Need advice on nice family town with commute to Gaithersburg (Ellicott City: low income, rent)

[kdjack]

Hi, My husband is considering a job in Gaithersburg. I'm looking for a town that would be within 45 min. by car, although shorter is certainly better. We have 3 kids (3,8, & 10) so schools are extremely important. Although we may rent first, if I were to buy I'd be looking for a 4-5 bdrm. home and 2200+ sq. ft. We can probably stretch to 650K but would rather not. Any thoughts? Thanks!

[dkf747]

Gaithersburg, North Potomac, Olney, Germantown, possibly parts of Rockville would all probably work for you. Rockville would be my favorite. Fallsgrove or the Kentlands could work for you. All of the above are pretty close to Gaithersburg.

[r5clp]

Depends on desired lifestyle. There is Clarksville in exact 45 minutes, with the greatest schools in MD

[psychofan]

Try to go west of I-270. The Kentlands in Gaithersburg is very nice.

[filmsniffer]

Where in Gaithersburg?

[firefightermom]

I would not recommend any parts of Germantown or Gaithersburg to anyone with kids. The school system is run by the county, but these school clusters are not the best. Here is the website to check out: Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, MD

Crime is also on the increase, as is the influx of illegal immigrants. Gang activity is common. You can check the local newspaper to see: Gazette.Net Maryland Community News

I don't mean to sound so negative, but I lived in Germantown for 9 years and loved it at first. Then the crime started to rise dramatically, schools got worse, and I had kids. It just wasn't good enough. My husband grew up in Montgomery Village, which is part of Gaithersburg, and it's terrible how downhill it's gone in the past 20 years.

I would consider looking into Howard County. I'm not sure if it would be over 45 minutes, but your quality of life would be better. Another option is Frederick county, which borders Montgomery County. Some smaller towns just on the Fred/Mont line, such as Ijamsville and Barnesville are nice and more rural, but I'm not sure about their schools.

Good luck with your search!

[trying2moveup]

i agree with firefightermom. I taught in Germantown. I loved the kids and the staff but the area was low income and that meant little involvement or support from parents. Probably understandably so as they were trying to hold down (multiple) jobs. Hard working people, not welfare siphoners. But when you don't have alot of parental support or involvement it makes the teachers have to spend more and more of their time on the needier kids in the class and the ones that are "average" or above get less and less attention. Is that fair? No. Would I want that for MY kids? Definitely not. But this is the reality so I would pay attention to what people are posting because they are for the most part dead on about MoCo and the schools.

Stay to the western part of 270 - Rockville, North Potomac or northern part (clarksburg). The southern part of the county has the IB program with the 3 high schools (Blake, Mont. Blair, and one other I can't remember). Anything going north of 270 would be a reverse commute for your husband and he would blow by the southbound traffic (which he WOULD encounter on 270 or 355 if you lived in Clarksburg).

Good luck!

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by firefightermom

I would not recommend any parts of Germantown or Gaithersburg to anyone with kids. The school system is run by the county, but these school clusters are not the best. Here is the website to check out: Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, MD

Crime is also on the increase, as is the influx of illegal immigrants. Gang activity is common. You can check the local newspaper to see: Gazette.Net Maryland Community News

I don't mean to sound so negative, but I lived in Germantown for 9 years and loved it at first. Then the crime started to rise dramatically, schools got worse, and I had kids. It just wasn't good enough. My husband grew up in Montgomery Village, which is part of Gaithersburg, and it's terrible how downhill it's gone in the past 20 years.

I would consider looking into Howard County. I'm not sure if it would be over 45 minutes, but your quality of life would be better. Another option is Frederick county, which borders Montgomery County. Some smaller towns just on the Fred/Mont line, such as Ijamsville and Barnesville are nice and more rural, but I'm not sure about their schools.

Good luck with your search!

The part of Gaithersburg that I live in, the kids go to schools in North Potomac. While not the top schools, they are not that bad.

[kdjack]

Someone earlier asked what area of Gaithersburg, and I've looked at the map and it appears to be the W/NW area (20878 zip). I had actually started narrowing my search to areas such as Clarksville, Glenwood, Fulton, Rockville, Laurel, and Mt. Airy based on school reports I'd seen. Most of those tend to be on the Eastern side though. Any ideas if these are still within the 45min range? Also, I had seen Middletown before, but had discounted it as to far, particularly with the South driving commute. If I'm on the Western edge of Gaithersburg, is it dooable with backroads? Any input is appreciated. Thanks

[r5clp]

Originally Posted by kdjack

Any ideas if these are still within the 45min range?

My wife's commute from Ellicott City to Rockville is 1 hour exact. From Clarksville it would be 10-15 minutes less. Hope this helps.

Edit: time stated is off-hours, 09:30-18:30. I am sure in the morning the traffic is worse.