Accepted job offer in Owings Mills. Where to move? Mid-30s, no kids...yet (Ellicott City: good schools, price)

[Digger 68]

Originally Posted by BCB75

Thanks, I'll look into it. The carroll County towns that caught our attention were Sykesville and eldersburg. The commute looks pretty good from there.

When I go to Owings mills, I always prefer to get off at shawan, even though the GPS says it's a couple minutes longer. One of my favorite music shops is also on York rd, south of cockeysville. So I'm fairly familiar with that area west of 83 already; it's very nice and definitely on the list.

As a constant digger I would like to know where this music shop is. Instruments?

[BCB75]

Originally Posted by HoCoMom

If you don’t mind bumper to bumper and /or sitting in traffic going to and from work, both Woodstock and Marriottsville are great areas. I live further out I70 and when I go to dentist - about 2 miles past the end of 795 - and I have first appointment of the day, I go the back way to 140 to the end of 795, saves me about 20 minutes at a minimum.

A thought about living inside the beltway. It used to be that living outside the beltway would lower your car insurance. I have no idea if that is still true, maybe purely based on miles driven now.

I figured the route from Marriottsville/Woodstock would be the same as living in Sykesville. If we really like the area, we will explore back roads and check out the amount of traffic before getting too excited I guess.

Interesting point about insurance, but the main factor would be pollution (noise, light, and air). We like a bit more space, quiet, and we have some stargazing equipment.

[BCB75]

Originally Posted by Digger 68

As a constant digger I would like to know where this music shop is. Instruments?

It is mainly for guitar stuff. The store is Music Go Round, and they have been getting consistently better gear over time. My all time favorite shop anywhere near the area is still Atomic Music in Beltsville though. If you are a guitar or bass freak, that place is like a candy store.

[Digger 68]

Originally Posted by BCB75

It is mainly for guitar stuff. The store is Music Go Round, and they have been getting consistently better gear over time. My all time favorite shop anywhere near the area is still Atomic Music in Beltsville though. If you are a guitar or bass freak, that place is like a candy store.

Music Go Round is in Cockeysville. I can walk to it in about 8 minutes. Been there for a few decades. There isn't a record store within 3 miles of here. Although I think something might be near were CD Depot was off of Loch Raven Blvd.

Traders closed two and a half years ago, Sound Garden in Baltimore (Sold him 57 records last night), and then Trax on Wax on Frederick Road. I am not much of a fan of any really. SG is the only one worth dealing with. And deals are limited in any of them. (An yes, Hampden has a couple)

Okay, back to you impossible quest due to your COL expectations.

[BCB75]

Originally Posted by Digger 68

Okay, back to you impossible quest due to your COL expectations.

What do you mean? I've been finding plenty for under 500k in the Sykesville and Owings mills areas.

[BCB75]

We did some exploring today.

I think westminster and Pikesville are out.

Still undecided about Owings mills/Reisterstown, but it would need to be east of Owings mills blvd... where it gets pricey of course.

Still undecided about Sykesville/eldersburg too. It seemed like such a sleepy tow. After exploring Catonsville and Ellicott city.

Catonsville and Ellicott city were out favorite towns by far, but we would have to put up with an older/smaller home in a busier area. Still trying to balance that feeling.

Ultimately, somewhere in between Catonsville and Sykesville will probably win out. Well have to go back with a more direct focus after some more exploring zillow and such.

[GunsMass]

Ellicott City will likely result in a less-than-ideal drive in terms of proximity to Baltimore, if that's something you'd be doing on a regular basis.

Catonsville's pretty good in that respect, with proximity to 695/95, but is a bit jankier. I'm not expert in that area so I can't really expound. Naturally it has a charming aspect to it with 'guitar row' or w/e it's called, but EC is probably a nicer place to live all around. At least it seems popular on recommendation threads.

I don't see your inclination towards Sykesville unless you desire a mostly exurban experience.

[bus man]

Originally Posted by BCB75

Thanks, I'm not exactly sure where Pikesville begins and ends. It appears inside the beltway on Google maps, but has a much larger boundary when entering it into zillow. But then most of those homes have a Baltimore address anyway.

Either way, we do not want to be too close to the beltway, and ideally we don't want to be inside it either. It looks really crowded in there. Well explore in person soon though, hopefully tomorrow.

Pikesville is a bit confusing. The actual town itself is located pretty much entirely inside the Beltway. However, the 21208 zip code, which includes it, extends a good ways beyond the Beltway. To add to the confusion, it's considered a Baltimore zip code, even though the great majority of it is outside of the city limits. You can address a letter going to 21208 to either Baltimore or Pikesville and it will get there.

Given your desire for a lot of space and some level of a Jewish presence, located not far from Owings Mills, I think that the Greenspring Valley would be perfect for you. It's basically the area bounded by Greenspring Avenue and Park Heights Avenue, and bisected by Greenspring Valley Road and Caves Road. It includes Stevenson (zip code 21153) and the eastern half of the 21117 zip code that also includes Owings Mills and Garrison. What I don't know is if you'll be able to find places within your price range. But I would recommend taking a look.

I'm a big fan of Ellicott City -- it's where I've lived for the past 20-plus years -- but I don't think it's what you want. It would be hard to find a house with the kind of space you want, and even harder to find one within your price range. And the commute up to Owings Mills could be a bear, especially when people start working at their offices again. If you do want to consider the area, you'll find that the houses with the most amount of land are those that are located along Montgomery Road, in both Ellicott City and Elkridge (21043 and 21075, respectively). They are older, smaller houses, but they tend to have pretty big yards.

[BCB75]

Thanks for all the responses. We've been talking a lot about our priorities, and I think we need to take another look soon. We're not in a huge rush to move right away, but this 1 hour commute without traffic (will surely go up when things start opening) won't be good for me long term.

We're trying to balance how much we want to spend, how much house we need, how much land we need, what we're willing to put up with, etc. We were really surprised at how much we were drawn to areas like EC and Catonsville, and put off by the suburbs that we thought would be our top choice. Enough that we're discussing what we can sacrifice to make it a reality.

[bus man]

Check these Ellicott City properties out:

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...3_M68707-64626

$499,900 on a 0.59 acre lot.

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...3_M64936-56033

$459,000 on a 0.57 acre lot.

If you're willing to be flexible on the amount of land you require, you can find places in Ellicott City that might work for you.