Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:03 Welcome to another episode of Moving to Maryland. I'm here with Tressa, Nick. Megan. Hey guys. Hey, good morning. Hey. Hey. So Nick, you do a great job at explaining where these neighborhoods are located. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, what, where, how would you say this? Uh, Roland Park is located,
Speaker 2 00:00:14 Roland Park is in the northern part of Baltimore City, so it's right off of Interstate 83, between Northern Parkway and Cold Spring Lane. So it's super close to Towson, other parts east of the city, and really good access downtown.
Speaker 1 00:00:29 And, uh, trust that Scott, it's got a lot of history, right.
Speaker 3 00:00:31 It has a ton of history, um, developed back in about 18 80, 18 90 by a company called Roland Park Company, right? Yep. Roland Park Company. Um, it actually was developed as a suburb. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> to the city at that time. I believe it was the first one in the us Right. Don't hold me to that <laugh>, um, yeah. Street. It was called Streetcar Suburb.
Speaker 4 00:00:54 It's a streetcar suburb, yeah. Street because suburb suburbs Yes. Suburb. Exactly. Directly correlated with the railroads. So people would basically take a street car and get there. Right. And
Speaker 3 00:01:03 What were the name of the developers again? It
Speaker 4 00:01:05 Was, it was Edward Bowen and Frederick Law Olmsted. And Olmsted, as we know, help design Patterson Park here in Baltimore, but also actually design New York City's, um, central Park, but also a lot of other amazing architectural,
Speaker 2 00:01:17 The National Mall, the Jefferson Memorial. He's really, really well, well known internationally. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:01:24 And we know what's really interesting about that neighbor Roland Park, is we argue for 20 minutes calling it a suburb. Right? Right. So we think of a, like, I think of a suburb as outside of the city, but it's suburb like in the city, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>,
Speaker 4 00:01:36 I think that's what is the, one of the major draws to Roland Park is it's only 15 minutes from downtown. You're still technically in Baltimore City, but you, the neighborhood is more suburbia like, right. Versus Fells Point or Canton, where you're direct access to, you know, bars and restaurants. Right. So I think that's kind of where we were having that difficult distinction.
Speaker 1 00:01:58 So it's got a lot of characteristics of like a Towson, which, you know, I would think is a suburb of, of Baltimore city. Right. Um, you know, walkability. It doesn't have the walkability of like a Fells point or a Canton, or a Locust point. Right.
Speaker 3 00:02:11 Well, you can walk to some things though. You know, you can walk on a cold spring lane where there are some restaurants right there, Alonzos and Miss Shirley's. Yeah. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you can walk to that.
Speaker 1 00:02:20 Yeah. I mean, we're, so, we're, we're not talking, it's not rural. Mm-hmm. Not at all. But it's not like, I mean, sure you can walk places, right? Certain, but it's not, doesn't have the density of a, a, one of the inner city neighborhoods. Right. No,
Speaker 2 00:02:32 You can't, you know, walk depending on where you are if you're closer to Falls Road or, or that you, you're pretty close, but it's not like Fells Point or Canton where you're, you know, within five things right. Outside your front door. But people like that because they like, you know, being close enough, but far enough away where you still retain your peace and quiet and not having the hustle and bustle of being downtown.
Speaker 4 00:02:51 Right. And I think too, if you wanna be in the Baltimore City area where Fells Point is Canton, you're only 15 minutes away. You can take 83, which is very close, and then you're also 10 minutes away from Penn Station, which is a really good factor for a lot of, uh, commuters. People
Speaker 1 00:03:06 That working out at DC or mm-hmm. <affirmative> up in Philadelphia or New York, you know, it, it does have, uh, a range of price points. Uh, but you, you do, like, I do know a lot of, uh, affluent people that live up there, so it's very popular. Like if you're an attorney that works downtown and you know, you want that yard space, but you don't wanna have to drive further out to Right. To, to get home. Right? Mm-hmm. Exactly.
