Single in the City

 TLDR

I decided to leave the burbs to be single in the city. I only knew about the Inner Harbor but I googled “living in Baltimore city” and found Live Baltimore. They helped me find my perfect neighborhood, Patterson Park, and later became my perfect job as I left corporate life and moved to nonprofit work. I was also able to get some grants and improve my house and my neighborhood. Baltimore is where I belong. The New York Times also thinks it’s a great place to visit, listing it as a spot on their list of 52 places, worldwide, to visit in 2024. 

The New York Times loves Baltimore

My Story

In 2008, I suddenly decided to sell my EOG (end of group) townhouse in Columbia, MD and move to Baltimore City. Columbia is routinely voted one of the best places to live in the country. I was raised there, my mom and dad still lived there, and I worked there. People thought I was crazy. 

I had a friend that had recently moved to Baltimore from Columbia because of the affordability. I was completely jealous of her single neighbor friends (I had none), how neighbors hung out at each other's homes and the fun city activities she was doing. I loved her house and neighborhood for her, but not for me. I didn’t know anything about Baltimore. My parents left Baltimore when I was 5 and I never hung out in the city. I googled “living in Baltimore city” and found the Live Baltimore website. I visited their office on Charles street and discussed my desires in a neighborhood:

• I wanted a rowhome with an open floor plan and parking

• I wanted a good mix of neighbors-age, race, and family status

• I still had to commute to Columbia, so I couldn’t be too far from 95

• I had a dog that loved to walk, but she was only six pounds so not a lot of protection

We looked at a larger map that showed over 200 neighborhoods and I narrowed it down to Federal Hill, Pigtown, and Patterson Park. Talking to Live Baltimore helped me know it was possible to move to Baltimore.

My Columbia house wasn’t selling and I hadn’t found a new home in Baltimore. I was going to take it off the market and reassess my dreams of moving to the city at the end of October. In a plot twist to me being “single in the city, I had met a guy and he was living with me. I received an offer at the end of October and they wanted to be in the house by Thanksgiving. Never underestimate the speed that a closing can happen when the buyer works at a title company, like my buyer did.

I had to find a place to live in 3 weeks. I spent the weekends working with real estate agents looking at rowhomes for rent. I looked in Patterson Park because I had ruled out Federal Hill and Pigtown. As I searched every listing in Patterson Park, I gave up on my dreams of a parking pad. My Ford Escape wasn’t interested in turning in an alley and parking behind a house. In the 11th hour, I found a rental that had an open floor plan, hardwood floors on the first level and even a ½ bath on the first floor. There was no parking pad, but the street was wide and parking didn’t seem challenging. This home was also just one and a half blocks from Patterson Park.

TLDR 2

I bought a house seven doors down from the rental, I got rid of the guy, I created a space for the neighborhood using grants and my connecting skills.

And the rest of my Story

My Grandmother passed away in July 2009. I was home in the middle of the week preparing for her funeral because she said, “don’t leave me above ground too long when I die”, and a vacant house at the end of the street had an auction right on the marble steps. I watched this auction and asked the winner what he was going to do with the house. He said he flipped homes and I said I’m looking for a home. We entered into an agreement for his company to design the house to my specifications. He would save money on marketing and I would get a house that had everything I wanted (and could afford). My neighbor at the time was an architect and offered to do the sketches and my home is in her portfolio. I always say my grandmother got me my house.

My vacant house

My newly rehabbed home

Since moving into my home, I have worked with neighbors and associations to enhance the area with grants. The Chesapeake Bay Trust planted trees throughout the neighborhood along with some individual project that included large planters on a busy city street. I worked with Mural Masters on a Baltimore Arts and Promotion grant for a neighbor’s house. 

Mural and bench by Shawn James and Charles Lawrence

A grant from Southeast CDC along with donations and manpower from my neighbors, lit up three city blocks, starting at the park, over three different neighborhoods.

Look at those lights!!!

Cafe lights closeup with native red buds

A Healthy Neighborhoods matching grant helped me with my rooftop deck. A Spruce Up Grant with Southeast CDC funded another project with Arts and Parks on the side of my home. 

Mural by Nether, deck by Rooftop Decks. That vacant has come a long way!

In this city that I have reclaimed as my home, I hold regular gatherings for neighbors, friends and strangers. Personal connections are so important. My plan was to leave the burbs to downsize and be single in the city.  Plans changed and I designed a home to hold my people. I may still be single in the city, but I will never be alone.

Selfie from my annual birthday brunch-Halloween Theme