Baltimore City to West Virginia
Giving up Charm City for Almost Heaven.
After living in Baltimore city (population ~576,000 as of 2021) for over 7 years — 5 of it single — my wife and I made the decision to sell our townhouse in the Medfield neighborhood of the city early last year (2023) and, in a somewhat risky move at the time, move to and outright buy in a place and state unfamiliar to us at the time: Charles Town, West Virginia (population ~6,500 as of 2021).
Almost a year later, I can say this has been one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life.
We both love West Virginia and miss almost nothing about city life and Baltimore.
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Why We Left Baltimore City:
As a young single man, living near the inner harbor (Federal Hill, Fells Point) with its countless dive bars, eclectic restaurants, and views of the water was very exciting. Whether it was seeing an indie film at The Charles, listening to a concert over Pier 6, or getting out of my comfort zone by participating in Baltimore Improv Group classes, there was never a dearth of things to do and places to visit.
However, after getting married (2020) and moving to Medfield, many of the “value-adds” of the city became irrelevant and over time, the many pressing issues of the city started to add up. In short order, the cons outweighed the pros.
Here are three primary factors that led to us proactively leaving the city (even sacrificing a ~3.00% mortgage rate [2020 purchase] for one over 6.00% [2023]):
Culture of Apathy and General Disregard for Rules — this manifests itself many ways:
Citizens throwing trash out their cars or otherwise in public with little thought or shame (a common occurrence),
Boisterous “dirt bike gangs” that might “randomly” show up at a busy park in the evening [happened to me at Federal Hill Park], or at a busy intersection in downtown,
Aggressive “squeegee” boys (see related fatality) who panhandle at major intersections and may childishly hit cars or spray Windex on doors when declined [both have happened to me]
Cars parking in bike lanes, etc.
This culture of apathy is tied to (worsened by) a general lack of enforcement of the rule of law (see #3 below). Unfortunately, the typical attitude about this from locals is often a reluctant acceptance and “oh, it’s not so bad” — but when viewed with an objective lens, it is quite bad and breeds and demonstrates a general lack of pride in the city and respect for the collective environment.
High Taxes + Poor Public Services — Baltimore has an incredibly high level of taxation (and penchant for regulation: see adoption of red-light cameras), yet unacceptably low levels and quality of public services. Citizens pay a premium for “city life” (walkability, access to cultural establishments), but what is the actual value proposition here? For example:
Baltimore city has the highest property tax in the entire state of Maryland (2.248% of assessed home value). This is more than double than that of nearby Baltimore County (1.10%) as well as that of the second-highest property tax rate in Maryland — Charles County (1.141%).
Baltimore city also extracts a 3.20% Personal Income Tax. This is in addition to the Maryland State Income Tax. According to Wallet Hub, Maryland is ranked as having the 7th highest tax burden in the country (only exceeded by New York, Hawaii, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, and New Jersey).
In return for their investment, Baltimore citizens do not get a good value:
Outdated, ineffective public transit
I took the MARC train from Baltimore (Penn Station) to D.C. (Union Station) every day for work for around 9 months — the station is embarrassingly ugly and dilapidated (e.g., plastic buckets put out to catch rain falling through a leaky roof on platform, amenities many decades old, barely any food options inside); Union Station in D.C. is an entirely different world and level of travel experience compared to Penn Station — like comparing a brand new Porsche with a 20 year old Honda Civic. Penn Station is undergoing a $90M+ renovation, yet over 9 months (June 2022 to March 2023) I barely saw any progress.
Poorly conceived, poorly connected transit options. E.g., the little-known Metro does not connect to Penn Station (e.g., to get to D.C. by Amtrak or MARC heavy-rail). One must get off at a station and walk ~0.5 miles to another station to transfer.
Unreliable and inadequate service: transport may run late, not show up at all, or pass passengers by on the road.
Because of the above issues, locals drive everywhere, and a death spiral of “low ridership” —> “reduced and worsening service” —> “low ridership” —> “reduced and worsening service” ensues and continues to-date. This also exacerbates traffic — particularly in downtown and during any sports events (Ravens, Orioles).
Recycling service that went from weekly to biweekly service in early 2022.
Lowest rated, worst quality public schools in the state; according to the Maryland Department of Education School Report Card, 75% of Baltimore City schools were ranked 1 or 2 stars out of 5. This is in spite of the fact that Baltimore is the 4th most well-funded education system in the country (~$21,606 per student in Baltimore): only NYC, Boston, and Washington D.C. receive more funding per student. The problem is not lack of funding; it is culture and poor leadership (in my opinion).
