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We are planning on moving to the mid-Atlantic and are considering Columbia, MD due to proximity to family. Phelps Luck appears to be a magical unicorn for us for the following reasons:
* has trails that are part of the Columbia Association trail system
* walkable to both elementary and high school
* in the Howard High map
* has single-family houses in our price range ($400k to $500k)
Trails. This is a big one for us. My wife works from home, so having nice paths to take mid-day walks is a big deal. Fewer things will enhance quality of life more than a good set of walking paths, and the Elkhorn Branch Trail is gorgeous! And, they connect to the larger trail system, which is important for me because I plan to jog and take the kids on bike rides.
Walkable to School. We would really like for our kids to be able to walk to as much of their school as possible.
Howard High. We like Howard because it seems to have both strong academics and diversity. Atholton is another solid choice, and maybe also Reservoir. Our kids will be in 10th and 6th grades when the next redistricting takes place, so I realize picking based on a high school at the point is a bit tenuous. Still, Phelps Luck seems likely to remain part of Howard's map.
There is a part of Hickory Ridge that is zoned for Atholton and Clemens Crossing. This is good because the schools would be walkable. However the Hickory Ridge trails are blocks away plus they are not connected to the larger Columbia trail system. I plan to check out that area later today or tomorrow. (We are visiting the area through Thursday.) If we could spend more on our house, we might consider the parts of Centennial's map that are immediately adjacent to Centennial Park, but that's just not in the cards for us. The townhouses in River Hill look OK except that they are townhouses and there is a lot of road noise in the neighborhoods where we could afford buying.
As far as I can tell, the intersection of solid schools, good trails, and houses in our price range is remarkably small. Is there any place I am missing? Or, can you convince me that Hammond, Wilde Lake, Long Reach, or Oakland Mills are actually much better than the numbers on GreatSchools and US News suggest?
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As far as I can tell, the intersection of solid schools, good trails, and houses in our price range is remarkably small. Is there any place I am missing? Or, can you convince me that Hammond, Wilde Lake, Long Reach, or Oakland Mills are actually much better than the numbers on GreatSchools and US News suggest?
Since Phelps Luck is one of the older parts of Columbia, the original vision is intact. The walkability and reasonably priced houses are missing from the newer parts where builders provided larger homes on larger lots. I lived in Longfellow in the 1970's, and you might look at the houses near Harper's Farm Road.
BTW, the ratings on Greatschools mostly reflect the affluence and motivation of the parents. Your kids will do fine in a school that has more mixed income levels. Howard is fairly diverse and gets decent ratings. A friend had a kid in Centennial (which is highly competitive), and she was falling through the cracks because she was only average. OTOH, Wilde Lake HS has some of the lower ratings because it serves residents of the apartments and subsidized housing.
Last edited by goldenage1; 12-07-2021 at 09:01 AM..
I had recently moved out of Columbia, a place where I never really loved nor hated. A few thoughts: trails run through the entirety of Columbia. So, no matter where you live you will be within walking distance of a trail (no pun intended). The home prices in Phelps Luck are on par with most of Columbia, outside of the western boundaries bordering Clarksville and the some of the northern boundary near Ellicott City and some of the southern/southwest boundary. I have never heard of anyone extol Howard High, including my high school teacher neighbors, but then again, maybe that is because Howard is in Ellicott City, not Columbia. But whatever, there are no single municipalities within Howard County, it is all just Howard County except for the Columbia Association.
The schools in Oakland Mills are pretty good.
Speaking of Columbia Association, if you buy in Columbia you will have no choice but to buy into the CA. As the name suggests, it is a HOA of sorts, which comes with a yearly association fee. There is a president of the CA, which you will not get to elect. Nor can you vote on his/her salary (roughly $200K/year). The CA primarily only maintains open spaces, the trail system, some recreational facilities, and enforces CA violations. In addition, Columbia is broken down into villages, and within each village are three neighborhoods. If you want to paint your door a new color, or install a new light fixture out front, you are supposed to go to your neighborhood community center to get permission. Pretty much all of Columbia has become fairly relaxed on this over the last few years, but the CA is known to go after home owners for gross violations. You will have no recourse of action and when these cases go to court the CA wins 100% of the time (so far).
This may not matter much, but the boundaries are confusing. There are areas that you will think are Columbia, but are really River Hill, Ellicott City, or Elk Ridge and to a lesser extent, Savage. Honestly, I'd suggest just moving to Ellicott City on the other side of 108 if you are really that interested in Howard High. Columbia is not that large and most of it is walkable, anyways.
I lived in Oakland Mills, which is worse for crime than Phelps Luck, but Phelps Luck is is adjacent to Oakland Mills and Long Reach, which is also a higher crime area. You know, Columbia used to only have one or two shootings per year. Lately, there have been a couple per month. But, I never felt threatened or in danger or anything. Then again, I have lived in major cities most of my life.
