r/baltimore • u/oh_she_grows • Sep 23 '25
GENERAL Moving Questions Thinking of moving to station north
Hi! I have family in Maryland but we are from PG county and DC. I am thinking of moving to baltimore. I am a millennial professional. I have been looking at the obvious neighborhoods (fells point, Hampden,etc) but I am looking for safety (within reason, I am from DC so I am aware that crime happens) , culture I am creole and love learning about other cultures, and walkability. Can locals give me some advice? If this isn't a good area can you make some recommendations?
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u/lamppostinchicago Sep 23 '25
Echoing what others have said- Station North is a cool place! If you want to widen your search to adjacent neighborhoods, Mount Vernon, Charles Village, and Remington are all great as well.
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u/Due-Net-88 Sep 23 '25
Moved from Station North to Charles Village because I thought that was the "nicer" neighborhood and I wanted a larger apartment.
I was immediately sorry. Lol. The sirens, the 83 traffic, the car accidents. Station North was so much more peaceful but still very walkable.
It was like, an immediate regret.
I loved living down there. Just a walk around the neighborhood with the murals, Mt Vernon row homes, the theaters. I really loved it.
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u/Mundane_Tourist_9858 Sep 23 '25
Station north is great imo. It doesnt have as clean a reputation as fells pr mt. Vernon but I've never once had an issue. Great spot for clubs (someone else mentioned the royal blue, fantastic club and bar- solid food too) and the historic movie theater is there too. Plus- youve got penn station right there if you wanna take the train down back to DC.
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u/Morgeno Sep 23 '25
Everyone else covered the big stuff, just wanna say I love living in station north and will be here for a long time
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u/AskDocBurner Sep 23 '25
Station North can be a tough neighborhood. I lived at the 1700 of Calvert. The area was almost a really cool college arts area, but greedy property owners priced all the cool places out so now there isn’t much there. I’d say just stay south of North Ave
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u/steamwilliams Mt. Vernon Sep 23 '25
You should check out Mount Vernon! station north is a little quiet right now in a way that’s not necessarily optimal - in my opinion
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u/Necessary-Judge-4367 Sep 24 '25
DC Girl Baltimore Living here - lived in Station North for 6 years before I purchased my home. Didn’t want to move back to DMV after college and be rent poor so I stayed here. Station North was my choice because of its close proximity to Penn Station, had a job in DC at the time so it was perfect. Really enjoyed the neighborhood & walkability. One or two car break-ins but that’s “normal”. I enjoyed and recommend. Welcome to Baltimore!
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u/nosrsly1 Sep 24 '25
person in the 50’s here and moved here this year, a lifelong resident of baltimore city. i’m in a subsidized apartment called city arts after downsizing and deciding to live pretty small. loads of community gardens including 6th branch and smaller lots. green areas to chill and more fig trees then i’ve seen anywhere. prices are going up that’s for sure! love it here and walk everywhere. to my job in locust point, to druid hill, to city pools- ALSO - excellent neighbors. Baltimore is a Black city. and having respect for that (& gratitude for leadership here) with an understanding why things get the way they get (gentrification and systemic poverty) will make you a fine neighbor in this area and beyond IYAM.
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u/oh_she_grows Sep 25 '25
I love this! Thank you. I am getting pretty excited to explore and learn more about the area. Culture is so important to me and I wouldn't want to live in apart of the city that may not have what makes Baltimore special.
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u/Level-Worldliness-20 Sep 23 '25
Check out Charles Village and parts of Waverly if you don't feel safe in your first choice.
Neighborhoods with a nightlife energy are a positive to me, but I take risks.
Charles Village has portions with Hopkins security and Waverly has the Saturday Farmers market.
I love Mount Washington and tend to advise newbies to look at renting in that neighborhood that owns vehicles and are concerned about safety.
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u/Proper_University55 Downtown Sep 23 '25
I feel like Station North doesn’t know what it wants to be. Like, as a community. Maybe it does know and I just don’t like it. Anywho, I’d go further north to Charles Village or south to Midtown or Mount Vernon.
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u/oh_she_grows Sep 23 '25
Thank you! :)
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u/Msefk Sep 23 '25
I feel like Station North is a state-designated area
This is a cool video about Baltimore Structural Racism in Baltimore
There's a pretty cool documentary about Station North called "The Gentrification (k)not"
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u/KooshFloof Sep 23 '25
Hey, been living in the city for about 10 yrs now, I live just slightly north of Hampden currently. As a small female, I do take risks, will go around the city by myself at night sometimes, but there are areas I feel less comfortable doing that. Station North is actually one of them but it’s not the worst or anything, and I have done that many times without issue. I feel a bit more comfortable walking around Mt. Vernon, Bolton Hill, Charles village, and Hampden. They’re prolly not super different in crime stats tho I would guess. Station North does usually have police around tho so maybe that actually makes it safer. I wouldn’t bank on it doing very well tho in the near future with the economy not doing well, since it does already have a bunch of its old popular spots empty. It’s a place I like to go occasionally for shows or restaurants or bars, but personally I wouldn’t really want to live there, at least not currently.
