Villages of Urbana (Silver Spring, Frederick, Gaithersburg: townhome, schools, living in)

[kcmo]

This community sounds great. Does anybody have any thoughts on it?

http://www.villagesofurbana.com/

We are relocating from suburban Kansas City, MO. I will be working in Silver Spring and my wife may be working in Frederick or north of Frederick so we are trying to find someplace in the midlde.

I want to be able to use MARC commuter rail, I think there is a station nearby and she shouldn't have much traffic going north.

Also, I am very open to the idea of living in a townhome, but I need a big one with 4 beds, den, 2 car garage, we have a large dog, etc. Should I forget about that and go SFH? You can get a very nice TH in this area for what we would spend on a SFH.

Any info would be great.

Thanks.

[tonyc]

Nice area, good middle point and decent schools.

Homes have dropped some in that area and maybe you should try for a SFH.

edit: a few years ago I heard they had Major problems in some of the TH developments. Have no idea if they ever got it sorted out though.

[westsideboy]

Urbana is a large planned community that arose from the farmland of southern Frederick County in the last 7 years or so. It has easy access to I-270 for commuting south and most of the people live there because they can by "more house" than if they lived closer to where they work. The schools in the area are new and very good.

The only drawback is that it is a new planned community with no history, community heritage, most people have no roots in the area. Pretty typical suburb in those ways. If suburbs are your thing, Urbana is a good choice.

[tonyc]

Originally Posted by tonyc

Nice area, good middle point and decent schools.

Homes have dropped some in that area and maybe you should try for a SFH.

edit: a few years ago I heard they had Major problems in some of the TH developments. Have no idea if they ever got it sorted out though.

I meant Major parking problems.

[soymabelen]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

Urbana is a large planned community that arose from the farmland of southern Frederick County in the last 7 years or so. It has easy access to I-270 for commuting south and most of the people live there because they can by "more house" than if they lived closer to where they work. The schools in the area are new and very good.

The only drawback is that it is a new planned community with no history, community heritage, most people have no roots in the area. Pretty typical suburb in those ways. If suburbs are your thing, Urbana is a good choice.

Good summary. The easy acces to 270 is true, but also think major traffic at rush hour.

[kcmo]

Thanks for the replies. I actually do not want to live in new suburbia. That's one reason I thought this community might be ok. I thought it was in a more built up area.

It really depends on where my wife ends up. We are trying very hard to get into the Rockville area. That is MUCH more my style.

[westsideboy]

Urbana is new surburbia or an "exurb" if you prefer that term. It is not a built up area in the way Rockville, Gaithersburg, or even Frederick is. It is more a planned community with about 10 miles of farm and open land buffer in all directions. These buffers (Monacocy National Battlfield to the north, and the restricted development area of Montgomery County to the South) are the reason Urbana is what it is. The community was designed to be somewhat walkable and tries to mix recreation, residential, and commercial uses together like an old fashioned town would.