Pax River NAS job...where to live? (Lexington Park, California: house, high schools)

[team_evans]

Hello,

We're considering a civilian job at the Navy base, have zero experience with the east coast at all. It's my impression that Maryland is expensive.

Can anyone give me a ballpark idea of whether there are any areas within a half-hour commute of the base that would be suitable for a young family on a budget? Looking for the usual--safety, decent schools, some green space, stuff for kids to do. Not sure whether we can afford the area, though; looking at a salary around $75K and we'd need to find a decent single-family 4-bedroom house for under $300K. Is Pax River doable for us or should we keep looking? We live fairly modestly but don't want to live hand-to-mouth in a place where the cost of living is too high.

Any comments would be appreciated

[tercel95]

Originally Posted by team_evans

Hello,

We're considering a civilian job at the Navy base, have zero experience with the east coast at all. It's my impression that Maryland is expensive.

Can anyone give me a ballpark idea of whether there are any areas within a half-hour commute of the base that would be suitable for a young family on a budget? Looking for the usual--safety, decent schools, some green space, stuff for kids to do. Not sure whether we can afford the area, though; looking at a salary around $75K and we'd need to find a decent single-family 4-bedroom house for under $300K. Is Pax River doable for us or should we keep looking? We live fairly modestly but don't want to live hand-to-mouth in a place where the cost of living is too high.

Any comments would be appreciated

With housing prices now you should be able to find something solid in the area...

Southern MD is really an awesome place to live... It is really safe, laid back feel and really good schools... However, there really isn't much for kids younger than 16 and there really isn't much for kids over 16 either but it bothered me a lot less once I got my license...

That being said there are two main options... St. Mary's county and Calvert County... If you live in Calvert you are going to have to commute over a two lane bridge that gets extremely backed up from time to time... The pros are that your kids will be zoned for Patuxent high school which in my opinion is the best High school in either county... All of the high schools in the area are good though...

If you want live in St. Mary's county I would look in the towns of California, Hollywood, Loveville, and Leonardtown... There are also some decent areas in Great Mills and Lexington Park that might be a little cheaper... You can also go further south in the county but it begins to get very rural at that point...

In Calvert try Lusby or Solomons...

There are also a ton more options than the towns I listed...

You would really have to try hard to find a bad place to live in Southern MD if you have any more questions let me know...

[TeamBenya]

With that sort of budget and price range the options are pretty wide. I live in southern maryland and I love it. One of the nice things about the Pax area is that because it is so far from DC, the prices are considerably more reasonable. Here's a list of properties within 15 min. or so of the base that are listed for less than $300k and have at least 4 bedrooms:

42 properties within 15 min. of PAX

[PenguinSix]

Many folks who work at the base live over the Pax River bridge in Calvert County so they can send their kids to the schools there which are pretty highly ranked throughout the state. However, you do have to put up with the hassle of the bridge during rush hour, and god forbid their is a wreck or a jumper and the two lane bridge is turned into a parking lot for hours on end.

I've met some folks who work at PAX living as far north as Dunkirk (Northern Calvert) because one spouse worked at PAX and the other worked in Washington DC and that was a good halfway split (plus very good schools). Depends if that is something you would need.