so I'm moving to Baltimore...

[Orangepeel]

from Florida, sometime this summer. I'm worried about the weather, but excited about the blueness of the state!

So, any suggestions on where I should buy a house? I'm not really familiar with the area at all, but after looking online, I'm leaning toward being torn between a condo/townhouse in the city -- which appeals to my romantic side -- versus a newer, 4 bd./2 car garage house in the exurbs (e.g., maybe Middle River or Essex or Rosedale?) --which should be comfortable and familiar given where I live now.

Any suggestions?

[Stinky The Clown]

1. MIddle River and Essex tend to be more 'red' than, say, Rosedale.

Where will you be working? That may make a difference. The traffic here can be bad.

Consider Catonsville, too. The other side of Baltimore from Rosedale. The aea north of Baltimore is Harford County and is tending quite 'red'. Howard County is an odd mix ..... very blue in Columbia and tending to red in the western and northern part of the county. We live in Howard County and like it just fine. We're immediately north of Columbia, in Ellicott City.

[Orangepeel]

3. Somebody I know suggested I look at Ellicott City

because it was full of "left-leaning artsy people". I'm not sure whether or not that is true, but I think it is too far for me. I am going to work near Towson.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Ellicott City to Towson at rush hour could be 45 minutes on a bad day

and probably 30 minutes on a good day. At 3 AM, assuming no traffic, it might be a 25 minute ride, so it isn't that close. But, all things considered, that's not bad by our standards. (Easy for me to say ... my wife and I work from home! :) ).

You may also consider downtown. Your commute would be through the city and against traffic, so it could be pretty easy. I defer to others who may actually make that commute, however, so don't take that statement as gospel.

There are a lot of posibilties downtown. Baltimore is very much a city of neighborhoods and one bloack can make a world of difference. You also don't say if you have kids. The schools in the city, while not nearly as bad as some would have you believe, are not great ..... I'd say 'adequate'. And city living is not suburb living by a long shot. We own a rowhouse in South Baltimore (very much a transitional neighborhood) that my son is living in. He's had two cars totalled by being hit while parked on his narrow street! Not a lot of crime beyond low level, mostly benign drug dealing.

If you want to look anywhere downtown or on the north and northeast side of the city, let me know by PM. I have a great real estate team (two women) who we worked with on two home purchases so far. They're based in White Marsh (very near Rosedale), but are familiar with the whole area. They must have showed us a thirty houses before we bought the two we finally ended up with. We now have two of our three kids in them .... but we own them and they are our investments. The realtors work for Long and Foster and are absolutely the nicest, moist accommodating people you can imagine.

[Mutley]

10. Mt. Washington

It's in north Baltimore. It is a beautiful area with lots of greenery, but also some of the downtown Baltimore charm. It's almost like a small town inside of a big city. It's minutes away from Towson -- you wouldn't have to get on the beltway at all (which is a HUGE plus, trust me, the beltway is almost constantly packed around Towson even outside of rush hour times), and only a 15 minute or so drive to downtown. I think the prices are relatively reasonable.

Charles Village is a nice area. That is in north Baltimore, but south of Mt. Washington. It's very college towny as there are four or five colleges right in the area, but the housing is not as expensive as some other areas.

You could also try the Timonium/Linthicum area which is a bit north of Towson. There are plenty of back roads from that area into Towson so you could still avoid the highways. That area is a bit more suburby than Mt. Washington, and if being able to walk to local shops and such appeals to you you won't really be able to do that in this area.

Of course, Towson itself isn't such a bad place to live. I think the housing is pretty expensive there, but there's a neat little development called Rogers Forge (it has townhomes and apartments) which is cute and pretty close knit.

All of these areas are fairly safe, but as in most of Baltimore you can walk a few blocks in any direction and hit a "bad" neighborhood. We were named the third most dangerous city a few months ago. :P But really I've been living here for fifteen years and have never had any major problems outside of my car being broken into. Just be cautious and aware of whats going on around you and you will be fine.

[indigo]

11. this refers to

"old" Ellicott City. If you enter 8000 Main St, Ellicott City MD into Mapquest, you'll see exactly what area this refers to. Convenient to Catonsville (over the bridge and then just minutes away) but definitely not convenient to Towson, as you'll see. Also convenient to Rt 29 (to go to Silver Spring, or just generally toward DC direction).

Sounds like you've nearly eliminated this option, but if you have questions on the 'left-leaning artsy' aspect, feel free to PM.

[AuntiBush]

8. Really?

I never realized Columbia was blue. Should have moved there.

Though Baltimore Counties lean red locally, most I know and what others tell me they still vote true-blue on state and higher levels.

