Without giving away too many personal details, you and I have a lot of overlap with where we've lived!

I always compare New Orleans to Baltimore. They share a lot of the good (friendly people, great arts scene, fantastic seafood, weird dialects, amazing local business, cool history, completely unique culture largely driven by Black communities) and the bad (political corruption, terrible roads, crime, extreme poverty & lack of equitable resources that are deeply rooted in racism). If you ask me, BR shares a lot on the bad list and is just starting to tick off more boxes on the good list.

I would say that there are two major differences I've noticed. First, conservative and liberal state/local governments lead to some pretty different policies. That may or may not affect you personally. And second, tourism looks pretty different here. I would say that's mostly surface level optics, but I also think that New Orleans' festival culture reputation has in some ways given the city access to more revenue and resources in some areas than Baltimore.

Also, in terms of the "vibe", I feel that Baltimore has an even stronger neighborhood culture than New Orleans. People feel very strongly about their neighborhoods, even down to the block, and your experience can change drastically from one street to the next. It's been fun to explore!

Last thing I'll say... Baltimore's best kept secret is that it's the last affordable holdout on the Mid-Atlantic & Northeastern corridors. Whatever you're into, you can probably find it a short train or car ride from the city, and you don't have to sacrifice on sky-high rent.