From personal experience in our neighborhood, potholes that laid dormant for months before getting fixed.
High Crime, Lack of Enforcement and Prosecution
For decades, Baltimore has been ranked among the top ten most dangerous cities in America — often alongside the likes of Detroit and St. Louis.
From personal experience, we had our own car broken into, many neighbors’ cars broken into (both in Medfield and Federal Hill), a neighbor was car-jacked at gunpoint, etc.
My wife did not feel safe walking outside at night in our own neighborhood. This was (is) a terrible feeling: not feeling comfortable and safe in your neighborhood without artificial restrictions; a sense of anxiety, fear, and paranoia.
As a prominent example, squeegee boys were allowed to be on the streets for years (despite it being already outlawed). After the fatality of Timothy Reynolds, a “new ban” was implemented, yet its effect on behavior (and level of enforcement) has been questionable.
Although the newest city prosecutor has been seeking and implementing welcome changes in enforcement, historically crimes in the city were often never prosecuted — which reinforced both a perception and reality that criminals can circumvent the law with nary a repercussion.
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On a personal note, I do not have high hopes for the long-term prospects of Baltimore city.
Individuals and businesses are fleeing the city, and the lack of investment in strong public transit (e.g., high speed rail to D.C.) is a major hindrance to job mobility. IMO, there is very little propping up the city other than Johns Hopkins University and University of Maryland; one needs to move closer to D.C. for the highest paying jobs (e.g., law, tech, government contracting).
After more than 7 years of living in Charm City, I (and my wife) had to say goodbye. We were lucky and fortunate to have this proactive choice; many locals are undoubtedly “stuck” in their home and situation, due to financial or family obligations.
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When my wife and I were in the process of selling our Baltimore townhouse, we considered many places.
Affordability, access to nature, and a space for our two large (~92lbs and 108lbs) dogs were important factors.
Over the course of many months, we researched and at times actively considered Mt. Rainier, MD; Hyattsville, MD; Burkittsville, MD; Brunswick, MD; Occoquan, VA; Woodbridge, VA; Sterling, VA; Ashburn, VA; Leesburg, VA; Hamilton, VA; Purcellville, VA; Round Hill, VA; Shannondale, WV; Silver Grove, WV; Harpers Ferry, WV; Bolivar, WV; Halltown, WV; Charles Town, WV; Ranson, WV; and Shenandoah Junction, WV.
Our favorite places were historic Leesburg, VA; downtown Purcellville, VA; and Bolivar and adjacent Harpers Ferry, WV.
Predominantly because of high interest rates + sky-high real estate prices (particularly in northern Virginia), coupled with a hard veto from my wife of buying another townhouse (we didn’t think it would be totally worth moving out of Baltimore unless we “upgraded” to a SFH), we ended up buying in West Virginia.
After losing out on three bids on Harpers Ferry (or Bolivar) homes, we ended up “settling” for Charles Town, which is about two towns over and ~12 minutes away from Harpers Ferry, yet still has relatively good public schools and strong access to MD and VA (for better health care, better [high-paying] jobs, “fancy” stores like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s, etc). We visited the town multiple times and did as much research as we could, in order to be reasonably informed.
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Nearly one year later, West Virginia has a been a breath of fresh air (literally and figuratively), and I can see myself living here for quite some time (10+ years, if not the rest of my life).
This state is not without its significant problems (that’ll be for another post!), but the standard, negative stereotypes of West Virginia are largely misinformed or off the mark, in my humble opinion.
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Why We Love West Virginia:
Stunning, Largely Untouched Nature
West Virginia is the 3rd most rural state in the country — exceeded only by Maine and Vermont. While we live in a suburb of Charles Town, within 5 miles there are no shortages of huge open fields, farms, horses, and cows.
Incredibly scenic Harpers Ferry (among the Top 10 Most Beautiful Places I’ve visited) is only ~12 minute drive away and Shepherdstown is only 20 minutes away. This is not to mention the multitude of other impressive places we have yet to visit, like the New River Gorge.
A whopping 78.1% of the state remains forested. The Mountain State is a green one.
