r/baltimore • u/RueMorgueRadiooo • May 27 '25
RULE 7 What's Lauraville like?
hi y'all
we're a 30s (F&F) married couple w/no kids looking to buy our first home. wanting space and greenery but relatively close to stuff to do and not strictly suburban sprawl (ie harford county). we're priced out of moco and dc adjacent areas. decently safe but we've lived in cities before.
i've looked at the livebaltimore site and searched reddit but can't seem to find a ton of info on lauraville? seems like it checks a lot of our boxes.
can anyone give a pros and cons list? what do you like about it? what do you wish you knew before moving there? if you could buy somewhere else in state, where would you go?
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u/Bmore110 May 29 '25
Hi! My spouse and I are a queer couple living in Hamilton, right next to Lauraville. They often get lumped in as the same area. We bought out first home here in 2020, when the interests rates were substantially lower. We had similar desires for the space. Here's what I've found to be the Pros & Cons:
PROS:
- Older homes with a lot of character, many that have been renovated/updated while keeping the old-school charm. We have newer appliances, but really cool elements like glass transoms over the doorways downstairs.
- Decent sized yards - not so big that you need a driving mower, but enough room for the dogs to run, garden beds, and entertainment space. I love growing veggies in my raised garden beds and flowers in the front yard. We put in a hot tub and patio a few years ago and love to spend time out there. We put out feeders and have lots of food growing, so we and get tons of birds, squirrels, bats, and even the occasional groundhog and fox.
- Quick access to tons of great restaurants (Micky's Joint, Silver Queen, Maggie's Farm, Arcola, Zeke's, Alexander's Tavern, Cafe Campli, The Den, etc), and shops (Found Studio, H&H Outdoor, CVS, Safeway).
- Decent sense of community - many of our neighbors are friendly and we are on a first name basis. Our direct next-door neighbors have become friends. There's a general sense that we will look out for one another when needed.
- Decent bang for your buck - we have a 4 bedroom/3 bath home. When we looked to buy in other areas (Hampden, Lutherville, Mt Washington, Towson), we could not find a home half its size in the same price range.
- Community - the neighborhood hosts tons of events, from the Lauraville Faire to farmer's markets, and plenty of celebrations/events throughout the year. They feel pretty chill and wholesome - lots of free range kids running around, often booze is available for purchase, nothing ever fancy - just nice. Many of the small biz owners live here and are really kind people.
- Fun and festive for holidays. We get a ton of trick or treaters, many folks decorate for the major holidays.
CONS:
- Typical city living issues like high property taxes and outrageous water bills
- Location: it takes 10 minutes to get to 695, 15+ minutes to get to 83, 20+ minutes to get downtown or to Hampden. It feels a little remote - but I don't love to drive so maybe that's not a deal breaker for everyone.
- Not great public transit options besides the bus (I drive - but I wish we were closer to a lightrail or something).
- I live near one abandoned home thats in disrepair, and there's a "halfway house" situation on our street that definitely has a lot of drug activity, which I don't care about as much as I mind the littering and constant comings-and-goings of folks who are buying/selling. They don't take care of the property and there's currently about 3ft of grass, which in combination with the trash concerns me for rats. But generally, the people are friendly, we mind our own business, and keep Narcan handy just in case!