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Baltimore- fitting in
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amother


 

Post Thu, Mar 11 2010, 9:06 am
so, dh has a potential job offer in baltimore but I have my reservations. we are from ny and like the ny lifestyle. no, I am not snobby but I am put together and more materialsitic than the stereotypical oot type person.
we have lived in an oot community in the past and one of the main reasons that I hated it is was b/c I felt very judged by the people in the community. in fact, I didn't find it to be friendly at all!
I guess what I am asking is, I've been to baltimore and have heard all of the sterotypes- that it is more relaxed, open-minded. . . I have seen women in the supermarkets there wearing snoods and tichels- will I feel out of place there? is there a specifc neighborhood where I would feel more comfortable?
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MrsDash




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Mar 11 2010, 9:56 am
I grew up in Baltimore, and the best thing about that place is how diverse the community is. From what type of lifestyle you are talking about, I would look into the Greenspring area, around where Pickwick is.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Mar 11 2010, 10:10 am
yoshi wrote:
I grew up in Baltimore, and the best thing about that place is how diverse the community is. From what type of lifestyle you are talking about, I would look into the Greenspring area, around where Pickwick is.

op here,
thank you! I never heard of the greenspring area. isn't pickwick very transient? are there houses in these areas? how are the neighorhoods- are they safe?
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MrsDash




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Mar 11 2010, 10:17 am
amother wrote:
yoshi wrote:
I grew up in Baltimore, and the best thing about that place is how diverse the community is. From what type of lifestyle you are talking about, I would look into the Greenspring area, around where Pickwick is.

op here,
thank you! I never heard of the greenspring area. isn't pickwick very transient? are there houses in these areas? how are the neighorhoods- are they safe?


The area has a lot of houses, it's very big, much bigger than people think. Compared to Baltimore City, it's much safer. Greenspring is considered the "County." The public high school there is about 85 percent Jewish. Most families who live there are professionals and/or well off. I lived in Baltimore City and County most of my life, so if you need any other info, let me know. I'm happy to help Very Happy
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DefyGravity




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Mar 11 2010, 10:33 am
Baltimore is an extremely diverse community, if you give it time, I'm sure you'll find your niche.

There are tons of New Yorkers that have moved to Baltimore, so it's not like you would be an anomaly.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Mar 11 2010, 12:09 pm
thanks defy and yoshi.
can u tell me what zipcode/ some names of streets in the greenspring area? I want to look at zillow just for an idea of the housing.
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DefyGravity




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Mar 11 2010, 12:21 pm
21209 and 21208 is in the county. I think a little bit of it runs into the city.

The area where people live is spread out. A lot of frum families have recently moved to Hatton Rd., Darwood, Timberlane Rd. People have also been moving into the Beazer homes that are off of Smith and past Old Pimlico.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Mar 11 2010, 1:03 pm
I live in baltimore. there are plenty of ny types in baltimore. I would recommend looking into the ranchley area, its a neighborhood in greenspring. you can lookup amley, baythorne, edenvale, in 21209 look at the houses between willow glen and smith that is the area. or the beazer homes which starts right after ranchley, look up homes on edenvale, one side of the street is newer homes (you can do google maps to get a better view) and then zillow the houses...prices are prob close to 375-400k in ranchley and 500 for a beazer home. there are other neighborhoods with fancy homes scattered and there are some oot types in ranchley, its a mix but I dont think u'd feel out of place there. and for a shul you can check out r' seidemans shul in that area. good luck Smile
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amother


 

Post Thu, Mar 11 2010, 1:29 pm
op here,
thank you amother! wow!!!!! I can't believe the prices on the houses!!!!! awesome!
ur post was very reassuring- thank you.
one other question: schools- anyone know the basics about boys and girls prek-8?????
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Hi




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Mar 11 2010, 2:03 pm
BY and Bnos Yisroel for girls BY big my dh is in 6th she has 108 girls in her grade and bnos is small 1 or 2 classes per grade
TA and TI for boys
and their is Rambam which is more tzioni but seperate classes
Also on Green Meadow way there are nice homes and one is for sale now alot of young new yorky couples live there
Good luck
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Mar 11 2010, 2:06 pm
Hi wrote:

Also on Green Meadow way there are nice homes and one is for sale now alot of young new yorky couples live there
Good luck
Only one?
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amother


 

Post Thu, Mar 11 2010, 2:54 pm
Am I the only Baltimore person here who is looking at these posts and saying, "Ah, so THAT's where I shouldn't move when I buy a house"?

Wink

OP: With all that the posters here have said, you're not going to find a place that's purely filled with relocated New Yorkers. There will be plenty of people with an OOT mentality in all of those places, and your kids will be going to school with plenty of others.

Just thought you should know that going in.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Mar 11 2010, 3:00 pm
As a former BaltiMoron, I just wanted to advise the OP, not to have the attitude of comparing everything to NY.

If you end up moving to baltimore, and I think it's a great place with a diverse community and I am sure you will find like minded people, appreciate it for what it is, and don't compare everything to NY.

