Baltimore is a big scary talking point for racist chuds. They claim that the DemocRat party destroyed the city by enslaving the black population with welfare, leading them to a culture of dependency and crime. People that live literally like 8 min from downtown never go there and act like it's Escape from New York or Mad Max. The city has a crime problem for sure, but it's mostly gang members killing each other over drug disputes and other crimes related to drugs. Large swaths of the city are essentially The Hood ™ but tbh, it's completely fine during the day and there shouldn't really be any reason for someone who doesn't live there to be there at night. It's still affordable to live in "nice" neighborhoods (and no I don't just mean white, there are nice black and diverse neighborhoods here).
Personally I love Baltimore because it's in a sweet spot between the rust belt cities that are cheap but have no signs of life and the gentrified shitholes that are bustling but completely unaffordable. There is gentrification here but it's slow because there is still a massive stock of unoccupied homes. It's got a kind of working class ethos and isn't a snooty town like DC or NY which I obviously like. I don't feel weird just looking like a bum when I'm being lazy and going to buy cigs in ratty sweatpants and slides. It's a pretty non-judgemental place. I don't know much about the Anarchist scene because I'm not one but I know they're everywhere here. Their graffiti is all over my neighborhood and they pull big stunts like painting over the mayor's very prominent billboard with abolish the police/cancel rent. I know that PSL, DSA and IWW are all active in the city and probably other groups, I've seen CPUSA events pop up around the corner from me. I know it's not radical or anything but I'm pretty sure the DSA-backed Green Party candidate for city council is going to win, I see her signs all over neighborhoods in her district including huge ones.
A story I like to tell to give a general feel of the culture of the city, when lockdown was first starting I was chilling and watching TV and I saw a bunch of cop sirens out front. I looked out and cops seemed to be harassing a guy they pulled over for no reason. Immediately a couple neighbors were out there filming them. Then my roomate and I went out and all of us were yelling at the cops to let him go, then more and more people from the block came out and were shouting at them to let him go so the pigs called for backup so we couldn't de-arrest him. One neighbor was a lawyer and got the man's info and have him his number and another girl got his family's info to let them know what happened. It wasn't like we freed him but it was wild to have the whole block either come out or shout out the window at the pigs, openly calling them pigs to their face lol.
Charles Village is a good area that's quiet and young, lots of JHU and MICA students mixed with working class and PMC folks. Pride usually starts in Charles village, and some protest marches start there. If I had to guess, most of the activist population lives there and in adjacent neighborhoods.
Mount Vernon is the gaybourhood. It's more expensive than Charles Village and has more stuff going on (restaurants, gay bars etc). I'd say it's a bit more bougie but the northern part is mostly young students.
Station North is between the last two neighborhoods. It's a little less polished than both, more diverse and lower income. It's the kind of neighborhood where basically everyone is between the ages of 18-50, with the older folks being poorer. Virtually no kids live there and there are lots of events around here. Artscape happens here every summer which is the city's largest art festival and one of the largest in the region. You can easily walk to/from here from the other neighborhoods I mentioned.
Remington is and white working class neighborhood that declined in the 90s, stagnated for years and now is starting to be gentrified. It's West of Charles Village, and is mostly quiet and the houses are almost entirely 2-3br rowhomes. It's more expensive to live here just because there aren't a lot of apartments but it's still not expensive for what you get. A lot of young married couples buy homes there, which are usually in the $150k-250k range. A couple nice spots including R. Haus and 29th Street Tavern.
Hampden used to also be a poor white neighborhood originally based around mills along the Jones Falls, it has basically been gentrified by now with probably 15% of the population being the native "white trash". It's a part of a unique series of neighborhoods in the middle of the city that are secluded by a large park and highway on one side and JHU and a small river on the other. Hampden, Medfield and Woodbury seem like their own small milling town that you'd see in the mountains of PA except they're smack in the middle of the city. Very interesting places but the fastest gentrifying neighborhoods in the city. Hampden is always jumping while Medfield and Woodbury are more residential, cheaper and has more of the native blue collar white folks.
