Is Beltsville as Bad as They Say? (Greenbelt, Laurel: real estate, apartment complex)

[uggabugga]

There's a very good chance I'll be moving soon to take a job in Beltsville, but I've been warned it's not a good place to live. I'd just like to be able to rent a small house with a small back yard in a decent neighborhood, and not have to commute more than 30 minutes. I've heard Howard County is nice, but not sure how far a drive that would be.

Unfortunately I'm used to Indiana real estate, so I guess I'm just going to have to get used to paying upwards of $2K/month just to rent

[dkf747]

Beltsville is not bad at all, with the possible exception of apartment communities.

[jessy0780]

I have friends who live in Bletsville, who hate it and are anxious to move. They both had their cars broken into a few months ago and had stuff stolen out of them.
Try Laurel, maybe the Russett area.

[vanyali]

I don't know Beltsville, so I can't speak to that area specifically, but I've had my car broken into and things stolen out of it in extremely "high end" areas, and there was even a rash of car vandalisms at an apartment complex I lived at in North Arlington several years ago (someone spray painted a bunch of cars, more than once). North Arlington is generally a very nice area. And growing up, I knew kids in other very "nice" areas who stole radios out of their neighbors' cars for fun (no, not me .) So, I kind of think that you can't get away from petty crimes like that anywhere.

Now, if people are getting mugged or something, that's a different story. I don't know whether they are or aren't, but I'd pay a lot of attention to stories like that.

[lscalder]

Beltsville is a nice quiet area. You will have no problem.

[kjg1963]

Beltsville is not the worst place to live. It just depends where in Beltsville. I've discovered some nice neighborhoods tucked back off of Powder Mill between Route 1 and I95. My daughter has friends that live all throughout there and some of the neighborhoods are very well kept and well hidden from someone just driving through. There are alot of older, well established single family home-type neighborhoods. No apartments in sight. There are also many new developments sprouting up around there off of Old Gunpowder Rd. I wouldn't recommend the area between Cherry Hill Road and I95. That is where the majority of the apartments are. The Route 1 area is mostly commercial and industrial so that area doesn't look so pretty. I've lived in this area my whole life and I've never heard of Beltsville as being a place to avoid.

[jessy0780]

Originally Posted by kjg1963

Beltsville is not the worst place to live. It just depends where in Beltsville. I've discovered some nice neighborhoods tucked back off of Powder Mill between Route 1 and I95. My daughter has friends that live all throughout there and some of the neighborhoods are very well kept and well hidden from someone just driving through. There are alot of older, well established single family home-type neighborhoods. No apartments in sight. There are also many new developments sprouting up around there off of Old Gunpowder Rd. I wouldn't recommend the area between Cherry Hill Road and I95. That is where the majority of the apartments are. The Route 1 area is mostly commercial and industrial so that area doesn't look so pretty. I've lived in this area my whole life and I've never heard of Beltsville as being a place to avoid.

I second this.

I don't recommend the neighborhoods around Ammendale Rd. There are some nicer, older neighborhoods off rte 1. Can't remember the name of the street for the one I'm thinking of, though.
By the way, much of Howard County is not far- 20 minutes or so depending on where in Beltsville you work.

[uggabugga]

thank you all very much for your responses. evidently there is no such thing as a consensus opinion

it's sounding like i should be looking somewhere around laurel if i don't want to do too much driving; kjg1963, the neighborhoods you mention sound very much like what i'm looking for- are they within beltsville proper? i'm going to be working between powder mill and beaver dam road.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by uggabugga

thank you all very much for your responses. evidently there is no such thing as a consensus opinion

it's sounding like i should be looking somewhere around laurel if i don't want to do too much driving; kjg1963, the neighborhoods you mention sound very much like what i'm looking for- are they within beltsville proper? i'm going to be working between powder mill and beaver dam road.

I think the consensus is that the areas with apartments are where most of the problems are. I used to live at Powder Mill Village for 6 years or so. The area mentioned above between Rhode Island Ave., Powder Mill Road, Montgomery rd, and Rt. 1 is pretty nice. The area (N. on Kenilworth beyond Powder Mill rd ) close to where you say you will be working is also pretty good. Greenbelt (the nicer part) is a short drive from where you will work. Laurel is a good choice, but there is nothing wrong with most of Beltsville.

[hedgie]

I've lived in Beltsville for almost 50 years and seen a lot of changes. Good and bad. You might want to look at the neighborhoods off Montgomery Road between US Rte. 1 and Powder Mill Road. The elementary school is one of the top 10 in the county and the middle school ranks highly also. You are 10 minutes (non rush hour) from the Metro with easy access to DC-if you want access to DC. You are 20 minutes to BWI Airport (non rush hour). Within 1.5 miles of my house is a grocery store, two drug stores, library, elementary school, several churches, a couple of banks, a police station, a couple of gas stations; Costco. Within 3 miles is a Target, Kohls another grocery store and Ikea. You are probably 13 miles to a good shopping mall. It is a diverse area as are all the communities around the Washington D.C. area. If you don't like diversity, move someplace else.