anyone live in Baltimore?

amother

Wed, May 24 2006, 11:44 pm

Here is our story: we are currently living in a city with a pretty small community- we came here for DH to go to grad school, and we're ready to leave to some place bigger. We have been looking at Baltimore, and two issues of concern have come up that we want opinions on.

1) Schools- First, to start off, we are a yeshivish family. We've mixed things about the yeshivish schools in Baltimore (She'aris HaPleita and Bais Yakov)- We've heard that they are both very good schools, BUT a few things- that they are both really big and it is easy for your children to fall through the cracks and not get the attention that he/she needs. We've heard also some crazy things about Bais Yaakov, that since they're the only girls school, they get a REALLY mixed crowd of girls. Someone told me about a girl who got pregnant and married her masseuse... (I don;t know how true that is but these are the types of stories I;ve heard.) I heard about Bnos Yisroel, -- 1) no one knows how that school is going to turn out long term and 2)anyway, the principal wants to keep it really small, so who knows if you can even get it. We would not feel comfortable sending our kids to Rambam, and I don't think T.A would be for our family either.

2) Our other concern about Baltimore is the neighborhood where the frum people live. I've heard that it's a bit slummy (aside from the frum people), there is been an increase in crime, etc. One person told me that if she lived in Park Heights, she probably wouldn't go out at night. Is this an exaggeration of the level of safety there? What do people think of this?

Other than these things, we've heard a lot of good things about Baltimore. I've heard that it's really friendly and people are really down to earth and not "jappy" at all. Also, my company has an office in Bethesda, MD. I can have a position in the Bethesda office where I'd only have to go in two half days per week, and work the rest of the time at home, and that would be a great setup for me. .
If anyone lives in Baltimore, please let me know what you think. You can either post here or email me at mrl@operamail.com

amother

Thu, May 25 2006, 8:49 am

Yes, Park Heights area is very yeshivish, however not that safe at night. Greenspring however has begun over the past few years to become more yeshivish, as more yeshivish/working couples and families move in.

Greenspring real estate is more expensive than Park Heights (Homes generally $400,000 plus) which leads to having more yeshivish/working people move in, vs. couples in Kollel. There is a shul- Kol Torah, more commonly known as "Rabbi Berger's shul" that caters to the young, yeshivish crowd, where both learning and working couples feel comfortable.

Rabbi Berger's shul is a young shul with most couples either having just gotten married, or have a few children. The shul is about 3 and a half years old, but a wonderful atmosphere, and I can't say enough good things about our Rov, Rabbi Berger. It's a growing community- in both senses of the word- emotionally and spiritually.

Baltimore is a wonderful community. Everyone is very warm, irrelevant of knowing you or not. People smile and say hello to you, while shopping at our super store- "Seven Mile", never mind that you never saw them before, and due to Baltimore's current large size- probably will never see them again! It's an out of town community where things are toned down from the famed NY styles. People dress modestly, but not out to kill. People are not living up to the Jones', however living with what they feel is right and appropriate for them. Baltimore in short, is a wonderful, out of town community.

Regarding what you wrote about Bais Yaakov, I have not heard of that, however that doesn't mean that it happened- or didn't happened. It is just heresay and a rumor without valid backing at this point. Yes, it is the community school, and until recently the only Frum school for girls- and therefore had to accept everyone. However they are an experienced school which is known to put out wonderful girls. Seminaries in Eretz Yisroel acknowledget that Baltimore girls as a whole, are excellent girls.

I have e-mailed you with my info, as you are more than welcome to call me for more information, however am posting anonymously for others to gain this info as well.

amother

Thu, May 25 2006, 3:49 pm

I'm a graduate of BY of Baltimore and I loved it! Yes there is a wide range of girls, but I think that is much to everyone's benefit. The girls who really won't fit in go elsewhere (Rambam or Silver Spring) I never heard that story of a girl becoming pregnant, and I have many inside connections to BY, so I probably would have.
You are correct about Bnos Yisroel- I'm not sure how it will be, but as far as a problem getting in, I don't think they're being so stringent.

Park Heights is NOT considered unsafe, but there have been some incidents recently. Greenspring is totally fine (I grew up there).
I agree with the previous amother (hey, do I know you Wink

?) that Baltimore is a wonderful community. I found that everyone is heimish and striving to improve themselves, etc. It's filled with Torah and middos tovos.

What EliseCohen says is true, but the schools/community in Silver Spring area is not as yeshivish as Baltimore. There are quite of few yeshivish families there, espcially in White Oak. And a kollel in Kemp Mill. It, too is a sweet, friendly, warm community.
I'll try to email you if you have any more questions.

GOOD LUCK!

elisecohen

Thu, May 25 2006, 5:06 pm

Actually, there are kollels in Kemp Mill, Potomac, Olney and Aspen Hill; mikvahs in White Oak (shabbos only), Woodside, Kemp Mill, Olney, Potomac, and G-d willing soon in Aspen Hill (finishing construction now; til then it's a 10 minute drive to 3 of the others, take your pick); MO school here in the neighborhood with a mix of kids from MO to yeshivish types of families who want this particular set of instructors, resources, and curriculum as well as the Torah school which pretty much feeds right into the yeshiva. There's also a frum Montessori elementary program and multiple frum Montessori preschools as well as regular frummy preschools. In Aspen Hill we also have 5-10 minute drives to 2 bagel/donut places, 4 butchers (2 with full bakeries), 1 other full service bakery, 4 pizza shops, 1 hamburger place, 1 chinese restaurant, 1 other fleishig sit down restaurant, as well as regular groceries, all of the upscale shops of miles of Rockville Pike, etc.

Can you tell we like it here? We started our kids in the TSGW/yeshiva system, thinking that was our hashgacha so that was the way to go, but we were very unhappy and came to the Hebrew Academy. Yes, there are male teachers without black hats and beards and yes they teach modern Ivrit, not Ashkenazi pronunciation; but the children are in a frum environment with many resources, very good supervision compared with all the other schools in our experience, and they are learning so much in limudei kodesh we are perfectly happy.