Apartments between Annapolis and Towson? (Baltimore, Glen Burnie: rentals, condos, crimes)

[LaurenKaye]

I'm in a bit of a time crunch here: I just found out YESTERDAY that I have been hired as a music teacher in Annapolis, MD. I currently live in Cumberland and have to be moved into an apartment downstate by next Wednesday. Since I'm a "country girl" and have lived my whole life with my parents, I'm a little lost as to this whole apartment thing, and I'm having trouble settling on a good location to check into.

My main "want" is that I be mid-way between Towson, MD [where my bf goes to school] and Annapolis, MD [where my job is]. So far I've only really been checking around the Glen Burnie area for apartments, since it puts me 25 minutes from my workplace and 30-40 from Towson. I don't know much about the Glen Burnie area, though, and from what I've read here, people don't like it very much. Please feel free to offer suggestions on other areas for me to check out! As long as I'm no more than 25 minutes from my job and it doesn't take me more than 45 minutes to get up to Towson, I'm good. ^__^

As far as the particulars of the apartment go, I'd like to keep the cost under $1000. I'd be willing to go a few hundred over if some utilities are included, though. I will be bringing my cat with me, so it would need to be a pet-friendly complex. I also would really prefer a 2-bedroom, if only because I have a TON of stuff and I expect my bf will also be keeping some of his things there, since dorm rooms don't exactly hold a lot. I've gone all through rent.com and only been able to find a few places that really interested me in Glen Burnie, so any apartment suggestions or even suggestions for nearby locations are appreciated!

These are the places that have caught my eye so far:

Mountain Ridge

Village Square Townhomes and Apartments

Crain Court

Again, I'm super unfamiliar with this town, so if anyone would care to give me input on whether these are nice areas of Glen Burnie to reside in, I'd be eternally grateful! My mother and I are driving down on Sunday to check out places and hopefully sign a lease, so this is definitely a rush job. Please help me out!

[childofaaco]

Glen Burnie is a good choice location-wise, I'd suggest taking the tunnels to get to Towson. 895's quickest and my husband used that when commuting to Towson, I dislike tunnels but found the 95 tunnels much easier to deal with mentally. However,

Apartments in Glen Burnie, for the most part are older. Some have old windows that don't insulate very well, most do not have washer/dryers in unit. Most people around here keep to themselves, you probably won't know most of your neighbors. Always lock your car doors, never ever ever leave your keys in your car running. Most (not all) thefts are crimes of opportunity, most (not all) vandalisms are personal (One or two cars in the parking lot have all the windows smashed out, no one else's is touched). Depending on which way the wind is blowing depends on what the flight patterns for BWI are, over the various patterns they cover the entire area. I've lived in the area for so long I'm used to it, but people moving here generally are not. You can always check http://www.apartmentratings.com/, but beyond that:

I've lived in Windbrooke, which is next to and run by the same management company as Mountain Ridge so it is probably similar. We had good neighbors, we had bad neighbors. For the most part the bad neighbors get evicted within a few months for non payment. We felt fairly safe there, even though I worked shift work, sometimes coming home at 2-3am. Downsides: old windows, annoying lease details (you'll have to let them know about 2 1/2 months before your lease is up if you're staying or not, if you stay you're auto-renewed into another 12 month lease - not month-to-month like most places). Keyed entrance was nice, in 3 years we only had bums in the stairwell maybe 2 times. We lived on the 3rd floor so I don't know how thick the ceilings are, but our neighbors never complained on us.

We considered Village Square a few years ago, ended up picking a different complex over it, just didn't like the apartments that much. The area is ok, but between that community, Greentree Apts, and the townhouses behind greentree there are a lot of kids, and I'm not sure if they still do, but about 10 years ago I know the preteens/teens from the area would wander all about.

Crain Court if I remember correctly the actual apartments looked nothing like the models, so ask to see a real apt even though you're short on time. Personally I dislike the area. Crain Hwy from the intersection of Aquahart Rd north tends to have homeless & prostitutes, I wouldn't live along it.

If I had to do it again, I'd pick a private rental on craigslist first (Glen Burnie, Pasadena, Severna Park, and Millersville would make decent commutes), or I'd downsize and cough up more money for an apartment at Marley Run, if nothing else I'd live at Windbrook, Hidden Woods or Mountain Ridge again.

[froggy925]

I am a teacher in Annapolis, MD too. I suggest looking for private rentals in the Capital. (Annapolis, MD - News, Sports, Lifestyle, Naval Academy, Government from The Capital (CapitalOnline.com)) That's how I found my private rental in Annapolis. Since you are looking to be outside of Annapolis, they have plenty of rentals for other areas too.

[KRB97]

Marley Run is the nicest of the Glen Burnie apartments if you ask me. I also had a friend who lived in Mountain Ridge apartments and loved it. She had a 1 bedroom on the top floor and it had cathedral ceilings, was very spacious and had a cute breakfast bar and balcony. Cromwell fountain has really nice condos that you may be able to rent from the owner that would put you a little but closer to Baltimore.

Originally Posted by LaurenKaye

I'm in a bit of a time crunch here: I just found out YESTERDAY that I have been hired as a music teacher in Annapolis, MD. I currently live in Cumberland and have to be moved into an apartment downstate by next Wednesday. Since I'm a "country girl" and have lived my whole life with my parents, I'm a little lost as to this whole apartment thing, and I'm having trouble settling on a good location to check into.

My main "want" is that I be mid-way between Towson, MD [where my bf goes to school] and Annapolis, MD [where my job is]. So far I've only really been checking around the Glen Burnie area for apartments, since it puts me 25 minutes from my workplace and 30-40 from Towson. I don't know much about the Glen Burnie area, though, and from what I've read here, people don't like it very much. Please feel free to offer suggestions on other areas for me to check out! As long as I'm no more than 25 minutes from my job and it doesn't take me more than 45 minutes to get up to Towson, I'm good. ^__^

As far as the particulars of the apartment go, I'd like to keep the cost under $1000. I'd be willing to go a few hundred over if some utilities are included, though. I will be bringing my cat with me, so it would need to be a pet-friendly complex. I also would really prefer a 2-bedroom, if only because I have a TON of stuff and I expect my bf will also be keeping some of his things there, since dorm rooms don't exactly hold a lot. I've gone all through rent.com and only been able to find a few places that really interested me in Glen Burnie, so any apartment suggestions or even suggestions for nearby locations are appreciated!

These are the places that have caught my eye so far:

Mountain Ridge

Village Square Townhomes and Apartments

Crain Court

Again, I'm super unfamiliar with this town, so if anyone would care to give me input on whether these are nice areas of Glen Burnie to reside in, I'd be eternally grateful! My mother and I are driving down on Sunday to check out places and hopefully sign a lease, so this is definitely a rush job. Please help me out!