the frog comes north

[rootofnewt]

My brother is moving up to the Baltimore area. He'll be working near Ft. Meade. He's lived in Florida since graduating from college, so he knows nothing about the area. He's trying to figure out where he wants to live and would like pointers/warnings about any of the following areas. Comments about amenities (restaurants, bars within walking distance of residential areas, nearby shopping, distance to beaches on the bay) would probably be appreciated, along with relative cost of living. Anyone up for suggestions? Here are the areas he'd like information about:

Burbs:

Columbia
Elkridge
Severn
Laurel
Catonsville

City:

Canton
Fells Point
Butchers Hill
Federal Hill
Locust Point

Comments

[dwolfe.livejournal.com]

I live in catonsville.

I'm not sure if that is a warning or a perk or what.

If he lived here, we could go racoon boxing together.

[xiane.livejournal.com]

Canton is where some of my relatives live. It is solidly blue-collar, an old neighborhood that used to have corner bars and people connecting with their neighbors by sitting outside on the "stoops" and socializing. It has run down quite a bit in recent times.
Federal Hill is an up-and-coming yuppie area. Parts of it can be pretty expensive. He'd be close to the harbor, Cross Street Market - a lot of interesting restaurants and shops are starting to spring up there.
Fells Point is excellent. LOTS of restaurants and bars, a super music store, a superior coffee shop, little trendy stores. It has gone through some bad times but has started to really turn around. There's also a Whole Foods in the area, and you're right on the harbor.

I hear that Locust Point is getting yuppified, but I haven't been there to check it out. I don't know anything about Butcher's Hill.

One thing about B'more - he'll want to really check out the area before taking a place. "Good" and "Bad" areas are layered there, and wandering just one block over can put you in a whole new world, so to speak.

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

If he has kids, he should check the school districts. My sister-in-law lives in Severn, and they decided thay had to put their kids in private school because of problems with the public schools. Now, this may just be her snobbism, but there could be real issues.

I agree that good areas and bad are clearly demarcated there.

[krasota.livejournal.com]

No children. He's a young bachelor and acts like it. I assume the motorcycle(s) will be moving with him.

[fizeau.livejournal.com]

Hi, this is completely off topic but I just wanted to say I love your icon. Is that picture available some where in a larger size?

[krasota.livejournal.com]

It's not available online, but I do have it. May I ask why?

[fizeau.livejournal.com]

Why I like it? Well I think it's a very cool pic. I wasn't aware it might be a personal picture or anything like that. I like the way it looks and I think it's a cute pose.

[krasota.livejournal.com]

Aye, it's mine. My legs and my beloved couch, Bessie.

[fizeau.livejournal.com]

lol, Bessie, well, it's a really cute picture, that's why I was asking. Thanks.

[krasota.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

I wanted naugahyde, but dead cow was cheaper. So we welcomed Bessie into our home.

[fizeau.livejournal.com]

Well, it's a nice couch....Would you be willing to share that pic? other than as an icon? I promise not to sell it. ;-)

[krasota.livejournal.com]

It would really be too much of a hassle to dredge it up from backups right now, but thank you for asking.

[fizeau.livejournal.com]

thanks anyway.... :-)

[flynnk.livejournal.com]

A couple of things...

Columbia has shopping (there is a mall and various burb-like shopping centers), but it is pretty soul-less. It is also *very* conservative. The white flight flees there, and it seems (to me at least) to be getting worse. (We have a client up there, and have to go up fairly frequently.) Columbia is also all about cars--there is no such thing as walking around there, at least as far as I know.

Laurel is on the other end of the white flight-o-meter. Laurel was nicer when I lived there; it is in something of a downward spiral in my opinion. They have knocked out most of the shopping and replaced it with crappy chains (build an interesting restaurant? Nah, let's put up a chik-fil-a). As you know, Main Street is probably the best place if you want to do the walking thing; everything else is car-land. My problem when I lived up there is that the housing developments can be VERY deep--it can take 5-10 minutes just to get out to a main road, something I find rather odd.

Neither Columbia nor Laurel has much of a bar scence. Both are bedroom communes.

Laurel is obvious to the East, but the whole of PG County turns into a parking lot on Friday during the summer as everyone tries to go to a beach of some sort. This has gotten worse in the last couple of years. It's gotten to the point that the Friday summer night traffic goes on until past midnight. We generally avoid driving during those times, and I don't really know what the beaches are like on the weekend, but I doubt it's as nice as he might be used to.

In the end, PG burbs (and border burbs) suck around here. I'd recommend something closer to the city, as it might actually posess a nice restaurant or a bar.

[flynnk.livejournal.com]

Oh, and cost of living in Columbia is probably higher than anything towards the city (Baltimore that is)... Laurel has higher cost of living than it's worth; nice apartments go for north of a thousand a month.

[lyrical1.livejournal.com]

I live in Patterson Park, just north of Canton and Fells Point. Its a great neighborhood that he might consider adding to his list. Fells point is going to be a little pricier than Canton, but both are going to offer short walks to the water, eats, bars and the like. Patterson Park is a few blocks north of them, so its a good walk, or a quick ride to the neighborhood center.

I've only visited Federal Hill, but its a cute section of town. All of the mentioned baltimore neighborhoods are full of construction and renovation, and the lines between good and bad as mentioned above are blurring, but still there.

Not sure when he needs a place, but mine will be available for rent in October/November large 1bd 1ba. Also, if he is into the sports thing he should check out the Baltimore Sports and Social Club, a great way to meet other young folks, and LiveBaltimore will have lots of resources as well. Let me know if you need more specifics!

Oh yeah

[lyrical1.livejournal.com]

Butchers Hill is going to be further from the "corner bar" kind of scene, but, like Fells Point, Canton and Patterson Park are all super close to things, and have the park close by, which IMNSHO is the best part of SE baltimore. www.pattersonpark.com

[dkchapman.livejournal.com]

columbia, jessup, odenton, and severn have a high population of military kids who are stationed at ft meade. one of the more popular apartment complexes for folks at fort meade was right near my old house, off guilford rd in jessup. i hear it was the nicest for the money.

there are actually plenty of bars around, you just need to know where to find them. :) and i am sure if he gets hooked up with the military crowd, he would get introduced to them in no time.

FROG

[(Anonymous)]

[crankles.livejournal.com]

I have a soy-related question - is there an email address I can contact you at?

[krasota.livejournal.com]

My username at LJ works.

[crankles.livejournal.com]

ok, will send, thanks!