Suggestions near Andrews AFB... (Frederick, Bowie: apartments, to rent, top schools)

[time2move09]

What are some good areas within decent commute time? Family of 4, kids in middle school and high school. My opinion of a decent commute time is 45 minutes or less. We live in Florida and my husband was offered a job at Andrews and has 2 days to respond! I was looking at Calvert County (Huntingtown, Prince Fredericks sp?) We've never even been to that area, only DC on vacation. There seems to be soooo much more opportunity up there vs. here in Florida. We would looking to rent for a couple of years until we figure it out, no apartments though. Thanks for any tips and suggestions, its much appreciated!

[TeamBenya]

Originally Posted by time2move09

What are some good areas within decent commute time? Family of 4, kids in middle school and high school. My opinion of a decent commute time is 45 minutes or less. We live in Florida and my husband was offered a job at Andrews and has 2 days to respond! I was looking at Calvert County (Huntingtown, Prince Fredericks sp?) We've never even been to that area, only DC on vacation. There seems to be soooo much more opportunity up there vs. here in Florida. We would looking to rent for a couple of years until we figure it out, no apartments though. Thanks for any tips and suggestions, its much appreciated!

I would recommend Huntingtown, Prince Frederick, Upper Marlboro, Waldorf, White Plains, Hughesville, or Brandywine/Clinton.

If schools are important to you then I would definately recommend you research the area school and see what appeals to you and your kids the most. Because I'm a Realtor, I don't want to make specific school district recommendations.

Good luck on the possible new job!

[PenguinSix]

Calvert has good schools and your dollar will stretch further there than in some other areas. Still it is the DC area and might be more expensive than you are used to. Here are the zip codes you can use on realtor.com

Calvert County Post Offices & Zip Codes - Southern Maryland Online

Search around towns like Dunkirk, Owings, Huntingtown, North Beach, Chesapeake Beach. Those are 20-30 minute commutes to the base. I think 'Mt Harmony', Sunderland and Plum Point are the top elementary schools in the county (actually I think they are amongst some of the top schools in the state), but all the schools in the Northern part of the county score very high on greatschools.net.

note: It is considered 'rural' by most. It's nowhere near as rural as say somewhere in Central Illinois, but by the standards of the DC area it is pretty country. There is not a lot of nightlife in Dunkirk, Huntingtown, etc. But you are within 35-45 from downtown DC if you want some of that.

[lscalder]

I recommend Upper Marlboro zipcode 20772 you will be about 5-10 minutes away. Clinton,Brandywine or maybe Waldorf.

[bowian]

Accokeek is another option; very nice and some slightly rural parts. However, some of the schools may be overcrowded out that way.

Parts of Upper Marlboro are nice as well. I used to live in UM and never lost my fondness for it.

[lscalder]

Originally Posted by bowian

Accokeek is another option; very nice and some slightly rural parts. However, some of the schools may be overcrowded out that way.

Parts of Upper Marlboro are nice as well. I used to live in UM and never lost my fondness for it.

WHere are you now Bowie.

[bowian]

Originally Posted by lscalder

WHere are you now Bowie.

Yep, I'm in Bowie. Just for background, while there are more amenities for my family here and more access to the things I need for my kids (one is special needs), and I like Bowie overall, I still favor Upper Marlboro a bit. If I were able to move back there, I'd be very tempted. But where I am now (besides being very nice), works too well for my family to disrupt.

[RFMD]

Originally Posted by bowian

Yep, I'm in Bowie. Just for background, while there are more amenities for my family here and more access to the things I need for my kids (one is special needs), and I like Bowie overall, I still favor Upper Marlboro a bit. If I were able to move back there, I'd be very tempted. But where I am now (besides being very nice), works too well for my family to disrupt.

You 're going to enjoy Woodmore Town Center. I 'am looking forward to the Wegmans.

Also, there are major plans to develop the old Landover Mall area into a downtown region and connect it to Woodmore.

[bowian]

Originally Posted by RFMD

You 're going to enjoy Woodmore Town Center. I 'am looking forward to the Wegmans.

Also, there are major plans to develop the old Landover Mall area into a downtown region and connect it to Woodmore.

I can't wait for all the changes. I've never shopped at Wegmans, but I've heard good things about it.