Catonsville vs. Towson or Roland Park? (Baltimore, Columbia: apartments, houses, neighborhoods)

[dimitri1000]

Hi. We have been considering Towson or Roland Park (moving from Philly). I'll be commuting to Columbia. I have family near Towson and like those 2 areas, but I am a little worried about the commute - to Columbia around 7:15 and back around 4:30pm.

Catonsville was mentionned to me as a nice place to live. I don't know anything about it though. We like Roland Park and Guilford because they are more dense suburbs and are close in enough for access to restaurants, the zoo, etc. Schools are very important as we have a 3 year old. We are ok with private school in Baltimore city but if there is an excellent public school in Catonsville, great. We are trying to stay away from cookie cutter commuties with endless strip malls and bad chain restaurants. Budget is $400-500k to buy. I did look into buying in Roland Park and am a bit shocked by the property taxes - I just can't see what you are getting for $10-12k per year in city services!

Any comments on Catonsville? I'll try to go down in the next 2 weeks to check it out. If there any parts of the town you recommend, let me know. Thanks.

[Tallybalt]

I live in Roland Park and commute to Columbia. If you take the back roads through the city and connect onto Route 40, it takes about 35 minutes from my house in the heart of Roland Park to downtown Columbia. It takes my co-workers from Catonsville about twenty minutes.

I won't deny the property taxes are outrageous, but the tradeoff is that Roland Park and Guilford are two wonderful neighborhoods with a fantastic housing stock that is without peer elsewhere in the region. Roland Park is very family friendly, and in the last ten years there's been a generational change as the older people retired and downsized and new families moved in, bringing with them young children. I don't think there's been as many young children in Roland Park today since the 1980s.

Roland Park elementary school is a very well-regarded public school and has a loyal following among many neighborhood families. Plenty of people are deciding to send their children to the elementary school, postponing private schools until 6th grade or even later. So do keep that option open. The school is on peer with any of the better public elementary schools in the Baltimore suburbs.

I do like Catonsville. Catonsville reminds me more of a small town that happens to be located on the outskirts of Baltimore for it has a mixed population from affluent families to low-income residents, and it has a main-street surrounded by older residential neighborhoods. There's a very wide mix of housing in Catonsville, from Roland Park type shingle houses to modest bungalows and rowhouses. The public schools are well-regarded and strongly supported by the neighborhood as a whole, although there are certainly families who chose to send their children to private schools (McDonogh is a popular private school for Catonsville families, and some do make the trek to the Roland Park private schools as well). Catonsville also has a long-standing 4th of July parade.

Having said that, Catonsville doesn't quite compare with Roland Park when it comes to neighborhood amenities. The main street is a bit down at heels, and if you are the person who likes upscale groceries (Whole Foods, for example), restaurants and stores, then Roland Park is well-placed. Most of the neighborhood is within walking distance of two commercial cores, of which the main one by the schools has the best supermarket on earth, a library, post office, starbucks, a drugstore and several other retailers.

To make it brief: Roland Park, along with neighboring Homeland and Guilford, is a bubble unto itself while Catonsville is a bit more exposed to the real world.

[jonjj]

I work with a woman who moved to Catonsville after her son was approaching school age. She regrets it and talks about it at work almost on a daily basis.
My advice: if you can afford it-Roland Park.

[dimitri1000]

Thanks! I do like Roland Park more, and I feel a bit more comfortable about the commute. I think I will just have to come do it myself one day to see. I'd be going to Howard County General Hospital.

Would you mind telling me what the backroads are through downtown? The only thing I've done is 83 then crossing somehow through downtown onto 95. Also, would living farther north near 695 help?

[Tallybalt]

This is how I get from Roland Park to Columbia. There are two routes I take, and they are both similar in time. I do not go through downtown, but I go through West Baltimore. It's an almost direct westerly direction from Roland Park to Columbia.

It may be handy to go to google map and trace my directions through the city. Find Roland Park (Start at 4800 Roland Avenue).

1. South on Roland to Cold Spring Lane. Make right on Cold Spring. Cross I-83, stay on Cold Spring for about two or three miles. You will cross railroad tracks/the above ground metro line. Shortly afterwards, Cold Spring hits Garrison Boulevard. Make a left onto Garrison Boulevard. Garrison Boulevard soon intersects Liberty Heights Avenue. Cross Liberty, and one block later is Forest Park Avenue, a street that tangents off on your right side.

Follow Forest Park Avenue past a golf course, and down and up a wood dell, cross Windsor Mill road, and at the bottom of the hill you intersect Security Boulevard. Cross Security, and the street name changes to Ingleside Avenue, but once you cross Security, you will soon make a left turn onto a ramp for I-70.

I-70 is a big highway with multiple lanes. Cross the beltway, and the very next exit (about five or so miles) is I-29 in Howard County. Merge southwards on I-29. Take it to Route 175 (Little Patuxent Parkway), and in a few minutes you are at Howard County General Hospital.

Option 2 is similar: From 4800 Roland Avenue, proceed northwards to Northern Parkway. Make a left turn onto Northern Parkway, and stay on Northern (it's a wide boulevard street) for some miles until it ends at Liberty Heights Avenue. Make a left turn onto Liberty and about half a mile later you hit Hillsdale Avenue (there is a light, not shown on the map). Make a right turn onto Hillsdale Avenue, and it goes through the golf course to intersect with Forest Park Avenue. Stay on Forest Park as per the directions above.

Now, you can get onto I-83 and go NORTH to the Beltway, and take the beltway around to I-70. All three works about to about the same 35 minutes, give or take a few minutes. If you do chose to buy in Roland Park, and buy a house close to Northern Parkway, then that's the route I would take. If you're closer to Cold Spring, then that's the route. If you buy in Guilford, then there's another route which is 39th Street from Charles to 40th, and westwards on 40th to Druid Hill Park Drive, to Liberty Heights, and from there to Forest Park Avenue.

Just look at the map of Baltimore, and study the roads in West Baltimore. The google map roads that are yellow are the bigger roads.

However, I do have to warn you that much of that section of West Baltimore is a shabby area, once formerly prosperous neighborhoods from 1900-1950s. Some blocks are nicer, other blocks are downright scary, and most are in somewhat decent condition. It's also a heavily African-American part of the city. But I have never had problems commuting through this part of town.

Originally Posted by dimitri1000

Thanks! I do like Roland Park more, and I feel a bit more comfortable about the commute. I think I will just have to come do it myself one day to see. I'd be going to Howard County General Hospital.

Would you mind telling me what the backroads are through downtown? The only thing I've done is 83 then crossing somehow through downtown onto 95. Also, would living farther north near 695 help?

[dimitri1000]

Thanks! That is very helpful. When I go down there next I'll try these routes.

[Wishuey]

Having been born and partly raised in Catonsville, lived in Roland Park and Ruxton for many years and currently living in the "historic" (old....) area of Ellicott City, why not consider the latter? It`s but a hop, skip and wobble from Columbia and the Howard County public schools are all but on par with Gilman, Friends, RPCS, etc.
The big old houses in Catonsville, similar to the one I lived in, are great but the neighborhood is spotty; houses converted to apartments, etc.