Relocating to MD (Baltimore, Frederick, Potomac: new house, neighborhoods, buying)

[ebethmarie]

My husband is being stationed in Frederick, MD. We are looking for a nice area to live in that has great job opportunites. I am from the Gulf Coast so moving to the north is going to be a shock to me as is so any advice would be much appreciated about the areas surrounding the base.

[BigDragon]

Frederick is a nice place to live. I know I'd live there if it wasn't so far away from where I work. There are lots of housing options in Frederick and the suburbs of it. Nearby, New Market is good for a short commute or you could look north to Hagerstown or west to Charles Town (lower taxes, long commute). There's a lot of housing options there. Several builders are still building new houses that aren't quite as overpriced as those further to the south and east. Frederick is not too big yet not too small. There's a lot to do in town and you have good highway access to attractions in Baltimore, DC, and West Virginia. I think you'll find most of the jobs are either inside of Frederick or down 270 towards DC.

[westsideboy]

Frederick County has a mix of urban, suburban, and rural communities. Frederick itself is a city of over 50,000. It has the benefits and drawbacks of similiar communities of its size. North and west of the city are generally rural areas with farms, mountains, and some small subdivisions. Suburbs surround Frederick City and large planned communties can found on the major commuter routes like I-70, I-270, US 15 and US 340.

[jallison27]

New Market or Ijamsville. Gorgeous little towns.

[cgordon]

Frederick's a great town. I work at the fort and live within a 30 minute walk from work, 10-15 minutes from downtown, a couple of groceries, decent restaurants, etc.

Traffic IS a growing problem here, though, and looks to get worse as things grow and the local communities/counties/state try to keep the infrastructure apace with growth.

Military families have good options for housing here (run by Balfour Beatty) and off-post, while a bit pricey, offers some very nice neighborhoods.

These sites might be interesting/helpful:

Detrick website:
Fort Detrick, Frederick, Maryland
Housing:
Directorate of Installation Services, Fort Detrick
AHRN:
Automated Housing Referral Network (AHRN.com) v6.0
Balfour Beatty homes on Fort Detrick:
Home (Home)
Relocation Assistance:
ACS Relocation Readiness Program, Fort Detrick

And as for moving up north, remember that Maryland is still south of the Mason-Dixon Line ...

[cpterp]

If you can afford it (NOW is the time to buy!) Urbana is a very nice, new planned community just 15 min. south of Frederick off I-270.

To cgordon:
I think the Potomac River is the dividing point between North and South (culturally speaking anyways). I've been here all my life and never heard it referred to as Southern lol, either Mid-Atlantic or Northeast.

[cgordon]

Dunno, cterp. There's a reason some folks call this town Fredneck ;^)

My wife's an Austin, TX, gal, and she grew up convinced that anyone form north of Dallas was a Yankee. After a year here, she's decided that south of the MD Line is still south ...

Of course we spent the previous six years in Germany, in a spot further north than Toronto, so it's all pretty relative from that point of view!

[cgordon]

Coming in with the military, you're probably looking at (probably no more than) 2-3 years on station, Not sure buying is a great option unless you think hubby might be stationed here frequently throughout his career ...

[cpterp]

To foreigners, a Yankee is an American. To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner. To Northerners, a Yankee is an Easterner. To Easterners, a Yankee is a New Englander. To New Englanders, a Yankee is a Vermonter. And in Vermont, a Yankee is somebody who eats pie for breakfast. I guess it depends on your POV, but always assumed that all states in BosWas megapolis (ie. Northeast Corridor) were Northern. Plus Maryland fought for the Union, which was 200 years more recent than the MD line formation (to settle a dispute between Baron Baltimore and the Penns). But, looking at the example above it all depends on your POV...

[ebethmarie]

Originally Posted by cgordon

Coming in with the military, you're probably looking at (probably no more than) 2-3 years on station, Not sure buying is a great option unless you think hubby might be stationed here frequently throughout his career ...

By no means do I plan to buy. My husband has about 6-7 more years left before retirement and we plan on retiring back here on the Gulf Coast.