Can a black gal move to Hampden without singing the blues?

Buz recently had as a client for relocation a pretty African-American professional woman who was moving to Baltimore in order to be a program person for Teach for America. We spent seven-and-a-half hours looking at apartments in her price range, that were in the city. She would be working in city schools, and though there were some nice apartments in Owings Mills, she really wanted to live in the city.

But Buz was left with a conundrum: several areas/price range, and availability were in Hampden, with the kind of housing she was looking for. But I didn't really want to show her apartments where, if living there, she would feel uncomfortable, or worse case: where she may feel unsafe.

We know Hampden is changing, and for most young professionals, race is irrelevant. But Hampden has had a long history, shall we say, of being unwelcome for black people.

So, we ended up looking a one place there, a kinda neat, funky, "loft". And then we looked at a rowhouse apartment, but it wasn't ready. But I ventured into the area with her with a certain amount of trepidation.

BRAC is coming!

Buz just last Monday night stumbled onto a talk by a representative of LiveBaltimore a nonprofit group funded partly by the city and partly by the "real estate industry" loosely. He was their representative for BRAC, and was talking up the possibilities of BRAC folks moving to Baltimore and buying in the various city neighborhoods.

Now, BRAC stands for Base Realignment And Closing Commission, a process under which military bases are eliminated, downsized, up sized, right-sized, and closed. In other words, made more efficient. So, apparently there are several closings which will affect the Baltimore areas. One is the closing of programs at Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey (not too far from New York City), and relocation of them to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County. Other programs will be relocating to Ft. Meade in Anne Arundel county. So Baltimore will be bracketed on two sides by an influx of more than 30,000 military, their dependents, defense contractors, and their dependents.

So, I asked the guy: do you think any of the BRAC folks are gonna wanta live in Baltimore, my beloved home town? He said: absolutely! He even pointed out to the various folks from northeast Baltimore, the group he was addressing, that the first house purchased by a BRAC person was in a Northeast Baltimore neighborhood. Wow! And here Buz thought that almost all of them would stay in Harford County.

No, the guy said, a lot of them want the amenities of a big city; many of them are highly educated, like sports, culture, museums, and such, and like to walk around in neighborhoods on sidewalks. So, it would be a big plus to get them to Bmore, for them and for us.

HMMMMMM. So, I thought, you know, that many of these folks might benefit from the assistance of a nice relocation consultant like myself, since it would be a wiser move to rent in a strange city first, instead of looking to buy a house. Betcha: 30-1, I can help you find a rental property  meeting your needs quicker than you can on your own.

The rental season starts again! Finding rentals in Baltimore for school or work

Now is the time of year when students (and others) are leaving their apartments and moving to other chapters in life and other people are moving in. So a lot of incoming students, post-docs, and hospital employees will soon start looking for places to rent in Baltimore.

I am hoping to help some of them, as my international relocation company, Dwellworks (formerly RAI-Relocation Assistance Incorporated) has not been having much work in Baltimore lately. So, perhaps I will help people moving to Baltimore find a rental, using my full day or half-day rental finding tours--as an independent consultant.

I've only been averaging about 1 rental-finding tour each month since the economy collapsed in October-maybe even earlier.

I found it interesting that 5 out of the last 6 rental tour clients I've had did not rent in the city, which was really interesting, since previously, almost all of my young professionals wanted to live in either Canton, Federal Hill or Fell's Point. It's really troubling for a lifelong city resident like myself, since I find most of the rentals in the surrounding counties, with some exceptions, to be sterile, cookie-cutter, almost you've seen one-you've seen-em-all kind of thing. "There's no there, there!", as one of my young gals put it.

I'm a bit concerned that crime and rowdiness and general icky-ness of traffic and parking will drive people to live in the evil counties.

I've noticed that the signs of spring are here: for rent signs have sprung up all along places where Buz travels in North Baltimore.

One newly-renovated property of interest is the big apartment building at University Parkway and Roland Avenue; it's now being called the Ardmore, and Mr. Preller, of Preller Properties has been spending a great deal of money on it and appears to have done a great job. They're-offering two months free rent as part of their grand opening, and do allow pets; they have both one bedrooms and 2 bedrooms. Buz has not been in there yet, but hopes to see the inside soon.

Ah, the big three: Canton, Federal Hill, and Fells Point

Buz is sorry for not posting enough in this blog, but I've really been busy with stuff. I did however, have another relocation tour--a young gal and her boyfriend, who basically wanted to look, pretty much, in only one of the three neighborhoods all young professionals (almost all) want when they come to Baltimore: Canton, Federal Hill, and Fell's Point.

So we took a tour of the three areas and looked at Upper Fells Point, too (though, of course, the Craigslist poster said the rental property was in "Fell's Point"--well, close, but............)

