I grew up in Pasadena and used to think that the whole city is just a crime-ridden mess. Yet, after I left and now work in West Baltimore; a lot of the serious crimes (murders and assaults) happen to people who are actively engaged in crime. Other than that, crime in the city is crime of opportunity, just like some areas of Annapolis (Tyler Heights, Georgetown, Bywater Estates). I wouldn't be too worried based on where you live, unless it's near the more infamously redlined neighborhoods (Sandtown, Penn-North, Upton, Middle-East, etc.) Basically, if you're able to afford to not live in a neighborhood that's been left to rot by city and federal leaders (you can see them clearly) then the city has a lot to offer. Even in the less desirable areas, people are just trying to get by and survive.

Basically, don't play in the dirt, and you won't get dirty

It is and it isn’t. I mean the stats aren’t somehow inflated or anything. Things are as bad as those numbers say, but the maps of crime in the city go a long way to contextualizing those numbers. If you are planning to be driving south regularly, I’d consider a southern neighborhood like Locust Point since getting across the city is annoying depending on the time of day. There are plenty of neighborhoods like that where people still walk their dogs at night, have a few neighborhood watering holes, even leave their front doors unlocked while they’re around. But it’s a city and you should be conscious about your actions and risk. In terms of the real experience living here, the main minor crimes that have happened to me or i have seen are basically nuisances/social crimes that are symptomatic of the city’s larger decay and history of systemic disenfranchisement - packages may get stolen if you leave them out, people will come by and try to open all the cars and steal stuff out of your car if they can or if something is very visible, there are groups on motorcycles who will speed past you doing wheelies and making a lot of noise, occasionally car theft or people breaking into and trashing businesses, and lots and lots and lots and lots of panhandling/squeegeeing- that sort of thing. My dog walker got jumped and battered pretty severely in fed hill in the middle of the day and went through the whole fuss to report the guy and testify against him only to see him back out on the street a few months later because baltimore is catch and release, so she stopped walking dogs in that area. That to me is the worst thing. I work at hopkins and in that area there are fairly frequent robberies and assaults. I travel with a buddy if I have expensive stuff on my person when I leave work and walk to the garage in east baltimore. The medical campus wants us to use security escorts after a certain time but I never have felt it was necessary since I don’t leave that late. People talk a lot about crime seeping from areas of lots of social issues to areas that are generally considered better invested and safer (we’d been looking at houses in Roland park and it seemed to come up at every open house, for example), but i have to say personally I just haven’t seen that. Maybe it comes out in the numbers, but I think it’s just a concern about future property values in the area. People who find the petty stuff too much of a nuisance to live around tend to move to the county, which is more suburban-rural. There’s petty stuff out there too but land doesn’t do crime so fewer people per foot means fewer bad actors per foot means fewer incidents that impact any one resident.

I will end by saying my childhood best friend just moved from an Annapolis burb to Sykesville because she couldn’t stand the pretension there anymore. She still works in the city and just commutes. So I think you’re reasonable in looking outside of that immediate area. Baltimore can be great, but I think like any city you just have to pay attention when you are living around that many people.

Depends on whether you get into the right crew or not. Shiiiiiiiit. This isn't naptown, might be best to get a job elsewhere. /S

Yeah, you’re def not making it out alive

The local news makes a profit off of keeping the suburbanites in a constant state of fear. American cities have always had a crime problem, so did Rome. It is hard to know how to give a picture of life in the city as it differs from neighborhood to neighborhood. People think the loss of population is all due to crime. Much actually has to do with a government which is not able to improve basic city services or control outside entities which own most of the decayed property. Many of these owners are living in the nearby leafy suburbs, and own decayed property for money laundering or as slumlords. We do have an underclass which is more like the few kids in a classroom who are able to derail the teacher. It only takes a few to do disrupt. If you travel through the wealth belt of Roland Park, Bolton Hill, Guilford, or Homeland, you will not see bars on the mansions. I take this as a sign that the problems tend to be in the underclass neighborhoods and between segments of the poor who are having turf wars. The ills of Baltimore can be traced back to the post WWII actions by the federal and state government which ghettoized the poor blacks of the country's cities. Their actions were to use federal money to build the suburbs, using city infrastructure, like sewer, water, electricity, and not allow federal dollars to be used to rebuild the cities which had suffered 20 years of decay during the depression and war.

If you were to locate in Federal Hill, South Baltimore, or Ridgley's Delight, you would be near I-95 and have access to I-97

I live in Brooklyn and commute to Annapolis five days a week. I haven’t been effected by crime in the year and a half I’ve lived here. A lot of it is petty crime, drugs, breaking into cars, we haven’t had any packages stolen but that is a thing.

Brooklyn is considered a “rough” area but in my experience it’s just a working class neighborhood. Locus Point is definitely nicer but pricey. I would look for something that’s near a major highway so you aren’t adding to your commute. For me it’s about 35 minutes to get there and maybe 45 to get home.

If you're going to be commuting to Annapolis daily, you do not want to live in Hampden, that would be a terrible commute and you'd hit all of the traffic hotspots. Mount Vernon is also probably a bit too far into the city for a comfortable commute to Annapolis, but if you like the neighborhood it might be worth it. Locust Point, similarly, isn't great for an Annapolis commute, in my opinion, since the fastest option involves tolls and it takes a while to get up/down Fort Ave on the way home. You could take the shortcut across the railroad tracks on Andre St. on the way south, but that's not an option on the way north.

