Questions on relocation to Maryland

[TriciaT]

My husband was offered a job in Landover, Maryland and I am wondering if anyone familiar with that area could give me any advice about neighborhoods, schools, etc.

I have two boys, 8 and 12 and would love to find a home in the $150000 to $200000 range in an outlying suburban area with decent schools within a reasonable commute to Landover.

Is that possible? I have only been to Baltimore once and know nothing about the state of Maryland.

Thanks so much for any help you can give us.

 

[snoopy]

$150,000 - $200,000 would buy you a condo, at most, in Landover. And Landover is NOT a good area, you wouldn't want to live there. The county its in, Prince Georges, has the worst schools in the state of Maryland and its a high crime area. You could live in Montgomery County, but homes are going to start at around $400,000. The commute would be reasonable, but not right around the corner. Another option is Anne Arundel county, but the schools aren't as good as they are in Montgomery or Howard County (another option, but where the homes are even more expensive than they are in Montgomery).

Any more ?? just let me know.

 

[Kimickey]

I live in Landover, MD. I live in military housing though. My suggestion would be try the Largo , Bowie & Upper Marlboro area for a house, they are our surrounding city. Very close, I mean very close like 10 minutes away and a lot more preferrable. Even thought I live in Landover, I would NEVER buy a house in it, I would not even rent an apartment in this area. It's not the best area. The military housing here is called Summerfield and it's by FED EX field (where the Redskins play) and only military live here, so we don't have any riff raff.

If you want anymore info we can talk off line. Just send me a PM and we can chat more in detail.

 

[kaseyC]

I second everything Snoopy said. Another option you might consider is Charles County. Its the county south of Prince Georges. The schools are better and the area is in the process of developing. Alot of people who live there commute to DC or Northern VA so Landover would be a shorter commute.
In terms of housing I am not sure but you may be able to find something in the 200 range. Check out www.realtor.com to get an idea of prices.

 

[Kimickey]

Prince Georges, has the worst schools in the state of Maryland

No actually Charles County has the worst schools in the state of MD. You just don't here about it because it's not near the metropolitan area. My DD does not go to PGC public schools, she actualy goes to a private school because PG is not that great. But they do have some public schools that are better, such as the ones in the areas I listed above. Landover is not a good place to send your children to public schools. Baltimore county is up there as well as far as being the worst I think they beat PGC schools out.

 

[kaseyC]

In terms of schools you may want to take a look at the following site. It has the "Report Cards" on each county school district. Also it provides information on demographics as well as attendance and test results.
http://msp.msde.state.md.us/

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Originally posted by Kimickey
Baltimore county is up there as well as far as being the worst I think they beat PGC schools out.

Are you sure you don't mean Baltimore City. I thought the county schools were ok.

 

[Kimickey]

I apologize, I did mean Baltimore City. I relized my mistake after I posted.

 

[TriciaT]

Thanks so much for the fast responses. I knew that housing close to DC would be expensive, but I did not realize that the outlying areas with the less expensive homes had poor school systems.

Someone that he'd be working with mentioned Waldorf. I see those homes could be in my range. Is that a nice town? Or Saint Mary's county? Is that too far away?

Thanks again

 

[ValerieK]

Here is another site for looking at houses.

homesdatabase.com

We used this when we were looking for houses. You can search by county and zip code. This will give you a good idea of the area. I would try to aviod PG county. I new some teachers who taught there, the school board has really messed things up. The teachers I knew were telling me that they would run out of paper for making copies within the second week of the month and that they didn't have books that they needed to teach.

Good luck in your search!

 

[Kimickey]

Waldorf is in Charles County. Very nice area to live in, I would just check out the school system first. I have many friends that live in Waldorf but send their kids to private schools because of the school system there. As for the reason we put our DD is private school in Prince Georges County. Let me put it like this, the school systems here in MD are broken and need to be fixed, but the housing is more affordable. You find better schools in the No. VA area, but the housing cost is going to be higher.

St. Mary's county is quite a bit of ways to drive for a job in the Metropolitan area (No. VA, MD and DC).

Personally I would try the Waldorf area myself. If I did not work (Andrews AFB) so close to where I live, DH and I would move there ourselves, because of the affordable housing and better neighborhoods.

FYI- The traffic in our area is a nightmare! So, just be prepared.

 

[snoopy]

My suggestion would be try the Largo , Bowie & Upper Marlboro area for a house, they are our surrounding city.

These towns are all preferable as far as housing to Landover, but they are still in P.G. county. I grew up in this area and have known many people who are the product of P.G. county schools, trust me, you'll not be wanting your kids to go to them. That county is notorious for problems in the school system, going back 30 years or so.