Case in Point: Sarbanes and Mikulski

Harford County is red, but only out in the boonies. Belair is packed with local reds, but they detest pretzel boy & co big-time. Hear it all the time in general passing and from conservative neighbors. It boggled my mind at first and they all love to invite you in for coffee, then they begin to rant and rave over *&*. They really detest them - its astounding.

Thanks for that tidbit. Good to hear.

[undergroundpanther]

14. I live in Abingdon

And I never hear the bush haters ranting out here. Where are they? Why don't they invite me in for coffee? It would do wonders for my morale.
I am one of the few"freaky" type adults out here.

I was the first person in Bel Air to have pink hair.Got shit for it in school too in the late 70's. Alot of Bel air kids were bystanders or bullies and very conformist for the most part.I wasen't.

In 6th grade,I painted a big demon crucified upside down in flames in the harford mall halloween window painting contest that the mall used to have every year,It was all all approved and fine up until some jackass fundies and some sanctimonous tight asses from saint margrets got all offended and threatened to throw a brick through the woolworths window because my painting skeered them or something.
Despite it being washed off to please a few self rightous zealot jerks,I still won second place .The first place winner was a professional muralist who used an airbrush his work was beautiful..So much for growing up in Bel air the City of Demons, being creative,anti authoritarian, enough to go challenging the silly stifling status quo in stupid facistwannabechristianoconservoville BelAir.
We need more liberals and freaks out here. The "best sorts of people" to help get rid of the red ass control freaks.

[Debbi801]

2. We're in NW Baltimore county and it is very blue here...

(Reisterstown/Owings Mills area).

I agree with the other poster, you want to check out the commute between home and work. Some of the commutes here can be terrible. :-)

My brother bought a row home in Greektown last summer and absolutely loves it, especially his commute to work--he teaches middle school in the city.

Welcome to the area! :hi:

[Orangepeel]

4. what do you think about a condo or townhouse downtown?

?

[freestyle]

6. How about an older 4br/ 2 car garage in the city?

There are still some nice and relatively affordable neighborhoods in the city that have large homes with garages and yards and that offer convenient access to downtown. Check out Ashburton, Windsor Hills, West Arlington, Callaway Garrison, Hamilton, Lauraville, Ednor Gardens, Beverly Hills, just to start. A good site for introductions to various neighborhoods is livebaltimore.com.

[Orangepeel]

7. I'm not really a do-it-yourself type

so I'm worried about an older home that needs TLC. But, I'm open to the idea. The livebaltimore site is very useful, but it is still hard for someone with no knowledge of the area to get a handle on the info. Every neighborhood is written up to look great!

[AuntiBush]

9. Chase, Middle River or Catonsville

That's where I'd move to if I were coming-in from out-of-town.

Depends on what you desire. If you want good water property w/that 4 bdrm / 2 car garage in burbs checkout areas between Martins Airport and Chase, MD... there is a Democrat Club in Chase, right before the Gunpowder Park area and a nice beach on 1 side, and a boat ramp on the other. Bow hunting free or by membership, there are areas one can walk to fish from the shores.

Columbia is very nice and close to DC/Baltimore corridor w/great shopping and good historical, and cultural affairs like festivals and the likes.

Catonsville isn't bad either.

Goto http://homesdatabase.com/ or http://www.realtor.com/ and give it a whirl. Google "Coldwell Banker Baltimore" for another good real estate site. You have to create an email login username/password, but it takes only a mere minute or so to get in via email.

[LynneSin]

12. Maryland ain't that blue

Erhlich is an asshole for a governor and it turns out the election equipment was full of fraud. But then again you're moving up from Florida which is a major step-up!

Welcome to the MId-Atlantic region

:hi:

[USAcitizen]

13. Why not Towson

I live in the city about 10 minutes from Towson. I love the area. Small row homes and some great newly renovated apartments. Mt. Washington is great too. It depends on what kind of home you are interested in living in.

[gardenista]

15. There is an amazing revitalization of the city going on, but you can still

buy for relatively decent prices if you look hard enough.

Check out Fell's Point.

[nickshepDEM]

16. My girlfriends cousin is one of, if not the largest general

contractors in the Canton/Fells Point area and Ive seen some of his listed prices... Anything, but reasonable. I would never pay that much to live in the city.

[gardenista]

17. Ok. I must be used to California prices.

I thought that some of the townhouses in upper Fells Point and near Patterson Park looked pretty good when I visited there, but remember I come from a place where you can only get a 2 bedroom condo for 800,000.

[nickshepDEM]

18. I guess your right. 2 bedroom for 800,000....

Thats insane.

[gardenista]

19. Yep.

But everything is relative...

[AuntiBush]

20. Need a House?

I'm preparing to sell mine this summer.

Not far from area you suggested... PM me.

Edited for lousy laptop typo