Speaker 3 00:03:28 Same with doctors. I've had a couple of doctors buy houses there so that they, their commute to downtown hospitals is short, particularly if they're on call and have to come in the, in the middle of the night. They don't wanna be driving 30, 40 minutes to get to work. Right. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:03:41 You know, uh, what a lot of times people say, I wanna look in Roland Park. And then also Gilford and Homeland, they, they kind of get looped together. It's like those three in a very similar way that like, uh, Canton, federal Hill. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> or like, kind of looped together downtown. Right. Those three are sort of looped together. Right.
Speaker 4 00:03:56 I agree. Yeah. They all have that very, um, I don't know, when you, if you've never visited these areas, it's, it's overwhelming. The, you just know you're in Roland Park, you're in Gilford, you're in Homeland. It's a totally different feel architecture wise. It's just very historic and very homey. Right. Is almost a good way to explain it.
Speaker 1 00:04:17 I love Roland Park because the lush greenery, it's, there's a lot of, uh, like streams and parks and, uh, a lot of the houses just have a lot of, uh, separation with, with trees and bushes. What, what, uh, what is it you like about Roland Park? Dress space
Speaker 3 00:04:30 Is good. There's, um, I like that the houses are different from block to block. Like my favorite street in Roland Park is Hawthorne, get a chance, drive down Hawthorne. It's right off of Cold Spring Lane. There are just very interesting homes on that road. I always loved it for 30 years, but there are of course houses everywhere. Yeah. <laugh> and, um, but they're not, they're not the most expensive houses in Roland Park, but it's a really quaint street. So if you wanna entertain yourself, drive down Hawthorne. Um, but I also, um, I like that the houses have been maintained through the generations mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So you might not find every house to have a brand new kitchen, brand new bathrooms, or you won't most likely. Yeah. But as each family lives there, they improve something and then they move on and they leave it to the next family to improve things. Cuz as you know, you can spend a lot of money renovating these older homes. So one house may put a new kitchen in, and then the next family may come and put new bathrooms in. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and the next family may come and redo all the windows, but the heart of the home remains. Yeah. And that history, you feel it when you walk through those houses. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:05:42 I think there's a sense of like maturity, um, especially like in the landscaping, but also the houses. Like, there's just, it's been there for so long, so many generations. There's just a sense of maturity, the nature. It's a really awesome vibe.
Speaker 1 00:05:56 What are your favorite restaurants?
Speaker 4 00:06:00 I like, uh, well, I like Miss Shirley's. That's a wonderful breakfast pie. It is awesome.
Speaker 2 00:06:07 Johnny's Johnny's, yeah. There's
Speaker 3 00:06:09 A lot. Look, they're great too, cuz they're next door too. They're right
Speaker 4 00:06:11 Next
Speaker 1 00:06:11 Door. Next
Speaker 2 00:06:12 Door. Yeah. So if you can't, if you can't, you know, you try to walk in, you can't get into one, you just pop over the other one. See if you can't Exactly.
Speaker 4 00:06:18 The
Speaker 2 00:06:18 Table. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:06:19 So what about, you know, just the, the basic lifestyle amenities, um, you know, uh, hairstyle, salons, I mean, do they have like down, you know, like when you're down in, in Fells point, they're everywhere. Like salons and bars and restaurants and cvs and Walmart, you know, all the shopping. Not Walmart, but, um, target and <laugh>. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:06:38 It's, it's, you have a little thing scattered here and there, like we said, like Miss Shirley's and, and drive up to Towson and everything. Yeah. They're all within the neighborhood. They're short distances, but for most of that you have Belvedere Square. If you head more over towards York Road, you're still super close to Towson. Um, and even if there is something specifically downtown or even in Timonium and everything is really close, you just have to go a little bit north and, um, north and east of the neighborhood. But it's all still super close. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:07:03 Well you have Eddie's
Speaker 4 00:07:04 That too. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:07:05 Eddie's is Gros great grocery store. It's more of a grocery store. Yeah. More than a grocery store. And of course, next to it, now you have Starbucks. Yep.
Speaker 4 00:07:13 <laugh>, which
Speaker 3 00:07:14 Is,
Speaker 1 00:07:14 When I think of Roland Park, I think about private schools.
