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Tell me about Baltimore/silver spring...



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amother
OP


 

Post Sun, Nov 27 2022, 4:12 pm
What is the community like?
How much do you need to make it financially? We are professionals but need to check out job market for our specific fields...

Schools? Boys and girls. What are they like?

We are middle of the road, not MO but not yeshivish... not at all a fancy "up to date on latest trends and fashion" type.

Average home prices? We want a 4 bedroom...
Where is eruv to see what options are like?
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amother
Natural


 

Post Sun, Nov 27 2022, 5:50 pm
If you're coming from the tristate area, Baltimore will be a big culture shock. We were there for 2 years before my husbands' job relocated us back to NY but we saw a lot of things that made us very grateful to leave.

Financially, the things we saved on were just reallocated elsewhere so we didn't notice very big savings. Not to mention, salaries are generally much less than the NY area. 4 bedroom houses are not very common unless the house has been renovated. We also found that the neighborhoods are separated by hashkafa and price, so the more affordable and right-wing communities get closer to the city which has a much higher crime rate which is climbing rapidly.

Do extra due-diligence before you make the move. And if you do decide to go, I would strongly suggest renting first to figure out where you want to end up, as the eruv extends very far out and walking to friends could take up to 2+ hours.
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amother
OP


 

Post Sun, Nov 27 2022, 5:55 pm
amother Natural wrote:
If you're coming from the tristate area, Baltimore will be a big culture shock. We were there for 2 years before my husbands' job relocated us back to NY but we saw a lot of things that made us very grateful to leave.

Financially, the things we saved on were just reallocated elsewhere so we didn't notice very big savings. Not to mention, salaries are generally much less than the NY area. 4 bedroom houses are not very common unless the house has been renovated. We also found that the neighborhoods are separated by hashkafa and price, so the more affordable and right-wing communities get closer to the city which has a much higher crime rate which is climbing rapidly.

Do extra due-diligence before you make the move. And if you do decide to go, I would strongly suggest renting first to figure out where you want to end up, as the eruv extends very far out and walking to friends take be up to 2+ hours.


Not coming from NY/NJ... currently live in another high COL area.
What do you mean culture shock? Can you describe what to be on the lookout for? We haven't decided on where to move or even if to move but I am thinking more and more that I want to...
Every community has its pros/cons. And they are personal. The questions arise if our personal pros outweigh our cons. What you like may be what we hate or vice versa so any info would be helpful.
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amother
Chocolate


 

Post Sun, Nov 27 2022, 6:07 pm
Silver spring has the reputation of being more modern. Everything costs more than Baltimore. Everything. Tuition is much more, you can compare online. Food is much more. Houses are probably about the same but I don’t know what taxes are like. In Baltimore a 4 bedroom house will be more in the county than in the city but taxes etc cost way more in the city. And Beazer will be around 800k+ in the city and the county unless you get a smaller model. It’s still possible to get a house in upper park heights that’s not a duplex for 350 or 400 but make sure it’s a good block. Some frum areas in the county have houses around a million dollars, some for half a million, some in between, some for less. Do you want a house that’s a townhouse? Those are generally less. The eruv was just extended so that area prices will skyrocket like they do whenever the eruv is extended. On baltimorejewishlife.com there was an article about the eruv extension and they had a map of before and after, look at it and then go to Redfin or Zillow and look at houses in the area. Baltimore is really nice and not materialistic at all.
Edited to ad that there are yeshivish parts of silver spring and modern parts of Baltimore and everything in between and everyone gets along. Both communities are very welcoming and nonjudgmental.
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amother
Red


 

Post Sun, Nov 27 2022, 6:22 pm
amother Natural wrote:
If you're coming from the tristate area, Baltimore will be a big culture shock. We were there for 2 years before my husbands' job relocated us back to NY but we saw a lot of things that made us very grateful to leave.

.


well that's an interesting comment. can you please clarify what you mean? what was so bad in Baltimore that made you very grateful to leave? I would love some clarification please, because that comment makes the whole of the kehilla kedosha of Baltimore sound really bad.
full disclosure - I live in Baltimore, I did not grow up here but have lived here for about 20 years.
the achdus between shuls and rabbonim is incredible. same with the schools.
people are friendly and warm.
there is something here for everyone. there are shuls here for almost every type of Jew. I am yeshivish and live in a mostly more yeshivish neighborhood. And I literally cant imagine what was so bad in this city that this poster is saying something so harsh about all the members of this huge Jewish community.. so I think it is only right to ask her to explain herself.
Thank you.
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amother
Chocolate


 

Post Sun, Nov 27 2022, 6:26 pm
[quote="amother Red"]well that's an interesting comment. can you please clarify what you mean? what was so bad in Baltimore that made you very grateful to leave? I would love some clarification please, because that comment makes the whole of the kehilla kedosha of Baltimore sound really bad.
full disclosure - I live in Baltimore, I did not grow up here but have lived here for about 20 years.
the achdus between shuls and rabbonim is incredible. same with the schools.
people are friendly and warm.
there is something here for everyone. there are shuls here for almost every type of Jew. I am yeshivish and live in a mostly more yeshivish neighborhood. And I literally cant imagine what was so bad in this city that this poster is saying something so harsh about all the members of this huge Jewish community.. so I think it is only right to ask her to explain herself.
Thank you.

