Where do you want to live?? Downtown or in Columbia?? Downtown neighborhoods to look at would be Mt Vernon Fed Hill Canton. Downtown Columbia is getting pretty built up with a lot of cool new apartment buildings and restaurants

Ya know itd be super nice to live in Columbia, but my price range is around 850$ / month and that is hard to find in those areas.

Mt Vernon has some cool apartments in old brownstones for that price

I commuted from Federal Hill to Columbia for about a year. My commute was at off times (12pm-8pm) so traffic wasn't bad. 95 can be a pain though no matter the time of day,so just be prepared for that. For me, living in the city was important because I wanted to be able to walk places. Columbia is very car dependent. Also depending on where you work in Columbia it could be quite a commute from the city.

That’s good to know. I have options as far as Dundalk but that would be a huge pain in the ass. I don’t mind the driving at all I just want to be in a decent area for a decent price. Thanks for your help.

Yeah, you won't find anything around that price in the suburbs, unless of course you rent with a roommate and that's few and far between. Mt. Vernon is probably the best option in terms of affordability + safety, but of course the tradeoff is commute time. If you do look in the city, avoid Bay Property Management like the plague.

Lol yeah- I think I need to save up for anywhere in the suburbs which is what I kind of expected. And I haven’t seen them anywhere yet but I’ll keep my eye out, thank you!

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If you want to be in a decent area you’re better staying out of Baltimore

Wish I could but I have to relocate for work unfortunately

Dundalk is not a decent area

There are definitely places in Baltimore that are quiet & safe. They tend to cost more but aren’t wildly priced imo. Like any urban area, you just need to know where to go and where not to go. People who live outside of the city often don’t know the difference and see the whole city area as a hazardous cesspool.

If you’re working in Columbia and have a car, consider River Hill, Fulton, and Maple Lawn.

Good advice- I will look! Thank you (:

If you will be working in Columbia I would probably just live there, commuting from Baltimore will be a big pain. Certainly Dundalk makes no sense at all. Although not exactly bustling there are some urban amenities and plenty of housing choices. You will be close to baltimore and dc for weekend fun stuff.

Most of the places for rent in Columbia that I’m finding are like 1200 or more monthly. I’m in the process of trying to save and go back to school so I’m trying to save as much as possible

yeah, rent is $$$ everywhere- but commuting can be a big cost too- especially from Dundalk or other parts of East Baltimore- you would have to go through the tunnel ($) or drive through town which could take forever. You could look in western baltimore county- arbutus/catonsville not sure it would be much cheaper though-

I know rent is positively ridiculous. I got some good leads from the helpful people of Reddit so far I’ve got a few showings that aren’t inner city but are cheap too. Thanks!