Baltimore is a big scary talking point for racist chuds. They claim that the DemocRat party destroyed the city by enslaving the black population with welfare, leading them to a culture of dependency and crime. People that live literally like 8 min from downtown never go there and act like it's Escape from New York or Mad Max. The city has a crime problem for sure, but it's mostly gang members killing each other over drug disputes and other crimes related to drugs. Large swaths of the city are essentially The Hood ™ but tbh, it's completely fine during the day and there shouldn't really be any reason for someone who doesn't live there to be there at night. It's still affordable to live in "nice" neighborhoods (and no I don't just mean white, there are nice black and diverse neighborhoods here).
Personally I love Baltimore because it's in a sweet spot between the rust belt cities that are cheap but have no signs of life and the gentrified shitholes that are bustling but completely unaffordable. There is gentrification here but it's slow because there is still a massive stock of unoccupied homes. It's got a kind of working class ethos and isn't a snooty town like DC or NY which I obviously like. I don't feel weird just looking like a bum when I'm being lazy and going to buy cigs in ratty sweatpants and slides. It's a pretty non-judgemental place. I don't know much about the Anarchist scene because I'm not one but I know they're everywhere here. Their graffiti is all over my neighborhood and they pull big stunts like painting over the mayor's very prominent billboard with abolish the police/cancel rent. I know that PSL, DSA and IWW are all active in the city and probably other groups, I've seen CPUSA events pop up around the corner from me. I know it's not radical or anything but I'm pretty sure the DSA-backed Green Party candidate for city council is going to win, I see her signs all over neighborhoods in her district including huge ones.
A story I like to tell to give a general feel of the culture of the city, when lockdown was first starting I was chilling and watching TV and I saw a bunch of cop sirens out front. I looked out and cops seemed to be harassing a guy they pulled over for no reason. Immediately a couple neighbors were out there filming them. Then my roomate and I went out and all of us were yelling at the cops to let him go, then more and more people from the block came out and were shouting at them to let him go so the pigs called for backup so we couldn't de-arrest him. One neighbor was a lawyer and got the man's info and have him his number and another girl got his family's info to let them know what happened. It wasn't like we freed him but it was wild to have the whole block either come out or shout out the window at the pigs, openly calling them pigs to their face lol.
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If you do consider it, I can tell you what neighborhoods are like
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Charles Village is a good area that's quiet and young, lots of JHU and MICA students mixed with working class and PMC folks. Pride usually starts in Charles village, and some protest marches start there. If I had to guess, most of the activist population lives there and in adjacent neighborhoods.
Mount Vernon is the gaybourhood. It's more expensive than Charles Village and has more stuff going on (restaurants, gay bars etc). I'd say it's a bit more bougie but the northern part is mostly young students.
Station North is between the last two neighborhoods. It's a little less polished than both, more diverse and lower income. It's the kind of neighborhood where basically everyone is between the ages of 18-50, with the older folks being poorer. Virtually no kids live there and there are lots of events around here. Artscape happens here every summer which is the city's largest art festival and one of the largest in the region. You can easily walk to/from here from the other neighborhoods I mentioned.
Remington is and white working class neighborhood that declined in the 90s, stagnated for years and now is starting to be gentrified. It's West of Charles Village, and is mostly quiet and the houses are almost entirely 2-3br rowhomes. It's more expensive to live here just because there aren't a lot of apartments but it's still not expensive for what you get. A lot of young married couples buy homes there, which are usually in the $150k-250k range. A couple nice spots including R. Haus and 29th Street Tavern.
Hampden used to also be a poor white neighborhood originally based around mills along the Jones Falls, it has basically been gentrified by now with probably 15% of the population being the native "white trash". It's a part of a unique series of neighborhoods in the middle of the city that are secluded by a large park and highway on one side and JHU and a small river on the other. Hampden, Medfield and Woodbury seem like their own small milling town that you'd see in the mountains of PA except they're smack in the middle of the city. Very interesting places but the fastest gentrifying neighborhoods in the city. Hampden is always jumping while Medfield and Woodbury are more residential, cheaper and has more of the native blue collar white folks.
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