Missed this part. Can you explain?
Also for cheaper housing people are buying condos. Lots of young people in condos!
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justforfun87




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Nov 27 2022, 6:29 pm
amother Natural wrote:
If you're coming from the tristate area, Baltimore will be a big culture shock. We were there for 2 years before my husbands' job relocated us back to NY but we saw a lot of things that made us very grateful to leave.

Financially, the things we saved on were just reallocated elsewhere so we didn't notice very big savings. Not to mention, salaries are generally much less than the NY area. 4 bedroom houses are not very common unless the house has been renovated. We also found that the neighborhoods are separated by hashkafa and price, so the more affordable and right-wing communities get closer to the city which has a much higher crime rate which is climbing rapidly.

Do extra due-diligence before you make the move. And if you do decide to go, I would strongly suggest renting first to figure out where you want to end up, as the eruv extends very far out and walking to friends take be up to 2+ hours.

I'm also very surprised by this statement. Did you happen to move here during Covid? Baltimore isn't paradise but there is a laid back mentality if you want to find it. Never will someone walk 2 hours to a meal. I would say we live central to everything and nothing would be more than a 30-45 minute walk.
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amother
OP


 

Post Sun, Nov 27 2022, 6:33 pm
If I wanted to look at zillow, what areas do I look up? Zipcodes, areas that are good?

I don't want a condo. I live in a condo now and it is awful. Hate living here- I need my space, a playroom, a no one on top of us!!
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amother
Honeydew


 

Post Sun, Nov 27 2022, 6:51 pm
amother Natural wrote:
. We also found that the neighborhoods are separated by hashkafa and price, so the more affordable and right-wing communities get closer to the city which has a much higher crime rate which is climbing rapidly.
.

The only thing I agree with here is lower price is in Baltimore city. The rest is definitely not true for every area. Baltimore is the most “to each his own” city I’ve ever lived in. Of course, there are some areas that are only yeshivish (yeshiva lane), and some are only MO (by liberty jewish center and BT), other areas can be more heavily, one thing or the other but that statement is just not true for the majority of the community. It’s not like Lakewood or Monsey which has this. Also, our schools are mixed, aside from BT. OCA is MO but very frum people send there. Kahal chassidim was originally for only the chassidish kollel but they are slowly opening up because they cannot sustain themselves anymore with that kind of limit.

As for safety, I live in the cheapest area, and I literally mixed block, half frum and half not Jewish. In the time I’ve lived in Baltimore, which is 10 years, this is the safest we’ve ever been. We’ve lived in some of the nicer areas and that is where our cars got tossed. And when the major sprees of break-ins and muggings occurred, it was in the county for the most part.

ETA - we really do appreciate and welcome the New York transplants! Many move back because they keep comparing Baltimore to where they were living before they came here. If you’re going to move here, you really cannot do that.
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amother
Red


 

Post Sun, Nov 27 2022, 6:53 pm
amother OP wrote:
If I wanted to look at zillow, what areas do I look up? Zipcodes, areas that are good?

I don't want a condo. I live in a condo now and it is awful. Hate living here- I need my space, a playroom, a no one on top of us!!


21208
21209
21205
but not sure if that will help you because many many streets in those zipcodes are not in jewish neighborhoods.
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amother
Salmon


 

Post Sun, Nov 27 2022, 7:01 pm
amother Red wrote:
21208
21209
21205
but not sure if that will help you because many many streets in those zipcodes are not in jewish neighborhoods.


21215
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amother
Red


 

Post Sun, Nov 27 2022, 7:03 pm
amother Salmon wrote:
21215

oops yes sorry
here are a fwe houses in jewish areas:
https://www.remax.com/md/balti.....52924

https://www.remax.com/md/balti.....53474

https://www.remax.com/md/pikes.....54260

https://www.remax.com/md/pikes.....54870

https://www.remax.com/md/pikes.....51960

will look for more later.
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amother
Red


 

Post Sun, Nov 27 2022, 7:06 pm
https://www.remax.com/md/balti.....44318

https://www.remax.com/md/pikes.....46972

a couple more...
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amother
Blue


 

Post Sun, Nov 27 2022, 7:21 pm
Silver Spring is an hour drive away from Baltimore and totally different community. There are already a bunch of threads on it so look up silver Spring in the search box.

