Moving to Maryland for Navy Yard Position (Baltimore, Ellicott City: homes, best school)

[e2ksj3]

Originally Posted by goldenage1

I will mention Greenbelt again, in case you overlooked it.

I agree and Roosevelt is one of the best (if not the best) HS in PG County. It is also on the Green Line which is a straight shot to the Navy Yard with no transfers required.

[liljdw]

Ok we will look more into Greenbelt more! Thanks for all of the help .

[skeddy]

Originally Posted by slowlane3

Dave - How many years ago since you were in LaPlata? LaPlata now has three stand-alone supermarkets, a Walmart, a Target (both with grocery sections), a Lowe's, three drug stores [b] (2 of them open all-night), a 100-bed hospital, a little-theater, a library, the county court-house, and a total of 50 restaurants (if you include fast-food), even a Mosque. Commuter busses there, service the Navy Yard.

In summer are free outdoor concerts, parades, and the annual 4-day county fair. It's a few miles commute further than Waldorf, but has more charm and character. LaPlata high school is the highest-ranking of Charles county's seven public high schools (according to the two websites "great schools net" and "school digger.com".

agreed, LaPlata has grown and wouldn't be described as very rural anymore

[Rufus Clay Banger]

Originally Posted by liljdw

We have ruled out La Plata and Accokeek so I think we will have to go back over finances and take a look at realistically what we are going to do. Thanks so much again for all of the help. If anyone thinks of somewhere that we may have overlooked that is close to the beltway but not super expensive with OK or good school let me know, lol.

I'm not a financial planner, but, you may want to consider your income growth over the next number of years when looking at your finances and the idea of spending more. I speak from experience...we built a brand new house in 2014.....and it suits us perfectly. We built what we could afford at the time ($540K) and still be comfortable and save money. But our income has grown nicely in those few years. We're happy where we are at, but could we afford more now? Sure, which means we could move closer to DC if we felt the need (we don't). So, if you expect your income to grow, maybe a little more towards the house is progressively more comfortable in the coming years?

Random and probably useless advice from a stranger.

[liljdw]

Thank you for that information. It is helpful .

[cjmeck]

I have some friends who work in the general area of the Navy Yard (prior military and now CIA) and they live in Waldorf. It's a really nice neighborhood and they send their kids to catholic schools (and so do most of the neighbors). Google the Waldorf area and see what you think. I can look up the names of the schools if you want; they've happily been in that area for at least 15 years now.

[cwitty]

Originally Posted by liljdw

Hi,

We are going to be moving to Maryland very soon for my husband's new position at the Navy Yard. We have been looking into Crofton for the good schools, but I'm wondering if there is somewhere else that we can look as well. I see that there are mixed reviews about Bowie, but it seems like a good location. Are there safer areas to look into? We are coming from Fredericksburg, VA and we aren't familiar with MD suburbs. My husband would actually prefer a 30 minute commute distance as well and it doesn't look like Crofton would fit this criteria. So basically we are looking for good public schools (elementary, middle) and nice family friendly neighborhoods. We also want a 30 minute commute (or possibly 45 if we have to) to the DC Navy Yard. Our budget is 450,000 and we would prefer a single family home but would settle for a townhome. I was also looking into Silver Spring and I see that information about the Four Corners area keeps popping up. Is there anywhere else that we should be looking? Do these areas fit out needs?

Thank you so much in advance for your help!

I can't speak to much of that wish list but I can tell you the bolded is very tough. Unless you live in Oxon Hill/FT Washington, that immediate PG county area right outside of DC.

[liljdw]

So we decided to expand our search to NOVA as well. Thanks for all of the tips everyone! We are concentrating on Silver Spring, Greenbelt, and Takoma Park in Maryland and Springfield, Alexandria, Arlington, and Falls Church in VA. If anyone can give me any experience on any of these or insight, it would be appreciated. Thanks again!

[GovtWorker]

Somebody mentioned Waldorf / La Plata. I would not move to either of those areas. You'd be paying to put your kids in private schools if you did. You also mentioned Bowie. Bowie is in PG county. You couldn't pay me enough money to live in PG county.

[liljdw]

Originally Posted by GovtWorker

Somebody mentioned Waldorf / La Plata. I would not move to either of those areas. You'd be paying to put your kids in private schools if you did. You also mentioned Bowie. Bowie is in PG county. You couldn't pay me enough money to live in PG county.

Thanks for being candid! We took La Plata/Waldorf out of the equation. We don't want to live in Southern Maryland for sure. We have Bowie on the long list still. Why wouldn't you live there?