Baltimore--Riding & Living

[echelon_john]

Team--
I'm looking at a job opportunity in Baltimore and would love some insight from those who know the area well. Office is right in the Inner Harbor. I would ideally love to be able to walk (or potentially bike) to work, and don't foresee living in a suburb and commuting in unless there's a REALLY compelling reason to do so.

I've lived in Vermont and worked virtually for the last 13 years, so I'm pretty interested in being right in a city to enjoy bars, restaurants, live music, etc. Schools aren't an issue, and we'll likely rent a place rather than buy, at least for the first year, as we plan to keep our house in VT.

Any recommendations for neighborhoods? Riding in/out of the city? I lived in DC a long time ago but can count on one hand the number of times I've spent time in Baltimore. I'm well aware that Baltimore has its work cut out for it and under no illusions about the downsides of the city, but would love to hear firsthand what you would recommend.

Thanks!

[CMiller]

I went to grad school there and loved it. Coming from SF I was amazed at how incredibly cheap everything is, especially rent. I'd look at living in Canton and enjoying an easy flat commute to Inner Harbor. Fells Point has a very fun bar scene, louder than Canton for sure. You will love having easy access to DC for concerts and a whole other vibe whenever you want. You could even do the commute from DC to Baltimore on the train. But I'd avoid a car commute when you can likely afford a very close and high-end spot in Baltimore for very little.

Crab cakes and football, baby!

[CMiller]

Baltimore Bicycle Works is a cool shop, Gunnar and Brompton dealer. Be careful when you carve out longer road bike rides and which neighborhoods you go through, I grew up in Oakland and B'more still made me hesitate on a lot of streets. It gets swampy in summer and I never got too used to it, combined with winter and grad school stress I didn't get as much riding in as I would have liked.

[OtayBW]

I'm no city slicker, but it seems that I know a fair amount of people that live in the Canton area (~2 mi east of the Inner Harbor), and up around Hampden and maybe Charles Village. This is the Johns Hopkins area. Hampden is the Baltimore 'bohemian' den (in a Baltimore kind of way, hon) with lot of good eats and things to do. Just south of there is Mt. Vernon. Federal Hill is just south of the Inner Harbor.

That's all I've got. I can in no way qualify these places like some of the locals, so consider this a 30,000 ft view. When you get down here, come ~15 miles north and I'll show you the real places to ride.....

[weiwentg]

LOTS of downsides that aren't obvious from 15k feet. I used to live in Mt. Vernon, which you mentioned. 3 blocks to the east and to the west are all abandoned buildings. It is much more expensive than Vermont. It is cheaper than DC, but I'm not sure it's sufficiently cheaper to justify the downsides. Public services don't function that well. It's hot and humid. Drivers are very aggressive, on par with DC - maybe not the worst in the entire US, but close (I haven't lived in NYC, Boston, or Chicago, hence I can't make a true comparison, but I'd put them up there).

Despite that, I'd agree on not commuting in from a suburb - traffic congestion is horrid.

That said, Twenty20 Cycling organized a helluva HTFU Wednesday night ride - 30 miles, 19mph average over hilly terrain. They also organize Charm City CX, a wonderful CX race within easy riding distance of Mt. Vernon and Hampden. I cycled with Team BBC, p/b/ Baltimore Bike Works - BBC is the Baltimore Bicycling Club, a relatively loose club that organizes rides from casual to near competitive (parallel to Potomac Pedalers in DC), BBW is the sponsoring bike store. Great folks!

[OtayBW]

Originally Posted by weiwentg

LOTS of downsides that aren't obvious from 15k feet. I used to live in Mt. Vernon, which you mentioned. 3 blocks to the east and to the west are all abandoned buildings. It is much more expensive than Vermont. It is cheaper than DC, but I'm not sure it's sufficiently cheaper to justify the downsides. Public services don't function that well. It's hot and humid. Drivers are very aggressive, on par with DC - maybe not the worst in the entire US, but close (I haven't lived in NYC, Boston, or Chicago, hence I can't make a true comparison, but I'd put them up there).