Speaker 4 00:07:17 Yeah. Private schools. I mean, excellent. Private schools mean you are not without your schools in Roland Park, <laugh>. Right. And there's one on like every corner the
Speaker 1 00:07:25 Same place. You just drive up through Roland Park and you got like Gillman and, um,
Speaker 2 00:07:30 Lakefield,
Speaker 4 00:07:30 Western High School, Roland Park Country School,
Speaker 2 00:07:34 Poly Polytechnic is right there too. Off Falls Road.
Speaker 1 00:07:36 Good public schools too. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:07:38 Probably the poly public. Yeah. Probably. My friend teaches at Poly, so I'm a little biased <laugh>, but it's probably the best city high school out there. But that's just, you know, that's just me. Yeah. But
Speaker 1 00:07:47 It's so, you know, I, I have, uh, some, some good friends that live in, uh, Roland Park and they like have, they have like 4th of July parties, like a real neighborly vibe in, in Roland Park. I just, um, absolutely. You guys think,
Speaker 4 00:08:00 Yeah. I mean, so there's also like, it's definitely family oriented is a way to put it. And there's a local pool that you can go to. It's like 40 bucks for the year, but you can all go there, meet new friends, families, neighbors. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um,
Speaker 1 00:08:15 Welcome for everybody. Exactly. Like we always have to say, you know, like, everybody's welcome, but really good for families. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:08:21 But like, you see everybody walking around, like there's the, um, lake Roland Trail and Lake Roland Park where there's, you know, walking trails, dog parks, like an education center for kids. It's just, there's things to do, even though it might not be as crazy as like Fells point, it's just a little bit more family oriented and focuses on community and neighborhood.
Speaker 1 00:08:43 And we didn't talk about the universities right there. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So you have, uh, Loyola, right.
Speaker 2 00:08:47 Loyola's really close. Johns Hopkins is very close and Towson University is also really close.
Speaker 4 00:08:53 Notre
Speaker 1 00:08:54 Dame Stevenson. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Right. So, so I mean, even so higher education, there's, there's a lot of options. If there's a
Speaker 2 00:08:59 Lot. Yeah. Especially if you're, you know, masters, you're in the academic field, you know, if you're other professor or somebody who works in school administration, I mean, if, if education is your, your field, I mean, there's not only through private education, but higher education as well. A lot of really good job opportunities for people out there.
Speaker 1 00:09:17 So access to highways, I mean, I know it's right off 83, which is probably be the main way to get into the city and out mm-hmm. <affirmative> the county, but you're not too far from the bellway. It's pretty good access to roads.
Speaker 4 00:09:26 No very good access. You just can take 83 and Yeah. Get right off onto 6 95, so yeah.
Speaker 1 00:09:31 Yep. Yep. Um, when I think about real estate there, now, now there, there is some, uh, you know, um, uh, lower cost townhomes, right? There's a, there's,
Speaker 3 00:09:41 There's a, there's a wonderful townhouse community. It's called Roland Springs. Mm-hmm. It's right off of Cold Spring Lane near Miss Shirley's and Alonzos. Yep. And homes. They're very affordable. They're spacious. They, um, have a, a community pool, which is really nice. If you have kids during the summertime, it's like being on vacation all summer, getting there. <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:10:04 So I'm, I'm, I'm gonna, uh, put you guys on the spot. What, what, so when you think of like Roland Park in Gilford, what's the big difference
Speaker 2 00:10:10 Style of home? For me personally? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah. I mean, cause as someone who's a bit of an architecture fan, when I think of Roland Park, my favorite style of homes are these beautiful big stone tutors. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, you see a lot of them. Um, and then when you kind of get more into Gilford, you see more of the traditional federal style brick with ionic columns. Right. You see
Speaker 1 00:10:30 More mans
Speaker 2 00:10:31 Tables, more, more mansions. Um, but I think with Roland Park, I mean the architecture, I mean, it's not all tutors. Don't quote me on that. Those are just my personal favorite. You do get more federal style homes. Yeah. You do get a lot of different styled architecture because people were able to purchase and design their own houses as the, as the, um, the neighborhood grew. But the architecture, I think is definitely the biggest,
Speaker 4 00:10:52 My favorite are the Victorian style homes in Roland Park. Like, oh my God, you drive by them and it, it just takes your breath away because they're like built from the mid 18 hundreds and just are still in amazing condition. Almost 10,000 square feet, like massive homes, which is absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 3 00:11:12 I think a lot of the original homes were on Roland Avenue, so you'll, you can mm-hmm. <affirmative> really see some of those big, beautiful Victorians you're talking about.
