Cumberland MD Pros/Cons?

[ki0eh]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

That's Johnson Heights, my hood actually. It is the best neighborhood in South End. A mix of upper working class - upper middle class housing, most early 20th century. I highly recommend it.

Will you get mugged walking to the Martin's for food?

[westsideboy]

Originally Posted by ki0eh

Will you get mugged walking to the Martin's for food?

Walking down Williams St. from the Williams/Louisiana/Hill Top Dr. side would be my suggestion, and yes, it would be fine during the day and probably fine at night, I see folks walking there frequently. Going the other way, down Oldtown Rd. and onto Maryland Ave. takes you through some worse blocks, I would stick to that route during the day only if you choose to go that way.

[RayHammer]

There's a lot of cheap housing in Cumberland, MD, but there's a reason for that. There's not a lot of jobs, the average income is under 50k, the city is perhaps old/cute, but it is isolated in the midst of rust-belt Appalachia. If you are working from home or retired then I don't see why not.

But as for "historic" houses, well I'm personally not sure why people like them, but there's likely plenty, and most everything there is going to be just plain "old" even if it isn't technically "historic".

I'm curious to hear from people who've been there recently (been awhile for me), but is there the kind of homeless/vagrant/druggie problem in Cumberland similar to the ones in Hagerstown or Frederick?

Regarding its relative isolation, while Cumberland might be in Maryland, it's still a 2½ hour drive just to Baltimore, roughly 3 hours to Annapolis, and a 5+ hour drive to Ocean City if traffic is light in the off-season. Pittsburgh is at least 2 hours in the opposite direction.