In short it is much smaller, more diverse and more expensive.
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amother
Natural


 

Post Mon, Nov 28 2022, 9:36 am
amother Red wrote:
well that's an interesting comment. can you please clarify what you mean? what was so bad in Baltimore that made you very grateful to leave? I would love some clarification please, because that comment makes the whole of the kehilla kedosha of Baltimore sound really bad.
full disclosure - I live in Baltimore, I did not grow up here but have lived here for about 20 years.
the achdus between shuls and rabbonim is incredible. same with the schools.
people are friendly and warm.
there is something here for everyone. there are shuls here for almost every type of Jew. I am yeshivish and live in a mostly more yeshivish neighborhood. And I literally cant imagine what was so bad in this city that this poster is saying something so harsh about all the members of this huge Jewish community.. so I think it is only right to ask her to explain herself.
Thank you.


I must have missed the part in my comment where I said it's an awful place and everyone was terrible when I said we saw things that made us grateful to leave. Maybe we weren't in an area that was right for us and it started to impact my family? Maybe my children weren't adjusting well? Maybe we missed our friends and families? We're all entitled to our opinions and this is mine.

I will say, OP, when we were starting our second year and still having a hard time adapting, I had more than a handful of transplants tell me that it took them several years before they started to enjoy it there and that we should just give it a little longer. Which truthfully did not help nor comfort us at all.
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amother
Natural


 

Post Mon, Nov 28 2022, 9:37 am
justforfun87 wrote:
I'm also very surprised by this statement. Did you happen to move here during Covid? Baltimore isn't paradise but there is a laid back mentality if you want to find it. Never will someone walk 2 hours to a meal. I would say we live central to everything and nothing would be more than a 30-45 minute walk.


No, thankfully we were gone before Covid hit, but I said it can take up to a 2+ hour walk. If you say you're central and are approx. 45 minutes in any direction, that would make it at least 90 minutes from end to end, which is where your close friends could be. That's all that I meant.
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amother
OP


 

Post Mon, Nov 28 2022, 9:45 am
So what is the difference between city and county Baltimore? I keep seeing it referenced. Pros/cons of each?
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amother
OP


 

Post Mon, Nov 28 2022, 9:45 am
Accidental double post.
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amother
Lotus


 

Post Mon, Nov 28 2022, 9:55 am
amother Red wrote:
well that's an interesting comment. can you please clarify what you mean? what was so bad in Baltimore that made you very grateful to leave? I would love some clarification please, because that comment makes the whole of the kehilla kedosha of Baltimore sound really bad.
full disclosure - I live in Baltimore, I did not grow up here but have lived here for about 20 years.
the achdus between shuls and rabbonim is incredible. same with the schools.
people are friendly and warm.
there is something here for everyone. there are shuls here for almost every type of Jew. I am yeshivish and live in a mostly more yeshivish neighborhood. And I literally cant imagine what was so bad in this city that this poster is saying something so harsh about all the members of this huge Jewish community.. so I think it is only right to ask her to explain herself.
Thank you.


Agreed.
We moved from Brooklyn ten year ago and love it here.
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amother
Garnet


 

Post Mon, Nov 28 2022, 10:29 am
Baltimore and Silver Spring are very different.

I grew up in Baltimore, married someone from NY and moved to NY when we got married (living there over a decade). Then we moved back to Baltimore with kids. If definitely was a culture shock for my kids and it took time for them to adjust. But looking back, it was the best move for our family. The culture shock was that Baltimore was slower, more laid back and had space--all not what my kids were used to. My kids didn't know what a back yard was and I had to "teach" them to go outside and play. It was a culture shock for my husband when we had to all of a sudden carpool after having school busing in NY. And the culture shock for me, was that I really needed a car to drive everywhere...the grocery store, the barber, the cleaners, the park....Again, I have absolutely no regrets.

People say the salaries are lower--but both my husband and I are making more now than we ever made in NY. (My salary dropped $3,000 when we first moved (which is not a huge amount) but with growth it rose way more than that since our move.) In my husbands case it's almost double. With so many remote jobs now, location should not affect salary.

I live in the cheaper part of town. We started with the block being 1/2 frum, 1/2 non jews. I think there are 3 non jews on the block now with it being 75% frum. We have a great relationship with the non jews on the block. They announced that they will be our shabbos [gentile] when we moved in. They really look out for us--take in packages when we're out of town, etc.

How much you need to make is financially will depend on many factors. Where you chose to live. If you'll pay full tuition or apply for a break, etc.

There are 3 boys schools and 2 girls schools (and co-ed options too). Of the boys schools one only goes until 8th, one goes until 12th, but many pull out after 8th, and the last is newer and as of now the oldest grade is 7th. One girls school is small and wants to stay small, the other is huge. Oh and there is a chabad school and a chasidish school and a Montessori school. Chabad will take non-chabad and the chasidish school started taking non-chasidish. The community is diverse and everyone sends to the same schools and accept each other. MO and yeshivish will be in the same classroom. Playgroups fill very quickly (we need more) and childcare is hard to find.

The community is warm and non-judgmental. Very accepting. A lot of achdus between rabbanim and shuls.

FYI--there is not a lot of houses on the market at the moment. I know a few people who are renting and want to buy in the park heights area. There is nearly nothing at the moment.
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