If you like having a yard, Brooklyn, the border neighborhood between Baltimore City and Anne Arundel County, is a great location for commuting to Annapolis (as are the parts of AACo. just south of it on Rt 2), but it's a working class suburb, the things within walking distance aren't places I'd recommend to a newcomer to the area, and it's just annoying enough to get into downtown that it feels further from the rest of Baltimore than it is. If you want to have an actual in-Baltimore experience, the southern neighborhoods along 295 or Hanover street are all good options. I happen to think Pigtown is overpriced, but it's very convenient for getting to Annapolis. Look at the house/street layouts and decide what would make the most sense for your transportation, housing, and parking needs.

If you have asthma, Brooklyn and Curtis Bay have relatively poor air quality, due to being between two incinerators, the coal depot, and a variety of other industrial establishments. Air quality is the biggest reason I relocated to another neighborhood from Brooklyn.

If you're used to Norfolk, Baltimore is fine, just be aware of your surroundings, be polite to people, and secure your belongings. Being polite and friendly with your neighbors goes a long way. I've lived and worked in several areas of the city and haven't had any major problems aside from minor property crimes and some odd social interactions.

https://www.baltimorepolice.org/crime-stats

I’m also from Norfolk originally and they’re similar in terms of being a bit of a patchwork. We’ve lived in mt Vernon for like 5 years and never had an issue. Love it here.

Mount Vernon 100%. It is by far one of the safest neighborhoods that no one over discusses. Food scene is great, I have a dog and walk him any hour and never feel concerned. Every week I discover a new bar or restaurant that pops up. Minding your business, being careful, and being respectful of people from all walks of life goes a long way. Baltimore is actually a very cool city. Don’t let the suburbanites scare you. Pick a good neighborhood and you will be fine!

Audit Manager here. If you have lived in Norfolk comfortably, you will be fine here. I am in Pigtown next to 95 and BWP and commute is easy. The higher you go, the longer your commute is.

It all depends on your budget but I would suggest South Baltimore neighborhoods (Barre Circle, Fed Hill, Pigtown closer to Ravens Stadium) as areas to look at. Look at the prices of houses as your barometer of where you want to live.

I'm actually dead.

Why not live closer to Annapolis. Hamden to Annapolis is a hike if you have to commute.

If you’re not “in the game”, your personal crime rate is much lower than the stats show. Normal city nuisance crime will happen. S Balt is definitely an easier commute.

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These are great comments and living in the city can be a great experience, but also be aware that city taxes are quite high, so factor that into your decision.

The neighborhoods you mentioned are super kushy artsty rich areas, you'll be fine lol

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In some cases "nicer" areas have more reported crime because the people who live there are more likely to report minor crimes to the police. I was born in P.G. county and even though I'm white we still almost never talk to the police unless we have to, and all I hear about PG from Calvert folk is "crime". I've lived in Edgewater MD too, and it has high crime rates but when you look into it it's all fraud and domestic abuse, bad but not the kind of crime people clutch their pearls over. Almost everyone I tell I live in Baltimore to, that cares to point out crime has also told me of instances they have knowingly broken the law. People universally see it as ok to break laws they don't like but fear monger that other people engage in the same behavior. We do have more of the kind of scary crime people worry about but it's just an odds. Urban areas have more crime, but unless it's a particularly poor area, they have more college graduates, they have more people earning 6 figures, they have more of everything.

Just remember our unofficial slogan I'm making up.

"Baltimore, actually I like it"

Check out SpotCrime

Some places are better than others. Check YouTube for neighborhood tours. Seriously.

If you’ve lived in Seattle, Mount Vernon is fine. There’s the odd homeless person, etc.

You can walk to restaurants/bars on Charles, the harbor, Fells Point, Federal Hill, Druid Hill park (which is beautiful) just fine.

You can walk to Eddie’s, an appropriately priced grocery store

If you’re out at night, just be sensible, people do get robbed.

And yeah, I agree with the other posters… people here are super friendly.

Move to Canton

I did the Baltimore-Annapolis commute for several years while living in Bolton Hill (which is near-ish Mt. Vernon). It was consistently between 45 min to an hour, so if that timing doesn’t bother you, go for it. Bolton Hill was an interesting neighborhood; I was never the victim of a violent crime there (once someone sat in my car and rifled through my things after I accidentally left the door unlocked; they didn’t take anything), even though it’s near a “rougher” neighborhood.

I gave up the job in Annapolis and am purchasing a house in Baltimore’s; this is great city.

A lot of people are telling you to look at crime maps, and that’s correct. “Nicer” areas may still have lots of incidents of theft/non-violent crime reports. Google street view is also your friend; if you see a ton of vacant homes and trash, you may want to look elsewhere. It’s block-by-block, so use street view to explore around a bit.

I would look for a neighborhood that gives you easy access to 295 or 695 so you can quickly get to I-97. Good luck with your hunt and welcome to the region!

I lived in Towson (not city) and Woodberry, just moved away a year ago. Woodberry was safer, with the exception that my car got shot one night. I got physically attacked dropping out of the Baltimore marathon in 2018 (bad area) and I had people bloodied outside of my home in Towson. My wife and I felt stuck until home prices went up. Got the F out and moved to a different metro entirely (South Hills of Pittsburgh). Better job, great neighborhood/schools, minimal crime. All cities/metros are like that though to varying degrees. Plus I can actually stream the Orioles now that I’m out-of-market.

I'd do everything in my power to avoid living in the city, if I had concerns about crime. If you live in the city, at bare minimum you'll be stolen from or have your stuff vandalized. If you don't care about these kinds of things, have fun in the city with all the culture.

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