How Safe is Baltimore these days?

June 30, 2024 8:11 PM

I'm planning to visit Baltimore in August...maybe. How safe is the area around the Art Gallery, the American Visionary Art Museum, the George Peabody Library? Also planning to visit the Baltimore improv theatre. And while talking about it, what are the cool sights in the city?
posted by storybored to Travel & Transportation around Baltimore, MD (6 answers total)

I mean, safety is relative. Perhaps because I grew up in Baltimore my level of anxiety when it comes to crime is pretty low. But anyway, I no longer live there, but visit my parents and talk with their social circle with some regularity. Random violent crime has gone up, and some of them have been victims of such crime in the last couple of years (always downtown, always at night). But the odds of something bad happening to you over the course of a short visit are still very, very, low. I mean, I wouldn't go on aimless strolls late at night, but use common sense and you'll be fine. My parents regularly go out late at night to the theater and music concerts, and nothing bad has ever happened to them in the last 40 years.

As to what to see:
-There are various theaters in Baltimore - so if you like theater generally, I'd check what's on offer and go to whatever appeals. I've personally never been disappointed by anything I saw at the Everyman Theater. Center Stage is also solid, and near the Peabody Library.

-By Art Gallery, I assume you mean the Walters? There is also the Baltimore Museum of Art. Both are still free, I believe, and worth seeing.

-If you like old buildings, the main branch of the Enoch Pratt library (the public library) is in a really cool old building, and it's an easy walk from the Walters Art Gallery. It's also next to a food bank/place for unhoused women, so do expect to see some people having a rough time of it - it's been that way forever though, and I've gone there countless times, as a little kid with my mom, and later as a teen on my own. Never had a problem.

-The aquarium really is top notch.

-If you're there on a weekend, the main farmer's market downtown is excellent, and ruined me for future farmers markets. It's actually an affordable market, with some tasty prepared foods too.
posted by coffeecat at 7:21 AM on July 1 [7 favorites]

I was recently on a work trip to Baltimore, staying a few blocks from the AVAM and wandering over there for a visit since I hadn't been in years. The relatives I was visiting, who live a ten minute walk away along the harborfront, were full of dire "are you SURE you want to stay there, that's the BAD side of the harbor, where the MUGGINGS AND MURDER happen," but honestly it seemed fine to me. I wasn't wandering around alone at midnight or anything but I felt perfectly comfortable as a woman alone walking around that area during the day or evening. Possibly (almost certainly) my relatives have been reading too much sensationalized news.

I didn't hit the aquarium on this visit but agree it is always a good time based on previous visits.

When I'm in town I always like to see what the upcoming performance schedule at the Red Room is, if experimental art/music stuff happens to be your jam.
posted by Stacey at 7:44 AM on July 1 [3 favorites]

My view as someone who has lived in Baltimore for about 16 years (so admittedly, my sense of what would alarm a visitor is not calibrated) is that all of those things are in incredibly safe areas and you'll be fine. IMO the biggest issue is just that it can be absurdly hot/humid in August.

Other notes: I generally prefer the BMA to the Walters, but both are very good museums. The George Peabody Library has pretty limited public hours so definitely plan around those if you want to go there (it's very cool but won't take very long; it's in a nice area to walk around and close to the Walters). Baltimore improv group is adjacent to areas that will be visually the dodgiest of your list, but that area is also safe and I walk around there at night all the time. The AVAM is a bit further from the other things you mention and if you don't have a car you'd probably want to uber/lyft. But it is worth the trip, it's a great museum, and walking around the harbor area can be nice, modulo the currently failed mallzone in inner harbor. (Also, agreeing with the previous comment's first-hand impressions, and strongly disagreeing with their relatives, that there's anything dangerous near the avam. I'm fairly perplexed by this idea in fact.)
posted by advil at 8:30 AM on July 1

Too many negations, and I missed the edit window: to be clear, I think the avam is not in a remotely dangerous area, and I'm perplexed that someone would even think it is.
posted by advil at 8:36 AM on July 1 [1 favorite]

I lived in the city proper for several years (not far from the Walters, actually), and am just over the County line nowadays. I have spent most of my adult life in large cities so I have a good frame of reference.

Baltimore is kinda rough but not the post-apocalyptic wasteland it gets portrayed as in right wing media.

It's just sort of mildly chaotic - for example, drivers are more likely to try to aggressively nudge you out of the crosswalk while you're crossing the street than anywhere I've lived. (Also, pedestrians wander into the road while you're driving.)

I never feel especially unsafe in Baltimore, and I'm a very petite woman who is usually on my own when I go into the city. I typically feel like I should pay attention to my surroundings, but I feel like that everywhere.

I agree with the recommendation to go to the under bridge farmers market if you're there on a Sunday morning. Get there right at opening time, because it can get super crowded. See if you can find the seafood vendor who posts a trivia question and gives a free lobster tail to whoever gets it right. You can also get a pit beef sandwich.

Check around to see if there are any street festivals happening during your visit. Baltimore has amazing street festivals! It won't matter what the theme is - books, flowers, Ukraine, Italy, a church fundraiser - you'll have a good time, find good food, and chances are solid you'll see a margarita truck.
posted by champers at 9:04 AM on July 1 [2 favorites]

I lived in Baltimore without a car for four years, so I relied on public transit (primarily the bus, secondarily the Light Rail) for my transportation. That has been 20 years ago now (I miss you Baltimore!!), but I only felt unsafe one time, and that was an issue of sexual harassment.

The one place I'd recommend visiting I haven't seen mentioned is the Great Blacks in Wax Museum. It's exactly what it sounds like: a wax museum of famous/notable Black people. I've never seen anything else like it. The "Cash Crop" exhibition sounds fascinating and moving as well.
posted by epj at 1:16 PM on July 2 [1 favorite]