Hello, Neighbor: Overlea

Straddling the city-county border, Overlea combines suburban comforts, space, and greenery with city living, including a Main Street feel on Belair Road. This community, grounded in a proud multigenerational residential heritage for many families, is conveniently just inside the Beltway and supported by MTA bus lines moving to and from White Marsh and downtown Baltimore. Housing options are wide-ranging, with regal Victorians, Cape Cods, newer mid-century builds, and more.

Shop: Belair Road has a plethora of grocery and big-box chains to choose from, including BJ’s, Weis, Giant, Lidl, Aldi, and Food Lion, among others. For hyperlocal goods, there’s the Overlea Community Association’s biweekly farmers market (June-October, now in its 10th year) with farm-grown produce, local makers, and more for sale.

Dine: Enjoy a slice of Americana (and a milkshake) at the neighborhood’s namesake Overlea Diner, local crustaceans and other seafood from Skipjack’s Crab House, or a whole pie from the no-frills, time-honored Frank’s Pizza and Pasta (of recent Dave Portnoy fame).

More international flavors within a short drive include Caribbean (Lindo), Pakistani (Tikkaville), Japanese (Arigato, Yama), and Mexican (El Salto). And don’t forget the reliable watering holes of Buck Fowler’s Tavern and the City Line Bar & Grill.

Play: Holt Park and Center for the Arts is Overlea’s recreational centerpiece with 16 acres of woods, meadows, and open space to explore via walking trails, plus an outdoor amphitheater and historic cabins. Ballfields, athletic courts, and other play spaces are within reach at surrounding parks, among them Keyes Field on Moyer Avenue and Linover, Fullerton, Belmar, and Double Rock parks.

Arts & Culture: The Holt Center hosts low-cost or free educational and arts workshops where you can learn to make Halloween fairy houses and glass jar pumpkins or nature-inspired wreaths before Christmas. The Overlea ArtsFest at CCBC-Essex has celebrated community artistry since 2016 with juried exhibitions, workshops, and more, and this month, the community college will host the Overlea ArtsFest Short Films Festival.

Neighbor Spotlight

Doris Franz-Poling, 69, an Overlea native, is a board member for the Overlea Community Association, and board trustee for the Natural History Society of Maryland, located in the neighborhood.

“My parents moved here in 1955 from Bayonne Avenue in [nearby] Raspeburg with four kids—I was the bonus baby. I was born and raised on Manor Avenue and went on and had kids and a husband. The house I live in now we bought in 1991 and it’s one street over from where I grew up.

“You know, I could be at the age where we could be looking at [a retirement community] and all of that. But it’s so heartwarming to be able to go out onto your porch and talk to your neighbors and they know you and you know them. It’s really very much a community. I just love knowing people here. They’re my neighbors.

“We love Overlea and we want people to know about it. That has been our mission for more than 15 years, [to share] that this is a great place to come and live and know your neighbors.”

Neighborhood Stats 
Population: 797. Occupancy Rate: 88 percent. Owner/Renter Split: 81 percent/19 percent. Median Home Purchase Price: $332,500. Estimated Monthly Mortgage: $2,874. Estimated Rent: $1,578. Walk Score: 44. Bike Score: 35. Transit Score: 49.

*Includes only Baltimore City. No statistics available for Baltimore County residences in Overlea. 

—Sources: Baltimore City Department of Planning, Live Baltimore.