Oh yea that’s what’s up.

Great! I'll take a long weekend this month and go check out all these. Ngl I kind of want to live in Pig Town for the name alone.

Sally Kervin is a full-time dog and cat sitter and has her own business WIDGET WALKS, LLC named after one of her cats. She has her own multi pet household. She truly goes above and beyond and is lovely. She provided amazing care to my elderly cat who needed multiple medications. Let me know and I can send you her contact info.

Man I'm sorry to hear that! You definitely ARE doing everything you would need to, so kudos to you. Like with anything, don't force it. If it ain't working, it ain't working. I wish you the best of luck.

awesome, thanks so much!

Great! I appreciate the reference!

Bojangles is also about to come out with a hard sweet tea. "Twisted Tea" style

Maybe it’s me, but I’ll have to disagree with people here. I’m a little anxious but generally I’m pretty gregarious and I did very well socially in Chicago and New Orleans. I have had a devastatingly hard time finding friends here and it’s been very straining on my mental health and is making me consider moving back to my hometown. I joined Volo, I take a weekly language class, I’m in a book club, I have a cool job where I meet a lot of people, I go to the rock climbing gym the same time every week, I hang out at the same dive bar when I go out and try to be a regular. I’m doing all the things you’re supposed to do, and every time it seems like people are just friends with the same people they grew up with or they’re a Hopkins/TFA person and they’re just passing through.

Maybe this is just an easy coast thing and it’s easier to make friends in the south, but I really don’t feel like this is a friendly or welcoming city (in fact, it’s by a very long measure the rudest and least friendly place I’ve lived).

That said, there’s so much I like about it and I’m really trying to make it work, but I just can’t seem too.

https://www.volosports.com/Baltimore

Yea I think Pig Town would be a good place to look then! Hollins Market is the neighborhood right next to Pig Town. And Ridgleys is the neighborhood next to Camden Yards. I think it’s technically called Ridgleys Delight. It’s fairly small but has some apartment complexes I was looking at when I was moving.

So, for reference, I have lived on Chamberlayne and in Jackson Ward in Richmond, if you know anything about those. I also worked in Gilpin Court for the housing authority for a while. So I don't necessarily need "buttoned-up," I just don't want, for example, to be woken up by gunshots every other weekend lol.

Federal Hill and Pigtown are the other 2 I was looking at, I just couldn't remember them. When I was in Baltimore I actually stayed either in or within walking distance of Mt. Vernon and LOVED that area. That's where the Walter Museum is, right?

Affordability will definitely be key so I'd love to check out Hollins Market and Ridgleys as well. Thank you!

Yup, that's 100% me! If I'm around people I feel comfortable with, I can be the life of the party. But then I need to recharge for a while. If I'm meeting a group of people for the first time I'm a lot more reserved.

I live in Federal Hill. It’s affordable but a lot of people don’t like it because it has a lot of college kids. Based on my limited experience of Baltimore Fells Point is somewhat expensive. I hang out a lot in Pig Town, Hollins Market, and Ridgleys, the first 2 being “up and coming” neighborhoods so they aren’t going to be as buttoned up as you may be used to in Richmond but they are just as safe as anywhere in Baltimore from my experience and a lot cheaper than some other neighborhoods. I also recommend Hampden (kind of an artsy neighborhood) and Mt Vernon. Fells point isn’t bad it’s just kinda touristy and you can get just as nice places for less. If you don’t mind college kids I love Federal Hill and it’s super close to the inner harbor. With any city just make sure to visit where you are going to live because things can change drastically from one block to the next as far as safety goes.

Honestly I think looneys was doing fine there. It's just that they have like 4 or 5 other locations and that's prime real estate so they sold and made a ton while still having multiple other locations, all in newer buildings, to continue the revenue coming in.

That's really cool, I'm happy for you. I'm not super outgoing either and I don't always initiate conversation but I'm very open to it.
Do you mind if I ask what part of Baltimore you live in? I'm looking at places like Fell's Point or Upper Fell's Point. I really want to live in the city proper but in a safe and relatively affordable part.

Your last sentence struck me, I’m one of those right in the middle. I’m without a doubt am introvert but I like to be a part of social situations. But when I’m ready to tap out, well I’m ready to tap out lol.

DM if you decide to come here and wanna make friends.

This isn't new, so you probably weren't giving Looney's the business it needed to survive if you're just finding out.

I love this comment so much 😂

That's great to hear! I'm actually a native Austinite myself. KC's cool too, best BBQ in the country (next to Austin )

Hell yes

I just moved here about 6 months ago. From a city very similar to Richmond. I would say as long as you go outside it is very easy to meet people. I’m in my mid 30s, I just started going to a bar near my house on a regular basis and people are very friendly and chat you up. I’ve made a lot of friends I see regularly now. Something I have never experienced before honestly and I’m not particularly outgoing.

One of the things I love most about living in Baltimore is that everyone is so friendly and open to meeting new people. Also, they call it Smalltimore for a reason. It is very neighborhood centric here so once you start meeting people they all know each other in the neighborhood and a friend of a friend becomes your friend just because you live in the same neighborhood. And you start seeing them out at all the bars and restaurants. I really like it here a lot.

ETA: best days to make friends is on Ravens game days. Everyone is out and in a good mood, happy to have a chat. When I first moved here it was honestly my favorite day to go out because I would meet and hang with so many people.

Great! I like cities with actual neighborhoods and I love trying out new places.
I've been hearing a lot about Volo lately and I thought it was just what the cool kids were calling volleyball. Volo actually encompasses a bunch of sports clubs, I guess?

I’ve wanted to try bojangles, but haven’t had the chance. Agree with you on Roy Rogers though. As far as fast food chicken in the area, that was pretty good. Their burgers were gross, but the chicken I will go back for.

I’ve never had diarrhea from fast food

Oh hell yeah!