so first of all i was a little dissapointed when i saw the "baltimore i am bored" thread, but it seems there are still plenty of things going on after i read it.

anyway, i might be taking a job there, timonium to be more precise, and i was just curious what you guys had to say about it. i've live in Texas my whole life, so the northeast is pretty foreign to me. how's housing? crime? bike friendliness? nightlife? food? mass transit? anything except the weather, i'm aware it will be colder than Texas.

any bits of wisdom appreciated.

Timonium is only 15-20 minutes outside of the city and easily accesible via light-rail and I-83. Housing can be a little expensive (from what I hear, and in comparison to Texas.) Crime, you'll be just fine in Timonium, I live in the city and I have had my share of car break ins. It definitely seems like there are a lot of people on bikes here, lots of trails if you don't like city riding, etc etc. MASS TRANSIT SUCKS (but I hear there are lots of plans to make it better.) And regarding night life, well it depends on what you like! I know other people will chime in, and most likely be much more informative than me, but I wanted to give you a little something!

Housing: Overpriced (to rent and/orbuy)

Crime: Got HBO? Seen The Wire? (Just kidding. It's not that bad. Every city has bad neighborhoods)

Bike Friendly: Yes. Lots of riders and good bike shops. Drivers don't freak out when you are on the road with them.

Bike theft: Hey, it's life in the big city.

Nightlife: Plenty of drinking no matter what scene you like, Punk or Prep and everything in between.

Food: Lots of good spots downtown

Public transit: no bike racks on buses. Lightrail is OK. I've seen better public transport systems.

Weather: There were only a handfull of days that weren't rideable last year.

Tips: Try to live downtown, Mt Vernon, Charles Villiage, etc... don't rent a place over email or phone without checking it out in person first. Downtown can be real nice, but can get real ghetto real quick.

Expect to spend $700 - $1,000+ for a one bedroom plus utils.

Good luck.

Everything that they both said is true and I have nothing to add except this is my managment company that I rent from. May help you out if you want an idea of cost of living. https://rentalapartments.com/ BTW I live in Charles Village and it takes about 15 minutes to ride from my house to downtown, just for reference.

I too live between Bolton Hill and Mt. Vernon and also work in Timonium. 15 minutes by car, ~40 minutes for the light rail, or ~12 hilly miles on a bike. orig. from oklahoma, so the cost of living seems high, but definitely not too bad compared to other cities out here... downtown is where its at if you've no school-aged children. Seems like there are quite a few bike cliques rolling around, a handful of good LBSs. A bunch of schools in the area act as a sort of dialysis machine for the city, lots of new people coming through, some staying, others moving on. One good thing (and it always sounds like an extra-lame reason to be somewhere) is that its close to a bunch of different cities with their own things going on... unlike TX where depending on where you are, you could hit Dallas/FtW, Austin or Houston and thats about it without ~10hrs of drive time. I really like it here.

Timonium is close to the Northern Central Railroad Trail that stretches from northern Maryland to York, PA. Also, the Baltimore Bike Club holds many rides east, north, and west of that area.

my advice on housing: spend a lot of time hunting around. pain in the ass, but worth it -- there are lots of hidden gems in the city that aren't on craigslist, which lately, seems to be really over-priced. my girl and i just spent about a month looking around, and finally secured a FIVE bedroom rowhouse with a backyard for 800 bucks/mo, and in a decent area of town. my bikes are going to get their own room. incredible.

need a roomate? j/k

What neighborhood is that in? Howd you find it?

Ive heard, though Carleton, the best way to get a good place is list what your looking for in the "Wnated Real-Estate" part of craigslist. i think im gonna try that come june.

Seems like rental prices have gone up since I lived there, but it's still not that bad. $600 for a one bedroom in a decent neighborhood isn't bad at all. A comparable apartment in manhattan would go for four times that.

And wecontrolitnow, I totally agree, being close to so many other cities is a huge plus. DC especially, though I would never want to actually live there, it was nice having it an hour away.

i rarely see one bedrooms for 600 around here.
i live in a relatively small one bedroom in mt. vernon and i pay 795, and i thought i was geeting a deal. eek.

I used to pay 425 for my one-bedroom in mt. vernon.

My girlfriend used to pay 325 for a 1 basement apt. in Chales Village before we moved in together. Now we pay $650 with all utilities included for 1000 square/ft apt with 2 private decks off the back of our house in Charles Village. We also share the front deck with the other people that live in our sub-divided row home. We found our place ~5 years ago about this time of year. This is a great time to look in Charles Village because a ton of places are coming up for rent due to all of the Hopkins students are getting ready to move out for the summer.

so i know i'm digging up an old thread (boy we go through these quickly) but i thought i'd say that i got the job i was after and so i'll be moving up to Baltimore early june... wish me luck! and feel free to throw out any more tips or advice...

hell yeah man, thats great. congrats on your job!! id wish you luck, but i doubt you'd need it. Baltimore's pretty easy to figure out after a while. you wont have much trouble at all after you find a place to live.

i say try to live around Mt. Vernon.thats just me though