Easton (Annapolis, Denton, St. Michaels: house, private school, taxes)

[MikeinMD]

If you walk out of Scossa, and turn left (south) and walk a few blocks you will come to Port St on your left (at the Exxon station) and a little past that South St on your right (at the Shell station). You don't want to do down Port St. South St is ok for 2 or 3 blocks but not any further. In those 2 - 3 blocks you will see an old church, art gallery, and the Acedemy of the Arts, but past the Academy of the Arts is the Health Dept, I wouldn't go past there. But as for looking for a home, I would avoid the whole area that I mentioned above, which includes this area.

Coming out of Scossa and walking past (beyond) the courthouse is fine, you will find the library back there, the police station is across the st and also the jail. Its fine walking in this area but I would stop walking south at Glenwood Ave.

Goldsboro St is fine, starting in town and moving towards Rt. 50 more and more people are purchasing the older homes and fixing them up, some looking very nice. You are probably talking about Dover St, which runs from Rt. 50 at Wawa and Walgreens in town right past the court house, sort of parallel to Goldsboro. The area between Rt. 50 and Aurora St is a little run down looking but not as bad as Port St. There is definately no reason to avoid driving it. The area closer to Aurora has more hispanics, which is a fairly new thing. You will see a few hispanic stores in that area. I would just avoid walking west of Aurora on Dover after dark.

But like I said when you look for a home nothing in this area will probably be of interest to you anyway and if you ever find a realtor they will steer you away from these areas as well. I might be making it sound worse then it is, its not that they are full of crime and violence, its just likely if its going to happen these would be the areas. I would mostly avoid these areas for purchasing a home and for walking after dark, driving is perfectly fine. The only part of town I personally avoid is Port St. I just have no reason to go down there and it is the worst street in town. But if you want to see the worst of Easton take a quick drive down it, its not very long and ends at the Easton bypass, Rt. 322.

[macdebbie]

I appreciate all of your Help

[macdebbie]

I was looking at some houses on Realtor.com, and using Googlemaps, these all seem to be near Idlewild Park in Easton - streets are Harrison (420), Dutchman's Lane, Trippe Ave, Aurora (128), Winton, Goldsborough (517 - I know this is not near the park, as we stayed on this street, and it was pretty), Elmwood, and Linden.

Also, looking at the Easton map again, we walked down Dover after dinner at Scossa, and cut back using Aurora to Goldsborough. Were we in a not so good section? (we stayed at the Bishops House - 214 Goldsborough).

Mike, you mentioned the area from 50 to Aurora is a little run down. Is that all the streets in between, or more South of Dover?

Thanks again for all of your help.

Yes, you would hope that a realtor would point out somewhat iffy areas, but I've found that not often to be the case.

[MikeinMD]

No, walking down Dover to Aurora and then back up Goldsboro is a nice area. If you were to continue walking on Dover past Aurora is when it gets a little run down looking. And again you have to put that into context too, its run down looking for Easton. If I were making that walk I would have done that exact same walk. It just isin't as nice if you were to keep straight on Dover or turn right onto Aurora. Aurora is fine except between Dover and a little past South St. They are slowly fixing up the area, if you look at the intersection at Dover and Aurora there are new buildings that have just been built.

The areas you mentioned above are nice areas, mostly older, but nice homes. The only thing you may want to know is Washington and Aurora, that run on either side of the park are more main streets, busier than others around that area. I do not believe trucks are allowed but you are just going to have more cars. Dutchman's lane west of Rt. 50 is mostly doctors offices, as you get to Aurora there is a block or so of homes, but again you are going to have more traffic here. Dutchman's Lane east of Rt. 50 is all residential, that is out where the Dell Webb community is.

I would personally not look within a block or two north or south of Dover. I think a much better area is closer to the park.

What are the numbers in (???) are those house numbers? Also you might want to check out champtionrealty.com or homesdatabase.com, they are more up to date than realtor.com

If you are looking to visit again, you might want to come in November when they have the Waterfowl Festival (www.waterfowlfestival.org). That is the biggest touristy event that the town has, if you can find a place to stay. Or the 4th of July the town has a pretty big event.

