Considering a move to one of these towns (please help!) (Baltimore: fit in, real estate)

[Nonanator]

My hubby and I are looking to move closer to 'home' (upstate NY), and also are looking to live somewhere within 30 minutes or so of the coast. We want to be in a 4-5 hour window of Binghamton, NY, which puts us in DE, MD, and VA. We could use the help of you knowledgeable folks to narrow down the list of places to consider!

Our situation: We live just outside Charlotte, NC in a home that was built in 1992. It is 2000 sq. ft and was just $168,000. It is just my husband and I, plus 2 dogs and 2 cats. No kids yet. The schools here are awful, violent, and overcrowded, and they change the boundaries every other year it feels like, to rebalance things.... And we are 10 hours from our extended family in NY, as I mentioned.

What we are hoping to find: It may be a pipedream, but trying not to go above $200k for a similar home. Willing to give up some space a bit, but would still like a yard for the dogs. Good schools is pretty important, as we don't want to have to move again when we have kids. We would like to be as close to the water as possible (at least within 30-45 minutes), and would also like to be within an hour of a bigger city (Baltimore, DC, Philly, whatever). We would like to live somewhere with a slower pace, but probably at least 30,000 people, and with a town center with arts, restaurants, events, sports, etc.

Some of the cities we are looking at include:
Wilmington, DE
Havre de Grace, MD
Glen Burnie, MD
Easton, MD
Warwick, RI (maybe someone has lived there before?)

Do you think these cities/towns fit in with what we are looking for? Are there other towns we should strongly consider?

Thank you so much in advance!

Jenny

[HandsUpThumbsDown]

You might have to sacrifice some square footage to find a nice house at that price point in any of the places you've mentioned (I know nothing about Warwick, RI, though).

Easton might be the best choice here (don't know anything about RI). Or possibly in Cambridge (12 miles south of Easton), which is a nice small town too and a little closer to the ocean, you will find a cheaper, bigger house.

The city of Wilmington is equal parts dull and downtrodden, the suburbs look pretty average to me - but it might offer enough stimulation at a good price point.

Havre de Grace is nice and might suit you.

Have you looked into York or Harrisburg PA?

[sobo16]

York and Harrisburg, and central PA in general, is nice and affordable, but it's not near any type of coast.

OP, can the coast be the Chesapeake? Or are you looking for ocean only?

I do not recommend Glen Burnie. It's not all bad, but there are some rough areas, and it's congested and relatively expensive for what you get.

Havre de Grace is decent. It's more affordable than areas closer to Baltimore and DC, but it still would be more expensive than the South.

Maybe try looking in southern Delaware, west of Rehoboth.

[andrew_s]

Wilmington, DE - Not a alot of knowlegde here, but might be closer in NY culture and feel.
Havre de Grace, MD - Not alot of experience here either, but from what I here its an OK place to live(cant say good or great cause I dont know the area).
Glen Burnie, MD - More of a blue collar town (very big car culture) very big on baltimore southern culture here.
Easton, MD - From passing through its a nice place, but the eastern shore is a bit of a quiet place to live so no night life or fast paced lifestyles to really speak of. Good if you want to slow things down a bit.
Warwick, RI - Ive driven through RI before . Seems like a pretty urban state.

Going to be hard to place you in Maryland within an hour of a city and near the water for that price range as the entire state seems to be quite inflated housing wise (although the wife and I are still upside down in our house to the tune of $50k). I dont know Delaware pricing, but Id think that would probably be your best bet if not Pennsylvania. If you want cheaper in Maryland youll have to go to the eastern shore which would meet all of your needs, minus being in close proximity to a city. Easton is the only option I see in your list but its a 5.5-6 hour drive to the town in NY you mentioned and 1.5hours from baltimore, closer to 2 hours to DC, and about 2.5 hours from philly.

Glen burnie could work, but is a much more urban town with a heavy blue collar atmosphere. I personally like Glen burnie, but it is too urban for my tastes.

[HandsUpThumbsDown]

Originally Posted by sobo16

York and Harrisburg, and central PA in general, is nice and affordable, but it's not near any type of coast. .

You're right, I missed that requirement

Havre de Grace still sounds good, maybe also Elkton or Newark DE. Nice thing about Havre de Grace is that you actually walk around its downtown. Nearby Aberdeen and Perryville have the advantage of having the MARC train (and for Aberdeen, Amtrak service as well) for weekday service to Baltimore and Washington, but HdG is the nicer town.

Glen Burnie could be a lot more likeable than it is; every time I'm there I just feel like something is missing.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by andrew_s

Wilmington, DE - Not a alot of knowlegde here, but might be closer in NY culture and feel.
Havre de Grace, MD - Not alot of experience here either, but from what I here its an OK place to live(cant say good or great cause I dont know the area).
Glen Burnie, MD - More of a blue collar town (very big car culture) very big on baltimore southern culture here.
Easton, MD - From passing through its a nice place, but the eastern shore is a bit of a quiet place to live so no night life or fast paced lifestyles to really speak of. Good if you want to slow things down a bit.
Warwick, RI - Ive driven through RI before . Seems like a pretty urban state.

Going to be hard to place you in Maryland within an hour of a city and near the water for that price range as the entire state seems to be quite inflated housing wise (although the wife and I are still upside down in our house to the tune of $50k). I dont know Delaware pricing, but Id think that would probably be your best bet if not Pennsylvania. If you want cheaper in Maryland youll have to go to the eastern shore which would meet all of your needs, minus being in close proximity to a city. Easton is the only option I see in your list but its a 5.5-6 hour drive to the town in NY you mentioned and 1.5hours from baltimore, closer to 2 hours to DC, and about 2.5 hours from philly.

Glen burnie could work, but is a much more urban town with a heavy blue collar atmosphere. I personally like Glen burnie, but it is too urban for my tastes.

I think that I can help you with Wilmington. It's a suburb of Philly, in fact Cecil County is part of the Philadelphia TV market.

[catsy girl]

you might look at dover, delaware. population is about 36000, state capitol. my opinion is that it's a family town, some nice restaurants, shops, mall, big box stores, and a very attractive historic "old town " center. there are 3 colleges there but the feel is not really a college town; dover air force base there also.
two plusses- it's about 45 minutes to ocean, beaches, and real estate is very affordable. also, taxes are very reasonable. my opinion is that it has a slight, very slight southern feel.
i live about 30 minutes away so someone living there might have different opinions. i'm in the area a lot however and my impressions are based on frequent trips there, as well as knowing the opinion of several friends who have lived there for a while.

just another option...

catsy girl

[TestEngr]

Well here is my advice. I have some relatives in Binghamton that I visit rarely but every now and then, I also traveled those areas you talk about and think you are headed in the wrong direction. If you want water and not too far from Binghamton, think water as in Lake Ontario. Evverything from Buffalo through Oswego, including Rochester, Syracuse, or a real known boating place like Sodus Point or something. Long, long, long ago we went to Wilmington and I just about said it was one of the worst looking places I imagined, never said that about further upstate NY. I do not recomend you pick the areas you mention.

It is an easy drive and on not that highly used roads from boating cities on Lake Ontario to Binghamton.

Good luck in search