Nearby Parks Make It Feel Like Home

Nearby Parks Make It Feel Like Home

Having grown up in the suburbs Poetri Deal wanted to live in a tight-knit city neighborhood with abundant greenspace. Whether walking her Labradoodle, Ralph Angel, or running she says, “I’m just drawn to parks.”

Poetri grew up in Prince George’s County, living with her mother in Bowie until she moved to Baltimore to attend Coppin State University. While living on campus, she spent time walking and biking in Druid Hill Park.

Belair-Edison’s proximity to Herring Run and Clifton Parks and Lake Montebello was a big plus for her when she began looking for her first home.

She knew she wanted to be in the city, and she looked for areas that had a strong sense of community and a high percentage of homeownership. Once she began to explore Belair-Edison, she knew she had found the right place.

Belair-Edison Neighborhoods Inc. (BENI), the neighborhood organization, helped her find a grant for the closing costs on her new home. She was also able to take advantage of homebuying incentives offered through the Baltimore City Department of Housing & Community Development.

The three-bedroom, two-bath house was move-in ready, which was another thing Poetri was looking for. As the Deputy Director of Government Relations for Baltimore Mayor Catherine E. Pugh, she has very little free time and she didn’t want to spend it renovating a house. She’d much rather be biking or running around Lake Montebello.

She was taken by the stained glass exterior and interior windows throughout the neighborhood and was thrilled to find a house that had some. Hers are in the living room and at the top of the windows in the back. They look out on her compact backyard, which is another thing she loves—“It’s easy to take care of,” she says with a laugh.

Poetri has many interests, and while lots of people in the neighborhood do plant gardens, yard work is not her thing. Cooking is though, and she’s delighted that her house has a kitchen island that will make it easy to entertain (someday). Another one of her dreams is to renovate the upstairs bathroom. It doesn’t need work, but she likes to imagine herself in a big, freestanding tub, soaking the day’s cares away in a cloud of bubbles.

Poetri says that she has great neighbors who were immediately welcoming. “The neighborhood is like a family,” she says. Her street is busy, but “mostly quiet.”

The biggest surprise to her about Belair-Edison was how many activities there are going on. “There are kids of all ages, golfers in Clifton Park, flag football games, people around the lake, holidays, a 5k run I didn’t know about….”

She loves the area businesses and others like Zeke’s Coffee, and the restaurants Maggie’s Farm and Koko’s Pub (“they have the best crabcake in the city”) in nearby Lauraville.

When asked what she like best, Poetri said “I love it all equally. The community, my block, everything…. When I come home, [Belair-Edison] feels like a home. I feel safe, happy, and comfortable.”

Poetri would recommend the neighborhood to any friend or colleague looking to buy a house. “It’s a small, tight-knit family,” she says. “A great place to live.”