Columbia - Feels fake (Baltimore, Ellicott City: apartment complex, house, schools)

[Jmandl]

Originally Posted by HFeder

The first planned community was Radburn - near Fairlawn, New Jersey...much like Columbia only I personally like Columbia better having lived in both places.
I really enjoy the planned community. I love the paths, the open space..the fact that my neighbors can't leave their Christmas lights up all year round or have obnoxious lawn ornaments or toilet bowl planters!

HFeder, we are currently in the process of relocating from Radburn (in Fair Lawn, NJ) to MD and we were looking at Columbia. It seems that Columbia is about 4 times bigger than Radburn and unlike Radburn, it has good and bad neighborhoods that I am still confused about. However, the HOA fees are a lot lower.

Since you have lived in both places, please tell me what is better about Columbia in comparisson to Radburn. We have to make a decission soon.

[tpeach03]

''To people complaining about the lack of unique restaurants and culture in Columbia, I have to say: get in your car and drive 15 miles to Baltimore, or 20 miles to DC. We live in a large, urban, metropolitan area, and if you can't find entertainment in DC and Baltimore, than you may just be too picky''

Well of course we travel to Baltimore and actually to DC quite often when alone but when you have 2 sometimes 3 kids to transport with you to a restaurant it would be nice to find some non-chain places right here. I wouldn't call it picky since the topic is about 'Columbia' and not it's surrounding cities, and to be honest we enjoy some of the chains on occasion as do our kids. Now if someone would like to name a few great places to eat that are not chain-related that would be great and we'd love to try them.

[vivo]

some suggestions for non-chains in columbia
google them

Iron bridge wine co.
Trattoria Pizza (2 locations 1 in dorsey search village ctr and 1 in kings contrivance village ctr) guilford one seems to be more well known
Sushi Sono seems to be very very well liked; Sushi king also good for sushi
House of India
Cafe de Paris
Aida Bistro

[wazmlp]

Originally Posted by Andy1369

First of all, I just want to make it clear I am NOT trying to start any trouble, or be a "troll."

That said, does anyone feel the same way I do about Columbia, MD? When I went there to visit my friend, I got a bad vibe from the area. It was nice and all, with nice-looking apartments, a mall, and many restaurants. However, something about the area felt off, like it was fake or something - I didn't see any actual houses, and the area felt like it was lacking in atmosphere, like it was just generic chains (stores/restaurants) everywhere, and no actual city culture. I hope that makes sense? It also felt too generic and too nice to be real.

Does anyone feel the same way about the city/town (not sure what Columbia is)?

Thanks...and again, hopefully you don't take this post as a trolling one.

Andrew

I live just down the road from Columbia, in the 1960's some developer designed the entire city as a suburban "utopia" many of these were popping around the nation around major cities a neighborhoods but Columbia, MD was the first planned city, so it does seem very generic compared to other places that started off a tiny towns and grew into whatever they are today

[wazmlp]

Originally Posted by vivo

some suggestions for non-chains in columbia
google them

Iron bridge wine co.
Trattoria Pizza (2 locations 1 in dorsey search village ctr and 1 in kings contrivance village ctr) guilford one seems to be more well known
Sushi Sono seems to be very very well liked; Sushi king also good for sushi
House of India
Cafe de Paris
Aida Bistro

you forgot Clyde's of Columbia

[vivo]

Originally Posted by wazmlp

you forgot Clyde's of Columbia

clyde's is a chain.
and there are more good non-chains but didn't list them all.

[wazmlp]

Originally Posted by vivo

clyde's is a chain.
and there are more good non-chains but didn't list them all.

true but its not like dennys, or red lobster, there is only a couple of clydes

[Tom Lennox 70]

Clyde's is a chain but its not a national chain, mostly in Maryland, Washington DC and Northern Virginia. Never been there but it gets great reviews. Personally I enjoy chain restaurants a lot in addition to small town diners.

[itlchick]

Well - here's my 2 cents.

Columbia is one of the best places to live in the country. Money magazine ranked it #4 of the "best places to live" in the country:

MONEY Magazine: Best places to live 2006: Columbia/Ellicott City, MD snapshot

Pros:
-People want to live there
-diversity (for what it's worth, lots of upper - middle class African-Americans, Indians, Asians)
-great schools
-lots of outdoor stuff
-a good mall (which is always packed however)
-very LOW crime (Columbia got a "2" out of 10 for violent crime: Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed
Baltimore City got a 7)
-awesome location between DC and Baltimore

Cons:
- yep, it does feel fake. It feels planned because it was planned.
- There aren't an abundance of authentic little mom-and-pop shops and restaurants (although try Akbar, it's the best!). However, Ellicott City has tons of that stuff and is 10 min away.
- The biggest con is that it's expensive. Not as bad as Bethesda, but still quite pricey.

I think Columbia is great place to live, especially if you are raising a family. Now if you looking for the nightlife and are in your early 20's...eh, probably isn't the best fit.

[TuborgP]

Originally Posted by itlchick

Well - here's my 2 cents.

Columbia is one of the best places to live in the country. Money magazine ranked it #4 of the "best places to live" in the country:

MONEY Magazine: Best places to live 2006: Columbia/Ellicott City, MD snapshot

Pros:
-People want to live there
-diversity (for what it's worth, lots of upper - middle class African-Americans, Indians, Asians)
-great schools
-lots of outdoor stuff
-a good mall (which is always packed however)
-very LOW crime (Columbia got a "2" out of 10 for violent crime: Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed
Baltimore City got a 7)
-awesome location between DC and Baltimore

Cons:
- yep, it does feel fake. It feels planned because it was planned.
- There aren't an abundance of authentic little mom-and-pop shops and restaurants (although try Akbar, it's the best!). However, Ellicott City has tons of that stuff and is 10 min away.
- The biggest con is that it's expensive. Not as bad as Bethesda, but still quite pricey.

I think Columbia is great place to live, especially if you are raising a family. Now if you looking for the nightlife and are in your early 20's...eh, probably isn't the best fit.

Sure is if you can afford to live in the right neighborhood with the right neighbors.
Best places to live 2008 - Top 100 City details: Ellicott City, MD - from MONEY Magazine

Number 8 last year.