Arnold? (Baltimore, Annapolis, Severn: crime, neighborhood, to buy)

[undecided2]

For those of you who know about Arnold, would you mind giving me your views of the area. I"m a single mother with an elementary school child and am considering moving to Arnold. Are all of the elementary schools good? Are there any sections that one would not recommend? Thank you to all who are able to give me some advice! I'm struggling on where to move

[krod1]

The arnold area is a great place for you. There elementary schools are all pretty good, some better than others though. If you can move to Cape St. Claire (technically annapolis-but just down the street from arnold off of college parkway) for the school it is really good and the teachers are great. The other elementary schools in the area are Broadneck Elementary for the Bay Hills Arnold area, and Belvedere Elementary for the Mago Vista-Arnold area oh and Windsor Farms Elementary for another area of annapolis/arnold. You really can't go wrong with any of them. The area is safe, plenty of family oriented activities/sports, close to metro areas with museums/culture, close to downtown annapolis lots of activities and historic area and well if you have any more questions I've lived in the area for about 25 years, just ask. Are you looking to buy or rent...

[mamakarl]

Hi krod1

We are relocating to Annapolis from Oregon. I am looking at Arnold and Crofton for our family. Do you have any opinion on how the two compare?
Thanks

[LA_86]

I lived in Arnold for over a decade and it's a great place to live! All of the schools there are top notch and there was hardly any crime, if any. People are very friendly and you're about 10 minutes from Downtown Annapolis, the Bay Bridge, etc.

Crofton, in comparison, has a lot more crime and the schools aren't as highly rated.

[bande1102]

Originally Posted by LA_86

I lived in Arnold for over a decade and it's a great place to live! All of the schools there are top notch and there was hardly any crime, if any. People are very friendly and you're about 10 minutes from Downtown Annapolis, the Bay Bridge, etc.

Crofton, in comparison, has a lot more crime and the schools aren't as highly rated.

Hmmm, that's interesting. Crofton was ranked nationally as the 72nd best place to live. Arnold didn't make the list. Here's the link

Best Places to Live: Top 100 - Crofton, Md. (72) - Money Magazine

Our local paper had a lot of fun with that one.

We had a choice between Arnold and Crofton and went with Crofton. Arnold is too spread out for me/too suburban and too close to the lesser desirable part of Annapolis and it's problems. I prefer Crofton because of its proximity of DC and Baltimore in addition to Annapolis. Crofton definitely has more of a neighborhood feel than Arnold. Then again, it's smaller.

For us, we found the schools to be pretty close. Crofton also has one of the safest reputations in the state. Not that I've heard Arnold is crime-ridden.

I think both towns are close enough that you'd be fine either way. Price-wise, if I was going to spend Arnold prices, I'd go for Severna Park or the nicer parts of Annapolis. That's just because, to me anyway, Arnold seems to want to be SP or Annapolis. By the way, I'm not originally from this area although I've lived here for the past decade. JMO.

[mamakarl]

Originally Posted by bande1102

Hmmm, that's interesting. Crofton was ranked nationally as the 72nd best place to live. Arnold didn't make the list. Here's the link

Best Places to Live: Top 100 - Crofton, Md. (72) - Money Magazine

Our local paper had a lot of fun with that one.

We had a choice between Arnold and Crofton and went with Crofton. Arnold is too spread out for me/too suburban and too close to the lesser desirable part of Annapolis and it's problems. I prefer Crofton because of its proximity of DC and Baltimore in addition to Annapolis. Crofton definitely has more of a neighborhood feel than Arnold. Then again, it's smaller.

For us, we found the schools to be pretty close. Crofton also has one of the safest reputations in the state. Not that I've heard Arnold is crime-ridden.

I think both towns are close enough that you'd be fine either way. Price-wise, if I was going to spend Arnold prices, I'd go for Severna Park or the nicer parts of Annapolis. That's just because, to me anyway, Arnold seems to want to be SP or Annapolis. By the way, I'm not originally from this area although I've lived here for the past decade. JMO.

Thanks so much for your replies! It certainly helps - or at least I know both areas are reasonably good. From what I have seen, crime is about the same, although Crofton has had some recent problems? Nothing real major - the beating, and the little girl? Right now we live in an area kind of like Arnold,- suburban; Crofton being a smaller community is appealing. Okay, now my question is about weather from hurricanes? Does that happen there?

[mamakarl]

Sure wish I was there now! It is supposed to reach 107 today, 3rd day of 100+, 5th day of over 90! And I am supposed to try and pack in this heat?

[bunky3301]

Originally Posted by mamakarl

Thanks so much for your replies! It certainly helps - or at least I know both areas are reasonably good. From what I have seen, crime is about the same, although Crofton has had some recent problems? Nothing real major - the beating, and the little girl? Right now we live in an area kind of like Arnold,- suburban; Crofton being a smaller community is appealing. Okay, now my question is about weather from hurricanes? Does that happen there?

Hurricanes are generally not a problem on the Western shore of Maryland. Although I think if you look up in Maryland Weather History there may have been one or two that might have followed the Chesapeake Bay up toward Annapolis / Baltimore a long time ago. But the likelihood of that happening is pretty slim.

[North Beach Person]

Two hurricanes came up the Bay in the 50s within a couple of weeks of each other, those were the last ones. Mostly what happens here is that the hurricane kinda piddles out over land and it's a tropical storm by the time it gets here-lots of rain and some wind.

[mamakarl]

:-) Thanks everyone for all the input!