Should I move to baltimore?

amother

Ginger

Mon, Jul 31 2023, 7:59 am

I don’t think Baltimore is as out of town anymore as everyone here makes it sound. My girls felt a lot of pressure in high school to wear name brands. My daughter even saved her babysitting money so she could but herself a Tiffany bracelet like her friends had.
There are plenty of out of town type people but the dominant crowds in BY are the in towny, in style type. They’re the ones who get the important jobs in school and tend to ‘run the show.’ Interestingly, it’s the more yeshivish kids (not the wealthy ones) that are very into the name brands.

amother

Kiwi

Mon, Jul 31 2023, 8:45 am

amother Tanzanite wrote:

No. Please don’t be encouraging people who want to live a more expensive rich flaunting lifestyle to move here. Please save our Baltimore feel. I love it being OOT and strongly discourage anyone coming who wants it to be otherwise.

I mean, we have those people also. And they just do their thing just like everyone else here does. Baltimore is still very "to each their own". There are those handful of people who flaunt their wealth but they are also the ones who make the big donations. I don't feel that they are raising the bar and standard of living here. All of our kids are still in school together.

I will say that my son is in TA and he does have some of those kids in his class and he was in 7th grade last year, and those families who made the biggest simchas for their bar mitzvahs were still on the very modest side. Or he was not invited to massive ones, if they happened. And he has some wealthy kids in his class who could have made huge parties... it was all pretty under control.

There are also those who knock down houses and make massive ones in weird places and it's just... weird. But again to each their own.

naturalmom5

Mon, Jul 31 2023, 8:48 am

amother Darkblue wrote:

Totally agree.
We hear more Hatzalah sirens than any others. Yes, every siren sounds different.

My younger one went to high school and college in Baltimore. He always felt it was a nice place, Jeeish wise but worse than NYC , in terms of crime. He made aliyah this past Jan

amother

NeonPink

Mon, Jul 31 2023, 8:56 am

I love Baltimore. There is room for many types of people here. The schools are excellent with enough choices. I have lived other places and this is my favorite. I feel very safe but I live in a better area. Whenever I visit NY I'm always so appreciative of our quiet life.

amother

Poppy

Mon, Jul 31 2023, 12:25 pm

I love Baltimore as well and have lived in many many other places. I have lived in places where 'nebby/frumpy' is in and u stand out if you care too much. Not here. I love that I can choose to dress my kids how I want (including more in-'style') or make Mishloach manos with a theme, without a theme. It's really low pressure either way. My friend group/s are the same, we aren't shlumpy but last seasons Tottini stuff is just fine. To me, Beazer is more in-town/Yeshivish. I see plenty of people dressed to the nines and living more of an 'in town' life but the nice part is there seems to be no pressure to do so.
No crime in our (yes more expensive, and worth it) quiet neighborhood. Expensive is relative. If you are coming from the tri-state area, the fact that you can still buy something in a frum community for $600k is unique.
We love love the schools here and grateful that there is so much achdus. No place is perfect at all but there's so much going for this place!!

amother

Darkblue

Mon, Jul 31 2023, 12:56 pm

naturalmom5 wrote:

My younger one went to high school and college in Baltimore. He always felt it was a nice place, Jeeish wise but worse than NYC , in terms of crime. He made aliyah this past Jan

My guess is that he was on an actual college campus and not at a Yeshiva. Ner Yisroel is in the county, on its own campus, and no one ends up there accidentally. You have to know how to get there. Umbc, college park, Hopkins, UB, etc are all college towns with everything that comes with it. Goucher is also on its own so it probably has less crime.
Baltimore city (NOT WHERE MOST OF THE FRUM COMMUNITY IS) is one of the worst cities in America. We’re number one for all sorts of crime. There’s a reason why we have Shomrim. And by the way, Shomrim and Hatzalah treat everyone. Chaveirim helps everyone. Absolutely no discrimination. We have frum firefighters and paramedics who work for the county. Everyone is friends with everyone. Schools all work together to make sure everyone has a place. We’re very live and let live.

amother

Charcoal

Mon, Jul 31 2023, 3:10 pm

I agree with the poster that the brand name thing is more for the frummer families and there are def ppl who go to lakewood to shop to be in style. I think middle school/high school the girls start with the pressure of brand names. I think this is a newer thing here (and I don't like it Wink

). There is still a huge mix of all types of families and there are plenty in style and people who have money so unless you are flaunting your wealth I don't think you will stand out. I would say beazer ranchley have more intowny types, although not all are like that at all, you will still have your mix of ppl in true baltimore style. if you are older there's the fallstaff area (not on the other side of park heights). and if you are more modern there's dumbarton. (not that it's modern, but it's def not lakewood frum) There are also plenty of people here who CHOOSE to live simply even if they have money. But either way I don't think you would stand out. What neighborhoods did you go to when you visited?

amother

Kiwi

Mon, Jul 31 2023, 3:23 pm

amother Charcoal wrote:

Wait, WHAT? No way. There is zero correlation here between how frum you are and how you dress. Maybe you will see a bunch of kids wearing the same things because they shopped at the mechanchim clothing sale (which I have), so it's the same clothes... but not brand name.

amother

Darkblue

Mon, Jul 31 2023, 5:16 pm

amother Kiwi wrote:

Mechanchim clothing sale isn’t exclusively frum brands.
Even when I was in BY there were girls from all different neighborhoods (YL, PH, Greenspring etc) who would go to Lakewood or NY before every YT to do clothes shopping. Now it’s all online so it’s easier for everyone to have everything.

amother

Khaki

Mon, Jul 31 2023, 6:22 pm

7 mile area is also a good option. It has Darchei (mostly Yeshivish), Suburban (a bit more modern but an incredible and dynamic Rav who the whole city lives), and now a Persian shul. Parts are city and parts are county.
It's very hard to find a house though. Recently someone told me an open house got 40 visitors and ended up taking a cash contract well above asking price. :-(
There are also some nice blocks with semi-d's: nerak and boxford.
I live in this area and am SO happy. We love the diversity and simplicity.