.  About a year ago, I moved from Canton to Federal Hill.  The houses my roommates and I looked at before finally deciding blew our minds.  Investors went all out adding rooftop decks and new futuristic amenities that I did not even know existed.  Some of these houses are outstanding for cheap rent, rent to buy, or purchase. 

When searching for houses, the best place to look is online at www.craigslist.com.  Once online, click on Baltimore and housing.  There are various pictures of the housing available and good explanations.  This helps weed out houses that are not up to ones standards without physically having to go to them to find out.  Once can also find people that need roommates.

Baltimore has the same weather as does most of Maryland; however, the amount of pavement and concrete adds heat in the summer a few degrees more than surrounding suburbs.  The high rise buildings can make one feel like they are in Chicago because of excessive wind. 

Baltimore is odd for one reason.  As a whole, Maryland does not have the traditional four-season temperature variance as does many parts of the United States.  It goes from hot to cold quickly without moderate periods.  Our hot seasons go from late March to early October.  From early October to mid-March, Baltimoreans freeze their asses off.  Literally one day it will be cold enough to wear a parka and the next day it is so hot you want to walk around naked.  Though I may exaggerate this a bit, I wish we had the climate of San Fran where it is moderately hot and cold in the same day or an area that actually experiences the seasons as they were intended.

The humidity: take the heat of Arizona and what it does to one’s body.  Now take a hose and spray it all over you.  No! That is not water from a hose; it is your sweat covering your whole body.  I hate humidity and I hate swamp ass. 

Summer 60's to low 100's. Ave=80's Fall 30's-70/80's. Ave=60's Winter -0 to 50's. Ave=30's Spring 40's to 80's. Ave=60's This is a guesstimation' and temperatures fluctuate daily. 

Baltimore, as well as much of the eastern United States coastline receives some storms that develop down south or up north.  Occasionally, we have been hit hard by hurricane storms.  To my knowledge, Baltimore does not experience earthquakes that can be felt by people.  There are extremely small tremors well underground.  Occasionally, Maryland experiences tornadoes that are generally small with most happening in suburbs where there is less obstruction for the tornado to move through.  We have had terrible blizzards--most notably in the mid-1990's where one could not walk without sinking into a few feet of snow.