What is Frederick, MD like? (Baltimore, Germantown: real estate, condo, townhouse)

[stpickrell]

Frederick went 52-48 for Romney, Obama didn't even try in Maryland so had they tried it'd have likely been 52-48 for Obama.

The City is pretty blue, maybe not the clear sapphire blue of Charlottesville or Berkeley, but a nice solid 70-30 D-R. Urbana is sort of swingy leaning R, but the rest of the county is still pretty deep red. But they do seem more libertarian than folks in Loudoun County VA.

(FWIW, the property taxes are actually lower if you're out in unincorporated Frederick than in unincorporated Loudoun and the property values are usually lower. Frederick City vs. Leesburg Town -- prices are lower in Frederick City but tax rates are higher, like $1.60 the $100. IMO it's a wash.)

Frederick is within an hour of most spots in Loudoun County VA (one of the nation's fastest-growing economic hubs.) It's within an hour of Rockville MD and Columbia MD, two pretty decent job centers. Baltimore isn't a laughable commute either. It's got a MARC commuter train connection to Washington DC. I've seen folks on the Brunswick Line trains popping open a couple bottles on the way home Plus, it's got a pretty solid job base right in Frederick itself with downtown, Fort Detrick, and the stuff coming up along 85 and 26.

[David_J]

Originally Posted by stpickrell

Frederick went 52-48 for Romney, Obama didn't even try in Maryland so had they tried it'd have likely been 52-48 for Obama.

The City is pretty blue, maybe not the clear sapphire blue of Charlottesville or Berkeley, but a nice solid 70-30 D-R. Urbana is sort of swingy leaning R, but the rest of the county is still pretty deep red. But they do seem more libertarian than folks in Loudoun County VA.

(FWIW, the property taxes are actually lower if you're out in unincorporated Frederick than in unincorporated Loudoun and the property values are usually lower. Frederick City vs. Leesburg Town -- prices are lower in Frederick City but tax rates are higher, like $1.60 the $100. IMO it's a wash.)

The city is definitely blue, but already there's a pretty evident divide: southern Frederick city is more blue than northern Frederick city, possibly due to the influence of I-270. Urbana was traditionally red, but definitely has turned more and more blue - there's a huge difference between the Villages/Highlands (where I've lived) and the more rural parts of Urbana.

Taxes in Frederick city are indeed quite high, though at least in my opinion, it's worth it considering the prices are lower.

[doubled8206]

Originally Posted by David_J

Taxes in Frederick city are indeed quite high, though at least in my opinion, it's worth it considering the prices are lower.

Prices are low? You mean housing? Was is your opinion of the row housing in town? Do people enjoy it, as far as not having land and literally living on your neighbors?

[David_J]

Originally Posted by doubled8206

Prices are low? You mean housing? Was is your opinion of the row housing in town? Do people enjoy it, as far as not having land and literally living on your neighbors?

I am originally from Urbana (pricier than Frederick city), the densely populated parts of Montgomery County, and New York City, so the prices do seem pretty great to me for what they offer. I guess I can see how most people would disagree, though.

Everything is relative, I suppose. :P

[stpickrell]

Originally Posted by doubled8206

Prices are low? You mean housing? Was is your opinion of the row housing in town? Do people enjoy it, as far as not having land and literally living on your neighbors?

Basically, I view downtown Frederick as a sanitized version of Baltimore -- row houses, lots to walk to, but much less crime and non-terrible schools.

If you're used to "living on top of neighbors" in DC/Bawlmer, then Frederick's row houses won't be a problem at all.

My wife hates hates hates the idea of shared walls, has met some Frederick -> Leesburg people who seem to think the schools in Frederick are much worse than the ones in Leesburg, and leans R, so no moving to Frederick for me even though in my heart of hearts that'd be my choice.

[tw71]

Ever since I moved up here from the midwest, that's been a constant source of amazement to me ... the incredibly high price of housing that's often not even very good to begin with!

My wife works in Rockville and I work in Bethesda, and there's just no conceivable way we could afford almost ANY of the homes I've ever seen up for sale in either of those areas. (We have 3 kids between us so these little 980-1200 or so square foot properties with 1 bathroom and a couple of small bedrooms aren't going to cut it -- yet even those tend to sell for $300,000+ in many instances!)

When I first relocated up here, I was advised to "look at Gaithersburg, Germantown or Silver Spring for better housing prices". All I say to that is, "Hah!" Germantown comes the closest to having lower housing prices, but the 3 bedroom townhomes that go up for sale at non-stratospheric prices get contracts placed on them nearly instantly. You can literally find a new listing on Realtor.com one day, and check it again the next and it'll often say "contingency"! And if you really want a stand alone house? Again, too expensive unless it's in completely run-down condition and ugly on the outside.

I've spent the better part of the last year searching online to see what's available .... and honestly, I don't think you can get more house for your money almost anywhere in commuting distance to DC/Bethesda/Rockville than up in Frederick. Frederick (whether city or county) is about the ONLY area out here where I can search for, say, a 3-4 bedroom home with 2 1/2 baths, and actually find things in the $250,000 price range. Not many, mind you, but at least such things exist!

I've come to realize that out here, housing prices are driven by the high salaries a lot of people earn in Virginia and DC as government contractors, politicians or high-ranking military. Everyone else is just kind of left to fend for the "scraps" -- moving further and further out to get affordable housing, or settling for a very small place and possibly foregoing owning a car as part of the deal, so it's doable.

Originally Posted by doubled8206

What are taxes like in frederick county? Also, if you live outside of the city, do housing costs drop at all? I feel like a 300k house in the area is worth 150k most places in the Midwest. Why is it so expensive?

[MidValleyDad]

Originally Posted by stpickrell

Basically, I view downtown Frederick as a sanitized version of Baltimore -- row houses, lots to walk to, but much less crime and non-terrible schools.

If you're used to "living on top of neighbors" in DC/Bawlmer, then Frederick's row houses won't be a problem at all.

My wife hates hates hates the idea of shared walls, has met some Frederick -> Leesburg people who seem to think the schools in Frederick are much worse than the ones in Leesburg, and leans R, so no moving to Frederick for me even though in my heart of hearts that'd be my choice.

I'm not getting into a 'Leesburg Schools are better than Frederick' (or visa versa) but to say Frederick has 'non-terrible schools' can be considered fighting words. Frederick has very good to great schools. Others have said we are in the top 10% in the country, I don't know. but I see the results (3 kids graduated from two different high schools, and all are doing well in their careers (Network security, Math education at middle school level). SOme of the local 'small government' people complain about the number of administrators in FCPS but we have one of the lowest administrative cost ratios in the state but have some of the highest performing schools in the state. yes we could improve but it is a very good school system. And as I said in another current thread the consistency between various schools in the county is admirable. There are always a few that are at the bottom but FCPS doesn't just accept it but works on improving them and offering residents in those areas alternatives.

[doubled8206]

What is a good combined salary to live off of for the area?

[Mikes Girl]

You probably need to tell us how much you spend on stuff now. Some people spend a lot of money on clothes than other people, for example.

Housing is by far the biggest factor in Maryland. For me the power bill was much higher than down south.

I found Frederick to be pretty conservative. They even have a conservative local talk radio host. Most Democrats in MD want to be closer to DC and Baltimore. Frederick is the sticks to them.

I can't see schools in Leesburg being any better than Frederick. They might have less students from poor families and the school scores reflect that but the quality of teaching is probably the same.

[doubled8206]

We are not huge spenders by any means. Yeah, here and there we will go out to dinner, but as far as shopping and stuff, we don't really spend much money. Just an average couple and all we have is a car payment