Focus, people.

er...I don't actually live in the city anymore.

And when I did live there, it was in a crummy 1 bedroom near JHU, so...

The area right by the hospital is shitty, as someone in the process of making the same move who just spent four days driving around the city. I'm going to be in Bolton Hill (boltonhill.org), which is fine for me and not a terrible drive to JHUM, but has, I am told, spectacularly bad schools.

There's some gentrification in patches on the north side of the harbor that would give you a short commute and a nicer neighborhood, but I don't know about overall safety or amenities, esp with kids. I think you're heading north. It's all cheap as chips even in the good neighborhoods.

I just left baltimore for the detroit area (yeah I dont know..) - housing prices in Bmore (and nice suburbs) have sky-rocketed recently- I would say the place to live will be determined by how important the following are:

1) price
2) convenience
3) commute


Where will you be working? Where will you and your family be spending most of your time? There are a few nice neighborhoods in Baltimore city proper- once you get out into the suburbs..there are other nice neighborhoods. If you are going to commute into Bmore, then avoid the loop.. (so south of is good..north and north east is *not good*)

Ill be around tomorrow, if you want to post more specifics...

ps...and then if/when you move, I will tell you where to get your vinyl and CDs... Baltimore is a (relatively) good place for music...

Hey, you can tell me now! I'm def moving there next month

<---suspects you told me at least one place before when I was madly jobhunting, but it may have been lost in the Great HD Failure of 05.

Is "The Sound Garden" still there?

YES

I haven't lived in Baltimore in about 5 years. But just to throw in my 2 cents:

Don't live near the hospital. Baltimore is very easy to drive around for the most part, and as others have said it's a pretty nasty area.

The part of the city I knew best was more the North, near the JHU undergraduate campus (Charles Village) and up through Towson. These would be pretty good places to live, but I know nothing about schools for your kids. A lot of grad students lived in Mount Vernon when I was in school. This would be very close to the hospital, and it's a pretty cool area with some museums and good restaurants around. It's still a little sketchy, though. Of course, so are some parts of Charles Village. Hampden is (or at least was) dirt cheap and pretty safe. But it's also pretty much the definition of Baltimore white trash.


Records: Sound Garden and Reptilian (both in Fells Point) should satisfy most of your record-buying needs. There used to be a place in Mt. Vernon called Atomic Books that sold non-mainstream comic books and electronic music, but I think it closed or moved.

Ok music:

The Sound Garden in fells point is your best bet period. The selection is better than average (so are the prices) and the used CDs can shock a smile onto your face.

Chris X's Reptilian Records is also a shop you should check out especially if you are into Punk & Hardcore. Chris is a nice guy and could use the business.

You may also want to check out Record and Tape Traders which has locations around the Baltimore area. While the prices here for new CDs arent worthwhile, you can often find some goodies used.


For vinyl:

Im a cheap person when it comes to vinyl, and the only place I left consistently happy with a bunch of vinyl for little money is Joe's Record Paradise The selection varies (lots of turnover) but the prices and condition of the vinyl kept me coming back. There are some used CDs, often going for $5-6 .. nice.

There is another place for vinyl on the 'main drag' in fells point, I forget the name of it, but its like a memoribilia place, but they have tons of vinyl, cassettes, some CDs, and porn.. its on the right side of the street if you are walking down into fells points towards The Sound Garden..

Of couse there are other places, but these are the ones that were worth my remembering...other stuff I liked in B-more...

Labels:

Check out Morphius Records,

Bars:
The Ottobar My favorite hangout in Bmore... lots of good music, nice dirty rock n roll bar.

Restaurants:
The Helmand- (Afgani). Run by family members of Hamid Karzai, president of Afganistan.

Cafe Isis/ Cafe Pacino- Egyptian style gourmet pizza... yum

Are you talking about Edith Massey's old junk store, that I think now goes by the name of Pink Flamingos? They have the dirty postcards and old toys and all kinds of shit in there, including the giant framed picture of Massey sitting in the playpen from Pink Flamingos on the left wall close to the ceiling and a Johnny Depp autographed poster for Cry Baby behind the cash register.

hmmm I dont think its Pink Flamingos... but I may be wrong.. Im pretty sure its on South Broadway between Fleet and Aliceanna or Aliceanna and Lancaster.

Having grown up around Baltimore, and now living in Western MD I can vouch for Baltimore. I would seriously consider the outlaying areas. Of course if you plan on working IN the city, traffic is gonna be a bitch. the 95s (495, 695) are just crazy during rush hours. Look into Harford county. I grew up in Bel Air, and the schools are really good, tons of space, and you aren't cut off from the world since you aren't too far (like 30 miles) from Balto. Personally where I am is ideal. I'm in Hagerstown which is 70 miles from both DC and Balto. Access within 5 mins to Appalachian Trail, or numerous parks, good schools, etc.

for better or worse, the area around the hospital and near fells point is pretty much being bought up by hopkins and renovated. fells point really isn't that bad - at least, it doesn't seem to be. i've been here about 10 years though, and while it's clearly a city with crime issues, i guess i'm less fazed by it now.

i'll be moving back to fells after 3 years away when i move in with my boyfriend next month. nice places can be found in that area (or in any area, really) - butcher's hill, washington hill, etc. i'd stay away from canton and highlandtown, but that's just me.

and, unlike almost an other city i've been in, the scope of a neighborhood and how safe you feel can change from block to clock. it's odd.

as someone else said, though, if you live in the city limits, it'll really only take you 10-15 minutes to get from one place to another. not a big city.

for house looking, i might consider some areas like ednor gardens (behind where memorial stadium used to be), hamilton, or belair-edison. we've got tons of decent little neighborhoods that are tucked away within city limits, but look vaguely suburban.

flashbacks?

also, normals books and records on 30th st in charles village is a great place for vinyl.

atomic books is in hamden now, on 36th st, which also has a bunch of vinyl/antique/vintage places.

yeah I should have mentioned Normals.. except I dont really like their prices for vinyl.. but shame on me..

Flashbacks..there you go man, thanks (steve right?)

yeah, they don't have great prices, but i tend to find things there i don't find elsewhere. still, $5-8 isn't so bad.

yes, i'm steve. that's some memory considering we never did meet up.

yeah well when there were only a few people in the Bmore area..my memory serves me well..but when I need to remember my wallet .. my memory blows LOL

I think I didnt mention Normals because I always went there for books (my favorite used bookstore in the Bmore area), and then Id check out the vinyl..

Randy Newman, Baltimore

There's another song, but I can't find the artist, it's like "I'm a Bal'moron, I'm a Bal'moron..."

Anyway, I, too, live about 1/2 an hour South, and it's really not that bad. Doesn't have the snobbery that DC has, but it's dirtier/more industrial. On the bright side, I think the commute is better.