Melicia

Hey there, I lived in B'more for a while and I am a very petite (under 5 foot) woman. I have also worked in some rather dubious nabes in NYC - sometimes by myself. Know where you are going. Keep yourself aware. Do not be flashy (no fur coats and diamond rings!). Make sure all the windows are locked and if you have an A/C (which you should - B'more summers are pretty humid) make sure that it is appropriately installed (the apt. handyman should help you with that). Oh, and the higher the floor, the better. The tips that globalheath09 gave were totally spot on. In addition, I lived in Roland Park (10 min N of the Homewood campus), which is quite fine if you have a car. Also, look a little outside of B'more, like Towson, if you are still a bit freaked out. B'more is not as bad as The Wire makes it out to be (and crime stats for almost any urban area are going to feel staggering). The police escort every night feels a bit much; if I recall correctly JHU has student escorts and vans that should be just fine. Also, program your phone with cab numbers. Having roomies can be good or bad - just make sure that they are safety conscious as well. Oh, and sane. See of you can meet them in person beforehand. Have you spoken to any women currently at JHU about your worries?

I have lived near JHU and Columbia as a single female. I think that the crime rate is a bit more manageable in NYC than in B'more - in B'more, the spotty areas change from block to clock and are less obvious than in NYC. Yes, there have been some recent crimes in broad daylight @ Columbia, but JHU has them, too. And sometimes things just happen. As with any urban area, you should pay attention to your surroundings, don't be too flashy, and listen to your gut. BUT, the cost of living near JHU's campus is more manageable. Just keep in mind that if you live in B'more, you will need a car, esp. if you are thinking about doing any work with area organizations. Public transit there is not that reliable, even with the JHU student buses. And with a car comes added expenses. B'more is NOT a walking city. However, NYC's public transit is pretty reliable and quite walkable. And all of life's necessities are usually right around the corner or can be delivered to you. In terms of housing, NOW is a great time to find a place in NYC (probably the only good thing about the current economy) and I am sure that the same is true for B'more. When I lived in Roland Park (about 10-15 minute drive north of JHU's campus) I paid $800 for a nicely sized 1 bdrm apt. and that was in 2004. In NYC, when I lived near Columbia, I paid $550 for a room in a 3 bdrm apt. (in an area that was lively at all hours, which made it hard to sleep some nights, but the liveliness made it a bit safer to go home at night) about 15 minutes north of campus via subway and that was from 2005-2006. I know that the same still holds true since a friend of mine still has that same room. A studio apt in Manhattan is around $1200 and up. I would also surf a bit on http://www.craigslist.org to get a sense of real estate pricing and jobs for both cities as well as http://www.idealist.org for employment opps.