Speaker 1 00:11:20 You know, we didn't talk about Mount Washington, which is I think is a really good, like, if you're, um, wanna be more cost effective and get a very similar type of house, similar yard, similar, uh, you know, greenery, um, that's not a neighborhood that we'll talk about in, in another episode, but something you should certainly consider cuz it's, it's kind of like Canton, brewers Hill. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, like it's, you know, canton's a little more expensive, a little more prime, like Roland Park is. Um, what do you think about that dress?
Speaker 3 00:11:47 No, I agree. I love Mount Washington. I think the homes there exquisite.
Speaker 1 00:11:53 Yeah. You got the whole foods and,
Speaker 4 00:11:54 And it's only like 10 minutes, not even, not even,
Speaker 2 00:11:56 Yeah. Yeah. Just the other side of the river. Right,
Speaker 4 00:11:59 Exactly.
Speaker 1 00:12:00 So we're gonna wrap this episode up. Do you guys think there's anything else you would share about Roland Park, somebody's considering exploring moving to Roland Park or in that whole area?
Speaker 3 00:12:09 I just think if you are looking for more of a, uh, suburban feel, but don't wanna have to be involved in the commute of what the suburbs, you know, make you make <laugh>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>,
Speaker 1 00:12:23 It's like a real good park
Speaker 3 00:12:24 Is a great area,
Speaker 1 00:12:25 Happy medium to Yeah. As
Speaker 3 00:12:26 A happy medium. Yeah. Of,
Speaker 1 00:12:28 Of what we described it as a suburb, not a suburb. Uh, what do you, what do you think, Nick?
Speaker 2 00:12:32 Oh, say if it's a suburb, I think it is a suburb. <laugh>, but, um, but for people moving Roland Park, if you want, I think it, it, it comes with Roland Park comes with a lifestyle that I think you really want to have these historic homes in a great community. Um, and if that's something that you're really looking for, I mean, you'll, you'll just visit there for the first time and fall in love with it. Yeah. And it's, it's a great place for people to raise a family and great people to be for generations live there, people own houses for a hundred years. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, it's, it's a, it's a lifestyle you buy into and a lot of people won't change it for anything. Right.
Speaker 4 00:13:09 I think if you wanna be involved in a community, have a say in the neighborhood that, you know, they have like a volunteer committee, Roland Park Civic Center, where they're helping with zoning issues, safety, everything, but like, they just involve the residents there. You know, whether you live 20 minutes or, you know, all within Roland Park, but there's just, you can put your stamp on your, in, on your say into that community. And it's just a really amazing neighborhood in Baltimore city.
Speaker 1 00:13:35 Right. Before Covid, my wife wanted to move to Roland Park and I convinced her to stay in Canton. And then c o v came, came and everybody stopped. All of the benefit of being in that location went away for like a year and a half. Right. <laugh>, you know, and I was like, oh, I'm glad we should be at Roland Park with a yard and everything. But, um, no, we, we love where we're at, but it, it, it's definitely, uh, if we leave Canton, it's gonna be a place that we consider because, you know, the lo everything we just talked about, Sorea, Nick, Megan and I are realtors with the Greatest Moves team at Remax Advantage. If you want to explore Roland Park or any of the communities around Baltimore City, in Baltimore City, uh, um, in the suburbs, <laugh> the suburbs in the city and the suburbs out of the city, reach out. We'd love to help. Take care.