The place is changing, and not for the better in my opinion. To give perspective, Columbia used to have an LL Bean store and still has an REI. Whole Foods went in and there were already two higher-priced natural food stores. The Mall was one of a handful across the country that never seemed in danger of closing, although it was rather dead a few years ago. There are no Dollar General, Dollar Tree, or the like. Think about that. Columbia used to have money. Now, those with money are moving out and instead of selling their homes they are renting them to whoever can afford to pay and by whatever means. Columbia used to also be a place for activity military stationed in the area to live, but this is changing as well. Not that Columbia is a bad place, it's just not the place it used to be.
gondenage1 and K-Luv, thanks for your feedback. It's helpful to know a bit more about the history of Howard County and Columbia in general, and Phelps Luck in particular.
It's hard to emphasize just how amazed we are by the walking trails in Columbia. We will use the trails multiple times every single day if we live within a block or two of them. You can find suburbs anywhere, but suburbs with this kind of trail network are rare. It seems like a mistake to me that most of the new developments on the edges don't leverage it. If I could be convinced that all of the schools in Columbia are pretty good, then that opens up a lot more neighborhoods, properties, and price points.
Trying to assess the high schools by their ratings is fraught. I know that the top-line numbers are correlated with affluence and parental involvement. I also know that my kids are going to have plenty of involvement and I am certain that all the schools in Howard County have gifted and AP programs that attract similar students. My real concern is more subtle. How will my kids perceive "other" students? Do less affluent students succeed at the given school? Will my kids learn that those kinds of kids never succeed? To assess that, I've focused on a few metrics from (among other sources) the Maryland Report Card: (1) How many English learners are making progress towards learning English, and (2) what percent of Econ. Disadvatnaged students are rated proficient? In both of these, Howard's report card indicates much better performance than Oakland Mills' report card. Centennial's report card looks even better, but Centennial has a significantly smaller population of Black students. This is why I think Howard hits a nice balance.
Multiple sources have indicated that the Oakland Mills schools are solid. Are they "as good as" the other schools in Howard County brought down only by lack of affluence? Or are they actually better than the others, a fact that is hidden by the affluence-correlated numbers?
gondenage1 and K-Luv, thanks for your feedback. It's helpful to know a bit more about the history of Howard County and Columbia in general, and Phelps Luck in particular.
It's hard to emphasize just how amazed we are by the walking trails in Columbia. We will use the trails multiple times every single day if we live within a block or two of them. You can find suburbs anywhere, but suburbs with this kind of trail network are rare. It seems like a mistake to me that most of the new developments on the edges don't leverage it. If I could be convinced that all of the schools in Columbia are pretty good, then that opens up a lot more neighborhoods, properties, and price points.
Trying to assess the high schools by their ratings is fraught. I know that the top-line numbers are correlated with affluence and parental involvement. I also know that my kids are going to have plenty of involvement and I am certain that all the schools in Howard County have gifted and AP programs that attract similar students. My real concern is more subtle. How will my kids perceive "other" students? Do less affluent students succeed at the given school? Will my kids learn that those kinds of kids never succeed? To assess that, I've focused on a few metrics from (among other sources) the Maryland Report Card: (1) How many English learners are making progress towards learning English, and (2) what percent of Econ. Disadvatnaged students are rated proficient? In both of these, Howard's report card indicates much better performance than Oakland Mills' report card. Centennial's report card looks even better, but Centennial has a significantly smaller population of Black students. This is why I think Howard hits a nice balance.
Multiple sources have indicated that the Oakland Mills schools are solid. Are they "as good as" the other schools in Howard County brought down only by lack of affluence? Or are they actually better than the others, a fact that is hidden by the affluence-correlated numbers?
The posts are very accurate. I grew up in Columbia, and as others have mentioned, everywhere in Columbia will have access to very nice trails. Columbia is a planned community, so most of the village centers mirror are very similar. Phelps Luck will certainly have those.
In terms of schools, they are all solid and each of them offer all of the AP classes. That said, for decades Centennial has always been the highest achieving school, through metrics of test scores, and general focus on academics (many people specifically move there just to go to Centennial HS). River Hill, Mt. Hebron, Glenelg and newer Marriot’s Ridge, all have good reputations as well, especially River Hill. You correctly point out that Centennial and River Hill are very heavily Asian and White with much smaller Black populations. The same goes for the other schools listed.
When I graduated from high school in the late 90’s Howard and Wilde Lake were at the bottom in terms of test scores, etc., although again, they were both good schools by any standard. Oakland Mills and Hammond were a tier higher, and Atholton was very good (just below the top tier schools). Howard academically got a lot better after Long Reach opened up (I believe Long Reach is now one of the lowest ranking).
I would guess Howard is very solid now, probably middle of the pack. Below the ones mentioned, but better than the other ones in Columbia, except for probably Atholton. And you are correct that Howard is likely more diverse than the other ones listed. It definitely will have a much larger Black population.
I went to one of the Howard County high schools (won’t say which one, lol) and got a great education (AP classes and all). Prepared me well to do well in college, and go on to graduate from medical school and become an MD. I know a handful of people from many of the other Howard County high schools that were my age and also went on to go to medical school and become MDs. Lots of other successful people in other fields too, so any Howard County HS will prepare you well.
It was a great place to grow up. Good luck.
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