 

[Carole]

I live in St. Mary's County. There are quite a few people that commute to the DC area or come down here from DC - lots of time spent traveling to and from work. Northern Calvert County is another area to look. The housing is expensive but not as bad as Montgomery County. I agree with everyone else - PG County is not the best place to live! Good luck!!!

 

[flyinglizard]

TriciaT- You might want to look in the Davidsonville area, east of Landover, next door to Annapolis. Landover is a straight shot west on Rt 50. Heavy traffic during commute hours, but it's the same everywhere.

Welcome to MARYLAND- "Land of the Fee"

 

[TriciaT]

Thanks for all of the advice. Someone from the company showed him a development in Waldorf called Hampshire. He said the elementary school would be WM B Wade and Westlake High School.

DH said the area looked great, but I know that I wouldn't find the negatives until it is too late, so any opinions on that area would be so helpful.

What is the deal with the public schools there? I know in our area in NJ there are good towns and bad, but I would never think an entire county's school district is that poor. We live in a "good town" but I wouldn't recommend the surrounding three towns to someone relocating here. Is that the case in the Waldorf area?

I certainly could look into private schools but I wanted to relocate in the hopes of living a simpler lifestyle than we have here, becoming a SAHM perhaps. I'd hate to have to go to work to pay tuition for the kids and wind up spending less time with them.

 

[Poohnatic]

I've lived all over Maryland the past 16 years.

Landover is not good, however Annapolis and Waldorf are still commutable. I lived on the Howard county side of Laurel for a while, and that was nice...there's a planned community on the Ho Co side called Russett, towns are probably in the high 100's, low 200's around there. On the PG county side, friends live in Montpelier area of Laurel and they love it. One commutes into DC in about 40 minutes, the other to southern MD in about an hour. Landover would probably be 1/2 hour to 45 in rush hour.

Also agree with Bowie, but when I moved to that part of the state I couldn't find apartments. Also found some nice apartments in Crofton, which would be a decent commute to Landover, but was a little too far a commute for where I was.

Good luck with your move...I'm going to Florida, lol!

Suzanne

 

[snoopy]

If you are looking for a simpler lifestyle, I'm not sure this is the place to find it. Its pretty fast paced in the D.C. area, and as mentioned before, the traffic is horrendous.

In any case, I also agree with the recommendations of Annapolis, Davidsonville and Crofton, with Crofton probably being the most affordable. All within an easy commute of Landover, with good neighborhoods and schools. I've always loved Annapolis and thought people that lived there had the best of both worlds - close to D.C. and to Baltimore.

 

[ValerieK]

I agree with Snoopy, you are not going to find a simpler life in this area. It is very fast paced and hetic. Traffic is bad and I feel it is a "high stress" area. I have family that lives in Lancaster Pa and that area just "feels" different. There is not as much rushing around.

That being said, I do love it here. I grew up in Northern Virginia and would not want to live anywhere else (well, except closer to WDW, but not until the kids are grown up and out of school.) There is so much to do around here and the schools where we live are great. I would more to an area that you think is nice and just rent for a year, then find a place to buy a house. Take some time a check out the area before you make the plunge into buying a house. You could make an expensive mistake if you don't know the area.

 

[JayCT]

I have to agree with Valerie. Take some time and check the area out before you buy. That way you can find out which area is best suited for you. As for the schools, you need to know that schools in the rest of the country are not like they are in the northeast. In many places schools are run on a county wide basis which makes the whole county good or bad. In the northeast, most schools are run town by town. That may be why the other posters are saying to avoid the schools in particular counties rather than particular towns. Good luck with your move.

PS - I use to live in Nutley (Martha Stewart's hometown). About 20 years ago, right out of college. Lived across from the high school. Nice town. Very convenient to everything. As a single guy, loved heading into New York. Haven't been back to Nutley though in a long time.

 

[TriciaT]

Thanks for the input. I did not realize that schools were run by the county and not individual towns. That is interesting and everyone's thoughts make more sense to me now.

Basically, the company asked my husband to let them know what it would take for him to work there ($$) and how much our moving expenses would be.

So he is going to go high, basically what the two of us are making here combined and if they will pay him that, than we will consider the move. We do not own a home here and would love to be able to buy down there but again I see your points about renting for a while until we are sure.

It is such a huge decision and if they accept his offer, they would like him to start in a month.

Jay, Nutley is probably much the same as you remember, just more expensive. I grew up here and would love a change. Home prices are astronomical and the surrounding towns are really going down hill IMHO.