Family friendly towns near Gaithersburg (Baltimore, Columbia: 2010, condos, townhomes)

[TrippingJay]

Originally Posted by Terrapin2212

And yeah, Montgomery County is not a good place to raise children. For one thing, the public schools teach about birth control in sex ed when they should be teaching about moral values and abstinence. Your children will have a lot of bad influences from both the snotty New Jersey and New York transplants and from the ghetto mentality of illegal aliens, which are increasingly due to our county's welcoming policies toward those ppl.

This is far and away one of the most ridiculous posts I have ever read here. Terrapin, it's not up to public schools to teach moral values and abstinence. MCPS teaches both abstinence and sex education. Some teenagers are going to have sex regardless of being taught abstinence. Furthermore parents, not schools should be teaching about moral values.

Getting back to the topic yes there are several areas near Gaithersburg that are good for families. It all really depends on what kind of lifestyle you would like to live in. Frederick-Urbana areas are much more rural whereas Bethesda/Rockville/Chevy Chase has a more urban environment.

For your price range you might want to look in the 20878 zip code of North Potomac/Gaithersburg as home prices are fairly reasonable for the DC area.

[Billiam]

Frederick doesn't have a rural feel and is not "Much more Rural!" it seems a little rural in between those places you said, but when you get up here, its hardly rural, atleast not in the city

[jessiica]

Germantown, MD is beautiful and theres many nice neighborhoods in the area there to raise children

[Florida-Mder]

[quote]

Originally Posted by TrippingJay

Getting back to the topic yes there are several areas near Gaithersburg that are good for families. It all really depends on what kind of lifestyle you would like to live in. Frederick-Urbana areas are much more rural whereas Bethesda/Rockville/Chevy Chase has a more urban environment.

Completely accurate from my perspective as a long time Rockville resident.

[robi123]

Absolutely, the Montgomery county schools are one of the top schools in the nation. If you are looking for newer homes, I would suggest move north to Clarksburg. This is a newly developed town in the county and lot of people are moving there and it is only 10 miles from Gaithersburg.

[Tuneful]

If you are looking for "somewhat rural" I would not go with Gaithersburg but some other choices mentioned.
As for another issue, it's a fact that some neighborhoods throughout Montgomery County have (pretty recently) become Hispanic (mostly illegal) immigrant enclaves, and there can be much more density of population in the housing units and sometimes cultural differences -- e.g., an area I recently moved out of in the county had problems with guys (a subset but an obnoxious one) loitering, catcalling at women, drinking, urinating in public, and some bad apples mugging students near their high school. I have employed a few immigrant folks to help me with household work and moving and they have been wonderful workers, with sadly desperate situations.
I just moved out of such an area a few months back, not primarily because of the demographics, but crime and congestion.
Even within the same town in the county neighborhoods can vary a lot, so you just need to talk to and read knowledgeable sources. Talk to police. Read the crime stories and reports in local papers like the Gazette (online version available).

[Hawa]

Try looking in Germantown, Clarksburg, Damascus, Olney and Derwood. Rockville and Bethesda are a bit overpriced.

[artemis432]

Originally Posted by satchmo7

We are looking for an area with cultural diversity to raise our children. I see that hatred and bigotry still exists in this area, and it makes me sad and disappointed. We will take this into account as we continue to look around for a home in southern Maryland.

I used to live in Gaithersburg and my mom did up till a year ago. There is plenty of diversity and yes, plenty of prejudice. Not only against those from places like Iran or Pakistan or various African countries as well as South American countries but against jews as well - synagogues in the DC area have had destructive hate crimes set against them as well. However, there are mnay cultures there if that's what you're after, many people with interesting stories to tell!

[home4saleMD]

I'm not sure if you are still considering moving to the area but Southern Frederick County is a great place to live. I actually just submitted a post about my home being for sale in beautiful community in Urbana, MD. It is the first exit going North-bound coming out of Montgomery County. Our community is a great place to raise children - we have 3 brand new schools and the community is filled with nice families. We're only moving to be closer to family, otherwise we love the area and all the conveniences in the neighborhood. I have commuted to both Gaithersburg and Bethesda from here. Gaithersburg is about 15-20 miles depending on where you are going and that probably on average was about 45 minutes (sometimes shorter, sometimes longer). There are also a variety of alternative "back roads" if you prefer that and it usually buys you a few minutes.

If you are still in the market, check out my post if you get a chance, but either way, its a great place to live.

[Iamapepr]

You really need to look in Mount Airy, MD! I've lived in the Gaithersburg area my whole life and it certainly has changed from a rural community to a busy city with a ghetto feel. I moved out of Montgomery Village, which at one time was THE community to live in in Gaithersburg. The reason we moved was because of the decline of our neighbors and did not want our son to live his middle and high school years with the low caliber of people the place offered. We moved to Mount Airy six years ago and have loved the small town feel, friendly people, and the beauty of the area. You get more for your money here. It's midway between Frederick and Baltimore. And for your resale value of your home, it is well-known as a highly desirable area. Granted you have to travel between fifteen and twenty minutes to get to a mall, but for the most part, Mt. Airy has enough stores to get through the week. Check it out. I don't think you'll be disappointed.