Subjective taste aside, West Virginia is in the running for being one of the most beautiful states in the country
Warm, Friendly People
In my experience, the locals are noticeably warm and friendly; compared to Baltimore, the typical cashier or store assistant (like at Home Depot) is appreciably more cheerful / pleasant to interact with.
People in my neighborhood say hello when you walk past them, wave when you drive past them, and are generally chatty.
Anecdotally, the people are West Virginia are also known as being kind (7th kindest in the nation according to The United States of Kindness survey) and extremely generous.
(Practically) No Traffic: there are barely any people in West Virginia (total population ~1.8 million as of 2021). There are no real “city” cities — the largest city is the capital, Charleston (not to be confused with Charles Town where we live!), which only has a population of about 48,000 as of 2021. Getting around town is so easy and stress-free:
I rarely hit a stop light (also helped by a fair amount of round-abouts in my area).
Apart from a poorly designed intersection (Foxcroft Avenue) up in Martinsburg near Interstate 81, I have never experienced notable traffic in West Virginia (that is reserved for Virginia and Maryland!).
Despite moving from a city to a small town with very few stores, it is now faster to get to my most common destinations. E.g.,
~6 minute drive to Home Depot in Ranson, WV versus previous 14 minute drive from Medfield to Reisterstown, MD
~7 minute drive to Walmart in Charles Town versus 20 minute drive to Harbor East Whole Foods or Canton Target
On a related note: there is almost never a line at the grocery store.
Respect for Rules and Order
Notable population of military veterans (about 10% of population, according to the West Virginia V.A.).
Strong support for police (“blue line” bumper stickers), several Sheriffs that live in my immediate area.
Extremely high (legal) gun ownership: 5th highest in country, with 58.5% of households owning a gun (higher only in ID, AK, WY, and MT).
Many large guard dogs (I see Great Danes, Rottweilers, and GSDs often); most popular dog in WV is a German Shepherd (unique amongst states in the country). As an aside, there are lots of dogs in the state — West Virginia has the 2nd highest rate of pet ownership in the U.S..
Perhaps correlated to the above, West Virginia is generally safe: it has the 42nd lowest Crime Rate in the country (bested only by its neighbor VA, and RI, VT, NJ, ID, ME, MA, and NH).
Low Cost of Living
One of the lowest property tax rates in the nation: 8th lowest in nation at 0.58%. On a dollar-for-dollar basis, my property tax bill in West Virginia is about 6 times lower than that in Baltimore.
No local income tax (just WV State income tax); when I first moved to Charles Town from Baltimore, my biweekly pay checks went up by ~$100, just due to the lower taxation. That’s an additional $2600 per year in my pocket, just by moving away from a high-tax area.
Home insurance and car insurance are both notably lower than Baltimore: I have better insurance terms than before, yet still pay less. Unlike Baltimore city, where car insurance premiums likely subsidize a disproportionate amount of car theft, car insurance premiums in WV likely subsidize accidents with deer.
Likely a result of lower average household income and supply-demand, everyday goods and services are noticeably cheaper compared to Maryland and Virginia. E.g.,
Gas is usually ~20-25 cents cheaper per gallon in my area than in adjacent Loudoun County, VA.
My wife’s haircut at the salon in WV is ~$150, while she used to pay closer to $220 in Baltimore.
Our vet’s bill in WV is about 60% of what it was in Towson, MD.
A standard oil change can be had for ~$40 in WV, which would be closer to $55 in the Baltimore area.
I estimate that on average, groceries are ~10-15% cheaper in Charles Town than Baltimore.
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People often state that Baltimore is an “affordable” city for the East Coast (e.g., compared to Philadelphia, NYC, Boston, D.C.), but I found it to be actually quite expensive for what you get.
Our Charles Town home’s purchase price was only ~15% more than the sale price of our Baltimore townhouse, yet we:
Nearly doubled the square footage (~1800 to 3500+)
Gained a fenced-in yard for our dogs (and future kids)
Gained a driveway that fits four vehicles
Have reliable, weekly trash and recycling service (privatized)
Feel much safer and more private
Have much better public schools (unusual for West Virginia; Jefferson County has among the best schools in the state)
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All in all, we love where we are living and the increase in quality of life.
I get excited whenever we cross back into West Virginia (from being in Virginia): views of the Shenandoah River, large open fields, little to no cars on the road, and no speeding cameras (prohibited by state law)…
Country roads now take me to home, sweet home; “Almost Heaven” indeed.