Are there any "small towns" in the DC/Baltimore area?

[LoveMyDogTheDoodle]

Could you tell me if there are any specific areas in Southern Anne Arundel Co. that you would recommend? Thank you!

Check out the Harwood area. My daughter visits a horse farm there frequently and it's very rural and quiet. I wouldn't mind living there myself! I'm not sure of the home prices in that area but you could check out realtor.com for some ideas. This location is convienient to D.C. and Annapolis; Baltimore would be a bigger hike. If Baltimore is where your husband will be spending most of his time I would recommend Frederick or Carroll County. We drive through Carroll county to get to Gettysburg, PA; a great and close weekend getaway!

Best of luck with your choices! You have very good advice here

 

[disfan07]

I have to agree with everyone else who mentioned that traffic is a nightmare. It will be even worse if you really are coming from a small rural area. We lived in Fairfax County, VA for 20 years and you never relaly get used to the nightmare that is rush hour. I relaly don't think you quite understadn just how much of a nightmare the traffic can be on a daily basis. Especially when you add in snow, rain, ice, etc and you are in for way more then a nightmare.

I think you migh thave to make a choice between wanting something more rural and something with a reasonable commute. If you live in Maryland and your husband has to go to Reston, it will be a nightmare during rush hour.

I really think you need to go and explore possible commutes during rush hour to really figure out what you want. Having a larger house in a rural area might sound good at the beginning but it will end up very very taxing if the commute is a nightmare.

My biggest concern for you is your DH's commute. Unless you live somewhere with comparable traffic, you can have no idea how awful it can be. A trip that takes 15 minutes with no traffic on the beltway can drag into a two hour ordeal on a bad day.

Exactly. One day when it was snowing, it took me 2 hours to drive 12 miles!!

The only thing I can say is that it prepared me for the traffic I now deal with in LA. Its supposed to take me about 1 hour 15 mins to drive 55 miles. Usually takes anywhere between 2 and 4 hours depending on the traffic. however, at least in the DC area we seemed to have set rush hours....It seems like its ALWAYS rush hour in LA.

 

[buckirj1]

OP again!

Thank you everyone for the wonderful suggestions...I have one more question! Does anyone have a real estate agent you could recommend? We are going to explore the area and I'm interested in someone who works in the sykesville/eldersburg area and someone in the Crownsville/Edgewater area. You can PM with suggestions so that there isn't any conflict with the DIS advertising rules etc.

I appreciate everyone's help so much! You've made the learning curve much easier for me.

Hello again. You wrote you were looking for someone who works in the Sykesville/Eldersburg area. There's not a whole lot of employment in that area; it's basically a bedroom community for folks who work somewhere else. Maybe you meant someone who lives in the area.

A small, but important, point that nobody has brought up is that the deer population is out of control. Given the commutes, and the times of day/night you'll be driving as a result of those commutes, it's pretty much a given that you'll have an encounter with Bambi sooner or later. Make sure your car insurance is up to date.

 

[punkin]

Hello again. You wrote you were looking for someone who works in the Sykesville/Eldersburg area. There's not a whole lot of employment in that area; it's basically a bedroom community for folks who work somewhere else. Maybe you meant someone who lives in the area.

A small, but important, point that nobody has brought up is that the deer population is out of control. Given the commutes, and the times of day/night you'll be driving as a result of those commutes, it's pretty much a given that you'll have an encounter with Bambi sooner or later. Make sure your car insurance is up to date.

I heard a stupid joke a while back: "if you have a car, it's always deer hunting season in Maryland."

 

[Neesy228]

Are you saying there are no real estate agents who work in Sykesville/Eldersburg? That seems unlikely to me...but I also don't know the area well...

We have a ton of deer here too. Point taken.

Thank you for your thoughts!

Hello again. You wrote you were looking for someone who works in the Sykesville/Eldersburg area. There's not a whole lot of employment in that area; it's basically a bedroom community for folks who work somewhere else. Maybe you meant someone who lives in the area.

A small, but important, point that nobody has brought up is that the deer population is out of control. Given the commutes, and the times of day/night you'll be driving as a result of those commutes, it's pretty much a given that you'll have an encounter with Bambi sooner or later. Make sure your car insurance is up to date.

 

[Swimalie]

:

My biggest concern for you is your DH's commute. Unless you live somewhere with comparable traffic, you can have no idea how awful it can be. A trip that takes 15 minutes with no traffic on the beltway can drag into a two hour ordeal on a bad day.

I so agree! We live 30 miles west of DC (about 15 miles from Reston). The traffic is horrible here. It takes my husband an hour to go 28 miles each way to work. He passes Reston on his way and that is where the traffic really starts. This is not an area where you want to live out far unless you are willing to sit in traffic for hours some times. The Beltway is no fun at rush hour.

If you want to find a more rural place that is also close to Reston, check out Warrenton, VA. It is more of farm country and only about 10 miles west of where I live. The area has a lot of nice features (community pool, so-so shopping, etc). And it's only about 15 min to where there is better shopping and fairly close to I-66 which can take you to Reston.

 

[arthuruscg]

You might want to think about renting for the first year or 2, until you are certain you want to stay here or know where you want to live.

 

[punkin]

I so agree! We live 30 miles west of DC (about 15 miles from Reston). The traffic is horrible here. It takes my husband an hour to go 28 miles each way to work. He passes Reston on his way and that is where the traffic really starts. This is not an area where you want to live out far unless you are willing to sit in traffic for hours some times. The Beltway is no fun at rush hour.

If you want to find a more rural place that is also close to Reston, check out Warrenton, VA. It is more of farm country and only about 10 miles west of where I live. The area has a lot of nice features (community pool, so-so shopping, etc). And it's only about 15 min to where there is better shopping and fairly close to I-66 which can take you to Reston.

Warrenton is nice, rural and has a halfway decent commute to Reston, but OP's DH has to commute to Annapolis and Baltimore in addition to Reston. Baltimore will be pretty bad but doable, but I can't even imagine commuting to Annapolis from Warrenton. What a nightmare!!!!

I agree with renting.

 

[leslieh]

We live in Chesapeake Beach, a small town definitely, owings, is nearby and most homes have 1 acres or more, lots of resales and new homes still in a good median price range. We are in planned community, have lived here for 50+ years. We are near the bay, 25 miles south of annapolis, 30 miles to DC (DH made the commute for 32 years to Capitol Hill) and a little more to Baltimore, Davidsonville area would be great Rt. 50 takes you to DC and 97 to Baltimore. Va would be a longer commute. The only downside, no large stores, Walmart about 7 miles, with a Safeway, Giant etc. We head to annapolis for shopping. Hope this helps. A house w/over one acre, 4bedrooms, for about $350K. Check the realestate for sale, with the zipcodes.

 

[Abbie]

Are you saying there are no real estate agents who work in Sykesville/Eldersburg? That seems unlikely to me...but I also don't know the area well...

We have a ton of deer here too. Point taken.

Thank you for your thoughts!

I think the PP misunderstood what you were asking. Of course there are a ton of real estate companies/agents in Eldersburg and Sykesville. I just don't know any offhand to recommend!

 

[Swimalie]

Warrenton is nice, rural and has a halfway decent commute to Reston, but OP's DH has to commute to Annapolis and Baltimore in addition to Reston. Baltimore will be pretty bad but doable, but I can't even imagine commuting to Annapolis from Warrenton. What a nightmare!!!!

I agree with renting.

True. I forgot about the Annapolis and Baltimore part. I know it takes us just under 2 hours to get to Annapolis and about 90 min to Baltimore.

 

[Sadie22]

I agree with the renting. I also would not write off Bowie.