Columbia's Lake Elhorn is A+ (Baltimore, Linthicum: housing, condos, schools)

[barante]

When I first moved to Baltimore in 1969, the new town of Columbia, midway between Baltimore and Washington, captivated me. It reminded me of planned communities in Europe. For a time I even looked at condos there until I realized that it wasn't a place for a young single because there really weren't any restaurants there then or much else for people like me.
Today, my walking group walked twice around Lake Elkhorn's two-mile paved pathway. Columbia still isn't for me, for various other reasons, but I was very excited about Lake Elkhorn, off Broken Land Parkway.
If I were on the market for a house that is convenient to both Baltimore and Washington, I would look at the Lake Elkhorn area really seriously. Granted, it is probably a mob scene on weekends, but on weekdays or evenings it is one of those rare amenities: a safe recreational area that has all a big kids' playground, various exercise devices that are interspersed throughout the pathway's length, little pavilions and benches for a tired walker.
Lake Elkhorn is an artificial lake. But it has ducks (and decoys!), fish (I talked to a guy who showed a nice sized rainbow trout he had just caught) and birds. I am sure that there are probably some downsides as well but the only one I noticed was more noise from BWI takeoffs than at a friends' house in Linthicum, which is three miles from the airport.
Part of the lake has townhouses (supposedly in the $400K range) with waterviews. There are also several single-family homes. The area has elementary and middle schools that had problems in the past but are said to have been much improved.
In brief: This seems like a neighborhood worth examining if you need to be convenient both to D.C. and Baltimore.
We finished our walk by driving to the Hobbits Glen golf course, where a busy restaurant is open to the public. I'm not big for buffalo wings but their bw wrap was excellent.

[carolott]

How's the golf course?

[barante]

It seemed to be busy. Golfers of all persuasions: women, blacks, whites. We were wondering among ourselves whether the fact that it is operated by the Columbia Association makes it a "public" course for fee-paying Columbia residents and what the fees might be like for outsiders. But since we don't golf, we didn't ask.

[carolott]

Thanks -- I'll have to check it out!

[barante]

Just so that you know: Lake Elkhorn is not anywhere near the golf course, which is closer to Centennial Park.
As to Hobbits Glen around the golf course, I had never seen it. It's full of single family homes that must have very impressive pricetags.

[carolott]

Oh that's too bad -- I was hoping the lake was nearby. Ah well....

[Army Boy 34]

Great lake surrounded by some relatively bad neighborhoods, I was born and raised in columbia and know that lake well. Wild Lake, Oakland Mills both are high crime low level housing areas, just as Rouse had designed them. Beautiful lake though.

[baltimore's best]

Originally Posted by Army Boy 34

Great lake surrounded by some relatively bad neighborhoods, I was born and raised in columbia and know that lake well. Wild Lake, Oakland Mills both are high crime low level housing areas, just as Rouse had designed them. Beautiful lake though.

Is that the lake where they hold the Columbia triathalon? Would they hold that in a bad neighborhood?