columbia md.

[jsmill]

I've lived in Columbia for 26 years and overall I've been satisfied. My commute to DC was horrible but now that I commute to College Park, it is much more tolerable. Greg, traffic here is bad but probably not worse than the Staten Island Expressway. Relative to Montgomery County, Howard County is quite affordable and my guess is that since you come from high cost-of-living area, you won't find prices here onerous. As to crime, Howard County is very safe compared to Baltimore, Baltimore County, Montgomery County and Prince Georges County. If you live in Carroll County, it is safer but it is much less convenient. If your job is in Columbia, by all means try to find a place in Columbia.

The comment by the retired Howard County policeman cannot pass without a rebuttle. From his jaded view, you would see nothing but crime everywhere. That's what police are paid to do and I haven't met a long-time officer of the law who wasn't a little jaded about the people he was paid to look after. That being said, my experience with the HC Police Dept is that the detectives are helpful and tactful but the on the beat police rarely get out of their cruisers, and when property crime is reported, little or no action follows. From my vantage point, they would rather give traffic citations for expired tags than deal with the property crime. According to my contacts on the Howard County Council, such complaints are common.

[dray0605]

I would like to say one thing about the Columbia area as a whole. I have lived in Baltimore City, Catonsville, Towson, Perry Hall and College Park and by far the safest neighborhood I have lived in is my current residence in Jessup (which is two blocks outside Columbia and Savage). You cannot beat the ammenities that a neighborhood like columbia offers it's residents, the Howard county government and the Columbia Association has just about every type of social and recreational activity available to it's residents - shopping is by far the best compared to any other area of the state. I am sure there is crime, but you just need to research the areas in more depth - and this goes for any neighborhood in the state of maryland. The school system is touted as the best in the state.

[irishmom]

Well I can give you my knowledge of both Columbia and Staten Island...I've lived in both places. You can not compare Staten Island to Columbia...Columbia is a much more family friendly way of life. I am a native New Yorker that thought she would be lost for all that NYC has to offer...but after living down here for a year and going back to visit I was so aggrivated at the NYC attitude and lack of service that I was so happy we moved. We have lived in Columbia for 10 years now and it is a wonderful place to live. We have found it to be quiet and safe, with a vast and affordable slew of activities for family and kids. The schools are wonderful, not just because of the ratings but because the communities are made up of wonderfully diverse and hardworking people. As far as being crowded goes, it is way less croweded and much more beautiful than Staten Island has ever been, and the local traffic is no problem. However if you plan on commuting into DC from here you will want to utilize public transportation or risk losing your mind in traffic. The commute to Baltimore much more tolerable, during rush hour it only took me 45 minutes to get to Hopkins which is sort of in the middle of Baltimore (or to me it's the middle anyway)...off peak it takes about 25 minutes. If you work in Columbia and you feel the job will be long term then by all means live here as well. Housing is reasonable especially in the older towns which also offer the beauty of mature trees and landscaping. I live in Wilde Lake and it's great, convenient to shopping which abounds here, and all services of the Columbia Association (http://www.columbiaassociation.com) you should check out their website for info on the area...there is no way to get all they offer for the money they charge in any area of New York! Come down and visit and you will see that you will be upgrading your lifestyle for less money than you are spending in NYC. Oh and the comments from the cop...well he's a cop, you know how they are...LOL

[Dwellings]

Hi. I would like to know which public transportation is best from Columbia to DC. Thanks!

Originally Posted by RobLee

greg
columbia is a great place to live. Columbia was designed as a planned community, where there are swimming pools, gyms and parks that Columbia itself manages to keep the integrity of the neighborhoods.

I myself have a townhouse in columbia. If this helps, Howard County (Columbia is in HoCo) is the #1 county for schools in MD. I live in River Hill which is in the River Hill HS disctrict, its suppose to be the best high school in howard county. Might be a bit pricey, but you cant put a dollar figure on your kids education.

If you need more help you can always email me. I am in real estate too, so i can definitely point you in the right direction.

[irishmom]

http://www.mtamaryland.com/services/..._LINE_HTML.cfm

This will give you the info on the Marc train Camden line....but mtamaryland.com will give you info on all the trains.

Good luck!

[scoutsadie]

Originally Posted by whycry30

As far as the general lifestyle, Columbia is a nice community. But, on the flip side of that, due to it's popularity, it is overcrowded, thereby leading to a sleuth of other issues. If you like restaurants, you will have to eat elsewhere, as Columbia only has chain restaurants (with the exception of maybe a couple).

I hear folks say that Columbia is overcrowded, but having lived in the village of King's Contrivance for the past eight months, my experience is that KC and the village of Owen Brown, in the southern part of Columbia, are not overcrowded. Traffic is generally okay (esp. better than northern VA, where we lived before) and there's not much new development since the area is pretty built out (but still has lots of green space and trees... thanks, Columbia Association!).

[rugby115]

People tend to be a bit jealous of columbia I think. It is always ranked as a top place to liove, on numerous polls. The thing to remeber is that it is a city of about 100,000, and a very diverse area. You can go from section 8 apratments to million dollar home in two blocks. I love living here, and frankly I think due to the fact that it is such a famoius town, people from outside of columbia (Ellicott City)tend to knock it. Just like any large town, there are good parts and not so good parts. Ellicott City has it share of problems as well (just drive down Route 40 and you will see.) Given the size of columbia, it is still ranked as one of the safest places in the country by the FBI crime rankings.

[mariecug]

Columbia is a wonderful place to live! It is expensive but it's not as overcrowded as some other places. It's neat / clean, there is a lot to do. I always go up to Balt and down to DC. It is also a diverse place with great schools.