[lordchrome]

My option is stay out of the Eastern shore all together. Sure the developments are nice that were mentioned maybe a little pricy. And you deffinatly want to stay off of port street its the hood in easton. But the real problem is the mentality of the people. Plenty of rednecks who really dislike professionals and you cant escape it every time you go to a store you see it blue collar folk or walmart shoppers as they are now called by Hillary Clinton. And the blacks seem stuck in a time bubble like one generation from slavery. Especially in Cambridge. Also if you have kids theres nothing for them to do but sex and drugs. And by the shore I'd include Dover De as well. Ignorant folk who you'll learn not to look at to avoid the shock in your face from looking at them Jerry Springer at its very finest. And everyone knows it but few talk about it good luck and at least I told you so.

[brianj609]

My wife adn I are going to visiting the Easton/Cambridge area this Fall to look for a possible retirement home. We are looking for a safe town with some life to it, but not too busy. What are your thoughts about Easton vs. Cambridge?

[NYMD67]

Originally Posted by lordchrome

My option is stay out of the Eastern shore all together. Sure the developments are nice that were mentioned maybe a little pricy. And you deffinatly want to stay off of port street its the hood in easton. But the real problem is the mentality of the people. Plenty of rednecks who really dislike professionals and you cant escape it every time you go to a store you see it blue collar folk or walmart shoppers as they are now called by Hillary Clinton. And the blacks seem stuck in a time bubble like one generation from slavery. Especially in Cambridge. Also if you have kids theres nothing for them to do but sex and drugs. And by the shore I'd include Dover De as well. Ignorant folk who you'll learn not to look at to avoid the shock in your face from looking at them Jerry Springer at its very finest. And everyone knows it but few talk about it good luck and at least I told you so.

As a fairly new person to the Eastern Shore, I would have to agree with SOME of this statement. The local people certainly are difficult to get to know and they (for the most part-there are exceptions of course) really don't want to get to know any of the "transplants".
I understand the thought process about the growth, they aren't for it,etc... but yes, there is ignorance and people will say that ignorance is everywhere, I agree, however, from our standpoint (we have lived in NY,PA,NJ,& MD) by far, the Eastern Shore of MD as beautiful as it is, is one of the most difficult places to be accepted if you aren't from here.
We enjoy living here, but there are some days when I get extremely frustrated with the lack of just plain courtesy for people in general.

Also, from a professional standpoint, the "workforce" here are very much so on their own time schedule and there is no concern for anyone else.
Not sure how some of the places stay in business with their bizarre hours during the week. Hallmark stores closing at 3pm in the afternoon, contractors calling you back months later because they were at the beach,etc... it is something to get use to, so beware if you are a person who likes to be scheduled. Schedules don't exist here.

[oncesir]

Originally Posted by NYMD67

Also, from a professional standpoint, the "workforce" here are very much so on their own time schedule and there is no concern for anyone else.
Not sure how some of the places stay in business with their bizarre hours during the week. Hallmark stores closing at 3pm in the afternoon, contractors calling you back months later because they were at the beach,etc... it is something to get use to, so beware if you are a person who likes to be scheduled. Schedules don't exist here.

I couldnt agree more. Having lived here off and on for 5 yrs there is a definite adjustment period that you go through. Rude ppl and very little common courtesy is, at least in my experience, the norm. If you are retiring here, great, but if you need a job and are a hard worker get ready to take up the locals slack as the workforce here(local ppl) is slow and inefficient. My rule of thumb about the shore is that its a great place to visit but living here is a totally different subject. In my experience here you have 2 types of ppl, those that love the shore and those that hate it. Those that love it stick up for this place no matter how wrong their statements are. They have the "blinders" on. I tend to believe those that are like myself and draw a total blank as to why ppl move to this area. Stinky(in the chicken farming sections), high crime in any of the larger cities, few jobs, slow/odd workforce, lower wages and higher real estate prices. But for some its there cup of tea. To each his own.

[NYMD67]

Denton is a nice area, however,if you are one who doesn't like to drive 25 minutes to a decent grocery store (all Denton has is a food lion and it is HORRIBLE) then it is not the place to look. Nothing for children to do as far as a YMCA or Little Gym.
Anything convenient, is not convenient....

[oncesir]

Originally Posted by NYMD67

Denton is a nice area, however,if you are one who doesn't like to drive 25 minutes to a decent grocery store (all Denton has is a food lion and it is HORRIBLE) then it is not the place to look. Nothing for children to do as far as a YMCA or Little Gym.
Anything convenient, is not convenient....

That can be said about many of the small towns on the shore. With gas being what it is, driving 15+ miles(one-way)to the store isnt so appealing.