North East or Elkton? (Havre de Grace, Bel Air: real estate, houses, neighborhoods)

[kjbond]

Hi All -
We just completed our first trip down to check out the area for our upcoming move. (Moving from NJ to MD - husband will work at APG).
We had a great time and liked several houses in both North East and Elkton.
Any advice on either town?
It seemed North East was a bit more rural (longer drive to get to things), but Elkton seemed to have more "undesirable" neighborhoods.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!
Thanks!

[Ken1222]

KJ - I am also moving from NJ to Md (I will be working at APG). You can check out my recent thread in this forum http://www.city-data.com/forum/balti...-de-grace.html. There will be many great replies in there.

My two cents: Elkton will be a 45 minute commute for your husband. North East is not bad, and there is a new supermarket and Walmart shopping center there, but my final decision is Bulle Rock in Havre de Grace. Its a little more expensive, but I will be 8 miles from my job and the talk is that HdG is like Red Bank was a few years ago. Good luck.

[akyoung27]

Hey KJ: As a realtor I would suggest the most important factors are what is important to you & your family (schools, distance to work, distance to conveniences). Of course along with that they type of home, must have features in a home & of course your price range. If you've seen homes then make a pro's & con's list of the homes and/or areas you like. The Pro's list is a no brainer. The con's list are the items that you can change and what if anything it will cost to change it. The other part of the con's list is the items that you can't change and whether or not you can live with that. Then make the decision. Hope that helps. I've been helping numerous BRAC families make that move since 2006, so I know what you are going through and how this BIG move will affect your family and lifestyle. As someone that is not a native Marylander (grew up in Hawaii, then SoCal overseas and now MD-not military), I gotta say I love it here!!

[Regularguy123]

Hello and welcome to the area,

The ride from North East to APG will be easier than from Elkton to APG. Your observation about Elkton having more "undesireable" neighborhoods than North East is also correct. There are several neighborhoods in Elkton that poverty and drug addiction have ruined beyond repair. While the police in Elkton are doing a great job to clean things up, the politicians there seem to have lost touch. North East has a few public housing projects and also its share of drug addiction issues, but far less than Elkton. The penninsula in North East (Turkey Point area) has some great real estate if you invest some time to check it out. However, it is somewhat isolated.

You did not discuss your family situation, so I have no way of knowing if kids/schools factor into your decision. If this is important, then I suggest looking at Harford County. HC homes will be more expensive, however, your commute will be much better and the public schools are very good there. The better neighborhoods in Harford County that are easy commutes to APG are Bel Air, Churchville, Forest Hill, Fallston, and parts of Havre de Grace.

Best of luck!

[d96t01]

I have been here over a year and we are relocating out of the area. I can tell you that North East is a great place to live. There is alot of growth and the schools are very good, as well, they really care about each child. We looked at the Harford area as well, but the problem with some of those areas listed is that they all filter in to an undesirable high school. Be very careful with some of those "over the county line" areas. We commuted from here and the traffice around here is nothing!