Despite that, I'd agree on not commuting in from a suburb - traffic congestion is horrid.

That said, Twenty20 Cycling organized a helluva HTFU Wednesday night ride - 30 miles, 19mph average over hilly terrain. They also organize Charm City CX, a wonderful CX race within easy riding distance of Mt. Vernon and Hampden. I cycled with Team BBC, p/b/ Baltimore Bike Works - BBC is the Baltimore Bicycling Club, a relatively loose club that organizes rides from casual to near competitive (parallel to Potomac Pedalers in DC), BBW is the sponsoring bike store. Great folks!

Actually, BBW provides sponsorship to Team BBC, the BBC's (mostly) cyclocross team which is, of course, also sponsored by the Baltimore Bicycling Club.

I agree, though, that I would be very selective in where I chose to live in Baltimore. Really high gun-related crime rate, and I guess other issues. Not my cup of tea, but I suppose there are good areas for those looking for that sort of thing.

[laupsi]

Local Baltimorean, for past 25 years. PM me, I’ll answer any questions you may have. I ride and I ride frequently.

[Climb01742]

Have you ever seen ‘The Wire’?










In case it’s not clear, I kid.

[avalonracing]

Hey EJ,

I'm sending you a PM.

[sailorboy]

Yea, in the same boat here sort of...currently selected for a good position at the Baltimore VA med cen in my professional field, but not 100% sure about making the leap to live there.

I lived in Annapolis from '11-'14 but that's kind of a different kettle of fish in terms of living, cycling, nightlife etc. On one hand I'm intrigued by this city, but also apprehensive due to reasons mostly family-related as I have 2 boys heading into high school soon. Hence, most of my decision regarding living arrangement will be made vis-a-vis school quality, but riding is also high on my list. With that in mind the ellicot city ride ('weds night worlds') that someone previously mentioned was always highly-touted, so the areas around there offer nice variety of terrain and some country-ish roads. And if you're into MTB the Pax river state park system is fairly decent for that close to a city. I also raced cross with the Charm city team for a year and the cross scene is excellent in the mid-atlantic region.

Update us with your choice, send me a pm if you want to explore together.

[JLQ]

I've lived in Catonsville (7m sw of Baltimore) for nearly 20 years. We like(d) older homes and it has been a great place to raise a family. It's also next to Patapsco Valley State Park, which has many miles of great mountain biking. I do a 40 mile or so city ride from here with friends on weekends that is my favorite way to see Baltimore, it's neat because you can cover many neighborhoods in short order. If you want to join us for one to help your decision, let me know. We go out downtown quite a bit, we'd probably pick Canton or Hampden if we were moving down there. I like Hampden because there are a few great music venues and bars in that area, my wife would pick Canton because she likes sticking to the floor of a place less than me.

[El Chaba]

181 murders so far this year in a city with a population of approx. 600,000....

[avalonracing]

Originally Posted by El Chaba

181 murders so far this year in a city with a population of approx. 600,000....

Like most cities with crime, the serious stuff in Baltimore is in pockets where most people who do not want to venture into them need not go. Somehow most all of us here are able to live happy and productive lives in and around this city.

[MattTuck]

Atleast the riding season will be longer. It sometimes feels depressingly short around northern new england.

[marsh]

My wife went to Loyola MD and worked in the Inner Harbor for a year.
In my limited time spent in Charm City, I loved Hampden a ton when we were younger and out and about a lot, Canton when we thought about living there with a kid. Safety-wise, I found it the same as any big city. Keep your head up, take the headphones out, keep it moving. When you are in a neighborhood you probably shouldn't be in, you will probably know it. Cycling was okay outside of rush hour. Faidley has the best crab cake sandwich, The Bowman in Glenn Burnie the best crab soup!