Info about Elkridge (Baltimore, Columbia, Ellicott City: apartment, townhouses, neighborhoods)

[jessy0780]

Originally Posted by destnyzangl

Hey Mike and Pkoons,

Thanks for the great info, I know it will help a lot. The reason I asked about Elkridge is because I saw a bunch of nice homes for sale in the New Colony Village area and those homes are sort of what I'm looking for. We are looking for a newer community to live but not crazy expensive. It helps a lot to know that commuting west to Bethesda will be 'woeful' as maybe we will look at something closer to there then.

Thanks again!

Parts of Elkridge are great- but not New Colony!!! It's literally right next to a trailer park, and in a not so nice area of rt.1.
I live in a really nice area of Elkridge, and love it- great for families. Definitely check out Columbia.

[patricia white]

Hello everyone, I am hoping to move to maryland very soon. I recently became a nurse and I know the employment out in Maryland is very good right now. I am thinking about moving to Columbia, have been there before and fell in love with it. Would like to purchase a home, but will rent for now.
Can't really afford much, single parent. Let me know is Columbia affordable, and culturally diverse.
Thanks

[TeriSioux]

If you are looking for an affordable place to move, I wouldn't suggest Columbia. It is very expensive and you can get a lot more house in nice neighborhoods for a lot less money elsewhere. I would suggest Bel Air or Abingdon Maryland in Harford County.

[jessy0780]

There are parts of Columbia that is not too expensive. I don't know your price range, but they have lots of town houses and condos that you could check into. It is a great area to live in.

[Oldiebutgoodie26]

Don't rule out Laurel. I know it gets a bad rep, but I lived there for 7 years and loved it. It's diverse, and cheaper, less toney than Columbia- yet right down the road, so you can shop at the Columbia Mall and go to great concerts at Merriweather Post Pavillion. Laurel is also smack in the middle of the Baltimore/Washington corridor (I-95, right there!), so you can easily skip off to either city. The blue-ribbon elem school, Bond Mill, is there. Montpelier elem, is fine, as well (Prince George's County School- yes, I know, but those two are good schools).
It is NOT Columbia/Ellicott City/Bethesda, but keep it in mind.

[dullnboring]

Columbia is a nice place to live. I suppose a large part of whether or not it's considered affordable depends on where you're moving from. For the DC area, Columbia is actually somewhat middle-ground price-wise, and it doesn't seem too expensive to me and probably wouldn't to someone moving from a more expensive area (New York, California, etc.) but if you're moving elsewhere, it will seem expensive, as will all of the DC area. It's cheaper in suburban Baltimore than in suburban DC (Columbia is in Howard County which is sort of an overlapping suburban county for both DC and Baltimore). As far as cultural diversity, Columbia is very diverse and tolerant. It was actually designed specifically to be a diverse and integrated community (if you look at Columbia's entry on Wikipedia, it will offer a good description of that).

[patricia white]

Thankyou so much to everybody who replied, I forgot to mention that I will be moving from New Jersey. Looking for house range $300 to $350. Maybe Columbia too expensive? let me know.
Will also check into Laurel home page and others mentioned. Not trying to be high-siddity, but would like to live in a decent area, and close to Hospitals, downtown Baltimore, and shopping. Once again any info would be greatly appriciated.

[Bobbi1107]

Hi Patricia -
My name is Bobbi and I wanted to share with you that there is a nursing shortage in the state so you will have you choice of positions. Depending on what type of nursing you are interested in, would dictate the areas you could consider. The reason I know this is that I was an employment recuiter for 10+ years prior to becoming a full-time real estate agent. Additionally, your price range is reasonable for a townhome in the more metro areas, and a smaller single families in the bedroom communities in the state. You should check the webpages for schools as well - Columbia is in Howard County. http://www.hcpss.org/. Other areas to consider are Montgomery and Frederick Counties. Montgomery County schools website is http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/. Frederick County schools website is www.fcps.org.[moderator cut]

[lexus380]

I am a nurse in owings mills ,md but getting ready to do travel nurse. Did you try the travel agencies. They will pay all of your housing, utilities, and travel reinbusrtmemt. Try on assignments they have helped me a whole lot. I do have family in columbia and your price range is pretty low for there unless u plan 2 get a rm mate for a while. But the pay there and balti city is great all kinds of work its so overwhelming. hope this helps pm me back if you need more info. But i would try that agencies for real it is worth it then all your check is yours.

[pkoons]

FYI, for $300-350K in Columbia/Savage/Laurel and the surrounding areas, you may be able to get an 80's built, 3BR townhouse in pretty good shape. Certainly no new construction or decent single family homes...

In general, Howard County is extremely safe, followed by Montgomery & Anne Arundel Counties, with PG County bringing up the rear. Rural counties (Frederick, Carroll) are within reasonable commutes to Balt. and DC for jobs, and are very safe and less expensive if you don't mind the drive...

Good luck!