Eileen Pollock's ruminations on her possible retirement to Baltimore ("Retirees can boost Baltimore's population," Feb. 16) draws similar but reverse parallels to my own life choices. I too grew up in Baltimore, having been born there in 1950, and like Ms. Pollack I have a history with Hopkins (I retired from the institution).
However, I moved to Chincoteague, Va., upon my own retirement, for many of the same reasons Ms. Pollock contemplates returning to Baltimore from New York City. In fact I could substitute the word "Baltimore" in every place she uses "New York." For instance, my own budget "goes much further" in Chincoteague than in Baltimore, and in Chincoteague I "contribute both personally and economically to the city." My memories do often "pull me back" to Baltimore, but as a knowledgeable visitor now — and with my husband a major Ravens fan — but not as a resident.
Crime? As an adult living in Howard County, I had both my home and my cars broken into, and the latter repeatedly vandalized. We have crime in Chincoteague, but thankfully it is rare, almost never violent, and the small town and its excellent police department tends to take care of itself. Lest I trigger the mass arrival of felons, I would add that we rarely lock our doors here on the Virginia coast.
Paraphrasing Ms. Pollock's lament on New York, I too "couldn't afford the enjoyments of [Baltimore] in retirement." And yes, the "peacefulness of a quieter city has its attractions at a later stage of life." I will always love my hometown, but I feel I have found an even better new home in Chincoteague. Interesting perspectives from two transplanted Baltimore girls!
Victoria Weiskopf, Chincoteague, Va.