Cecil County

[loch raven]

unless you are living right around the university, newark delaware is no great shakes. and the schools, from what i have heard, are bad. i currently live in elkton right by the DE border. while cecil county, maryland has some very nice areas, most of elkton does not impress. avoid the areas around route 40 and 279 especially. lots of drug activity.

those who say there are lots of young professionals moving here and changing the culture of the county are grossly overstating their influence. while it is apparent that this is happening, it is not on any grand scale, and it would likely take decades before anywhere in elkton becomes truly diverse and culturally appealing. wal-mart culture and chain restaurants dominate. much of the rest of cecil county has a good ol' boys kind of feel to it, and it is not racially diverse anywhere. i have never felt i was truly in the deep south when in maryland more than some of the areas ive been in cecil county. ive heard that the county has a high percentage of white power groups, but i cant confirm this, and it may just be conjecture.

i would look around fair hill, maybe north east. but unless you like riding horses and looking at the river, you may find cecil county lacking. i can tell you that car insurance is very cheap because the county is so rural. so that's a plus. housing is not that much cheaper than most anywhere in new castle county delaware, with the exception of parts of north wilmington, which are ridiculously affluent. be careful if you do choose delaware, as new castle county has many many trashy areas.

[neecewh]

I am a resident of Cecil County. I have lived in North East, Elkton and I am currently living in Chesapeake City. Although I liked North East and Chesapeake City the best, Elkton also has some wonderful places to live, even some waterfront communities. I definitely think Cecil County gets a bad rap. Yes, there are some areas I would not want to live but I think you could say that about most counties. If you like water oriented communities or boating you are not going to find more reasonable priced homes in Maryland than Cecil County. I am currently renting a house that is waterfront on the Canal, which is for sale for about $100 a sq foot. Where else are you going to find that? Don’t be scared off of moving to Cecil County. North East and Chesapeake City are very charming little towns and both are close enough to Elkton to take advantage of available shopping.

To Sweetnshy,
I know Cecil County has a reputation of being racist but I can honestly say I have never seen evidence of that. Elkton has a mix of African Americans and whites and I have not witnessed anything to support those claims. My family and I lived for a while in a predominantly African American neighborhood and I never felt unwelcome.

[loch raven]

all due respect, you likely havent experienced anything to support those claims because you are white. elkton is 86% white, 10% black. north east is 94% white. rising sun is around 99% white. you get the idea. id hardly describe elkton, or any of cecil county, as "a mix of blacks and whites."

that said, i honestly like the fair hill area, off of route 273, more toward the university. very nice area, and youd be closer to the better shopping and more diverse dining options in delaware. im not familiar enough with the more "water oriented" areas of cecil county to comment.

[jenmardom]

My husband and I are moving to the Philadelphia area soon and are looking for a nice area to buy a home. We were looking at Elkton, MD because it was close to the water, had nice homes, and are lower in property taxes than PA. How are the schools there? Is it a nice area? I wonder if my husband will be taxed differently if we live in MD instead of PA. Any thoughts?

[CastleAdam]

My wife and I are in love with the Elkton area. Tons of nice houses and nice neighborhoods near the water. If you can get into the Elk Neck Elementary district, you will be in a fantastic school and a wonderful place to raise kids. You can also get water-oriented houses with reasonable prices and reasonable taxes.