Moving To Baltimore from Mass (Catonsville, Arbutus: to rent, house, transfer)

[sobo16]

Another Carroll County town to look into is Eldersburg. Several of my coworkers live there and they like it.

[Tallybalt]

San Martin is a pretty road along the east end of the Hopkins campus.

The unfortunate fact is that there is no quick way onto to San Martin from any major interstate or expressway that will take you to a place where you can buy a comfortable suburban house for 250K. From I-83, you'd probably get off the 28th Street Bridge, and cut up Howard Street to the Baltimore Museum of Art, and turn onto San Martin from there.

It's easier to get to that exit off I-83 from the northern suburbs of Baltimore. Glen Burnie, south of Baltimore, means having to drive through downtown during rush hour, an absolute nightmare.

But to stay within easy commute of I-83 to the north of Baltimore brings you smack in the middle of the high rent district. Even decent townhouses start in the 300s in Cockeysville, Hunt Valley, and Timonium. You might be able to find a smaller and older townhouse for around 250K, and this area will give you the big box chains you love as well as the good schools. As others have suggested, you can try to go further up I-83 into Southern Pennsylvania (including Shrewsbury, PA) for more house for your money.

White Marsh and Owings Mills are two bedroom suburbs, but as with Pennsylvania, your commute is growing closer to the hour mark.

I will also suggest you look into Catonsville, on the southwest side of Baltimore. You can commute into the city through Route 40/Edmondson Avenue, and cut through Hilton Parkway to Gwynn Oak to Druid Park Drive, and that will take you to 28th Street bridge.

Catonsville is cheaper than the northern suburbs, yet you're close to Howard County, which has chain store galores.

[AlicynD]

Anne Arundel County wise....the closest area to Baltimore would probably be Glen Burnie, if you're trying to stay around 30 min.

[AlicynD]

Howard County would not be a bad commute either and there are townhomes available for under 300K, big box stores, and school system: Howard County Public School System

[Scudder]

Hi there -- from your post, I assumed you were looking for new/newer homes with a very suburban feel -- that's why I was thinking PA. I'm suprised to hear that's too far since mapquest show's a trip from Shrewsbury to San Martin at 37 minutes and 41 miles while the drive from Manchester is 54 minutes and 36 miles (of course neither is considering rush hour traffic).

Have you thought about a townhouse in Towson? That could be doable -- I'm just not sure you'd be able to find a single family house in the 250 range in the near burbs.

Keep us posted on your search -- I'm really curious to see what you find! Best of Luck! --

[testcase]

Thanks scudder, AlicynD, Tallybalt and the rest. Some great advice.

Tallybalt, thanks for the detailed analysis of the commute. That really helps me understand where I would work vs where I would live.

Scudder, you are right, I was looking for a suburban feel. I was just concerned with all the negative forum threads and crime statistics. I would rather stay as far away from it all as possible.
It surprised me that the crime statistic for a town up here that we dont really like is still about half that of 'Crofton', which is supposedly a pretty good place to be with family.
I am going to talk to the company, and see if they can set me up on a telecommute deal right up front , that way I can cut down my commute to 4 days instead of 5, which would encourage me to tackle a 1 hour commute.

It might be that I am just apprehensive having lived just in Mass all the time and not living in any other place except as a tourist, and 90% of the tourism was in New England as well
We will be travelling there the weekend of Jan 21st, and hopefully can fit it all together in our head.

What about townhome rentals close to JHU ? Now that Tallybalt has given me the orientation, my question can be more precise , How about rentals off "I-83 from the northern suburbs" or in the southwest area, I dont know any town names in that area ? Can we get a townhome or single family for about $1500 for a 3-4 bedroom there ?
The idea with the rental being that we could rent for a few months, and then once we are comfortable with the area, and I am comfortable with the job, then we could jump in and buy. Being where the housing market is, I feel we can afford to wait without being hammered with huge price changes of real estate.

Thanks again all. This has been really helpful.

[testcase]

What about townhome rentals close to JHU ? Now that Tallybalt has given me the orientation, my question can be more precise , How about rentals off "I-83 from the northern suburbs" or in the southwest area, I dont know any town names in that area ? Can we get a townhome or single family for about $1500 for a 3-4 bedroom there ?

[dhelfoioracle]

Hello
I noticed a couple of things your going to a problem with and a few things your not going to have any problems.

Problems
1) Commute time
2) Price for a home

No Problems
1) Bank of America is everywhere's it is a big banking branch here in Maryland
2) Big Box Stores Walmart, Target are all over the place

I think your going to have to give a little to get a little.
Also Johns Hopkins has Mulitiable locations through out Maryland. There main location is Baltimore City however Howard County General Hospital is owed and operated by Johns Hopkins. You have been given alot of good information in the other posts. I can give you a couple of my favorite towns but not really neighborhoods. Also some neighborhoods are more preferriable then others in every town.

Towns

Elkridge
Arbutus
Hanover
Catonsville
Columbia
Ellicott City

Anyways good luck

[bawlmer]

In Anne Arundel County: Crofton (as already mentioned),
Severna Park (Great Schools), Arnold (Again, Broadneck schools are great), parts of Crownsville are OK. Stay away from Glen Burnie if you can. South County is great also, but your commute will be longer.

[testcase]

I will be at the Homewood campus.
My wife and I have been talking about it, and have decided that we would rent for a year or so before we buy a house. By then, hopefully, we should be ready buy in the 350k range.

Keeping that in mind, we would like to rent in towns with good schools, so that the kids dont have to change school again in a year.

We are coming to the conclusion that Crofton and the other areas that bawlmer and dhelfoioracle would be where we would focus our attention.

Are any of these towns to the NorthWest of Homewood campus?