We didn't find much in Fells Point to interest her, but found out that a $2400/month place in Upper Fells Point was really much and really small and really too close to where a lot of day laborers were hanging out looking for work. The house was all brand new, never lived in and down a small alley street. And the "investor" landlord was coming from DC to show it. We/she cancelled him after taking one look at the outside and the immediate neighborhood.

Places in Canton were really small and pricey, and several were already taken by the time we called.

Federal Hill places were really dear, but if you wanted to be near.............the tailgating/barhopping action, this was it.

Coming to Hopkins and looking for a place!?

Buz has learned that this is the season, and many people are coming to work and train at Johns Hopkins. Since he has dealt with a few poignant cases of people unknowingly renting in real bad areas, for them, I have some observations which might be helpful for the neophyte Baltimoron (that's what some of us modest residents call ourselves, hon.):

Johns Hopkins actually has three main campuses in Baltimore, not counting its subsidiary, the Peabody Conservatory of Music.

```there's the main undergraduate campus in North Baltimore at "Homewood", adjacent to Charles Village, Hampden, and Guilford.

```several miles away to the east, are the famous Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, including the hospital, medical school, school of nursing, school of Public Health, and the Kennedy Krieger Institute.

```several miles east of that is the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, near the southeast city line and Greektown, Brewer's Hill and not too far from Canton and Eastpoint.

Your renting or relocation options differ significantly depending on which campus you are working or learning at. And your position and working hours are big factors, too. If you are being hired as a doctor or nurse or faculty member/researcher, you might want or need different living arrangements than if you were a student, post-doc, doing an internship, or a patient.

The area around the main hospital (JHMI) is complicated for living arrangements. Basically, living due east, north, or west of the hospital complex is not recommended for professional people who are from out of town who don't know their way around. 

Some good rental choices can be found in Fells Point, Upper Fells Point, Canton, and Butcher's Hill around Patterson Park. Canton is generally too far to walk, though. If you don't feel like living in a cramped rowhouse apartment in Fells Point (and most of them are, as well as pricey for what you get), you may want to try the Thames Point Apartments, right in Fells Point, but off the beaten path by the Eastern end of Thames Street. You're close to everything, but away from the noise and bars, though they're just a short walk away, along with a good coffee house and great views of the harbor all around. This building has a straight shot up Wolfe Street to the Medical complex.

Some things to check if you're new to Baltimore

If you're coming here "cold" and are looking around for a place to rent, here's some tips to get you started in looking for a comfortable area.(this is not an all-inclusive list by any means).

• Look for the guys and gals hanging on the corner. Never a good sign. They know who comes and goes and when. 
• Ask your prospective landlord if they accept Section 8. If they do, be sure you're comfortable with that.
• Look for trash in the stairwells and on the property.
• Does your landlord or property manager live on site. Always a good sign if they do.
• Does the property look rundown, with a lot of deferred maintenance. Not a good sign (but it probably makes it cheap).
• In general, the more rent you pay for a property, the better quality of life and amenities and apartment you can get.
• Take your time, pick three different areas of interest, and visit at least 2, no more than 4 properties in each. (If you pick too many in a day, they all start to run together after a while).

moving to Baltimore!? Consider Mt. Washington

Ah, a reader suggested to me that I not forget about wonderful, beautiful Mt. Washington as a place for someone relocating to the Baltimore area. Actually, it has a fair amount of positive attributes:

• It's nice old Baltimore neighborhood with a strong community association, which is pretty to look at.
• If one works downtown close to the light rail route, it's a walk or short drive, depending on where exactly you live, to the light rail station in Mt. Washington village.
• A lot of people from out of town haven't heard of it because it isn't much on the young professional circuit.
• It has a fair number of nice apartment complexes, including at least one which is gated, and at a very reasonable price--much less than you'd pay in most of , say, Federal Hill, Canton, or Fells Point. Or you can rent apartments in privately owned big old houses.
• There's only one bar in the village, the Mt. Washington Tavern, but it's pretty good.
• You are very close to Whole Foods, Meadowbrook Aquatic and Fitness center, and the post office. Short drive to I83 or I695, and downtown.
• A community consisting of pretty much upper middle class people, including African Americans of that socio-economic class.
• Very close to Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods which are to the north and very safe.
• Very close to Sinai Hospital for fellows, post-docs, or interns working there.
• Relatively low crime in immediate area.

A couple negatives: 

• Very close to high crime areas of Park Heights, with heavy drug trafficking.
• Not close to someone working at Hopkins Hospital.
• Traffic can be heavy during morning rush hour.
• Buz likes Belvedere Towers apartment building--a high-rise with good highway access, large apartments for the money, hardwood floors, 24-hour doormen/desk persons, a small pool, small fitness center.

(Maryland Management took over the place last year. Huh. Wonder if they got rid of Peggy or Nikki, the two great, nice Property Managers.)

Thanks, Anonymous for the tips!