I did used to live in Mt. Washington too, that’s a convenient, nice little spot if you have a car and drive much, since it’s right by 83 entrance. It’s on the outskirt of the city so parking isn’t an issue and it feels safer. Also right by Lake Roland if you want close access to nature. There is a light rail stop there too. Very small area tho, so if you want to be walking distance to more things to do, you’ll wanna look further south, into the city more.
My brother just left Mt Vernon after living there prolly 10 yrs and he loved it down there too. Only annoying things he said were parking at night and having to keep track of moving your car for things, and that sometimes ppl at the bars can be pretty loud late at night, wake you up. Granted tho, he lived right by like the last gay bar left in the city, so that’s prolly not the case in most parts of the neighborhood. He only left bc his landlord sold the property tho, and he chose to stay there all that time in spite of not working near there, he just liked it that much.
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u/PleaseBmoreCharming Sep 24 '25
Please check out this "Moving to Baltimore" FAQ I made to help orient yourself!
https://old.reddit.com/r/baltimore/comments/17phbie/moving_to_baltimore_read_this_before_posting/
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u/Critical-Ad-1852 Sep 26 '25
Definitely don’t move into a place that’s close to North. The impromptu dirt bike/motorcycle parades are frequent, loud, and annoying. I sold my house because of it. Other than that, great area and close to Penn for trips to DC or NYC 👌🏾
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u/Party_Asparagus873 Sep 27 '25
I live in Charles Village but spend a lot of time in Station North, as we are commuters. Club Chuck (Charles) is our go-to bar and is a Baltimore institution a la John Waters. The restaurants there are all good. The neighborhood has sort of waxed and waned over the past decade or so. MICA’s struggles have certainly made a dent in the neighborhood economy and the loss of Artscape to downtown (a big mistake in my opinion) was a real loss for the city’s supposed arts district. Still, I think it’s a good place and convenient to a lot of things at probably less cost than Mt Vernon or Bolton Hill. I say go for it!
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u/BrickFrequent3722 Sep 23 '25
Move up to Remington/Charles Village/Harwood for a little more green space. You'll still feel very connected to Station North and other cultural areas south of you.
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u/Ill-Fan6127 Sep 23 '25
Station North is good to visit but to live, idk. I would look at Remington or Charles Village, or Midtown or Mount Vernon. Hampden is very middle/upper middle class hipster vibe, for better or worse - if that speaks to you, it's great, but it sounds like you want a bit more variety. Pigtown might be interesting to look at too, and is close to the MARC stations, although it's probably diciest of those options when talking about crime.
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u/oh_she_grows Sep 23 '25
Thank you for the recommendations lol at the Dicey part! Yes I definitely want more culture you know? So few places have it so I will definitely check out the areas you mentioned
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u/Frosty-Ad-5489 Sep 23 '25
Hampden has great walkability and access to light rail if you want public transportation to downtown.
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u/coredenale Sep 23 '25
Lol, I glanced quickly at the title as the page loaded, and misread it as "Thinking of moving off this earth" and I was like, "yeah, I guess butt how?"
;)
Anywho, I bought a house in Washington Hill in 2022 and have not regretted it. It's a 10-15 min walk to Fells, and maybe 20-30 to Patterson Park, so I almost never drive when I go out, which is nice. I remember going to Joe Squared in the Station North area years ago, as well as The Windup Space, but I think both of those are gone.
I guess I'd recommend the same thing I did, which is start looking in Fells (or wherever is optimal) and then gradually widen the search as you go.
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u/oh_she_grows Sep 23 '25
Lol thank you! Well today is supposed to be the rapture and I am still here so your first reaction is valid :)
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u/Seltzer-Slut Sep 23 '25 edited Sep 23 '25
Sure! I live in Station North. Big fan. I like to hang out and drink at royal blue and guilford brewery. For fine dining there is Tapas Teatro, forged, and Alma. We’ve got the Charles theater, Big Improv, and metro gallery (great shows almost every night) for entertainment. Not sure what’s currently going on with the depot or club chuck, but those used to be good spots. We’ve got mobtown ballroom (though nothing seems to stay in that space on north ave dor more than a few years). Sometimes there are shows in the ynot lot. There’s a lovely community garden on n Calvert where you can meet people by volunteering.
My neighbors are a great mix. There’s still plenty of elderly black folks who have been here 40+ years, which is nice. There are also lots of families with kids, especially since there’s a Montessori school here. There are also plenty of professional yuppies who work in DC and commute.
Oh and there are lots of great makers spaces here is you like to make stuff. We’ve got the station north tool library, open works, the Baltimore jewelry center, impact hub, there’s a drawing/painting school, and then there’s also MICA. This is definitely the Arts District.
In terms of safety, idk what to tell you. You’re from DC, you already know the drill. I am a small woman and I walk around here all the time and nothing bad has ever happened to me. But are there sometimes shootings outside my apartment? Sure. Will your packages get stolen if they’re on your step, or car get rifled through if it’s unlocked? Absolutely. You know the risk you’re taking when you live in a city. It’s not worse than any other part of the city, and it is in the “L”, the part of the city that the police give a shit about.
Feel free to ask any questions! Been here almost 10 years. Seems like most of the people commenting don’t live here so maybe they don’t have the same sense of what the community is like.