PLEASE HELP!! Which Town or City in MD? Help Please!! (Baltimore: best towns, real estate)

[princem3]

I'm in early stages of researching a possible relocation to a town / city in MD that is within 20 Min of the DC area the coming months.

With this move I will also be relocating my business to MD and I need some help in choosing the best towns to meet both the following needs.

As I said before, for my personal place of residence I would prefer to be within a Max 20 - 25 min outside the DC area so I can be able to enjoy the great city social scene, life, culture and networking opportunities of the DC area.

For my business location I'm willing to be as much as 20 minutes away from my town of residence in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION of the CITY in order to keep my office spaces commercial lease cost down. We are mostly an internet based company with very low traffic so location means almost nothing to us.

Just in case the previous paragraph was not clear.. I wish for my office and DC to be in opposite directions while I live right in the middle. So my office could be south of my home while DC is north of my home, etc.. etc..

RESIDENTIAL TOWN PREFERENCES :
1. Close access (20 min or less) to major downtown areas with great nightlife
2. Diverse population with lots of culture
3. Affordable housing (I plan to rent for a few months but hope to buy within a year of moving there)
4. Relatively safe area with low crime rate.
5. 20-30 min access to excellent school(s) with great MBA programs
6. Personal property Taxes (Car, housing, etc.)

TOWN OF BUSINESS PREFERENCES:
1. Desolate town likely with cheap office space
2. No more than 20 min outside town I will reside
3. No more than 40 min outside of DC
4. 20-30 min access to excellent school(s) with great MBA programs

A friend of mine recommended living in College Park, MD which seems ok on paper and is only about 30+ min from Downtown DC, but I'm open to hearing other suggestions.


Thanks

[Axeslinger754]

Annapolis. I moved from the DC area to CA for opportunities but if I could succeed now I would move back to annapolis. Its about 30-40 min from DC. Check it out. It is fairly small, though.

[childofaaco]

Residential:
Columbia, old town Laurel (near Main St). Rent before you buy in both places to get a feel for the neighborthoods. There is some crime, it's mostly crimes of opportunity (don't leave vehicles running, don't leave vaulables in a vehicle, don't own vehicles that commonly get stolen because they're easy to steal, ect...) Both are close to schools in Baltimore, College Park, & DC plus you have UMUC (Geared towards working adults, lots of distance classes and classes off traditional campuses). Both are diverse, Columbia is probably better on culture, but other areas are nearby both. Affordable means different things to different people, check out real estate sites to get a feel of what properties are running.

Not sure on the pricing of office space, but you could look around in Hanover, Laurel, Elkridge, Jessup, and Beltsville or possibly further south on Rt 1. They're all within 40 mins off peak traffic, rush hour is a different story...

Annapolis is a wonderful town, but does not fit most people's idea of affordable...