Best Northern Baltimore Suburb to Raise a Family? (Columbia, Ellicott City: crime, house)

[Thinking]

We will be relocating to Baltimore for work and want to start looking into possible areas to live.

My work will be downtown in the Harbor area. I would like to not have more than a 45-50 minute commute to work (with traffic).

We prefer the Northern suburbs of Baltimore as we have family/friends in Philly so being north would make it easier to go back and forth. Plus I would suspect the northern suburbs are cheaper than those in the south which get the DC cost impact.

We have small kids all under 13, so good public schools with smaller classroom sizes would also be important.

We prefer the suburb life with parks, golf courses, etc. Hoping to find an area with larger homes (5 bedrooms, 1/2 to 1 acre of property).

Any suggestions on where to look?

Many thanks in advance for your insights!!

[TMR23]

Check out Cockeysville: safe area, good schools, golf courses ( not sure if they're private or not), not too far from i95, around nice area.

[kapetrich]

Timonium, Lutherville, Hunt Valley.

[ltong1009]

North Bmore burybs are not cheaper than South burbs. More expensive on average. White Marsh might work for you.

[(-)]

We will be relocating to Baltimore for work and want to start looking into possible areas to live.

My work will be downtown in the Harbor area. I would like to not have more than a 45-50 minute commute to work (with traffic).

your commute depends on which northern burb you choose, what time you leave your house and if you need to get on 83 to get downtown, which you will.

We prefer the Northern suburbs of Baltimore as we have family/friends in Philly so being north would make it easier to go back and forth. Plus I would suspect the northern suburbs are cheaper than those in the south which get the DC cost impact.

nothern burbs are way more expensive than southern burbs. you won't find anything cheap, relatively speaking, in the northern burbs. schools are better, lots are larger, crime is lower.

We have small kids all under 13, so good public schools with smaller classroom sizes would also be important.

you will definitely get that in the northern burbs.

We prefer the suburb life with parks, golf courses, etc. Hoping to find an area with larger homes (5 bedrooms, 1/2 to 1 acre of property).

sparks, hereford, phoenix, cockeysville, timmonium, lutherville are all great choices.

Any suggestions on where to look?

Many thanks in advance for your insights!!

[Thinking]

Thanks for all the replies so far.

To answer a question -- I am usually an early person, so I would probably be on the road to work around 6:30 or 6:45am. My guess is any of the suburbs mentioned already will be good for a relatively short commute.

I assume like everywhere else, the end of the day is a crapshoot.

I think we would be willing to pay more for good quality public schools with smaller class sizes.

So thanks again and I appreciate any further responses I get.

[GoPhils]

Re: Northern burbs vs. Southern burbs...it depends which ones you're referring to. I think prices in Timonium/Cockeysville are fairly similar to those in Columbia/Ellicott City. Although if you want 5 bedrooms and an acre of land I'm assuming budget isn't exactly the biggest concern. But it is definitely easier to get to Philly from the northern side since you don't have to go through a tunnel or all the way around 695.

That said, if you go further north along 83 (like Cockeysville, Sparks, etc.), in order to get to 95 North you'd basically have to first go south on 83 to 695 East. So personally if I were you I might not want to go much further north than Lutherville/Timonium, which is closer to 695 (and obviously a little further south for your commute). White Marsh could be an option but since you're working around the harbor it may be easiest to live off of 83 since it dumps you right there.

[MSF1986]

I grew up in Lutherville and I would say that's a great area to raise a family. Very safe and good schools in the area. Timonium and Cockeysville are good bets as well.

[TMR23]

Originally Posted by MSF1986

I grew up in Lutherville and I would say that's a great area to raise a family. Very safe and good schools in the area. Timonium and Cockeysville are good bets as well.

i always considered lutherville-timonium, and cockeysville the same area.

[bmorefella]

The northern suburbs of baltimore are outrageously expensive but in my opinion are some of the best places to live in maryland!!! Top 5 list
all of these are within 30 minutes of downtown
1.owings mills/stevenson (very prestigious area, where most of the ravens live)
2. Pikesville(small twon feel big city amenities,very wealthy area)
3. Towson( a thriving little city)
4. Timonium (its okay)
5. Huntvalley (extremely quiet, rural, safe)

cockeysville will be the hood in the next ten years don't live there (sorry if i offended anyone but go to your local grocery store and check it out) and thats no racism intended, its not about the color of the people, its about the quality of the people, and i'm black by the way!!