Especially when speaking to other ppl. there's nothing worse than hearing someone start off every conversation with"Well, in NY....."
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Tova




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Mar 11 2010, 3:46 pm
[For people reading this thread who may be considering Baltimore, there are also nice wonderful homes on great frum blocks for less than half of the home prices mentioned.]

I really feel that Baltimore fits all types nicely. But I agree with the previous poster - if you compare everything to NY you may not be happy here.
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DefyGravity




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Mar 11 2010, 3:53 pm
amother wrote:
As a former BaltiMoron, I just wanted to advise the OP, not to have the attitude of comparing everything to NY.

The only thing I miss about NY are the restaurants. I don't miss circling for ages in order to find parking, cramped (overpriced) apartments, etc. It's SOOO nice to turn into my driveway and bring my groceries directly into the house. It's great to not have to add on extra hours to every excursion in order to find parking. I love getting into my car and not having to deal with public transportation. I feel like it's a much easier lifestyle here. It's nice to live in the suburbs AND still have a large diverse Jewish community.

Apartments like the ones in Pickwick DON'T exist in NY. And if they do, they'd cost an exorbitant amount. An apartment that comes with a dishwasher AND washer AND dryer? AND an eat-in kitchen with a large living room and dining room? I'll gladly compare NY to Baltimore ANY day.
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MrsDash




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Mar 11 2010, 4:24 pm
See if you can go for a Shabbos to get a feel for the place. There are a lot of really nice families there who would love to tell you about the place and show you around. Depending on what type of shul and/or where you're at religiously, I can refer you to some Rabbis to call who can help you tremendously. 21209 would be the zip code you'd want to search for if you're looking to move to the County/Greenspring area. There are nice areas in the city as well you can look at which would be 21215. I don't think you'll have any problem fitting in. Like others on this thread had mentioned, there are a lot of families from NY who moved to Baltimore. Smile
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amother


 

Post Thu, Mar 11 2010, 4:27 pm
Also, former BaltiMoron here.
Before anything, do you know that in Baltimore there is minimal school busses? And no food given in school? And kids have different starting and finishing school hour, in the same school, according to their grades? And that the Kosher supermarket doesn't do home delivery?

It makes it kind of difficult as a day to day life. (Compared to New York)

Now, living in the above mentioned neighborhood (I admit super nice!) will add 10-15 minutes each way for any type of erran you will have to take care of.

Diversity is key in Balto. BUT, people tend to smile a lot and do no more.
Your friends will probably be your neighboors (if you are lucky).

People invite for Shabbos meals, specially if you don't have a lot of kids and that's about it.

I have been going to the same shul in Balto. for over a year and barely had one or two ladies talk to me (I am a very friendly person who smiles and says good shabbos to everyone).

As for the school - I hear a lot of negative feedback from both BY and Bnos. TA has a history of s-xual abuse and TI even worse. You can look up theawarnesscenter.com and look up TI (Torah Institute) Sad I would strongly recommend Rambam.

If you are a stylish NewYorkers, people will probably laugh at you behind your back, specially if you are all dressed up. Long jeans skirts and snuds are the norm, sheitels mostly for work and Shabbos.
Short skirts and long falls and sheitels are not typical of middle aged Baltimoreans and will surely cause people to dismiss you.

Sorry to burst the bubble - Sad
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amother


 

Post Thu, Mar 11 2010, 4:27 pm
Also, former BaltiMoron here.
Before anything, do you know that in Baltimore there is minimal school busses? And no food given in school? And kids have different starting and finishing school hour, in the same school, according to their grades? And that the Kosher supermarket doesn't do home delivery?

It makes it kind of difficult as a day to day life. (Compared to New York)

Now, living in the above mentioned neighborhood (I admit super nice!) will add 10-15 minutes each way for any type of erran you will have to take care of.

Diversity is key in Balto. BUT, people tend to smile a lot and do no more.
Your friends will probably be your neighboors (if you are lucky).

People invite for Shabbos meals, specially if you don't have a lot of kids and that's about it.

I have been going to the same shul in Balto. for over a year and barely had one or two ladies talk to me (I am a very friendly person who smiles and says good shabbos to everyone).

As for the school - I hear a lot of negative feedback from both BY and Bnos. TA has a history of s-xual abuse and TI even worse. You can look up theawarnesscenter.com and look up TI (Torah Institute) Sad I would strongly recommend Rambam.

If you are a stylish NewYorkers, people will probably laugh at you behind your back, specially if you are all dressed up. Long jeans skirts and snuds are the norm, sheitels mostly for work and Shabbos.
Short skirts and long falls and sheitels are not typical of middle aged Baltimoreans and will surely cause people to dismiss you.

Sorry to burst the bubble - Sad
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DefyGravity




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Mar 11 2010, 4:40 pm
IMO, it's hard to meet people at shul. Unless there's a sit-down kiddush every week, you're not going to get past "hi, how are you, bye, good shabbos." You have to invest time into making friends, it's definitely not easy.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Mar 11 2010, 5:58 pm
This shul - like most in baltimore - have a kiddush almost every Shabbos.
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