Baltimore MD questions

[Tinijocaro]

My friend may be moving to Baltimore and wants to look into housing costs but doesn't know anything about which suburbs are good to look into. She wants an area that would be considered middle class, good schools, low crime, family oriented community.

Please give suburbs that would be good and also, the ones to avoid. TIA!!

Any other insight into the area would be great too.

Jackie

 

[DisneyGerry]

What part? Where will they be working?

I live in the southern suburbs between DC and Baltimore

Lot of nice place depends what they are looking for and direction they will be working in

Gerry

 

[KelNottAt]

I agree with Gerry. It's hard to make recommendations with so little info. But, I'll try to generalize and over-simplify the area surrounding Baltimore. The following descriptions are just my opinions...

BALTIMORE COUNTY: The most populated suburb, most diverse.

The I-95 corridor north of the belway (I-695) is nice, middle to upper middle. Affluence increases as you increase distance from the beltway.

The I-83 corridor from the beltway to PA line is a little more expensive than the I-95 corridor. IMO, it's a little more "preppy." This is horse country. Private schools, etc. This has Dulaney High School (public), one of the best schools in the country.

The I-795 corridor has middle and upper middle, too. However, this area seems to have a higher proportion of ethnicity than the first 2. After caucasion, the population is known for its Jewish and African American cultures. Pricey real estate, about the same as the first 2. Pikesville HS is here...another good one.

The section between I-70 and I-97 is good, solid middle class. White collar and blue collar, black and white. Older neighborhoods, smaller homes. More affordable.

HARFORD COUNTY
Very nice, upper middle. A lot people who used to live along the I-95 corridor in Baltimore County seem to "move out" to Harford County. Nice area that's more affordable than sections closer in. Rural, becoming suburban.

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY:
It appears this is where Gerry is from. So I'll let him elaborate if he wants to.

There's a lot of watefront here, so that makes some real estate expensive. The northern section of the county has some older suburbs.

HOWARD COUNTY
Other than Anne Arundel waterfront, this county has the most expensive real estate. Very expensive. Highest household incomes in the state. Best schools in the state.

CARROLL COUNTY
This is where I live. It's probably the most rural of the counties around Baltimore. Least expensive (but that's relative...the whole area metro area is expensive). 95% White. 75% Republican. Rednecks. Excellent schools.

BALTIMORE CITY
The most affordable housing in the area. But, the highest taxes. Poorest schools...very very poor. Typical city problems with crime and drugs.

...................

One thing you may want to let your firend know is that Maryland defines its school districts by county. There are no municipal school districts. This is difficult for some people to understand when they move here from out of state. 25 high schools (and their feeders) and 150,000 kids could be in one district.

 

[Mercy]

KellNottAt... very good descriptions!

I also live in Md., I live in Baltimore County, Catonsville. This is a nice part of Balto. County. I personally think the West and Northern parts of Balto. County are the nicest. Howard County is very nice, but as stated, very expensive. Taxes are very high. I believe Balto. Co. has the lowest taxes in the State, or maybe Carroll.

 

[UnderTheMistletoe]

We're in the housing market here, too, although further south. We're in Annapolis, but looking for something in Howard County, etc.

The real estate market here is through the roof. New construction of 3,000 square foot houses on .2 of an acre starting at $750K. There are CONDOS starting for that here in Annapolis. ETA: They look out onto the back of strip malls, too. It's so so sad.

Further south of Baltimore and in Anne Arundle county, Crofton and Odenton are nice. There's a lot of real estate available there. Be sure, too, that they take a look at the traffic conditions at the time if day they would be on the roads.

North of Baltimore is growing quickly. Cecil County has some reasonably priced areas. We had a condo in Northeast, MD, when I was growing up. It is growing rapidly but is still a bit more rural than a lot of the stuff from Balto south to the Capitol. There's a new development called Bulle Rock that we've heard rave reviews about in that area, too. It's a further drive, as well.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

I grew up in Towson in Baltimore County, which is just north of the city line. After college I lived in an older brick rowhouse in Parkville which was a great starter home. We have now moved to Cecil County. Talk about diverse. There are some real redneck areas and some very affluent areas, but still less expensive than Harford County.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Anyone have any info on great housing areas near the Aberdeen Proving Grounds (Northeast of Baltimore I think)? My good friend is transferring there this fall.

 

[tmt martins]

I live in North Balto City very Middleclass .I work all over MD.

As sad as this sounds you could move 5 blocks or miles in any direction at any of these places and go from safe to security needed.

Some areas of Aberdeen are having National Gang problems right now. I'm not trying to scare anyone but you have to come and spend a few days in the areas you are looking at .Things are very noticable when you do.

As the city does have high Taxes and FEES (hidden taxes) it is back on the upswing as far as housing is concerned .My neighbor hood is just going crazy with housing cost the last few years .We still have a small mainstreet avenue and we have good access to get us anywhere in the state.

If you want to do some small research we have

WBFF
WBAL
WJZ
WMAR

and The Baltimore Sun as our newspaper.